1、 毕业论文外文资料翻译 题 目 电影口碑营销 学 院 历史与文化产业学院 专 业 公共事业管理（艺术经营与管理方向） 班 级 艺管 1001 学 生 学 号 指导教师 二一四 年 三 月 二十六 日 济南大学毕业论文外文资料翻译 - 1 - Buzz marketing for movies Iris Mohr Tobin collage of business, St. johns University, 8000 Utopia, Jamaica, NY 11439, USA Abstract: In todays dynamic entertainment environment, mov
2、ies are struggling to stay afloat and remain profitable. Challenges such as piracy, digital theft, competition, overlapping movie campaigns, media fragmentation, and audience saturation are forcing marketers to stretch their film budgets and make every dollar as effective as possible. With more and
3、more entertainment options crowding peoples lives, marketers must search for innovative ways to reach movie audiences. By breaking through the daily clutter and noise, and capturing peoples attention to the point that talking about a movie becomes an enjoyable experience to share, buzz marketing is
4、one such promotional posture that drives audiences to theaters. In order to achieve success with buzz marketing, however, marketers must recognize the role it plays in the context of movie differentiation strategies to support the companys overall approach. To that end, this article analyzes buzz ma
5、rketing as it pertains to six movie differentiation strategies (differentiation with cosmetic movie features, differentiation to reach market segments, growing a movie segment, positioning to support the movie image, positioning to extend the movie image, and differentiation via non-traditional chan
6、nels) and offers steps for its successful implementation Keyword: motion pictures; movies; marketing; promotion; buzz marketing 1. The marketing challenge Todays movie marketers confront a difficult reality: the game plan by which theyve played for years is being challenged and there is a call for n
7、ew, innovative ways to drive box office sales. Under the historically used traditional model, corporate marketers spend marketing dollars on messages aimed at a target audience. The marketing team creates a message, purchases media, and sees that the message is delivered to personal and business cus
8、tomers. Given the fragmentation of media today, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult for marketers to promote movies using the traditional model. In the United States, for example, what was once a handful of television stations has now proliferated into more than 1600 broadcast and cable o
9、utlets; similar trends are underway in Europe, as well. Cable fragments the broadcast audience, TiVo users are zapping through 30-second commercial spots, and online advertising is on the rise. This sort of fragmentation makes it more difficult to generate an impact, accumulate sufficient reach and
10、awareness, and plan promotional campaigns in general. Added to this fractured landscape, multitasking has become increasingly common across the board. While surfing the Web, the typical US teenager engages in an average of 济南大学毕业论文外文资料翻译 - 2 - two other activities, one of which is often homework. Re
11、portedly, some 80% of business people also multitask while performing work related duties (Greenspan, 2004). In concert with this, there is an increasing trend for consumers to “switch off”; they are evermore selective about what they watch and the advertising messages they trust. As Court (2004, p.
12、2) cites, according to Yankelovich Partners, 65% of consumers feel “constantly bombarded with too much advertising,” 69% are “interested in products and services that would help skip or block marketing,” and 54% “avoid buying products that overwhelm with advertising and marketing.” To add, televisio
13、n and movie lovers are witnessing a revolution in digital home entertainment. With it, a growing number of people are turning away from neighborhood cinemas in order to stay home and be entertained by new technologies and advanced personal theater systems. Consumer electronics manufacturers, IT vend
14、ors, and movie companies are lining up to extol the virtues of Blue-ray and HD-DVD; the proclaimed successors to the current DVD format (Thomas, 2006). According to Geoff (2005), by the end of 2004, Forrester Re-search estimated there were TiVos and other DVDs in 6.5 million US households, up from 1
15、.9 million in 2002. That number, the firm claims, will climb to almost 50 million by 2009, representing 41% of all US households. On another front, the popularity of Netflix, an online subscription service boasting 3 million users, prompted both Blockbuster and Wal-Mart to offer similar services whe
16、reby people rent DVDs for an unlimited time for a monthly fee. While its true that DVDs may be a cash cow for studios, theaters suffer when patrons skip the cinema experience and wait for those releases at home. Needless to say, given the increase in entertainment options, the movie-going experience
