Creative is an advertiser’s best opportunity for a competitive advantage in social advertising. Soon, the combination of Facebook’s and Google’s Media buying automation with Apple’s removal of IDFA will make ‘winning’ creative ﹘the five percent of Facebook videos that are successful﹘of paramount importance. Here we break down Entertainment Games Creative Strategy with competitive trends & creative recommendations, so you can learn from their creative best practices.
Entertainment Games Competitive Analysis
- Top Competitors: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Tubi, Philo, Pluto TV, Starz, Sling, Crackle, Paramount Network, SyFy, BET Now, Shudder, Vudu
- View competitive videos here.
Entertainment Games User Motivations:
What are you looking for in an Entertainment app?
- Something to put me in a positive mood
- Background noise until I finally fall asleep
- Something short before work
- “Anything to help me wind down from work”
Why do you open an Entertainment up?
- Unwind/settle in
- Relax and escape
- A quick laugh
What need are you fulfilling when using an entertainment app?
- Eliminate boredom
- I need my time to not worry about anything and just relax, catch my breath, be lazy and pamper myself
- Elevate mood + aid sleep
- Laugh and have good thoughts before going to bed
- Access to content
- Fulfills some nostalgia of shows I used to watch with family or siblings growing up
- Catch up on new/old movies I have not seen before
- I can select from a huge pool of movies and shows, and I am not limited to what I can and cannot watch
- Find movies I might have a hard time finding another service
Concept: “Only on…” / “Not on…”
Focus on exclusive content. User profiles suggest hard-to-find content is a big reason for using multiple entertainment apps
- “Only on…”, “Only free on”, “Not on <competitor>…” are all appropriate messages.
- Images
- Leverage specific exclusive titles, especially if those that are free to watch.
- Feature hard-to-find titles that have remakes/sequels that competitors are hyping, e.g. Tubi promoting the original “Dolemite” when Netflix went all out on “Dolemite is My Name”.
- Video trailers
- 00:15-00:30 second trailers that feature a combination of scenes and dialogue from multiple movies and alongside “Only on…” or “Not on…” messaging.
Insight
- Given the popularity of Netflix and Disney+, it may be advisable to target them as competitors
Entertainment Games Competitive Trends
- Movie Trailers: Videos with movie trailer-style content, featuring multiple titles. (Vudu, Pluto, Shudder, Netflix, Sundance Now)
- Promoting Exclusive Content: Videos or images promoting exclusive or original content. (Hulu, Vudu, Netflix, Starz, BET, Crackle)
- Special Offers: Videos or images with special offers. (Netflix, Hulu, Philo, Starz)
- Competitive: Videos or images comparing prices to competitors or cable. (Sling, Hulu, Pluto)
- Movie Poster: Images leveraging a singular movie or TV series to promote the service. (Vudu, Hulu)
- Genre content: Video or images promoting a specific genre (sports, horror, etc.). (Sling, Shudder, Hulu)
- Shared Passion: Videos or images that engage passion communities (e.g., Star Wars fans) with quizzes, trivia, and profiles. (SyFy)
Concept: Genre-Focused Creative
Evolve current movie poster creative to focus on genres and seasonal titles, from Black cinema and Nostalgia TV to Academy Award-winners and seasonal/holidays
- Users see specific genres not necessarily available on category leaders such as Netflix & Hulu.
- Image ads include
- Awards season focuses on Oscar-winning titles, e.g. Chinatown. Movie poster or multiple titles.
- Seasonal focus: summer blockbusters, holiday movies, etc.
- Call out unique genre titles available.
- Videos
- 00:15-00:30 second trailers hype specific genres and seasonal offerings with scenes/dialogue from multiple titles.
Concept: Creativo Centrado en el Género
Evolve current movie poster creative to focus on genres and seasonal titles in video and image creative, specifically targeting Spanish-speaking audiences
- Memes with captions in Spanish.
- Genres focused on Spanish-speakers, e.g.:
- Para niños y familias
- Peliculas en Español
- Telenovelas y series
- Escape the commute
- Relax and enjoy some “Me Time”
- Looking for a good action/family movie
- Reality-TV
Concept: Shared Passion
User profiles suggest a love of nostalgia, old movies, and TV series. Let us reward that passion by using memes, quizzes and trivia to engage film buffs, movie fans, and TV addicts
- Expand memes to use scenes from nostalgic TV and film.
- Simple quizzes about old and new films and TV shows:
- What actor starred in Greatest American Hero?
- Random trivia about new and old genres:
- John Travolta turned down the role of Forrest Gump. (Photoshop his face into iconic Tom Hanks pic?)
- Combine with competitive “Only on…” or “Not on…” messaging.
Insight
- SyFy and Shudder are currently running similar campaigns.
Concept: YouTube Pre-Roll with Google Vogon
TV and movie fans regularly look up scenes on YouTube. Create pre-roll ads that target the specific genre they are looking at, with Google Vogon ads
- Example of how Campbell’s Soup utilized technology here
- 00:10 second pre-roll ads target a range of categories, with emphasis on competitive messaging:
- Horror: “Scared of costly subscriptions? Stream your favorite horror movies for free with <app>.”
- Sports: “Don’t pay to play with <competitor>. Stream great sports movies for free with <app>.”
- Kids Show: “Put the money you’d spend on <competitor> in the kids’ college fund. Stream for free with <app>.”
