Picture source @VisualChina
Text | Fixed focus, author | Wang Lu, editor | Wei Jia
Zhang Wansen, it’s snowing.
Zhang Wansen, avalanche.
Zhang Wansen, no more votes.
Zhang Wansen, it’s snowing again.
Throughout December, "Twinkle Twinkle Star", which is about to be released during the New Year's Eve, has earned enough gimmicks that even hot searches were turned into a short film by netizens. The main reason is that the film specially arranged a snow scene. While the audience is watching the movie, "snow" will fall down in the theater.
In order to pursue this sense of ritual, as soon as the pre-sale of the film started, many young people snapped up the tickets for the movie in the snow resort, and some netizens even asked for tickets at high prices.
This also makes the film the shortest time for a mainland film to exceed 100 million in pre-sales, and the first-day box office champion for domestic films in Chinese film history. According to Maoyan data, as of December 27, the film's pre-sale numbers have exceeded 300 million, and the number of people who want to watch is close to 2 million, ranking first among the entire New Year's Eve films.
And it is only a small-to-medium-budget romance film, and the leading actor in the film is not a high-profile star. Even though this film, which was converted from a book-sharing drama into a movie, has accumulated a lot of fans in the early stage, it is still relatively niche.
The popularity of "Twinkle Twinkle Star" has made other competitors unable to sit still. This year’s New Year’s Eve period is very busy. According to statistics, from December 28, 2023 to January 1, 2023, a total of 15 movies will be released online (not including re-releases), which is more than the Mid-Autumn Festival + National Day. Major film studios have also launched ceremonial marketing, such as "The Annual Party Can't Stop!" which focuses on family comedy. " arranged a beer venue, "If You Are the One 3" arranged an orange venue based on homophones, and "Stealth" starring Andy Lau directly arranged a lottery venue.
Many practitioners told "Dingzhong" that they had not seen such a volume of New Year's Eve stalls for a long time. "Usually, we roll content, and there are more online materials. This year, we roll with a sense of ritual." Xiaomeng has been engaged in film marketing for many years. He remembers that the last time he did a similar operation was "The Last Night on Earth" released at the end of 2018. Among other things, The hit "New Year's Eve with a Kiss" directly drove the pre-sale box office of this literary film to over 100 million.
" The movie box office will be relatively weak in December 2023. The New Year's Eve wave of wealth has to be taken up, and special events have to be held. " Manager Tao of a theater in Zhejiang revealed that although the New Year's Eve is only a few days away, many theaters still have Open a ski resort in Zeng.
But at the same time, practitioners are also somewhat worried.
More than one theater owner said that although they had arranged a snow field, could not achieve the effect of flying snow as advertised , and they were afraid that the audience's expectations would be too high. As for the effects of other special fields, they could not judge. Xiaomeng also said that they are currently very worried about the film's reputation after the first day of release. If staged another "marketing scam", it would directly eat up the film's reputation and box office.
There are so many snow resorts that "the prices of snowmaking machines have increased"
"A movie ticket actually sold for 99 yuan!" Xiaoman usually watches movies in Shijiazhuang, and the average ticket price does not exceed 40 yuan, but this time "One Flash" The ticket price for the ski resort of "A Shining Star" was doubled. What surprised her even more was that the price was too high and tickets were not available.
's so-called "snow field" means that "snowflakes" will fall when watching a movie. This plot comes from the classic scene in the drama version of "Twinkle Twinkle Star". The story of the play is that the heroine Lin Beixing returned to her student life when she accidentally deleted the contents of her old mobile phone. She met the man Zhang Wansen who had been silently protecting her, and started a love rescue.
The open ending of the show made many fans regretful. The male and female protagonists agreed to watch the first snowfall of the new year. When snowflakes started to fall in the sky, the female protagonist was alone and said "Zhang Wansen, it's snowing", which means I miss you.
