Zach Thomas, Cat Rokavec, Sean Meara
COMM 100S: Mass Media & Society
The Pennsylvania State University
Case Study: The Hunger Games
Summer Session – July 24, 2014
Case Study: Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is a book and movie multimedia franchise created by the author Suzanne Collins. Three written novels exist, whose names include The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. Two movies were developed pertaining to the first and second books in the trilogy, while the third novel is being made into two separate films. When the first film was about to start gaining hype, the advertising department faced a problem/challenge to draw in and excite consumers in a way that would almost guarantee them to watch the movie, a common and generic problem that many advertisers face.
A common problem generally faced in a book-to-movie situation is living up to the book’s already earned popularity, and to also create a very well organized ad campaign to inform people that have never heard of the book about the series in general. But a strength like the Hunger Games had was to die for. Because the first book was popular in the beginning, any ads would only serve to better the audience of the upcoming movie, given the manic excitement. On the other hand, there was a weakness in the beginning: the targeted audience. The most occurring demographic was females, sixty percent compared to the forty percent of male fans. Apart from the gender difference, age also played a role. The Hunger Games was popular from teenagers and young adults, as opposed to older civilians in their forties or fifties. Even though these audience factions exist, the book is still well rounded and seems to solve its own problem. The story told of a young woman forced to protect her family and her community by participating in deadly games. Through this, a complicated love story unfolds as well as the main character’s individual strength. The movie would never be categorized as a love story but it really does have something for everyone. For women, the love story is appealing as well as women empowerment. For men, the action and adventure appeals to them. Adults are attracted to it because of the rise against power and the movement of change brought up by the outcome of the games. The movie included various actors of various ethnic backgrounds, showing strength from all areas to come together for a common cause. The opportunity of the movie drew different demographics into the audience due to a movie’s classic Hollywood appeal. The only threat of the ad campaign was to un-relate a book to its movie, which is a tragic event in media. For example, if a book is well written and makes a good movie, it might happen. But if more action or drama can increase that chance, it will be implemented. This takes away from the original feel and story of the book and can disappoint fans.
The Hunger Games lived up to its past though, and even as a book drew in teenagers of all different backgrounds, which was a sort of jump start to any other advertising that was going to be implemented. Lionsgate Entertainment advertisers used social media to build up tremendous excitement over the first and second movie. By the time that the first film was about to be shown, thirteen facebook pages were created besides the main one, which had around six million fans. In the Hunger Games, the “nation” of Panem is divided into twelve districts and one Capitol, hence the thirteen pages. Fans could choose to be “associated” with any one district. This can be related to other movies such as Twilight, which created the “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” factions, which people would choose to belong to and participate in, and are still around today. In addition to the numerous Facebook pages, other accounts were also created. These include an Instagram account, Google+, Twitter, and Tumblr, most taking the persona of the Capitol district in the series. For example, the Twitter account spoke for the oppressive Capitol that hosts the games and controls contestants. It tweeted news, information, and warnings in character.Every time a fan would interact with every one of the outlets, they would be replied to every tweet, comment, chat, message and notification. This gives the community a sense of connection and interactivity, considering that every reply was in character of representatives of “The Capitol.” In addition to these accounts, they created the “Ultimate Fan Challenge,” where users could register, enter hashtags, earn points, and enter competitions, not to mention an official Capitol website located at www.thecapitol.pn, which is actually awesome. The creative and involving energy from these interactive experiences would serve to influence the creation of countless fan support and creations. But not all advertisement was digital.
The outside and/or “physical” advertisements for The Hunger Games were simple yet effective. The total advertising budget was forty three million dollars ($43,000,000), a lot of money, but still much less than some other production companies. The main physical advertisements included flyers, posters, billboards, and other forms of banners and ads. This traditional way of advertising seemed to be incredibly effective, causing consumers to become interested in the series and then later find the social media pages that were already set up. In the end it all paid off, even though less than the average amount of money was spent. The movie was so successful that it broke box office records, bringing in $155 million in it’s opening weekend just in North America alone according to MTV News. In addition, the film was so successful that it is the third highest grossing premier weekend of all time. The popular films it appeared behind were undoubtedly some of the most popular in American history: Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows 2 and the Dark Night. Ever since trailers began to create hype and excitement for the movie, the phrase “The most anticipated movie of the year!” was tossed around quite a bit, and obviously, it did not disappoint due to the popularity that was incurred.
