Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
Marketing Video campaigns come and go, but a great movie lasts forever! That's the premise to the short film marketing project that Reel City Films created for the Biltmore Hotel, a historic and iconic luxury resort based in Coral Gables, FL.
During COVID, the hotel had reached its all-time low occupancy. At this time, Reel City approached the Biltmore with an idea that would help generate buzz and drive heads in beds. We proposed to create a narrative short film that would do two things: 1. Entertain audiences with a story that takes place entirely at the Biltmore hotel and 2.) Organically showcase the property in a manner that encourages viewers to want to stay at the hotel and replicate the experiences seen in the movie. In essence, we proposed to bring the Hollywood experience to the Biltmore hotel in order to attract new guests. The Biltmore was intrigued by the idea and committed to creating the short film. In the pre-production phase, the hotel stated that they wanted to attract a younger audience to their hotel. They challenged us to help solve this problem with our film. So we went out and wrote a script that appealed to a younger 25 to 45 target audience. Reel City produced, wrote and directed a 24 minute romantic thriller called 'The Critic'. It's a story about a hotel critic that checks into the Biltmore for a routine review but soon meets a charming golfer who takes her on an adventure of a lifetime - all within the hotel.
Upon completion of the film, we rolled out our marketing strategy to drive awareness to the hotel. We started by hosting a world premiere event at the hotel where we invited influencers and bloggers, we then submitted it to film festivals across the country where thousands came out to watch the movie and it's now screening in all the Biltmore's hotel rooms. Ultimately, our marketing goal was to use the power of film to drive awareness to the hotel and attract a younger audience.
Watch the trailer at thecriticmovie.com
Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)
The marketing strategy reached its zenith with a glamorous world premiere event that drew bloggers, media luminaries, and local influencers at the hotel. We were able to secure Maker's Mark as our sponsor of the event with a $50,000 commitment. They played a pivotal role as the event's sponsor, which included a VIP soiree party. The free invite only event attracted a total of 1,300+ guests. Throughout the night, influencers fervently blogged about the film, amassing substantial press coverage and over 50,000 social media impressions.
Following this successful premiere, Reel City Films submitted 'The Critic' to multiple prestigious film festivals across the nation and was accepted at over 22 film festivals including the highly acclaimed 'Dances with Films' in Hollywood, the Manhattan Film Festival, Palm Beach Film Festival and Paris Short Film Festival to name a few. The film made waves, clinching seven prestigious awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Music, among others.
With 22 festivals playing the film, an estimated 35,000 people across the country watched the movie on the big screen. Audiences at these screenings were captivated by the Biltmore's splendor as portrayed in the film as they clearly stated during the Q&A sessions. Many expressed a keen desire to visit the hotel and relive the experiences showcased in 'The Critic.'
Today, the film is playing exclusively at the Biltmore in each hotel room and is being promoted through flyers, posters and ads across the property. By watching the movie, guests are then encouraged to spend more time exploring the resort and investing on property. In addition, the hotel is launching a press release to support the screening of the movie at the hotel. All of this creates a buzz for the film and an evergreen marketing tool that will forever promote the hotel to audiences for generations to come. As stated earlier, video marketing campaigns come and go, but a great movie lasts forever!
Return on Investment: How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?
The hotel has not yet began the process of collecting this information since they just started running the movie in their hotel rooms earlier this month and they are releasing a press release that will summarize the film's success in the film festival circuit later this month. But based on all of the national buzz with the film screenings, press release and all of the promotion for viewers to watch the movie, including the movie trailer that will be featured in the press release and available online, the Biltmore anticipates to see a significant spike in hotel guests as a younger generation is eager to watch the film in it's entirety at the hotel and experience the hotel for themselves.
The trailer to 'The Critic' can be watched at the following website www.thecriticmovie.com
Entry Title
The Critic - a branded short film starring the Biltmore Hotel
Division
Digital - Video - Single Entry