"Twinkle Twinkle Star" drama poster
Xiao Meng said that the source of the snow scene in "Twinkle Twinkle Star" was this scene. The film crew set up a large-scale interactive ceremony based on this, and later used social media Fermentation evolved into a marketing gimmick for the film.
It is understood that the "snowing" during movie watching only lasts for a few minutes. Although it is relatively simple, many people pursue a sense of ritual.
"fixed focus" checked the theaters in different areas of Beijing. For those with the word "snow resort", the shows at 13:14 on the first day of New Year's Eve were basically full . Manager Tao also said that one of their stores was sold out, and one of their stores was sold out. In his opinion, many passers-by will buy tickets out of curiosity even if they have not seen the show or do not like the show very much.
The enthusiasm of the audience has led more theaters to focus on the business of special screenings.
"fixed focus" asked a number of theaters of different sizes in different regions, and they all said that they have purchased snowmaking machines. In the eyes of many theaters, the difference between doing ritual marketing and not is very obvious. Manager Tao gave an example, "Our snowing sessions are basically sold out, while non-snowing areas only have less than ten people here and there."
Fang Ming, the person in charge of a cinema in a certain first-tier city, said that since the prime time slots of his cinemas were occupied by private theaters during the New Year’s Eve period, he had no plans to have special screenings. However, a week before New Year’s Eve, the headquarters suddenly requested that all screenings other than prime screenings be reserved. , all arranged to go to the ski resort, and they had to temporarily buy snowmaking machines. "There is no way. If it doesn't snow, we can't sell tickets at all. The first show on the 30th sold less than 10 tickets in total, and the same number was sold for the New Year's Eve show on the 31st," he said.
Opening a snow resort is a good deal for theaters.
It is understood that most theaters currently purchase "snow equipment" online. Snow cans are about 3 yuan a bottle. Some theaters will distribute them to customers, one can per person, and some will arrange at least four staff members to stand in the theater. Spray snow cans on the four corners, and prepare about 200 cans per session; snowmaking machines have different prices depending on the wattage. A 3000-watt snowmaking machine costs about 3,000 yuan, and a 1500-watt one is relatively cheap, about 300 yuan. Generally, It is more suitable for a hall with about 300 people to equip a 3000-watt unit. Considering the number of shows and cost savings, the theater will purchase two to three units.
It is not difficult to recoup this early investment. On the one hand, it can increase attendance and the number of people buying tickets will increase three to four times. On the other hand, some theaters will price tickets differently for snowy and non-snowing resorts. The price is so high that the difference can be doubled. Some theaters sold cheap tickets in the early stage because they did not have special screenings, so they chose to refund the tickets to the audience, and then arranged for a "snow resort" to sell them at a higher price. Under the
involution, more than one theater manager joked, "The prices of snowmaking machines and snow cans have increased accordingly." Manager Tao said that the price of snowmaking machines has increased by tens to hundreds of yuan.
"fixed focus" consulted several snowmaking machine sellers. They said that the number of orders has increased recently, mainly from movie theaters. One company even said after inquiring about the shipping location that they had recently placed a lot of orders and needed to ship them in order. The snowmaking machine could not be delivered before New Year's Eve, so they asked other sellers to ask.
Compared with the snow scene, the special scenes in other videos appear much calmer.
The comedy "The Annual Meeting Can't Stop!" starring Dapeng! ", a beer venue was arranged during the screening period, the lottery venue of "Stealth" put forward higher requirements in terms of time, limited to 22:06 on December 31, and the orange venue of "If You Are the One 3" also launched Buy one get one free movie tickets at a low price.
However, "Dingzhong" checked the ticket purchase platform and found that the effects of these special events were average. "The annual meeting cannot be stopped!" 》The beer venues did not extend to New Year’s Eve, and the number of lottery venues and orange venues was also very small. Taking the Beijing area as an example, there are less than ten theaters that have opened "Stealth" lottery tickets, and the signs are also very hidden. Instead of directly saying "give away lottery tickets", they use "lucky start of the new year". Most of the current number of ticket buyers are Single position. The attendance rate of "If You Are the One 3" is similar to that of "Stealth", and the number of people who want to see the film is less than 70,000.
