Lionsgate, the entertainment giant behind cult classics like “The Hunger Games,” “Twilight” and “John Wick,” is no stranger to grabbing the attention of movie- and tv-watchers alike. Still, the production company sought a robust solution that would further strengthen ad interactivity and bolster engagement pre- and post-production.
The Challenge
Lionsgate leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to connect with movie-goers ahead of movie releases. The highly successful North American film company uses various channels, including physical promotional materials such as posters and print graphics.
However, evolving marketing competition highlighted a need for broader ad interactivity capabilities. Many companies in the entertainment industry rely on QR codes to direct scanners to online resources, such as a website that lists showtimes or movie trailers. Given how QR codes proved themselves as successful content gateways, Lionsgate wanted to incorporate them into their marketing, but they needed essential functionalities, such as dynamic editing capabilities, better tracking and stronger data analytics collection.
The Solution
Lionsgate committed to finding a QR code platform that would provide the necessary functionalities its team couldn’t get from their current solution, including:
- On-demand destination edits; and
- Robust location tracking capabilities.
After experimenting with various QR code vendors, Lionsgate quickly identified Beaconstac, a QR code management platform, as the ideal solution to meet its needs.
“I created accounts for the top-three QR code solutions that came up in my research, one of which was Beaconstac,” said Mike Cabellas, a Digital Marketing Consultant at Lionsgate. “I found that the other two solutions weren’t as easy to use. I couldn’t test many dynamic QR code functionalities on the other platforms.”
Entertainment marketing campaigns are prone to multiple pivots, and Lionsgate needed a versatile platform that allowed modifications on demand. Beaconstac’s dynamic QR code offerings, which provide flexibility in link destinations and other customizations post-deployment, enabled Lionsgate to change the links in their preexisting QR codes without having to reprint entirely new material.
Given its breadth of creative offerings, Lionsgate caters to a wide variety of demographics. The company needed a reliable ad-tracking system that gave accurate insights into whether it was reaching the right audience or not. Beaconstac provided the necessary tools to set up an extensive tracking system and helped Lionsgate home in on exact geographical areas to monitor engagement.
The Results
By providing the Lionsgate team with the tools required to improve QR-code-enhanced movie marketing activities, Beaconstac helped significantly bolster engagements worldwide. Using these features, Lionsgate measured more than 12,000 engagements across 65 major cities nationwide.
Through unlimited dynamic modifications and the ability to pinpoint engagements by location, Lionsgate accurately determined whether its marketing messages were hitting the right demographic and adjusted accordingly.
“The platform has performed great,” said Cabellas. “Based on our ROI, it’s been terrific. It’s definitely one of the better purchases we’ve made since I’ve been here. As I’ve said, it just works!”