Computer Support Blog

Marketing used to be a far more limited industry before the Internet.  With the rise of viral videos, the release of a movie trailer on the Internet can become a phenomenon in and of itself.  Viral marketing campaigns on the Internet have been known to make obscure movies with little potential appeal into cultural phenomena.  No one seems to understand the role of changing technologies in promoting films than Sue Kroll.

Sue Kroll is the President of Worldwide Marketing for Warner Bros. Pictures.  She has held the role since January 2008, when the position was created for her.  Prior to 2008, Sue Kroll served as Warner Bros. President of the International Marketing Division, a post she assumed in 2000.  The change in title is hardly just a semantic one; Kroll’s successes at promoting Warner Bros. films internationally led to the breakdown in barriers between the domestic and international divisions at Warner Bros!  By combining the domestic and international divisions into a worldwide marketing team, Kroll has rebranded Warner Bros. movies throughout the world.  That new, consistent, message has resonated with moviegoers around the world as her efforts made international phenomena out of the Harry Potter film saga, The Matrix sequels and the Oceans franchise!

Kroll rose through the ranks at Warner Bros. after working for Viacom and Turner Broadcasting.  While working for Turner Broadcasting, she was responsible for bringing TNT and the Cartoon Network to Europe.  One need only consider EuroDisney to know that not every American idea takes root overseas, but with Kroll’s guidance and market savvy, she literally built the Turner Broadcasting network in Europe!

At Warner Bros, Susan Kroll has refined her position and strengthened Warner Bros. position by being responsive to new technologies.  A key part of Susan Kroll’s international strategy to promote films is to respond to the market and adapt.  For example, when the first trailer for Green Lantern did not spark the enthusiasm and viral status on the Internet that Warner Bros. hoped, Kroll altered the marketing approach.  She waited until all of the special effects for Green Lantern were completed and released the new trailers a comparatively short time before the film was theatrically released.  By promoting the special effects right before the movie came out, Kroll created a type of “impulse item” demand for the movie that made it enough of a success at the box-office for Warner Bros. to consider building the film into a franchise.

Susan Kroll is one of the most powerful women in media today and she retains her authority in the marketplace, in part, by using the fantastic technological tools now available to her!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

The Internet is an amazing tool, as well as a resource.  While filmmakers are still developing ways to distribute unique content online in a way that makes it profitable and reaches enough of an audience to make the effort worthwhile, many major studios and independent production companies already use the Internet to generate enough buzz to become a phenomenon.  Some of the best examples of studios using the Internet to virally build interest in their projects follow.

One of the first, most potent successful films based largely on Internet buzz was The Blair Witch Project.  The Blair Witch Project was a horror film that the director shot with an amateur handheld camera style and centered on the idea that the movie was actually a found video “documentary.” For months in advance of the film’s release, an Internet campaign of disinformation claimed that the movie was authentic, that the events in it were real!  As a result, many people who saw The Blair Witch Project actually believed they were witnessing the disappearance of the kids in the movie!  The Blair Witch Project grossed almost a quarter of a billion dollars as the box office and spawned a sequel, merchandising and a small comic book franchise!

Similarly, when J.J. Abrams began producing Cloverfield, the studio kept virtually every detail about the movie under wraps.  The viral marketing campaign for Cloverfield titillated potential moviegoers without providing them with actual information.  So, for months before Cloverfield was released, the advertising campaign consisted of online games where players had to look at pictures and make guesses about what was happening in them and in what order they belonged.  The only concrete elements of the movie released in advance were a ringtone and sound clip of the monster from Cloverfield.  The opening weekend grosses for the movie were almost double the film’s budget and Cloverfield ended up taking in over $170,000,000 before its theatrical run ended!

One of the most recent movies to effectively use the Internet to generate buzz was Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus.  If you haven’t heard of the movie, it is not a surprise.  The advertising campaign for the preposterous giant animal fight movie was limited almost exclusively to the Internet.  By releasing a trailer for the film to MTV.com and YouTube exclusively, the film’s distributor (The Asylum) effectively targeted the only demographics that actually wanted to see the movie.  The trailer pulled millions of viewers and kept interest in the film, even as the producers discovered it would be unlikely to get a theatrical release.  What could have been an utter disaster for the distributor turned into one of the most successful straight-to-DVD presales pushes when The Asylum paired the trailer with an easy sales path to online DVD sellers!

Some of the above movies might well have been relegated to abject failure had it not been for the studios’ effective use of the Internet as an advertising tool.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

The Internet is truly a place where magic is alive.  The magic of creativity goes unstifled by the demands of studios, producers or networks, making it an ideal venue for the releases of independent animated projects.  Over the years, those pioneering new technologies and bored animators have captured the imagination of their niche audiences through the Internet.