Cinema chain managers in different regions told "Fixed Focus" that currently, except for snow resorts, there are relatively few other special venues open.
Special show, with surprises and hidden dangers
The ritualistic marketing of the New Year's Eve movie has aroused the curiosity of many people, but before the audience actually entered the theater, controversy arose.
Taking the most popular ski resort as an example, safety risks are the most discussed topic.
Currently, there are two ways to make snow in theaters. One is to spray artificially with snow cans, and the other is for staff to use snowmaking machines to create a snowy effect.
In order to save costs, many theaters use snow cans, but snow cans are canned and are dangerous when used in closed cinemas. Some areas have identified them as flammable and explosive items.
"fixed focus" consulted several theaters and found that a group of theaters have canceled the use of snow cans, but there are still a group of theaters that have not explicitly prohibited the use of snow cans. Cinemas said that if an audience secretly brings snow cans into the theater, they have no way to stop it.
In comparison, snowmaking machines are safer, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100% problem-free.
A senior practitioner who has worked in theaters for more than ten years said that most theaters have never used snowmaking machines before, and they are basically early adopters. Although the theater will test the machine after it gets it, we cannot guarantee 100% whether there will be any problems with the snowmaking machine after long-term use during the New Year period.
In view of the potential safety hazards that may be brought about by snow-making resorts, this practitioner said that the current measures taken by his cinema are limited and they only customized kt boards for fire protection prompts.
More than one theater practitioner believes that the noise generated by the snowmaking machine will affect the movie viewing experience to a certain extent. "But we must first complete the task of selling tickets. Without snowmaking machines, tickets cannot be sold at all, and it is useless no matter how safe they are."
A while ago, the average refund rate of "Twinkle Twinkle Star" was approaching 20%. There has been an uproar. Part of this is due to the initiative of the audience, who found that the movie ticket they bought was not a movie ticket with the "Snow Resort" logo and chose to refund it, but part of it is due to the theater taking the initiative to cancel the snow due to safety concerns. field.
Practitioners are also worried about the special scenes of other films.
For example, "The annual meeting cannot be stopped!" 》In the beer hall arranged during the screening, many theaters did not participate. " is mainly afraid that customers will get into fights after drinking too much in the theater," Manager Tao said. The taste and quality of beer also worried some theaters. Fang Ming told "Fixed Focus" that he consulted the studio about the budget of the beer hall. It was only three yuan a bottle, and there was a limit of 50 bottles per show, while stocks last, so he did not sign up. .
In addition to safety issues, theaters cannot guarantee whether the effects of these special scenes will satisfy the audience.
It is understood that these special venues are generally divided into two types. One is to cooperate with the distributor, and the materials are uniformly distributed by the film studio. However, it does not provide equipment such as snow machines. It is more about giving the theater some signage materials and a ticketing platform. The "Snow Resort" sign on the mountain. The process is that the theater first applies to the film studio, and the film studio reviews factors such as theater attendance and auditorium size before deciding whether to choose the theater. The other is the independent behavior of the theater, where the materials are purchased by the theater itself.
Fang Ming belongs to the latter category. He said that although he has arranged a snow resort, the cinema headquarters has imposed price restrictions. The budget for each snowmaking machine cannot exceed 300 yuan. The cinema he is in is considered to be of a relatively high level. Only a budget for two units was approved. Manager Tao also made his own purchases. The studio where he worked was not very large. He initially purchased three 1,500-watt small snowmaking machines, but the results were average, so he had to replace them with a 3,000-watt one, which was fairly effective. Look at it.
This also means that even if is "snowing", the snow in each theater is different. Some have a good experience, some have a mediocre experience, and some even have a bad experience.
