Why is it that an audience only claps to advertisements in a movie theater? Is it because of the 98% engagement rate? Maybe they should fire guns in the air instead of clapping, it might of help them in this case (but not in this case: Experiential Marketing: It’s Better Than 3D). In another experiential marketing tactic developed by Ireland/Davenport, created an emotional roller coaster that tore their audience limb from limb, for Season 2 of the Walking Dead.
Executive Creative Directors John Davenport and Philip Ireland created a facade movie preview of happy, lovable & comforting characters as an introduction. After a lengthy buildup, an actor disguised as a zombie/homeless guy came staggering down the rows. The audience let out a shriek or two but the main emotion in the room was confusion. After the entire audience became baffled and the zombie made it to the front of the theater, the on-screen female character utilizes her magnum firing two shots (notice the two bullet holes through the screen; nice touch) at the zombie, which people probably thought it was some drunken homeless guy by that point.
Overall this was a great idea, but the execution not so much. An idea that may of had a better, more rapid emotional transformation would of been having the on-screen character point out the zombie, or zombie(s) (because more is better) to then shooting up the zombie(s) while they ‘briskly’ stumble to the front of the theater. Another addition would be to have some sleeper zombies hide throughout the crowd. Doesn’t this agency know how to scare people?
Source Experiential Marketing: So a Zombie Walks into a Movie Theater via Guerrilla Marketing ideas (Guerrilla Cheese Marketing)
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