17、 needs to be far more compelling to draw in audience members. Moreover, this challenge is not likely to subside, but rather grow more compelling: as discussed by Chary (2005), a recent study by Informal Research Services indicates that 125 million people about 5% of all cell phone owners will be wat
18、ching television on their handsets by 2010. In addition, the Digital Lifestyles 2006 Outlook from Parks Associates (Escher, 2006) estimates that US consumer spending for online entertainment, including on-demand gaming, music, and video services, will grow by 260% in the next five years. In this fre
19、netic and competitive environment, marketers must search for innovative ways to reach and attract movie audiences. Buzz marketing is one such promotional posture that is capable of breaking through the existing noise and clutter of the marketing scene, to capture peoples attention to the point that
20、talking about a movie becomes an enjoyable experience to share. Essentially, buzz marketing mimics the traditional 济南大学毕业论文外文资料翻译 - 3 - marketing model in that it sends messages to targeted audiences through varying media. Under the buzz marketing model, however, the entertainment marketer injects t
21、he audience and media with a jaw-dropping, movie-related message that is so interesting and exciting that it causes the information to spread like wildfire. That appealing element of exhilaration represents the essence of and key to, buzz marketing, and differentiates it from the traditional marketi
22、ng approach. Among its many attractive qualities, buzz marketing is a low-cost, far-reaching mode of promotion. This being the case, entertainment marketers interest in the method is raising as media fragmentation continues and movie marketing costs increasingly spiral upward. Buzz marketing also sa
23、tisfies studio executives who are confronted with steadily mounting marketing costs, and are thus challenged by existing promotional tactics in search of more mileage for fewer dollars. 2. Buzz marketing encompasses word of mouth and viral marketing At the core of buzz marketing is the phenomenon of
24、 word of mouth (WOM), the process by which an individual influences the actions or attitudes of others. As indicated by the following quotes on the value of word of mouth, academicians have long been aware of the power of WOM on consumers preferences and actual purchase behaviors: “Forget about mark
25、et surveys and analyst reports. Word of mouth is probably the most powerful form of communication in the business world. It can either hurt a companys reputationor give it a boost in the market. Word -of-mouth messages stand out in a persons mind.Quite simply, we find messages more believable and co
26、mpelling when we hear them directly from other people, particularly people we know and respect.” Regis McKenna “Word of mouth seems to be a frequently used risk-reduction device; and this source of information is particularly sought for in situations characterized by high uncertainty.” Johan Arndt “
27、Word of mouth tends to be highly persuasive because the sender apparently has nothing to gain from the receivers subsequent actions.” Leon G. Schiff man and Leslie L. Karuk Malcolm Glad well (2002), author of the national bestseller The Tipping Point, says WOM is so powerful because ideas, behaviors
28、, messages, and products sometimes behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease. Similar to how an ill person can start a flu epidemic, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend or the popularity of a new product. 济南大学毕业论文外文资料翻译 - 4 - According to McKinsey & Co. (Ramse
29、y, 2005), approximately two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States is influenced by shared opinions about a product, brand, or service. On the basis of aggregated data and interviews with various WOM marketing experts, remarketer estimates that almost 50% of online marketers will engag
30、e in some form of WOM or viral campaign in 2006. A recent survey of marketers, which asked what type of digital media they were either using or were, planning to use, found that exactly two-thirds cited WOM (Ramsey, 2005). The nature and scope of the Internet, as well as other messaging devices, has
31、 inspired marketers to deliberately attempt to stimulate or simulate the WOM process by designing marketing campaigns with characteristics that attract audiences and encourage individuals to pass along a message. Also known as buzz marketing and viral marketing, these tactics create the potential fo
32、r exponential growth in the messages exposure and influence (Wilson, 2000). Though the terms buzz marketing and viral marketing are often used interchangeably with WOM communications, the following discussion points highlight clear distinctions between the three. 2.1. Word of mouth communications WO
33、M communications, also referred to as opinion leadership, is the process by which one person (the opinion leader) informally influences the actions of others, who may be opinion seekers or opinion receivers. The key characteristic of this influence is that it is interpersonal and informal and takes
