Trailers adapt to media habits

It shouldn’t be that big a story that movie trailers are changing (Variety, 11/21/09) to adapt to meet the media habits of the audience. But hey, unlike a lot of media outlets I could name (cough, News Corp, cough) at least they are indeed changing and not stomping their feet and refusing to play along because they don’t like the rules.

As usual the most relevant quote comes at the very end of Justin Kroll’s story:

“You are still creating these trailers so that a story can be told, and it needs to play great on other outlets besides theaters like the smallscreen or an iPhone,” (Craig) Murray says. “The trailer isn’t just about the effects in the film, it’s still about the story and characters and the laughs you’ll get when you go to see this movie.”

That’s true of just about any media and I have this discussion all the time. It’s not the content that needs to change, it’s the content delivery. Whether we’re talking about movie trailers or news articles, the same standards need to apply – especially that of deciding whether or not it helps achieve corporate goals. But tell that in new and compelling ways that, because you’ve done your research ahead of time, you’re confident will reach and connect with the audience. That’s what’s key to all marketing programs, only the connection aspect becomes more important with each new social technology and platform that’s being introduced and adopted.