Some “theories” used by the Hunger Games advertisers were to become invested in the fan base’s well being. Every advertisement and campaign- social media, flyers, and billboards, was presented in character. There was no message suggesting for the audience to watch the movie, instead there were phrases such as “May the odds be ever in your favor,” “The world will be watching,” and “There’s only one winner,” along with a date of showing. Also, a specific billboard design captured a man from The Capitol in a futuristic suit. The viral magazine name of the capitol, Capitol Couture is displayed. To be brief, this was an advertisement for a fictional theme within a movie that attracted consumers to watch the movie. Another immersive advertising theory is the online magazine itself. It is specifically meant to discuss facts and events about the movies that act like the movies are reality. This gives a more immersive element to the world of the Hunger Games. There were also several tricks into drawing attention to the Hunger Games.
Not only were all advertisements to promote the movie, but also the book. The Hunger Games came out in March of 2012, but trailers starting popping up many months in advance. In these trailers, no crucial parts of the plot were exposed. The trailers showed just enough so that those who had already read the book knew how the suspenseful parts would play out. Those who hadn’t were pressured to read the book and see the movie by feeling left out. In short, the newfound action hit can re-draw attention to its own origin – the book, which could help consumers understand the story in general to the extent that they wanted to.
In addition to this boost, the media coverage of the whole series was just like putting fuel into the fire. With more and more coverage from the media, the reviews and critical acclaims were globally spread. Reviews, summaries, spoilers, parodies, and re-creations spread wildly. For example, Minecraft is popular game that has risen tremendously in the last year and a half, with a twenty dollar copy being bought every five seconds, 24/7. A consistently popular theme of user-made content involved The Hunger Games for quite a while, which spread the theme exponentially across young people. Many famous and critically acclaimed movies or events are recreated in this game. The movie Twilight was a very similar situation in that the book drew an interested fan base that were very interested in a movie. The ads of these two movies are also very similar. In the end, Lionsgate and others involved clearly learned how to use social media and its strong influence, which is why many of the things they created still exist today; which contributed to over 300,000 tweets about the Hunger Games being sent just in the last month. Obviously, the popularity of the series still lasts.
In our opinion, The Hunger Games advertising campaign was wildly effective. Not only was the movie and book promoted extremely well, but fans were created even before the movie was released. The genius idea of having interactive tools to help fans feel involved in the story, allowed for more conversation to be generated. Helping their fans feel like they made an impact, goes along with the theme of change throughout the movie. The movie’s success is a tribute to how well their advertising campaign was. They made people feel compelled to go and see it and that is how a blockbuster movie is created.
Works Cited
Catching Fire – A Hunger Games Digital Marketing Case Study. (n.d.). Catching Fire – A Hunger Games Digital Marketing Case Study. Retrieved July 24, 2014, fromhttp://www.minttwist.com/blog/2013/11/22/catching-fire-a-hunger-games-digital-marketing-case-study/
Happy Hashtag Hunger Games!. (n.d.). Happy Hashtag Hunger Games!. Retrieved July 24, 2014, fromhttp://www.minttwist.com/blog/29/06/2012/happy-hashtag-hunger-games/
Hunger Games: A Demographic Analysis – Z2Solutions. (n.d.). Z2Solutions Hunger Games A Demographic Analysis Comments. Retrieved July 24, 2014, fromhttp://z2solutions.com/demographics/hunger-games-demographic-analysis/
‘Hunger Games’ magazine Capitol Couture is viral marketing you want to read. (n.d.). The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 24, 2014, fromhttp://www.dailydot.com/geek/hunger-games-capitol-couture-update/