The integration of creative & data engaged people at remarkable levels. Our BuzzFeed quiz had 290K views, 85% completion rate (+15% vs benchmark), 1.7X social lift (+31%), and users shared the quiz results an incredible 5% of the time (double benchmark). Our two-month Brightroll video campaign had 2.7X their benchmark CTR at less than half the benchmark CPC! Overall, our social campaign generated over 1.6 million social actions at a 4.7% rate vs 1-2% benchmark.

Traditional movie trailers played well. But data showed that teasing out the movie’s first 7 minutes drove the most sales traffic. Instead of optimizing down to completion rates, we optimized up to profitability and time spent, making the 7-minute trailer our primary video asset. Ongoing creative optimizations increased sales after Week 3; Week 5 sales equaled Week 2.

Best of all, the press took note of our novel approach, garnering great free exposure in a NYTimes article at launch. For a small indie movie, we made a lot of noise and won a lot of hearts.

1) Audience

We used data to determine who liked our movie, not preconceptions. We cut an agnostic trailer, sprinkling in bits of every theme in the movie so that it could appeal to anyone. We put this trailer out as paid Facebook video ads, each targeted to different interest-based audience clusters. Three audience segments stood above the rest, garnering 25% more engagement than the other audiences. Knowing who would most enjoy our movie, the creative theme became true Americana & heroism.

2) Title

Next we named the movie, starting with “alpha stacking” to appear at the top of organic movie lists, boosting discoverability. We brainstormed titles starting with “A” or a number, then tested Facebook responses among our 3 winning audiences, switching out the title card in each trailer ad. AGAINST THE SUN was shared 96% more and clicked-to-play 54% more often!

3) Key Art

The typeface was inspired by our audience, borrowing inspiration from lettering on the side of military aircraft and blueprints. We designed multiple versions of the poster for another Facebook Campaign Darwinism test. The winner emerged with 64% more engagement. This established the visual motif for the entire campaign.

Data was part of everything we did. ComScore showed our audience was 1.6X more likely to visit BuzzFeed; MRI showed they love discounts & survival shows. So we made a BuzzFeed survival quiz where the better your score, the bigger discount you get. We also knew that they care about veterans’ causes – so we formed a partnership to sell the movie for $3 off and trigger an additional $3 donation from us to veterans’ non-profits.

At a special National WWII Museum screening for veterans, re-enactors saluted guests and we captured veterans’ reactions for social video content. Knowing our audience influenced creative messaging across every channel.