HBO's True Blood: Can Social Media Marketing Save Home Video?
Posted by Samantha Coren
With the rise of streaming video services like Netflix and Hulu the home video market continues to fight an uphill battle for consumer interest. Recently, HBO released the second season of the popular vampire series True Blood on Blu-ray with special Twitter and Facebook features. Fans with internet ready Blu-ray players can view the series' official Twitter and Facebook feeds in real time when watching the discs. Additionally fans can
post clips and earn special virtual gifts as the more they watch.
Having the built in
social media marketing aspect seems like a cool gimmick, but will True Blood set the bench mark for future interactive Blu-ray releases? I feel that these new features are great for super-fans of movies and TV shows to "one up" each other and prove their fandom. In this sense it's a great way of maintaining constant fan engagement.
However for the casual home viewer they'll probably prefer to watch their videos without the interruption of constantly checking and updating their social networks. If studios and networks can provide more
high value offerings in terms of content to their home video customers beyond silly Twitter and Facebook updates it would probably be in their best interest. After all, it's going to get quite irritating having all your True Blood fanatic friends cluttering your feed to let you know they all "came out of the coffin to watch Episode 1".
Have you had a chance to try out any social media features on Blu-ray releases yet? Tell us about your experience in the comments!