Running Header: FRIENDS WITH EFFIE: SOCIAL MARKETING AND HUNGER GAMES 1

Friends With Effie:

Social Marketing and Hunger Games

John Clark

Norwich University
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Some movies are carried by special effects, others by A-list actors, but the Hunger Games

series relies on storytelling and world building. Suzanne Collins created a dystopia that is easy

for readers to see themselves in. They find the characters relatable in a way that makes them

crave to know more about them, their motivations, and moreover, their fates. Lionsgate seized on

this, creating an integrated social marketing campaign that leveraged the fans themselves, and

drove Catching Fire, the 2nd film in the series to a record setting opening. (Sawhney and

Goodman 2016) We will examine how Lionsgate crafted their campaign, what they did right,

what could have been better, and where social marketing is headed in the future.

How does the marketing campaign for Hunger Games: Catching Fire depart from

traditional marketing campaigns? Is it appropriate, why or why not?

In the past movies have been traditionally promoted in a broad spectrum, but not

necessarily coordinated manner. Posters outside of theaters, television commercials, articles in

magazines, etc. are all used, but each stands alone as a notification to consumers. “This movie

exists, you should come see it.” Lionsgate took the traditional methods and linked them with

their social media efforts. Posters were initially released on twitter, causing followers to flock to

them and disseminate them via their personal feeds. (Sawhney and Goodman 2016) Josh

Hutcherson introduced the initial trailer on broadcast TV, Good Morning America. (Sawhney

and Goodman 2016) That drove traffic to Youtube to watch it there. They took the tried and true

methods and amplified them by making the fans part and parcel of the process of engaging the

market.

The reason they could do this was based on a hardcore fan base that is highly engaged in

social media use. Sawhney and Goodman noted that the book’s fan base is generally under 25,

(2016) and Pew’s survey finds social media use in the 18-29 demographic at 89% on Sep 30,

2013. (2018) That same fan base is shown to be less and less responsive to traditional forms of
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marketing, with only 1% responding that advertising will make them trust a brand. (Schwabel

2015) Furthermore Schwabel notes that 33% rely on blogs for purchase decisions vice 3% for

old media. (2015) It is safe to say Lionsgate read the age demographics well in putting their

efforts into social marketing.

Evaluate the campaign on the factors you were previously asked to think about:

persistence, pervasive, participatory and personalized.

As noted before, Lionsgate took a broad spectrum approach to social marketing. Via

Tumblr, a blogging site, they created an online magazine called Capitol Couture. (Sawhney and

Goodman 2016) This was the centerpiece for the campaign, with its content linking across all

other platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. (Sawhney and Goodman 2016)

Persistence was a matter of timing, the campaign had to run for just the right amount of

time. Too short and they wouldn’t reach enough fans to drive them to the theaters, too long and

they would burn out both the content generators and the fans, losing them to apathy. From the

Capitol Couture Tumblr, new content arrived multiple times per week. (2013) Efforts to engage

the fans paid off in the form of free content as the “Citizen’s Activity” section. (2016) This

helped to extend the shelf life of Lionsgate’s own content.

Pervasive was certainly met, by driving content from the Tumblr blog across other the

other platforms, there was a high level of saturation. On a personal note I recall the large amount

of promotional activity on my own social media feeds from the lead up to the movie. Facebook

added to this by creating groups for fans to identify with specific districts, (I was told I was from

District 13 by my wife.) (Sawhney and Goodman 2016) Youtube pushed videos from Lionsgate

to fans, but also hosted fan created videos as well (Sawhney and Goodman 2016) Twitter served

as a sort of “Capitol Broadcasting Service” pushing its tweets about compliance and propaganda.
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(Sawhney and Goodman 2016) This had a particularly large following at nearly 1 billion.

(Sawhney and Goodman 2016)

Every facet of their campaign was meant to be participatory; from the Capitol Challenge

on Tumblr, to soliciting feedback on Facebook posts “What do you hope to see in the new

Panem”, to user uploaded videos on Youtube. (Sawhney and Goodman 2016) Lionsgate wanted

fans adding their content to the buzz. This is shown to be particularly effective with millenials

with 62% stating brand engagement on social media will make them more likely to become a

loyal customer. (Schawbel 2015)

On the last factor, personalization, there it could be said Lionsgate did not have the same

resounding success. They utilized the strengths of each social media platform, with district

identities in Facebook, and titles on Twitter. (Sawhney and Goodman 2016) However, the

overarching theme in the campaign was fashion, as pushed across all platforms by “Capitol

Couture” This struck some fans as a confusing message in the ethics of identifying with the

potential villain in the story. (Sawhney and Goodman 2016) Furthermore, the fashion concept

was focussed almost solely on women, Men and children found themselves lacking content to

engage with (Sawhney and Goodman 2016)

What do you think was done well in this campaign and conversely what was done poorly?

