News
James Ashe, Managing Partner
Who You Gonna Call?
With such a focus on digital marketing, it can be easy to forget that a good old PR stunt can really get people talking. That’s why the promotion for the new Ghostbusters film has been a hit worldwide.
In the lead-up to the brilliant new Ghostbusters film (we were grinning the whole way through), Waterloo Station became the scene of a ghoulish apparition – a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man emerging from the tiles!
Ghostbusters at Waterloo!! So fun: pic.twitter.com/KoOF05tVgi
— David James (@DJN85) July 11, 2016
Accompanied by trickles of green slime oozing from the ceiling, the installation of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man bursting from the floor had the Twittersphere going mad.
With so much reliance on social media or digital campaigns, it was really refreshing to see a stunt like this out there in the real world that was able to create a bridge between online and offline channels. The team behind the stunt weren’t just engaging social media users, but people who don’t use those channels – and potentially getting them signed up to Facebook or Twitter to follow and find out more.
The rest of the country wasn’t forgotten either. Another part of the campaign includes phone boxes in various towns and cities, which were covered in posters asking ‘who you gonna call?’ with a phone number. Call the number and you’ll hear an answerphone message from Chris Hemsworth (who plays the secretary in the film) telling you to check out the Ghostbusters Facebook page for further details.
It’s also tricky to create an impressive marketing campaign for a reboot or rebrand, but #GhostbustersWaterloo managed to do it by playing on nostalgia and paying homage to both the original series and the new movie with something really visually striking. And, in the process, they were able to mitigate some of the negative attention the film had been given on the internet while creating awareness around the world. The only thing we’re left wondering is who had to clean up all the slime?
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