Cloverfield’s Successful Opening Partially Credited to it’s Online Campaign

The monster movie written by Drew Goddard, whom I met last December during the WGA strike outside of Fox Studios, pulled down $41 million in its first weekend, which is well above its $25 million budget. The opening weekend could be a new record for any movie opening during the Martin Luther King holiday.

According to David Germain, AP movie writer, its internet marketing strategy has been called one reason behind its success:

The film benefited from cryptic marketing that sent young moviegoers on a scavenger hunt to decode clues about the movie’s plot, images and even its title, which was not confirmed until shortly before its release.

“As we started it, we asked, how do we draw people in and have them say, `Hey, I want to know more about that. That looked cool, that looked intriguing,’” said Rob Moore, Paramount vice chairman. “Then fortunately, they delivered a movie that was as unique and engaging as people had hoped from the marketing campaign.

What does this mean to businesses in 2008? If you’re targeting the younger demographic engaging them in multiple medias is key. Finding a clever, creative way to do so can be difficult, but this might be a time to employee some of those out of work writers for the WGA.

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