What is most striking about the most successful animated phenomena on the Internet is how the overwhelming priority of their creators is to make something different and creative.  The most successful Internet animation phenomena have not sought to monetize the works the animators created.  That gives the creators of Internet animation a huge creative outlet that remains free to the fans.  A whole subculture in the animation industry has sprouted of animators who have never been associated with a major, commercially-successful enterprise.  Their works endure solely, purely, as their Internet animated phenomenon.  Some of the most notable are:

Salad Fingers.  Salad Fingers was a web-based animated series that David Firth produced and released in 2004 and 2005.  Firth is a British cartoonist who prioritizes message and content over a flashy style.  Firth created Salad Fingers using the relatively unsophisticated Adobe Flash for the animation.  Salad Fingers went viral in 2005 and is now the subject of extensive merchandising, like t-shirts and toys.  The original nine episodes of the crudely-drawn Salad Fingers remain free online to this day.

Joe Cartoon.  Joe Cartoon is a decent example of how a viral animator’s work may become a gateway to more mainstream opportunities for an animator.  Joe Cartoon was the platform upon which “Gerbil In A Microwave” and “Frog In A Blender” were released.  More than simply disturbing Flash-based animations, they became a phenomenon.  “Frog In A Blender” was downloaded over 110,000,000 times before the hosting site it was on crashed!  Since then, Joe Cartoon has appeared on independent platforms, the television channel G4 and now YouTube.  Having been producing since 1998, Joe Cartoon illustrates a longevity few other Internet phenomena may claim.

Dancing Baby.  The Dancing Baby was a weird bit of animation and most fans of Ally McBeal probably had no idea of its origins.  The appearance of the Dancing Baby on Ally McBeal made the graphic, animated baby a mainstream phenomenon.  However, the programmers who originated the Dancing Baby developed the program two years prior and it was a hit on the Internet!

Because the Internet is clearly here to stay, mainstream culture is growing to accept that animated Internet phenomena are only likely to spread off the Internet and into the real world.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

The photograph has a power over us that we seldom reflect on.  Iconic photographs have taken on such profound meaning in the collective conscience from the U.S. sailor kissing a nurse at the end of World War II to the photograph of Martin Luther King Jr.’s peers pointing in the direction his shooter fled.  With the proliferation of digital cameras, online stock imagery and vast repositories of digital images online, modern photography has stopped meaning quite as much.  As a result, the Internet has pioneered the phenomenon of photo manipulation for humor.

The current generation of computer users does not seem content with the photograph and the implicit thousand words it is supposedly worth.  As a result, users have created entire communities centered on humorous manipulations of photographs where users add words to an image as a punch line of sorts.

The evolution of the humorous photo manipulation started with lolcats.  Lolcats – derived from the texting abbreviation for “Laughing Out Loud” and the common name for felines – became an underground subculture creation in 2005.  At that time, stock images of cats were shared between friends with humorous or supportive text added to them.  In 2006 when 4chan.org and Something Awful began promoting images of lolcats.  Since then, the lolcat has crossed into the mainstream.  Thousands of individuals shared pictures with grammatically incorrect but funny phrases that either refer to the cat’s actions in the photograph or represent dialogue the cat might speak.  I Can Has Cheezburger? is a site that remains active today with daily, fresh lolcats.  As a phenomenon, lolcats remains one of the most enduring.

But lolcats has evolved as the market for cat-based humor moves toward exhaustion.  The lolcats have given rise to the Internet meme phenomenon.  Internet memes are like lolcats in that they feature photographs with humorous text.  Internet memes differ in that their subjects are more than just cats.  Instead, pop culture imagery both present (like Rebecca Black) and past (Richard Nixon) is combined with text to make jokes.  These photo manipulation “strips” range from one-panel jokes to several panel strips with a punch line.  Because geek culture dominates the Internet meme phenomenon, many use more obscure references than the mainstream lolcats.  So, for example, Admiral Ackbar and his catchphrase “It’s a trap!” is the subject of many Internet memes.  Those who have not seen Return Of The Jedi many, many times are unlikely to get the full weight of the reference when it arrives as the punch line to many an Internet meme.

