Objectives

Fullscreen and Aviron Pictures partnered to promote the studio's first-ever release, Kidnap, a thriller and vehicle for producer/star Halle Berry.

Fullscreen's task for the theatrical social campaign was to activate Halle's core fans with a message of empowerment for mothers, and to leverage those fans to amplify awareness and eventize the movie's opening weekend.

Strategy and Execution

The empowerment message was as personal to Halle as it was essential to the movie's narrative, and with Halle's active participation, Fullscreen was able to produce an innovative, truly social-first campaign with breakthrough content and activations including:

Essence Fest Screening

• Halle went to the Essence Festival in New Orleans to screen the film and introduce the campaign hashtag #DontMessWithMom, which was extended to fans nationwide via Instagram Stories, micro-video coverage, and a Twitter Mirror.

Click-to-Messenger Ad

• Capitalizing on the power of a personalized message from Halle, we were among the first to utilize Facebook's Click-to-Messenger ad unit (while still in beta). An in-feed video targeted to moms prompted fans to "heart" for a special message from Halle, which they were sent via direct message.

Minivan Instructional Facebook Canvas

• Timed to the week of release, we launched a canvas ad featuring Halle, who guided the user through her tips for "minivan safety" before directing them to purchase tickets. The canvas had a completion rate of 50.4%, far exceeding the benchmark for Facebook video ads.

Tweet for a Lyft to the Theater

• The campaign was capped off with an activation in partnership with Fooji and Regal Cinemas that gave fans discounted Lyft rides to and from the theater to see Kidnap on opening weekend. #DontMessWithMom trended in New York and Los Angeles, generating 4,500 tweets in only two hours.

Results

Leveraging Halle's fanbase to extend awareness to a broader audience proved a success, with the Facebook Canvas Ad alone generating 6.4MM impressions and 44.1K clicks to ticketing, and the Click-to-Messenger ad generating 884K impressions.

Custom content featuring Halle allowed us to connect with fans on a deeper level, which fueled an emotional connection to her character's journey in the movie. Fans were happy to join along for the ride, resulting in an important box office win for Aviron's first-ever release.

Media