MediaTrust Case Study:
"Lights. Camera. Action"
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) wanted to expand its reach with a full-scale podcast marketing program.
SBIFF turned to the experienced team of interactive marketing advisors from the Search and Social Media Optimization division of MediaTrust. We had the rare opportunity to make this the first film festival in the world to offer podcast coverage of live events.
The inaugural podcasting program – featured placement on Apple’s iTunes, plus proactive search engine and social media optimization resulted in more than 700,000 downloads by the end of June 2007.
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SBIFF’s foray into podcasting had begun one year earlier, in 2006, with a last-minute decision to record exclusive interviews with George Clooney and James Cameron. MediaTrust led the pilot program and subsequently posted the clips to Google Video (before the rise of YouTube) and the festival director’s blog, resulting in more than 100,000 downloads, The pilot validated the concept and generated widespread enthusiasm for a full-scale podcasting program to complement the primary offline event.
With more time to plan ahead for the 2007 festival, SBIFF wanted to expand the program and explore related Social Media Optimization opportunities. At stake were the opportunities to build brand recognition, increase the value of sponsorships, and position SBIFF as a top-tier festival on par with such well-known events as Sundance and Cannes.
At the outset of the project, SBIFF handed full responsibility for podcasting strategy, planning, and execution to the MediaTrust team. “We needed a partner who could take a project and run with it, always keeping our best interests in mind,” says Mary Lynn Harms, development manager for SBIFF. As a result of the partnership, SBIFF was able to focus on the duties of the film festival, confident that the social media program was in good hands.