Internet meme’s and other photo manipulation forms of humor are seeing growth on the Internet.  The communities preoccupied with Internet memes are interested in creating and sharing humor, so they remain free sites.  If you have had a joke, but lack the artistic talent to draw well, Internet memes offer a possible avenue for you to creatively express yourself!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

Geeks love swag.  It’s true.  The only thing that truly separates the shopaholics who cannot resist when their favorite department store bundles an obscene number of cosmetics together at a discounted price and the geek community is what the different demographics are spending their money on.  Comic book geeks thrill over variant covers, cinephiles will hunt down exclusive packages like the Inception briefcase and fans of Katy Perry shelled out extra cash for a bonus package of her c.d. Teenage Dream that included a baby-t.  Video game enthusiasts are no exception to the overall geek culture.  In 2011, there were some exclusive packages and incentives that will make video game geeks salivate.  The best include:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition.  Video game fans wildly anticipated Skyrim in advance of its mid-November release.  To build on the hype and merchandise it, Bethesda released a Collector’s Edition of Skyrim that includes a statue of one of the primary characters from the game, a book on the artwork of Skyrim and a “Making Of Skyrim” DVD, none of which are available elsewhere.  This remains fairly available, probably because it is still such a new game.

Batman Arkham City Collector’s Edition.  Comic book geeks and video game geeks truly synergized for the release of Batman Arkham City this year.  Warner Brothers banked on the long history of comic book readers wanting exclusives to boost the video game’s sales.  The Collector’s Edition appeals to the comic book-loving geek with its inclusion of an exclusive statue.  The Collector’s edition also includes a DVD of Batman: Gotham Knight, collectible art book, digital album of music inspired by the game, a map and an exclusive skin.  This has been very popular with both types of fans.  Past history with this sort of exclusive has illustrated they appreciate well after they sell out in the primary market.  Because of the sheer number of exclusives, this is likely to be a great gift even for those Batman fans that do not play video games.

Battlefield 3 VIP Kit.  EA, the producer of Battlefield 3, produced a limited edition VIP kit for celebrities.  This rare item is highly sought after, as Battlefield 3 was one of the bestselling games of the year.  Only fifty of the kits were made, which makes sense because the exclusive package is a metal military trunk!  Inside, EA – the producer of Battlefield 3 – included the game, a controller, an Apple TV, a watch, dog tags and a hollowed out grenade.  Unless you know a famous rapper or game player who got one of these, odds are this will remain the holy grail of video game exclusives!

Fans of video games will want to hunt for the best possible version of the game they love . . . or suspect they will love before they make their initial purchase.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

Software companies are beginning to market some of the best video slot machine games from casinos for home use.  While online video slot games can lead to grave concerns over Internet security, home computer software for video slot machine players offers the thrill of video slot machines without the threats, hassles or gambling debts.  The coolest video slot machine game on the market is IGT’s Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania.

Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania is a collection of 20 IGT video slot machine games released for PC and Mac by Masquepublishing Software.  Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania includes Cats, Stinkin’ Rich, Betti The Yetti, Carnival Of Mystery, Da Vinci’s Diamonds and other games that are instantly recognizable to anyone who has been to a modern casino.  There are also more obscure games like Price Check and Frog Princess that may not have been part of IGT’s staple line-up.

The interface for Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania is instantly cool.  Before going to any machines, you enter the virtual casino where you can see banks of the video slot machines.  It is a cute gimmick and it is enough to get anyone who likes video slot machines into the mood to play.  Masquepublishing also includes ambient noise from the virtual casino to make the experience more vivid (that may be turned off without losing the sound effects from the game you want to play if that is not your thing).  When you pick out the game you want to play, you click on the video slot machine and your screen becomes the cabinet for the game.

Like most of Masquepublishing’s IGT video slot machine games, Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania allows you to take your virtual winnings with you from machine to machine.  As a result, you may feel like you are winning more and more in your virtual casino.  The software may be set for ideal odds which allows you to build up your bank fast and experience bonus games more frequently.  With ideal odds, you win more often.  The software may alternatively be set for the casino odds, which could be a great object lesson for young children enchanted by the idea of gambling that you want to disenchant!

What is extraordinary about Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania is that it includes games that have bonus games much more sophisticated than the standard IGT releases.  Instead of just free spins, games like Betty The Yetti include bonus games that tell a story and build upon themselves.  On Betti The Yetti’s bonus game, players watch their multipliers and “adventure bonus” increase as Betty walks around her park!  Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania also includes Da Vinci’s Diamonds, a cascading reel video slot machine that is an exciting mechanic not available on any of the other IGT games released so far.

Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania installs easily from CD-ROM without the need for any additional computer support.  Gambling can be costly, stinky (all that smoke!), and involve travel: Masquepublishing and IGT make it fun and risk-free with Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com