Oh, the Horror: Missing Out on a Passion Set
On Oct. 1, the cable-TV network Encore aired the world television premiere of “Toolbox Murders,” a grisly slasher film that seemingly only the director’s mother could love. Well, the director’s mother and a relatively small but rabid group of aficionados.
John Barker, president of New York-based DZP Marketing Communications, defines such intense fans as “passion sets,” target groups that are easier to connect with because of their intense loyalty to any company that shows support.
“The reason a ‘passion set’ is different from your usual target segment or your usual audience profiling is it not based on demography, such as age or gender or income, and it is not based on conventional psychographics indices such as Simmons or MRI [Mediamark Research Inc.],” Barker explains.
To gain the loyalty of passionate horror fans, this month Encore has scheduled “Fear Fest,” a nightly primetime lineup of uncut, commercial-free horror films, some of which are fresh even to enthusiasts who swoop up everything horror-related on DVD. “They’ve got some good stuff in there,” says Tony Timpone, editor of “Fangoria,” a 250,000-circulation magazine devoted to horror flicks.
So why didn’t Encore advertise its “Fear Fest” in “Fangoria” or any horror-themed Internet site? In fact, Timpone did not even know about the month-long marathon until a reporter told him.
“They are definitely missing the boat,” Timpone says of the network. “Halloween is the second biggest commercial holiday [for horror fans] after Christmas.”
Advertising in enthusiast media and reaching out to them via public relations would seem to be a natural way to promote an event such as “Fear Fest.” Members of passion sets are more engaged with their specialty magazines than people who might be reading a newspaper or a trade journal out of a sense of duty. They are also more likely to read beyond the editorial content, Barker says: “If you’re reading a magazine like ‘Fangoria,’ you’re more likely to look at advertising as an extension of the content.”
Reaching audiences – particularly young people – where they are engaged is particularly important today, Barker says, because of the new dichotomy: a growing cynical nature toward mainstream ads joined by a trust in their favorite blogs. “Almost every study ever done of advertising does show that consumers are willing to entertain an implicitly understood contract: that in order to receive things they enjoy, either free or at a reduced fee, they are willing to allow advertising into that experience,” Barker notes.
To promote “Fear Fest,” Barker would have looked to horror magazines and Websites, but he would also have extended a campaign’s reach to communities that have “dual” interests that overlap strongly with horror, such as science-fiction and certain violent video games such as “Grand Theft Auto.”
Michael Ruggiero, vice president of programming and scheduling for Starz! Entertainment Group, Encore’s parent company, and the executive who created “Fear Fest,” has his own ideas. He says he would likely reach out to general entertainment magazines such as ‘Premiere” and “Entertainment Weekly,” because “horror is so hot right now … especially around Halloween.” Viral marketing would also be critical, he says.
Which brings us back to to the question: If viral marketing is so important, why didn’t Encore reach out to “Fangoria” magazine or its Website?
Ruggiero concedes that the network missed a golden opportunity but promises it will step up aggressively in the years ahead as the horror-fest gains traction in the market. “Unfortunately this year didn’t offer us the opportunity to do any off-channel marketing, as most of our energy has been spent renaming and repositioning our theme channels for both Starz! and Encore, but I am hopeful that that will change in the coming years,” says Ruggiero, adding that for now the network would rely on Starz!’s dozen movie channels to promote the marathon.
