Brand:
Newport Beach Film Festival - Newport Beach, California

Agency:
Textopoly, Costa Mesa, California

Campaign/program name:
Newport Beach Film Festival Integrated Mobile & Social Media Campaign

Duration:
March - April 2010

Objective:
It was imperative to create an integrated SMS, Social Media, and Mobile Website strategy to expand the Newport Beach Film Festival to a new demographic, maintain conversations with loyal consumers and create hyper awareness of the week long festival. With the creation of a viral buzz around the festival, The Newport Beach Film Festival engaged fans on a deeper level with mobile offerings about upcoming films, events, schedule changes, special screens, star interviews, and sweepstakes. Additionally, through the use of a mobile website, directed from SMS and social media acquisition points, The Newport Beach Film Festival was able to provide 24/7 access to film information, schedules, event pictures, multi-media and more. Textopoly aided The Newport Beach Film Festival by utilizing its’ Multi-Point Acquisition strategy, a SMS keyword opt-in, a web opt-in widget, and the industry’s only Facebook opt-in application. Through this unique Multi-Point Acquisition strategy, The Newport Beach Film Festival was able to extend their reach to the biggest demographic possible and build a robust database of loyal and engaged fans.

Strategy:
The goal for The Newport Beach Film Festival in 2010 was to grow their mobile & social element. As the social space becomes more and more relevant to festivals, The Newport Beach Film Festival knew it needed to extend their reach outside of their usual demographic. The surrounding areas of the festival tend to have an older demographic, 44.8% reported to be 45+. With a unique and integrated mobile and social strategy, The Newport Beach Film Festival was able to extend their offerings to a younger target audience, expand their brand image to more people, and bring in a new perspective to the way film festivals are run.

Call to action:
The Newport Beach Film Festival grew their mobile through Textopoly’s Multi-Point Acquisition strategy, a SMS keyword opt-in, a web opt-in widget found on the homepage of the Festivals website, and a Facebook opt-in application, which is a unique technology to Textopoly. Calls to action were also present in National print advertisements, including ads in the LA Times and the NY Times focusing on the mobile sweepstake campaign.

Tactics:
Create unique Facebook SMS opt-in and Community, CTA in advertising prior to the event, CTA during the events – on-screen and off-screen, Mobile Widget on Website, Sweepstakes for tickets to the festival and other festivals. Have SMS and organic searches lead to mobile site.

Results:
Through a mix of various opt-in methods, The Newport Beach Film Festival was able to see significant growth in their social media efforts and mobile club. Most importantly, they saw a tremendous number of unique and repeat views of their mobile site leading up and during the festival. The mobile site had no unique advertising leading to it, and all other views were organically created through mobile re-direction of existing flash websites to the mobile site. Additionally, the mobile site received a lengthy average page view time of over 1 minute 30 seconds. The mobile website became invaluable for people who wanted to find quick schedule and festival information on the go.

Surprise finding:
The amount of redirects from their regular site to their mobile site was very surprising. Textopoly knew that the numbers would be high, however, they exceeded expectations. Additionally, Newport Beach Film Festival saw 21% of their Facebook fans join the mobile club. Newport Beach Film Festival also ran multiple last minute deals which were filled or became sold-out within minutes of their SMS alert notification. This resulted in more people entering in their mobile fan club, and the delivery of original, unique, and relevant updates to existing users.

Quote from Newport Beach Film Festival Co-Founder & Marketing Director:
“I knew mobile was a great investment, and I knew that the creativity that Textopoly brought to the table would ensure the success of our mobile campaign. I was surprised to see the vast amount of responses from our fan base, especially without a lot of advertising. I am also thrilled to know that the conveniences of mobile helped fans retrieve information at a whim in order to enjoy the festival all the more and not worry about informational technicalities.” -Todd Quartararo, Co-Founder and Marketing Director of the Newport Beach Film Festival.

Strategy quote from brand executive above:
“Our goal was to reach everyone who appreciates a good film, young or old, a usual festival fan or not. We wanted to give our fans everything they needed in order to attend the festival while creating a bigger awareness about the festival; all this through modern methods, like mobile technology and social media interaction.” -Todd Quartararo

Links to art:
Link to website mobile opt-in component: http://www.newportbeachfilmfest.com/

Link to WAP site:
via mobile phone - http://leep.it/Om

Link to Facebook mobile tab:
http://leep.it/or

About Textopoly
Textopoly is an award winning digital agency that focuses on mobile & social engagements with customized, highly effective campaigns for brands and agencies through SMS, Mobile Internet, Mobile Advertising, Social Media Applications and Social Media Advertising. Founded in 2006, Textopoly has been a pioneering agency in the U.S. through projects with top tier brands and agencies. Textopoly integrates technology, creativity, and strategy to drive the effectiveness of the brand and their message.