"These special scenes are now being discussed lively. If the quality of the film is average, or if a special scene encounters an unexpected problem, the backlash against the film may be stronger." Xiao Meng said.
Ritual marketing, is it reliable?
Based on the opinions of many theater managers, the number of participating theaters in Snow Resort is currently the largest, even occupying more than half of the halls in many theaters. Manager Tao said that his theater has a total of 8 halls, 5 of which are dedicated to "Twinkle Twinkle Star". As for other events, only some theaters participated and the volume was not large.
On the one hand, theaters are almost all betting on "Twinkle Twinkle Star" based on the current number of people who want to watch it and feedback from theater audiences. On the other hand, some practitioners believe that many special scenes of are just a form of marketing. It is not integrated with the content and has very limited appeal to the audience.
"The staff handed out beer, oranges, and lottery tickets at the door. Some theaters asked the cleaning lady to lay out these things for the next show after the last show. These cannot be considered 'ritual marketing', but only It's like giving out small gifts before the screening." Xiao Meng participated in a beer hall and felt that the experience was average. He even felt that the snow resort was not very innovative, and the essence was still traditional in-hall interaction.
Many theaters also agree with this view. "The special screening is more of an early stage gimmick to attract the audience into the theater, but in the later stage, you have to watch the film itself. As long as the quality is up to standard, it will definitely be sold. only relies on a few cans of beer, a few oranges, and a few lottery tickets. , a little bit of snow, can it determine whether the film is good or bad? ," Fang Ming said.
viewers are not that easy to fool either.
Manager Tao saw that some theaters canceled the Orange Screenings of "If You Are the One 3". On the one hand, it was because the tickets could not be sold, and on the other hand, the film was distributed in separate lines. The film studio put forward a requirement for the theaters to have a high proportion of films in the week. . He worries that if the movie gets a bad reputation, "If it doesn't sell, it will have to be queued, and the theater will lose money, and it will be useless to have an orange theater." Later, this film schedule requirement was changed to non-compulsory.
"If You Are the One 3" poster
This year's movie marketing looks very complicated on the surface. When "Tea No. 2 Middle School" was released, the film crew arranged a video material of migrant workers crying while watching a movie. Netizens complained about its short video marketing as "fraud" "It's still ruthless; offline road shows, movie viewing groups and other activities appeared together, and topics such as "Fengshen Proton Team" and "Desperate Anti-Fraud Alliance Team Building" were born; "Octagonal Cage" even had a 10-day super Long-term screening (usually 3-5 days). But Xiaomeng’s feeling is that the biggest pain point of these marketing is that there is no substantive innovation.
"Little tricks like snow are only played in small and medium-cost movies in the New Year's Eve blockbuster. Generally, blockbusters in the Spring Festival blockbuster will not pay attention to these. At that time, they will mainly focus on grabbing the proportion of films in the schedule. It does not make much sense to engage in these small tricks." Fang Ming makes judgments based on past experience.
Despite this, film producers and theaters still want to take advantage of young people's demand for a sense of New Year's Eve rituals and give it a try.
Xiaomeng said that the cost of making snow and giving away lottery tickets is not high. Even if it fails, the film studio and the theater will not suffer much loss. If it can poke the public's emotions and recreate the kiss of "The Last Night on Earth", Or the case of Yu Wenwen breaking out of the circle by eating mangoes in "Expedition 3" is also possible.
However, marketing itself is the icing on the cake and serves the content. If the film itself is not good, no matter how many tricks you use, it will be useless, and you may even go too far and ruin your reputation. At present, the feedback from the audience for the special scenes of other films is not strong. As for the performance of "Twinkle Twinkle Star", it depends on the word-of-mouth when it is released the next day. Once the content fails to satisfy the audience, a cliff-like drop in the box office of later films will be inevitable. The 96% drop in box office on the second day of "The Last Night on Earth" is a lesson learned from the past.
* At the request of the interviewees, Fang Ming and Xiao Meng are pseudonyms in this article.
