I didn't get a chance to write a blog post yesterday because I was preparing for my daughter's graduation party which we hosted at our home. I believe it was a success and think that everyone had a good time. We were a bit anxious when some huge thunderstorms came rambling through late yesterday morning and some hail was reported. But it cleared up and ended up being a beautiful night.
I've been trying to write my Friday/Saturday posts about interactive promotions tied in with entertainment marketing since there as so many big moives released during the summer season. However, I already wrote earlier about the Transformers, Transform Your Dad, a big promotion Kmart did for Father's Day. The movie opened nationwide this past Wednesday instead of Friday and it's been way in the lead at the box office. So there really isn't another movie coming even close to it this week to report on.
What has been big this week is the start of the second season of HBO's TrueBlood which premiered last Sunday. HBO really used social media in some innovative ways to promote the return of season 2 such as creating a blog called BloodCopy which is written by true vampires and creating a microsite, The American Vampire League, which is all about protecting the rights of vampires. Then there is The Fellowship of the Sun which is the ministry created to protect their members against vampires. HBO also set up Facebook Fan Pages for each: here's the BloodCopy Fan Page, the AVL Fan Page and the one for Fellowship. Fans can follow them here on Twitter as well as various vampire character pages such as @SomniusX. Plus they have developed this BloodCopy Wiki.
HBO is running the Escape the Everyday Sweepstakes with a grand prize of $10,000 towards HBO, TV service, Internet, phone and so more courtesy of HBO. There are also instant win prizes consisting of the True Blood Season 1 DVDs, Fangtasia, Fellowship of the Sun and American Vampire League t-shirts and True Blood Logo mugs. The sweepstakes began on May 23 and ends July 3.
To play the game you first have to choose if you want to be on the side of the mortals or the vampires. There's a viral marketing component to this as well where visitors can "Suck in Your Friends" by sending them an email post card inviting them to play or posting this widget on their Facebook page or many other social media options.
BMW's Mini teamed up with HBO with a co-branded print and digital ad campaign. Their Mini was one of several real brands being pitched to vampires. The campaign is comprised of national print, online and out-of-home outlets. The ads featuring blood-red versions of the Mini Cooper and Mini Clubman, have headlines like: "Feel the Wind in Your Fangs" and "Type GO." Digital ads ran on Yahoo, CNN, AOL, the TrueBlood home page on HBO.com, and the show's microsites.
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