Question

The following is adapted from a Wall Street Journalarticle from a number of years ago (when Robert Redford was young and Dan Ackroyd was a star). It seems to call what Mr. Robinson is doing a “sound marketing strategy.” Do you agree? If you do, explain briefly why this is a marketing-oriented strategy. If you do not agree that the strategy is marketing oriented, then explain why it is more like a different strategy.

Begin your answer with “Agree” or “Disagree.”

            Big-time motion picture directors often spend the last weeks before their movies open to the public promoting them on publicity tours. But Phil Alden Robinson, whose upcoming movie about computer “hackers,” Sneakers, starring Robert Redford, is spending his time typing at a computer terminal.

            At Universal Pictures’ request, Mr. Robinson, who is a self-confessed computer “nerd,” has linked up with CompuServe, an on-line personal computer “bulletin board” service with more than one million members. Subscribers to CompuServe can “talk” to each other by leaving messages for anyone else on the electronic bulletin board. A member, once logged-on to the system, can retrieve and read any messages for them.

            Where does Mr. Robinson fit in? Each day he spends his time talking via computer with other CompuServe subscribers about Sneakers. The story is about high-tech security experts hired to crack a code that will uncover the dangers of a mysterious black box. The movie also stars Dan Ackroyd.

            Is sitting at a computer an efficient use of Mr. Robinson’s time at this crucial point? Universal apparently thinks so. It is, after all, considered to be a sound marketing strategy to reach a potential hard-core audience and let the word of mouth spread out from there. And these CompuServe subscribers may be the ultimate word-of-mouth movie audience: they love to send and receive messages on the electronic bulletin board.

Answer 1

Agree. It is a marketing-oriented strategy. The movie was released at the time when digital marketing campaign was not common mode of promotion. The story of the movie also did not actually cater to all classes of audiences but rather, only to such an audience that had some knowledge of the then evolving computer technology, thereby making the movie dedicated to a niche segment. In this regard, the idea would have been to create a real feel of the movie by targeting the niche segment of the audience through the then digital marketing mode. The CompuServe more like today’s social media chat groups or pages but the commendable part is that, this type of marketing-oriented strategy dated back to early 90’s. the strategy of one of its kind, new to the Public and ensured in some way, a word-of-mouth publicity too. In fact, a positive publicity was more evident with the fact that people who did use this electronic bulletin platform to come across the movie’s plot, must have felt an achievement of sort since they resorted to the reception of all together a different medium of publicity. Hence it would have been a thoughtful and relatable marketing-oriented strategy to the movie’s central theme.