By: Christina Succi
Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World set to hit theaters June 12.
The strategy of releasing trailers for upcoming blockbuster movies is an effective way to both save and make money, industry observers told Humber News on Tuesday.
The reaction comes one day after Universal Pictures released the full-length trailer for “Jurassic World”.
The official global trailer for the fourth film of the sci-fi saga is the sequel to a short teaser setting up the highly anticipated film, hitting theatres around the world in June.
The slow release of trailers in stages is a global marketing scheme, movie writer for the Toronto Star, Linda Barnard told Humber News.
“You do a big trailer and you hype the stuffing out of it,” said Barnard.
“You create some buzz, and you get people talking about it.”
Barnard said the studios’ use of social platforms for the film is a brilliant marketing plan and has become a common tool for production studios.
“What better way to find a way to effectively market a product than have people do it for free?” said Barnard.
“All they care about is if you tweet it out, and use the hashtag Jurassic World, and it didn’t cost them a dime, except to make the movie,” she said.
The release was a calculated move by Universal Pictures, head of digital strategy at Herscu and Goldsilver Brock McLaughlin told Humber News.
“Each trailer now comes out with a lead-up,” said McLaughlin, whose Toronto-based company manages public relation emerging technologies.
“You know the trailer is coming out weeks before it does, then one by one people start seeing it.”
Barnard said studios have laid off their marketing departments in lieu of everyday users feeding into the hype on social media.
“There’s cutbacks and downsizes in all these areas of marketing and there’s less money put into television and radio advertising,” said Barnard.
“They’re treating the audience like sheep, to play into the scheme.”
Tech expert Corey Herscu told Humber News that although he agrees with Barnard, another main reason for the hype is because “what’s old, is new again”.
“It’s global marketing especially but not all movie trailers go viral because there has to be something that people can relate to,” said Herscu.
McLaughlin agrees.
“Nostalgia I think is the big factor,” said McLaughlin.
“Most of us grew up with comic books, Jurassic Park – Steven Spielberg movies, Transformers and Star Wars, so all these new trailers make people feel like they’re kids again.”
It’s been 14 years since the last Jurassic Park film Jurassic Park III was released. The franchise has grossed over $2-billion since 1993.
“Trailers are not always going to go viral, but movies like Jurassic World and Avengers, it’s a classic take of something old and making it new again,” said Herscu.
“And that’s what is capturing peoples’ attention.”