Netflix Pushes Academy Awards with Viral Video Promotion
Netflix Inc. is out with a campaign tied to the 79th Academy Awards telecast that lets fans create themed videos for a chance to win a membership to the online DVD rental service.
To promote the show, Netflix has launched a viral video promotion in which consumers can post videos of themselves quoting memorable movies lines from Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, The Godfather, A Few Good Men and Jerry Maguire.
The first 500 people who post videos on Youtube.com/group/netflixoscarquotes will receive a one-month membership to Netflix. Also on the site, Netflix has posted video clips of celebrities, including Gilbert Gottfried and Jimmy Kimmel, quoting famous movie lines.
The company recently hit the streets of New York and other top markets to let fans record and film their quotes on the spot. The video creations are also posted on Netflix.com/Oscars.
Netflix is running the campaign with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As of mid-day Wednesday, about 180 videos were submitted for the promotion.
“The Academy Awards are the Super Bowl of the movie business and we’re extremely pleased to collaborate with the Academy to promote the Oscars and to highlight many of the best loved and best remembered moments in film history,” said Leslie Kilgore, chief marketing officer for Netflix, in a statement. “The multi-dimensional nature of the campaign will allow us to reach a wide audience and really engage people in an entertaining way.”
The Academy Awards airs live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
As part of the campaign, Netflix has retooled its Web site to promote its library of Academy Award-winning films. Visitors scroll over a movie name and a window pops up with the film’s title, synopsis and cast information. The site also drives tune-in to the awards show.
A radio promotion kicks off Feb. 19-23, will ask listeners to identify movie quotes and encourage them to add them to their Netflix movie queue. Winners will receive Netflix memberships as prizes.
Electric Artists, a New York-based marketing services company, handles the promotion.
