Mamma Mia has defied the initial critics to become the most successful British film ever.
Now, in the interest of transparency, I have to admit to being a fully fledged Mamma Mia fangirl - one who saw the film, owns the DVD, bought the soundtrack and is often found singing ‘Does your mother know’ when I think nobody’s listening. However, on a professional level, I’ve also been blown away by the impact that word of mouth has played in the success of the film.
Mamma Mia had a very low-key opening; the premier was held in London and then a European launch followed a few weeks later. There was hardly any hype before the opening and the film was supported with limited advertising and PR beforehand.
In comparison to its opening week rival, The Dark Knight, (which executed a truly amazing social media campaign throughout the 12 months prior to opening) marketing for Mamma Mia was practically non-existent.
To be honest, I’m surprised that a low-budget film starring a singing Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth even survived, considering it opened:
- a) the same week as the most hyped film of the year, which featured a surely Oscar winning performance from the late Heath Ledger, and
- b) during the worst economic crisis of the past 15 years - the papers claimed that people didn’t have enough money for bread, let along musicals!
However, the film became the unexpected success story of the year and many actually credit its success to the timing. Not only did Mamma Mia offer an escape from our dreary summer, but it also offered some light relief from the highly publicised economic crisis. The sight of sun drenched beaches, beautiful people, great music and a happy ending certainly cheered me and my friends up on a cold Wednesday night!
WOMMA believe that word of mouth marketing is now the fastest growing and most in-demand set of marketing practices today. The power of word of mouth is immense and it’s something that consumer brands need to consider and take very seriously. The basic premise of word of mouth is that people like to talk to other people - and they certainly enjoyed talking to other people about this film!
Universal have since capitalised on the buzz surrounding Mamma Mia by creating a sing-a-long version currently being shown in cinemas around the UK - and it’s also included as a bonus feature on the DVD. (Cue lots of girlie trips to the cinema after a couple bottles of wine, or the perfect way to finish off an evening of X Factor.)
This clever modification gave people another reason / excuse to go and see the film again and experience it in a totally different way, whilst doubling the ticket sales, hence the record breaking stats - and also appealing to the current karaoke craze sweeping the nation thanks to games like Sony’s SingStar and dozens of new karaoke bars appearing in our cities overnight.
Mamma Mia has not only smashed box office records and given PR people a fantastic WOM case study, but it’s also allowed thousands of people to escape a recession - if only for a few hours. Just don’t mention “Money Money Money”.
