Theaters aren’t just places to see movies—they can serve as a place for fans to gather, hang out, and build community.
That’s part of the reason why BoxLunch partnered up with theaters ahead of the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Ahead of the release of the film, the merchandise brand, which sells movie-themed merchandise collection in stores and online, partnered with Fandango to offer free movie tickets to BoxLunch customers who spent $100 or more in-store, as well as free exclusive collectors’ pins during opening night at Regal Cinemas nationwide.
BoxLunch also showed up on the ground at San Diego Comic Con in July to connect with fans and local residents while handing out free tickets to a screening at Regal.
Rick Vargas, SVP of merchandise and marketing, told us the activations were designed to showcase BoxLunch as a brand and create excitement around a major movie launch, but it didn’t end there. The brand has a longstanding partnership with the nonprofit Feeding America, where every $10 spent with BoxLunch helps donate a meal to food banks in the Feeding America network, and the goal, Vargas said, was also to emphasize the importance of building relationships with consumers in local communities.
“At the end of the day, we’re about giving back to the community, and specifically, giving back to your community, wherever you are,” Vargas said.
On location
Though BoxLunch has been to SDCC before, working with a local Regal theater this year allowed the brand to demonstrate its ability to connect with audiences and be part of the hype around Fantastic Four.
“Because of all of the excitement around the film, this [was] a great opportunity for us just to say ‘Hey, we feel the energy. We want to be part of this,’” Vargas said. “Let’s go and create an experience for our fans and get them into the movie theaters and really showcase the film and showcase what BoxLunch can do and how important it is for us to support the fans.”
At BoxLunch activation on the ground at SDCC, all available tickets were given away within two minutes of the brand’s announcement on its social media channels, Vargas told us. The brand announced several ticket drops throughout the day at different locations around SDCC via its Instagram Stories, and interested fans had to follow along for location reveals.
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.
BoxLunch is nearing its 10-year anniversary, but as a still relatively new brand, Vargas said being on the ground at events is a key part of integrating the brand into pop culture and connecting with fans.
“We need to be there. We need to make sure that we understand what the fans are excited about, even beyond what we did with Fantastic Four,” Vargas said. “We go and we ask the customers, ask the fans, ‘Hey, what are you guys excited about?’”
Watching the scene
BoxLunch’s partnership with Fandango continues through mid-August, and Vargas said the brand will continue to lean on social media, email, and in-store messaging to communicate its commitment to fans and philanthropy. So far, BoxLunch has been tracking engagement with social posts on its own channels, Fandango’s, and its theater partners to gather feedback on the campaign, as well as seeking feedback from consumers in-person.
“With these relationships, we’re seeing consistency post release, where we keep the customers engaged with the film, we keep the customers engaged with the content,” Vargas said. “They’re just as excited this week as they were during the release week, which is atypical.”
Connecting the BoxLunch message to a theater audience was natural, and after Fantastic Four leaves theaters, Vargas said there’s still more he’s hoping to explore in terms of winning over in-theater audiences.
“There’s still a lot that we can do going forward in terms of working more closely with the theaters, so they can also kind of amplify what we’re trying to do [with Feeding America],” Vargas said. “But I think getting the folks into the theaters, into the stores, to tell that story and to kind of showcase the impact that customers can have to their specific communities is really important.”
Read the full article here
