Free Guy Executive Summary

Introduction:

The marketing strategy for the Free Guy film is important to define prior to the release of the film. The original release date was the summer of 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic. The marketing plan/strategy is to promote the movie, Free Guy, to the public, and to increase viewing and sales. We’ve learned that an effective social media campaign is essential in today’s age, if the film is to be successful. The target market is young audiences, and especially males, ages 15–50.

The Social Media SMART goals for the campaign is to utilize social media activity to reach enough consumers before the film release, who will go to the theater to watch the film. We need to achieve sales goals of 30M in the first weekend and 200M during the first six months of the film release.

Campaign:

For the campaign, I will be using the following social media platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, because they are predominately used by males, ages 15–50, which is the target market for the film.

The voice will be energetic, bold, exciting, and funny, as the film encompasses all those adjectives. The hashtags planned for the campaign will be: #FreeGuy, #BeAGreatGuy, and #HaveAGreatDay. All three hashtags are taken directly from Ryan Reynolds’ lines from the film trailer.

For partnerships and social media influencers, Free Guy already has macro-influencers involved in the production of the film, such as Ryan Reynolds (20M followers), and Channing Tatum (22M followers), who star in the film. In addition, the film was directed by Shawn Levy (349k followers). Screenplay writers Matt Lieberman (700 followers) and Zak Penn (8k followers) only seem to be on Twitter and post information about the film, but I would recommend adding the following micro-influencers, who currently post and write blogs about Hollywood movies.

Shawn Robbins :

Box Office:

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Examples of 3 posts by platform:

1) Facebook — Set up a publicity stunt in Times Square in NYC, with a VR video of a spaceship shooting at the people. The CTA is to post your response.

Caption: “Tell us what you would do with a spaceship shooting at you in NYC?”

2) LinkedIn — Auction VR glasses like the ones Ryan Reynolds wore in the film. The CTA is users can bid on the glasses over a week’s time. The winner will receive a pair of VR glasses and win a trip to Hollywood to meet Ryan Reynolds and see the soundstage. All proceeds will go to benefit Feeding America and Food Banks Canada.

Caption: “Bid on cool VR sunglasses like Free Guy and top bid wins the glasses plus a trip to Hollywood to meet Ryan Reynolds.” and “All proceeds benefit Feeding America and Food Banks Canada.”

3) LinkedIn — Utilize UGC where users will post videos of themselves and their friends having a Free Guy party at home. The CTA is post your videos and win cool logo items.

Caption: “Free Guy is now on Netflix! Host a Free Guy watch party and post a video to win cool logo items, such a t-shirts, towels and coolers.”