It’s been a month since we covered all the great news and events at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and now we are ready to share some of the cool things we got. But, you have to earn it! We’ll have a total of six different contests over the next few days, all on Twitter (follow us here), so you have multiple chances to win. Our first contest starts tonight, so read past the break to see what we have to give away!
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Did you love Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass? Now you have the chance to win a DVD and Blu-Ray Combo Package of the film, which is set for home release on August 3rd. So, how do you win? Find out after the break.
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Welcome to MovieViral’s Official 2010 San Diego Comic-Con Preview! We will be covering the mega event live from the convention floor and wherever else the festivities take us. This year’s convention takes place from Thursday July 22 to Sunday July 25, with Wednesday July 21 being the Con’s preview night. After the break we’ll give you the scoop on all the panels, screenings, and other events we’ll be attending, as well as other good resources, whether you’re going to San Diego or following from home.
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That’s right, it’s our first birthday here at MovieViral. It’s hard to believe that just year ago today, we had our first post. Since then, we have grown quite a bit, but our focus on giving you the best viral news on movies and television has not changed. Everyone here would like to thank you all for supporting us this last year.
So, how are we celebrating this great day? We’re kicking tradition and giving YOU presents! Since its the readers who have made us what we are, we’re going to reward you with prizes today. Find out more about the prizes after the jump.
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Last week we asked you to vote in our forum for the best in various categories of viral marketing for the year. Now we have the results of the each of those polls, so lets tell you who won, as well as what we think about the results. Lets get to it. Here are your 1st Annual MovieViral Awards winners!
It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to add a page for a viral campaign, so it is my pleasure to announce that we have added a viral campaign page for The Crazies. You may have noticed from Scott’s recent articles that the viral campaign has really picked up lately, so the page should help you keep track of everything. Click HERE to go to the page.
If you see any updates to the viral, let us know! Also, if you think a certain viral campaign deserves to have a page, contact us so we can evaluate it. We do what we can, but it’s you guys that help make this work.
And the award goes to…
Because we like to be fashionably late here at MovieViral, we are finally going to do something to recognize the best of 2009. But we’re not just going to have a list of movies or anything boring like that. We’re going to let YOU decide, since viral is all about audience (see: consumer) interaction. And, since we cover viral campaigns and viral marketing here, our categories are skewed in that direction. To see the categories and nominee, and more importantly vote for your favorite in each category, you have to sign up to our forum and go the Awards section. There, you can not only vote for your favorites, but also discuss the categories and who you like, don’t like, and anything else! Be sure to read the first post for each poll thread to get a better idea of what the categories are really about.
Voting ends on January 14th at midnight, and we’ll post the results (along with our thoughts) the next day. Well, what are you waiting for? Get to voting! Oh, check out our trophy for this year:
We at MovieViral have a great community on our forum. We have people from all over the world, of all ages, races, sex, and species. Well, maybe not that last one, unless you believe forum member Kris to be a prawn. Check out this video he created (with my help), using a clip from the District 9 trailer. Forum members will get the most kick out this, but I think it’s something everyone can enjoy.
MovieViral.com is proud to welcome some new staff members to the team! Viral campaigns are becoming more popular by the day and there is an ever demanding want for more up-to-date and in-depth viral news, so we’re proud to welcome all of these new contributing writers.
Below is a list of the new members, as well as a little bit about them. I suggest following them all on twitter and email them with any questions or concerns. Always remember, email news to News[at]MovieViral.com or use the contact us forum!
