‘Cloverfield’ (2008) The Marketing Campaign

1. Summarise what sort of marketing campaign was used advertise the film ‘Cloverfield’

A viral marketing (AKA user-generated marketing) campaign was used to advertise the film Cloverfield. This was done by putting the teaser trailer on You Tube. As a result, the film was able to appeal to its target audience better who are described as being ‘internet-literate young people’ by producers of the film. This point is emphasized by the fact that the director of the film, Matt Reeves, described the film as being ‘a monster movie for the YouTube generation’.

2. What does ‘Cloverfield’s marketing

strategy have to do with gaming?

When ‘Cloverfield’ was being campaigned, there was a similar plot being made for an alternative reality game. They created an online website called ‘Slusho’ which was a drink that played a role in the film and allowed the audience to gather background information on the drink.

3. What did you find out about the title

of the film?

The title of the film kept getting changed when being advertised to keep the audience thinking and to make them intrigued as to what the actual film was about. For example it had names such as, ’Cheese’, ‘Clover’ and ‘Monstrous’.

4. What information was on the first

‘Cloverfield’ website?

The first website was named only as the date of the film’s release (www.1-08-08.com). This site slowly released photos which were time and date stamped to allow the audience to build up chronological glimpses into the narrative of the film.

5. How were widgets used in the

marketing of ‘Cloverfield’?

On the website, there was an available widget to download that allowed the audience to put it on their blogs including MySpace etc. This widget also allowed the audience to view the opening five minutes of the film. Once the widget had been downloaded, people who shared it the most would be automatically entered into a competition in an attempt to encourage people to share it and therefore create more ‘word of mouth’ marketing.

6. In what strategic way did the film use

Facebook to market the film?

Characters from the fil made facebook accounts that were regularly updated to create a real-time story which showed the characters moving towards the eventful night and provided a back-story to the film itself.

7. What is ‘Slusho!’ and what is its

connection with the film?

Slusho is a Japanese soft drinks company. The connection it has with the film is that the film’s protagonist announced he was moving to Japan to take a new job at Slusho which is why the film begins with a going away party.

8. What does Manga have in connection

with ‘Cloverfield’?

A Prequel Manga film was created Cloverfield/Kishin , which bears a resemblance to the monster in the film

Summarise why you think that ‘Cloverfield’ was successful at the box office. Explain how the

marketing strategy appealed to its audience.

Question: Research a low budget film independent film and compare the marketing

strategies and advertising campaigns. What are the benefits of being part of a studio?