What can insights learn from Hollywood?

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What can insights learn from Hollywood?
Posted on June 9, 2022 by Braden MacDonald

Reading Time: 3 minutes

When it comes to communicating insights, most people still rely on that dull event, the debrief. All our efforts are squeezed into one hour of bar chart hell. When we should be scintillating and exciting, we are studious and exhaustive. What can we do to change this?
Where better to look for inspiration than Hollywood?! The glitz, the glamour, the lights, the camera, the action. The FAME.

Here are my thoughts on what we can learn from Hollywood to ensure we get the attention we deserve and the recognition we desire.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning, when you think about the way movies are marketed and promoted, they always have a full integrated campaign around them. It’s these different elements working together that build fame. So although I have here a list of six, we need to use them all if we want to get results.

1. Stars
Hollywood is most famous for its stars. Whether directors or actors, from the Hollywood walk to the movies themselves, it’s all about the stars. When people think of the movie Titanic, they think of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. So, you need to think, who from your team can be your Kate or Leo? Sometimes your best presenter (actor) is not the most senior person or the person who ran the project. Be prepared to put your best presenter forward.

2. Titles, and one liners
Film titles are the first thing we hear when a film is announced. Before the cast, the trailer, before anything, it’s the title. With the latest Avenger films the discourse around the title was almost as big as the film itself. The snappy, clever or just plain irritating titles are ones we never forget. So think about what you call your project. Don’t call it ‘Results of Q3 tracker’. No one will come.

Then there are the one liners, which act like hooks to get us intrigued. ‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn’ – you don’t even need to see the film to know where it comes from and what it is about. So think about a one liner to describe or refer to your project in a way that is really engaging.

3. Trailers
Blockbuster films have blockbuster trailers. And these trailers tend to hold the excitement, get the fans interested and start the fan theories. These blockbuster trailers set blockbuster records, Spider-Man: No Way Home received 355.5million in 24 hours on YouTube, the most for a trailer ever. Think about making three minute video trailers of your project. Just a few key highlights, but in film format, will often be all you need to get people engaged and excited.

4. PR
There is an elaborate PR scheme when it comes to promoting a film, from social media, to news articles and those all important Graham Norton interviews. Even when a film is not immediately due, the PR machine will whirr. So think about sharing the value of what you do all the time, work out key internal influencers, speak to people, use all available channels to publicise what you do, prime your audience for the project completion.

5. Target
Hollywood films are targeted toward different people. Paw-Patrol and a Period Drama have very different audiences and will be carefully planned and targeted for those audiences. They may both be movies, but they will be very different. So why do we in insights consistently do the one report or debrief for all audiences? Tailor your materials, understand your audiences and use different channels to reach them.

6. The Premier
Finally, think about the premier. The glitz and glamour all come together. Make this your debrief. Stage it, add some excitement and roll out the red carpet. Make the material interactive and increase your engagement. Sell your insights in the most exciting way you can.

Want to know how to make this work for you? Get in touch with us and we’ll share how we use our FAME model to add some Hollywood razzle dazzle to your insights communication

Keep an eye out for our upcoming webinar based on Hollywood and the FAME model and what you can do to give your insights FAME.