Uncovering the DNA of an Effective Summer Movie Trailer
Since first reading this excellent Fast Company article that revealed storytelling tips from one of the world’s top movie trailer producers, we, here at Dialsmith, have been thinking about the make-up of a great movie trailer. What are the common traits that great trailers share? Is there a secret formula to engaging audiences in such a short period? Why do some trailers leave you begging for more while others leave you wondering if you could get a refund on that last two minutes of your life?
With the summer movie season on the horizon, the timing was right to explore this topic and Qual 360 North America provided the perfect opportunity. With technology provider Invoke Solutions, we co-conducted and presented (what we think is) the first-ever, real-time online research study in front of a live audience at a research industry conference. The study used an innovative approach that meshes the qual of Invoke’s Large-Scale Focus Groups platform with the quant of Dialsmith’s Perception Analyzer Online dial testing to gather feedback and data from 102 participants.
Qual 360 attendees view real-time results from the study’s online dial testing session.
We looked into respondents’ general preferences and expectations regarding the films they watch, their thoughts on the upcoming summer movie season and had them watch and provide feedback on 1 of 2 trailers for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. Each participant was randomly selected to watch 1 of the 2 trailers complete with a slider scale to indicate their interest on a moment-to-moment basis. They were then asked a series of open and closed-ended questions to understand their reactions to their specific trailer.
Study participants viewed and provided continuous feedback on 1 of 2 Avengers movie
trailers using Perception Analyzer Online.
For more background on the study and the approach and tools we used, you can read this Q&A with the study’s co-presenters.
And if you’re ready to dive into the results, grab yourself a bag of popcorn and dig in below…