Lionsgate can certainly chalk this campaign up as a success, $864.9 Million on the tickets

alone is nothing to scoff at. (Sawhney and Goodman 2016) They seized on the right mix of

media to energize a social media driven core fanbase. Sawhney and Goodman question if that

was the right method, “spending millions preaching to the choir.” (2016) By making the fans

their ambassadors Lionsgate gained the “authenticity” so valued by millenials.

The focus on fashion was a bold and conflicting choice. When the story revolves around

the savage annual murder of teenagers, it can be tough to find something benign to orient on.
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Clothes are an integral part of the story, Collins makes that clear, “what you wear tells people a

story, it conveys how you want to be perceived, how you feel and what you think.” (Asher-Perrin

2013) However the singular focus on the Capitol raises ethical questions. From a marketing

standpoint this makes sense, as generally consumers are aspirational, and it will be tough to sell

millenials on Appalachian Coal-Couture, so really the only option is the decadent “bad guys”.

Along those lines Sawhney and Goodman question if the focus on the Capitol is

Lionsgate painting themselves into a corner when it comes to marketing the coming Mockingjay:

Part 1 film. (2016) I find that they did integrate Capitol Couture for the following two movies.

They turn it to more of an over propaganda outlet, while adding subversion for the good guys in

the form of resistance graffiti on Capitol media. (Levin-Pompetzki 2014) The addition of an App

“Our leader the Mockingjay” brought even more ways for fans to interact, allowing them to

create resistance graffiti, view others creations, and engage in a “hacking the Capitol” game.

(Levin-Pompetzki 2014) This more than anything shows the level of attention paid by Lionsgate,

it would have been easy to rest on their laurels and miss the change in trajectory needed to sell

the follow on movie.

Is this kind of marketing appropriate beyond just the entertainment industry? Why or why

not?

In this case I would say it depends. Lionsgate was able to create a world to sell. Is a full

multi-spectrum campaign correct for selling motor oil? Or mortgages? Probably not, in those

cases the whole campaign will come across as contrived and forced. In that vein General Motors

has been trying something similar via the current crop of “real people” ads for Chevrolet. Results
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are mixed, with Paul Edwards, VP of marketing for Chevy claiming “it continues to pick up in

terms of our ability to break through and drive opinion.” (King 2017) However there is

pushback, and the ugly side of viral marketing has shown, with a slew of parody videos

expressing disdain for both the product and the campaign. (Westbrook 2018)

Do you think this kind of marketing will increase or not?

Naturally once Lionsgate proved the concept, the rest of the industry was bound to follow

suit. Disney spent $200 Million on promoting Avengers:Endgame, and over the past 18 years has

managed to expand a fanbase from a niche of “fanboys” to millennials and families.

(D’Alessandro 2019) This social media driven marketing will only increase in importance as

Generation Z enters the consumer market after millennials.

Conclusion

In this new world where ads don’t matter, and the life of your product hangs on a blog

post, it is critical that marketing managers remain agile. In this the Boyd OODA loop concept is

key, and the firm who is the fastest to observe the trends in social media, orient their product to

benefit, make the decision, and act will come out on top.

References

Asher-Perrin, E. (2013, September 20) “Is the Capitol Couture Clothing Line Sending the Wrong

Message to Hunger Games Fans?” Tor.com Retrieved from URL

https://www.tor.com/2013/09/18/is-the-capitol-couture-clothing-line-sending-the-wrong-

message-to-hunger-games-fans/

Capitol Couture. (2013). [Tumblr Blog]. Retrieved from URL https://74th.capitolcouture.pn/

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D’Alessandro, A. (2019, April 17) “‘Avengers: Endgame’ $200M+ Promo Campaign Is

Marvel’s Biggest Ever, Surpassing ‘Infinity War’ & More” Deadline. Retrieved from

URL https://deadline.com/2019/04/avengers-endgame-mcdonalds-google-coca-cola-

ultra-beauty-audi-all-time-record-marketing-campaign-videos-1202595738/

King, A. (2017, May 6) “Those Awful ‘Real People’ Chevy Ads Aren’t Going Away Anytime

Soon” Jalopnik. Retrieved from URL https://jalopnik.com/those-awful-real-people-

chevy-ads-aren-t-going-away-a-1794983597

Levin-Pompetzki, V. (2014, September 23) “The Ingenuity of Mockingjay Advertising”

Campfire. Retrieved from URL https://enveritasgroup.com/campfire/ingenuity-

mockingjay-advertising/

Pew Research Center. (2018). Social Media Fact Sheet.

Sawhney, M. & Goodman, P. (2016). The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Using digital and social

media for brand storytelling [PDF]. Kellogg School of Management, KEL 964.

Schawbel, D. (2015, January 20). 10 New Findings About The Millennial Consumer. Retrieved

July 13, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2015/01/20/10-new-

findings-about-the-millennial-consumer/#2399607d6c8f

Westbrook, J. (2018, October 29) “Mahk Is Back to Take Down Another Chevy 'Real People'

Truck Ad” Jalopnik. Retrieved from URL https://jalopnik.com/mahk-is-back-to-take-

down-another-chevy-real-people-tru-1830082333
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