34、place between two or more people, none of whom represent a commercial selling source that would gain financially from the exchange of information (Schiff man & Karuk, 2007). WOM implies personal or face-to-face communication, although nowadays it may also take place via telephone conversation or wit
35、hin the context of an instant message or e-mail. As individuals, opinion leaders specialize in the product categories (e.g., travel, automobiles) about which they offer information and advice, and often read special interest magazines to broaden their expertise. By the same token, when other product
36、 categories are discussed (ones in which they do not focus), these individuals are likely to become opinion receivers, occupying that position due to lack of knowledge in the subject area. Opinion leaders are a highly credible and powerful source of consumer information, and thus very effective in i
37、nfluencing customers product-related decisions. One explanation for this strong influence is that opinion leaders are perceived as having nothing to gain financially from their purchase recommendations, and are thus inherently trusted. That is why word of mouth is so effective. In effect, when opini
38、on leaders initiate WOM, they send a free, credible, and targeted marketing message. 济南大学毕业论文外文资料翻译 - 5 - 2.2. Viral marketing Viral marketing, a high-tech and “impersonal” variation of WOM, is an Internet-driven strategy that enables and encourages people to pass along a marketing message and engag
39、e in word of mouth, creating the potential for exponential growth in the messages exposure and influence. Like a virus, this tactic takes advantage of rapid multiplication to explode a message to thousands, even millions. Viral marketing depends on a high pass-along rate to create a snowballing effe
40、ct. A widely cited first example of viral marketing is Hotmail, a company now owned by Microsoft, which promotes both its service and advertisers messages in every e-mail sent by patrons using the technology. 2.3 Buzz marketing With media undergoing a vast change in a world where aggressive televisi
41、on ads, flashy websites, and glossy brochures compete for consumer attention, it is necessary to bridge WOM with technology(e.g., the Internet, mobile phones, MP3 players) and “outside the box” thinking. Buzz marketing is the practice of gathering volunteers either formally by actively recruiting in
42、dividuals who naturally set cultural trends, or informally by drawing “connectors”: people who have lots of contacts in different circles, who can talk up their experiences with folks they meet in their daily lives. These people can be experts, members of the press, politicians, celebrities, or well
43、-connected customers others rely on for information. Unlike WOM, whereby opinion leaders are internally motivated because of their knowledge, those spreading buzz may or may not be experts, and may be spreading buzz on a host of different things that are injected by marketers. Buzz marketing capture
44、s the attention of consumers and media to the point that people talk about the brand, because the message is perceived as entertaining, fascinating, and/or newsworthy. In order for this to occur, however, there must be something interesting, clever, amusing, catchy, or remarkable enough about the me
45、ssage such that WOM fuels fast distribution via technology to create a “buzz.” Clearly, this requires clever marketing and creativity. Successful buzz marketing efforts so capture the attention of individuals that they talk to others interpersonally via acquaintances, friends, co-workers, and family
46、 members, and impersonally on the Internet in the form of message boards, chats, polls, user ratings, and member stories. As a result, more buzz is ultimately generated. Practitioner writings suggest that buzz is usually something that combines a wacky, jaw-dropping event or experience with pure bra
47、nding to get people talking. According to McKinsey & Co., and as reported by firm strategy consultant Renee Dye (2000), motion pictures and broadcasting are two categories that are highly driven by buzz. Consider, for 济南大学毕业论文外文资料翻译 - 6 - example, the 19th season premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show,
48、which aired in the fall of 2004. This episode created considerable buzz when Pontiac gifted each audience member with a new G6 sedan, and was remarkable enough to be noted by TV Guide as one of the greatest moments in television history. According to console Networks (“Oprah Giveaway,” 2004), traffic to the O website and GMs P increased dramatically after the talk show hosts giveaway program aired on Monday. Behold the power of buzz. 济南大学毕业论文外文资料翻译 - 7 - Business Horizons, 2007(5),50,395-403 电影口碑营销 Iris Mohr 托宾商学院，摩根约翰大学，乌托邦大道 8000，牙买加，纽约 11439，美国 摘要 ：在今天的动态电影娱乐环境下，许多企业