 | Alex Gerage Contributing Writer Chicago, IL Contact | Twitter | Alex is a senior at Loyola University Chicago majoring in both Communication Studies and Political Science. His recreational interests include sports, Star Wars, and superheroes. |
 | Iain Welford Contributing Writer Glasgow, Scotland Contact | Twitter | Lover of all things celluloid, hater of those that waste it. Iain has enjoyed movies since he can remember and has been interested in viral campaigns since Blair Witch. |
 | Davy Perkins Contributing Writer Wilkesboro, NC Contact | Twitter | Dave is an avid fan of many types of media, and started following viral campaigns in 2006. He has followed the likes of Cloverfield and The Dark Knight and has never looked back since. |
 | Cristian España Contributing Writer Malmö, Sweden Contact | Twitter | Cristian is a former film student from Sweden who loves to read comics and watch movies. His a big fan of Asian films and French New Wave Cinema. He belives that Quentin Tarantino is the greatest film maker of all time. |
Also, Scott Caldwell has been promoted to Contributing Editor. He will now assist myself and Dan in editing and publishing MovieViral articles.
Congratulations to all our new writers and Scott!
With the upcoming release of District 9, many of you may be asking what will happen next, in terms of viral marketing. There’s no question that the District 9 viral campaign has been the biggest campaign we’ve followed in 2009, but it needs to be stressed that with the release of this movie, studios will be more encourage to use viral marketing techniques for their films. Not to mention Sony, who has led the way in viral and ARG based marketing in 2008, has no plans on quitting this useful and cheap technique. 2012, which releases domestically November 13th, has a very interesting and in-depth viral campaign.
Since the launch of D-9.com back in July of 2009, the District 9 campaign has revolutionized the way movies will use viral marketing. Even though that’s true, it’s still not the best campaign we’ve ever seen.
Some of you may remember the Cloverfield campaign, which is what personally sparked my interest in this type of advertising. The Cloverfield ARG included several websites like Slusho.jp (which advertised a slushy like drink; You can’t drink just six!) and 1-18-08.com (which was a virtual photo album including pictures from the night of the attack). That campaign was followed by thousands of people on sites just like this.
Another famous and constantly sourced viral-ARG campaign is that of The Dark Knight, which was overseen by 42 Entertainment. I personally didn’t follow it, but it is generally accepted as the best viral campaign to date. It included multiple websites and even went to the streets, AND THERE WAS CAKE! But we’ve moved passed that and it’s my guess that in 2010, we’ll have a front-row seat to a viral campaign that trumps that of The Dark Knight’s.
More studios will begin to use viral-ARG marketing. It’s cheap and it’s efficient. Slowly but surely, more science fiction movies have been using it. Not to mention that we already have two confirmed virals for post-2009, Iron Man 2 (2010) and Tron Legacy (2011), and there’s no doubt we’ll see a lot more.
Tron Legacy (the sequel to the popular film Tron) is off to an early start with two viral websites (Flynnlives.com and HomeOfTron.com). The viral is being run by 42 Entertainment, so there is NO DOUBT that this will be one of the biggest campaigns we’ll follow in the coming months and years. The first viral website is run by “conspiracy buffs” who believe that Kevin Flynn is still alive. It includes images of magazine and newspaper clippings, one of which suggest Kevin Flynn may be still alive. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this is the viral that beats The Dark Knight.
In the short term, the 2012 ARG campaign has just received a big boost with the election for the post-2012 world leader (which you should at least join as an advocate). This viral includes YouTube videos (here and here), viral websites (here, here, here and here) and has just begun to move to the streets. It seems to me this will be the replacement for District 9.
So as you can see, District 9 isn’t the end of viral campaigns, nor is it the best viral campaign we’ve seen. I think it’s important everyone knows this because ARG style campaigns will only become more popular from here. Advertisers will keep thinking up ways to innovate viral marketing. With that said, I invite all the followers of the District 9 viral campaign to stay with us. I know some of you plan on (and will) leave the site after District 9, but as I’ve shown here, there are many more fun viral campaigns for films to follow. By the way, sign up on our forum. It has the most up-to-date news and a great community.
Let it be known that whether it’s poster on a store wall in North Dakota or a website about the end of the world, we’ve got it covered.
Posted by Nick Butler, follow him on Twitter. New to the site? Check out the About Us page. Register at the MovieViral.com forum, which is located at www.MovieViral.com/forum.
