La La Land

The Brief

When Lionsgate UK came to us earlier this year to discuss work on LA LA LAND they were clear there was an opportunity to connect with the social media generation.  The key 18-24 year olds demographic was missing the nostalgic connection to the Hollywood Musicals genre and while the draw of Ryan Gosling Emma Stone resonated with some, there was still a challenge to develop a campaign which would draw them in to the idea of the film, and motivate them to get out and see it.

The Process

Working closely with Lionsgate and the team at Instagram we were able to craft a series of 10 distinct pieces of creative which spoke directly to the central themes of the movie and lined up with significant trends on the Instagram platform; Fashion, Photography, Travel, Romance, and Cinematography.  These pieces could be served to a highly targeted audience and would ultimately deliver a different result to the rest of the campaign.

The Result

The pieces we developed were all short, visually compelling and designed with Instagram in mind to be thumb stopping and to work well with or without sound; they proved captivating experience for people familiar with the film just as much as the unfamiliar.  Each piece of creative was distinct and drew together the imagery of its targeted theme to highlight the star power of the film and the singalong nature of the film. We wanted to provide a short but powerful insight into the narrative and in doing so we developed alternative approaches, often surreal editorial techniques to gives the pieces impact.

The Outcome

Each trend was targeted to a specific audience and clearly had an impact.  The result of the campaign was a 24-point increase in ad recall, an 8-point lift in awareness and a 4-point rise in viewing intent.  The record-breaking box office performance was particularly strong among younger audiences, as well as traditional audiences.

The campaign was featured in an Instagram case study and in Creative Review’s first showcase of innovative campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.  Check out the work on our instagram page or here.