Nick Butler, the Editor-in-Chief of MovieViral.com, was interviewed by Chris Lee of the LA Times. The article was concerning the unique viral marketing of District 9 and these ingenious advertisements have created a lot buzz for the film, set to release August 14th. While I think ARG aspect of the viral has been filled with holes, the marketing outside of that is marvelous.
Here are some excerpts from the article (which you can read here) with Nick Butler. He goes in depth about his personal “likes” and “dislikes” of District 9.
“The billboards, benches and websites are a great way to advertise movies, because it gets people talking,” explained Nick Butler, editor in chief of MovieViral.com, which has been following the film’s promotions for nearly a year. “What we see with ‘District 9’ is a combination of real-life experiences mixed in with game experiences that involve websites and Twitter. It is a very successful viral campaign.”
Still, for whatever buzz the campaign has generated, some film fetishists point out the marketing hasn’t been without certain hiccups. Chief beef: Over the course of its 10-month existence, “D9’s” viral has gone dormant for long periods, disheartening self-professed fanboys keeping tabs on the movie’s roll-out. “This viral started in August ’08, then came an almost nine-month period of no updates,” said movieviral.com’s Butler. “People who follow viral campaigns like I do like to be constantly trying to find something. There always has to be a challenge.”