The Boat That Rocked- Viral Campaign

One poster for TBTR

The Boat that Rocked – Lack of Viral campaign.

There was no such viral marketing campaign for the boat that rocked, however there was still a strong marketing campaign following key conventions of many British films. One reason for this lack of Viral marketing is that unlike American movie companies British ones just want to get the film made and are not known to worry about marketing until post production. However in America throughout the production of the film they are always thinking about how to market the end product.

Why no Viral?

Social networking sites are very influential in successful viral campaigns

It was a traditional British film that stuck to posters and trailers, despite these drumming up initial interest in failed to live up to its budget retaking only a quarter of their production budget. British films are traditionally not well known for being highly technical or up-to-date in their filming methods. They are normally based around having a good storyline, rather than amazing graphics of effects, and not many British films have been released in 3D yet. This is due to lack of funding and also the traditional feel of British cinema that has always been quite low-key. Although British audiences often prefer these kinds of films, it is the huge American blockbusters, often with lots of special effects or 3D graphics that take the largest sums of money at the box office, so it could be time for British cinema to develop their technology. When British films do have lots of graphics and technology involved, they are nearly always co-productions with funding from America, such as the Harry Potter franchise. It is because of the low-budget low-technology style of British films like The Boat That Rocked that often their marketing campaigns are the same, so social media and technology often isn't utilised. TBTR's marketing campaign is a prime example of that. Another reason for the lack of viral campaign  may have been because of the adult target audience. The primary target audience was 35-60 year olds who grew up around pirate radio, this is an age group that are not known to be big users of digital technology and the internet such as YouTube, Facebook and smart phone apps.

It is through these platforms that viral campaigns are most successful; one flaw of the campaign is the Facebook page for the film targets younger audience who the film did not appeal to as it was a period film. 

Good. Also explore other reasons for the lack of a viral campaign - are British films known for being highly viral/tech savvy in their marketing?