Activator marketing director Steve Wang is a veteran in film marketing who has published 50 movies in Taiwan and overseas. These included Beyond the Arctic when the Taiwanese movie scene was in the doldrums, to Jump! Boys, Go Grand-riders and Zone Pro Site that marked the revival of domestic films. In the last six years, he has focused his energies on documentaries and in 2013, Wang made Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above the most successful Taiwanese documentary ever.
Setting Box office Records with Six Marketing Innovations
With production costs that reached 90 Million NTD and no actual plot, Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above may have been a lifelong dream of director Chi Po-lin, but to Wang, it was a long shot that he had to win. At their first meeting, the two discussed aerial photography, the current state of Taiwanese documentaries, and why the audience would want to come and watch something that the National Geography channel might air. Ultimately, however, they had to decide on one thing: Release it or not?
If they only wanted to get the message out and get society involved, they could have followed the example of The Secret of You Can’t Touch directed by Li Hui-ren and uploaded the whole film to YouTube. Two million views would have definitely achieved the goal of getting people’s attention. Steve Wang however wondered if the power of marketing could get the audience into the theaters and help director Chi Po-lin pay for the mortgage he took out to fulfill his dream.
Once they decided to work together, Wang used SWOT analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above. He then proposed six marketing innovations based on the available opportunities to gradually make everyone in Taiwan want to see Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above.
▲ Poster for Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above
The first creative strategy was “Creating a Hero”. As the creator was very charismatic and had a story of his own, he was brought to the front stage. People admire heroes not for their perfection but for their determination. When Steve Wang took the bold step of confessing Chi’s difficulties to the public, he successfully engaged the sympathies of the Taiwanese people. The second creative strategy was “Finding a Storyteller who can represent Taiwan”. Here Wu Nien-jen was everyone’s first choice. Using his voice, he showed the beauty and tragedy of Taiwan from 30,000 feet in the air. This made the aerial photography of the movie not just a gimmick by bringing it closer to the land of Taiwan. It also gave it a human touch and something to talk about. The third creative strategy was “Magnifying the Issue”. By exploiting the different issues encompassed by the documentary, a media-spanning campaign attracted the interest of the government, businesses and public. This allowed Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above to feature on the front page of newspapers without spending any money. The fourth creative strategy was “Engagement“. The final segment where headmaster Ma Bide and indigenous schoolchildren climbed to the top of Mt. Jade and sang the Clapping Song became a symbol of hope that resonated with the viewer. The effect is quite evident from the 500,000 views of the behind-the-scene video on YouTube. The last two creative strategies involved the use of modern technology to perfectly exploit the power of the social networks and word-of-mouth.
▲The exterior of Taipei 101 was twice lit up with advertising for Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above
Unimaginable Power of Social Networks and Word-of-Mouth
Times have changed, leading to a sea-change in marketing as well. Nowadays, truly great advertising goes beyond the media. It also builds up through social networks and word-of-mouth. Wang said that due to the limited marketing budget, they took a whole year to generate a marketing buzz. The premiere at Kaohsiung Arena and the large-scale outdoor premiere at C.K.S. Memorial Hall were innovations that really boosted PR interest. Apart from being “Taiwan’s first aerial documentary”, what really mattered was to make every person in Taiwan feel a close link with this documentary and volunteer to take part. This in turn led to the two innovative marketing tools of “crowd funding and theater rental strategy”.
The high level of participation from the large-scale outdoor premier at C.K.S. Memorial was a PR event that Wang felt was worth investing in. The high costs involved however stymied the whole marketing team. It was not until the concept of “crowd funding” emerged that they decided to invite the public to join in making a contribution to Taiwan by supporting Chi Po-lin and supporting Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above. Wang was deeply moved by the enthusiastic turnout on the day. He felt that the event was no longer just a premiere but also a “ritual”. The people had become believers rather than just viewers. From then on, momentum began building up through word-of-mouth and the social networks. Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above was screened for 3.5 months with 1,000 theater rentals and a box office of $200 million.
▲The appeal for crowd funding of the outdoor premiere for Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above was supported by a thousand people and generated a huge turn-out.
With Courage, Nothing is Impossible
For Wang, the success of Beyond Beauty-Taiwan from Above was just the success of one documentary. Over 500 films are aired in Taiwan every year so helping Taiwanese documentaries emerge from the pack of competing films and persuading the audience to go to the theaters is still a difficult challenge. Steve Wang’s enthusiasm remains undimmed for meaningful issues and dedicated creators however, and he will continue to carry the torch for them in the future.
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