I've been thinking about the massive hit of the movie "Kokuhou."
It feels like a new advertising method for movies has been "completely established."
The signs began with the movie "THE FIRST SLAM DUNK," released in December 2022.
"THE FIRST SLAM DUNK" started out of nowhere.
While it was a topic among some fans, there was zero exposure in mass media.
Most people probably felt it "suddenly opened" without TV commercials, newspaper ads, or outdoor advertising to whip up pre-release hype.
The reputation spread gradually, and as a result, it became the top box office hit of 2023 (despite being a 2022 release).
At the time, this "no advertising" method became a hot topic and was carried over to the 2023 Ghibli film "The Boy and the Heron."
The movie "Kokuhou" was the same.
I think many people, including myself, had the impression that it "started suddenly."
So why does this method lead to hits?
(Assuming, of course, that the work itself is excellent as a prerequisite) I want to dive deeper from a marketing perspective.
The keyword is "First Touch of Information."
◾️ From Unusual Method to Corporate Strategy
Think back a little.
How did you find out about the movie "Kokuhou"?
Among those around me, many said, "I found out by seeing a friend watching it on SNS." At least, that was the case for me.
Since two or three people I follow were watching the same movie, I looked it up online.
Seeing the star-studded cast—Ryo Yoshizawa, Ryusei Yokohama, Ken Watanabe, Shinobu Terajima, Min Tanaka, Ren Nagase...
I remember being surprised: "Why is a movie of this caliber being released so suddenly?"
At the same time, I felt that "not doing massive pre-release advertising" was a corporate strategy.
"THE FIRST SLAM DUNK" was likely realized because of the strong charisma of creator Takehiko Inoue, and "The Boy and the Heron" because of producer Toshio Suzuki. I think it was an unusual method that pushed past the corporate side's anxiety of "Aren't we going to advertise...?"
However, if the movie "Kokuhou" did not do massive pre-release advertising as a corporate strategy, then that was the moment an unusual method possible only for charismatic figures sublimated into a "new corporate marketing strategy."
◾️ Don't Pollute the First Touch of Information
So, why is the "no massive pre-release advertising" method effective in this era? To explain that, we need to review the conventional wisdom of advertising.
In the past, movie advertising was all about "how much you could hype it up with pre-release announcements."
This method was called teaser advertising. "Teaser" means to provoke or tantalize. In other words, the orthodox method was to tease and tease before the release, designing it so that the peak would be reached on the opening day.
Also, since movies were assumed to be imported (Western films),
"All of America cried"
type of hype was the norm back then to build expectations for the Japanese release.
However, this method has become so cliché that "All of America..." is now a joke. It's not just that the catchphrase expressions have become old-fashioned; the strategy itself has become obsolete.
This is because the era when movie ads were hyping things up was an era without "word of mouth." Reputation didn't spread with this level of real-time speed.
That's why MAX initial speed was fine.
Regardless of the content, the strategy was designed with the thought that "as long as we hype it up, it'll become a topic." Even if it was disappointing, only those who saw it would know. One person's opinion didn't have that much influence.
So advertising continued to "hype." And while it kept hyping, advertising lost its own credibility.
While advertising lost credibility, "word of mouth" increased its credibility.
I can't trust what a company's ad says, but I can trust what a close friend says.
Before we knew it, that became the norm.
At the same time, the order of information contact became important.
In other words, "Who did I first hear it from?"
Emphasis began to be placed on the first touch of information.
In the past, advertising by the company (the party involved) was often the first touch of information. However, as mentioned above, advertising has lost credibility. In such an era, information where "the first thing I knew was a corporate ad" is hard to trust.
The "no advertising" advertising method was invented for such an era.
The company (the party involved) does not send out information before the release. This allows the company to control the first touch of information.
If the company doesn't send it out, the first touch of information naturally becomes word of mouth.
Until now, companies advertised out of fear of "what if word of mouth doesn't happen." However, because of that, the first touch of information became an ad, and as a result, it was a start from a negative position.
In that case, it's better to at least start from flat. The only thing a company can do for that is "not to advertise."
By taking this approach, a company can lower its own hurdles.
Until now, because they hyped it up so much before the release, expectations only continued to grow. Since they couldn't see it yet when the ads started, consumers looked forward to the release date, thinking "Is it time yet... is it time yet..."
Therefore, when the content didn't live up to expectations, the disappointment was doubled.
However, with the no-advertising method, that can't happen.
Since the reputation during the release is conveyed as the first touch, people can approach it with a casual feeling: "Maybe I'll go tomorrow."
Since it hasn't been hyped that much, the sense of disappointment is small even if it's not what they expected. If it exceeds expectations, that excitement will lead to more SNS posts.
That was exactly the case for me with "Kokuhou."
Not advertising for the sake of advertising.
This seems like a cynical paradox, but it can also be called an effort not to pollute the consumer's fresh impressions.
Mark Zuckerberg said:
"Advertising is the cost of being boring."
Companies focus on improving the quality of content rather than relying on advertising and promotion.
Such a common-sense strategy might be the only decent marketing strategy modern companies can take.
