Newport Beach Film Festival Mobile Campaign

 Common short code and keywords used

Consumers were asked to text the keyword NBFF or TIMES to the short code 88704.

Objectives
The objective was to create an integrated SMS, social media and mobile Web site strategy to expand the Newport Beach Film Festival to a new demographic, maintain conversations with loyal consumers and create hyper-awareness of the week-long festival.

With the creation of a viral buzz around the festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival engaged fans on a deeper level with mobile offerings about upcoming films, events, schedule changes, special screens, star interviews and sweepstakes.

Additionally, through the use of a mobile Web site at http://leep.it/Om, directed from SMS and social media acquisition points, the Newport Beach Film Festival was able to provide 24/7 access to film information, schedules, event pictures, multimedia content and more.

Textopoly aided the Newport Beach Film Festival by using its “multi-point acquisition” strategy, an SMS keyword opt-in, a Web opt-in widget and a Facebook opt-in application.

Through this strategy, the Newport Beach Film Festival was able to extend its reach to the biggest demographic possible and build a database of loyal and engaged fans.

Target audience
The target audience included film buffs, movie-goers and Newport Beach Film Festival fans.

Strategy
The strategy was for The Newport Beach Film Festival in 2010 to grow their mobile and social elements.

As the social space becomes more and more relevant to festivals, the Newport Beach Film Festival knew it needed to extend its reach outside of its usual demographic.

The surrounding areas of the festival tend to have an older demographic—44.8 percent reported to be 45-plus.

With an integrated mobile and social strategy, the Newport Beach Film Festival was able to extend its offerings to a younger target audience, expand its brand image to more people and bring in a new perspective on the way film festivals are run.

Call-to-action
The SMS call to action asked consumers to text one of two keywords, NBFF or TIMES, to the short code 88704.

Calls-to-action were also present in national print advertisements, including ads in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times focusing on the mobile sweepstake campaign.

Tactics
The campaign tactics included creating a unique Facebook SMS opt-in and community and calls-to-action in advertising prior to the event and during the events—both on-screen and off-screen—as well as a mobile widget on the Web site and a sweepstakes for tickets to the festival and other festivals.

Text messages sent to opted in consumers and organic searches lead to the film festival’s mobile site.

Results
Through a mix of various opt-in methods, the Newport Beach Film Festival was able to see significant growth in its social media efforts and opt-ins to its mobile club.

Most importantly, the NBFF saw a tremendous number of unique and repeat views of its mobile site leading up and during the festival.

The mobile site had no unique advertising leading to it, and all other views were organically created through mobile redirection of existing flash Web sites to the mobile site.

Additionally, the mobile site received a lengthy average page view time of more than 1 minute and 30 seconds.

The mobile Web site became invaluable for people who wanted to find quick schedule and festival information on the go. 

What next?
The Newport Beach Film Festival will continue to maintain its outreach to its mobile club through future giveaways, special screening information, and informative alerts.

Lessons learned
It is imperative to offer and create a short code-based text messaging program, as well as a mobile site for a festival environment.

With so much happening at the same time —more than 400 movies in 10 days—and many things vying for attendees’ attention, giving users access to important information on the go is essential.

Surprise finding
The amount of redirects from their regular site to their mobile site was very surprising.

Textopoly knew that the numbers would be high—however, they exceeded expectations.

Additionally, Newport Beach Film Festival saw 21 percent of its Facebook fans join the mobile club.

Newport Beach Film Festival also ran multiple last-minute deals, which were filled or became sold-out within minutes of their SMS alert notification.

This resulted in more people entering in their mobile fan club, and the delivery of original and relevant updates to existing users.

Strategy quote from brand executive
“I knew mobile was a great investment, and I knew that the creativity that Textopoly brought to the table would ensure the success of our mobile campaign,” said Todd Quartararo, cofounder and marketing director of the Newport Beach Film Festival. “I was surprised to see the vast amount of responses from our fan base, especially without a lot of advertising.

“I am also thrilled to know that the conveniences of mobile helped fans retrieve information at a whim in order to enjoy the festival all the more and not worry about informational technicalities,” he said. “Our goal was to reach everyone who appreciates a good film, young or old, a usual festival fan or not.

“We wanted to give our fans everything they needed in order to attend the festival while creating a bigger awareness about the festival, all this through modern methods like mobile technology and social media interaction.”