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The influence of new media marketing public relations on the South Korean film industry -- in relation to the U.S. film industry

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The influence of new media marketing public relations on the South Korean film industry -- in relation to the U.S. film industry

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Content THE INFLUENCE OF NEW MEDIA MARKETING PUBLIC RELATIONS
ON THE SOUTH KOREAN FILM INDUSTRY
IN RELATION TO THE U.S. FILM INDUSTRY
by
In Soon Park
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)
May 2007
Copyright 2007 In Soon Park
ii
Acknowledgements
This thesis represented a challenge I could not have completed successfully
without the assistance and support of several people. First, I would like to
express my appreciation for the invaluable help I received from my thesis
advisors Professor Jerry Swerling, Professor Jennifer Floto and
Professor David E. James. I owe a debt of gratitude to them for their ongoing
encouragement and inspiration. In addition, I would like to give special
thanks to interview and focus group participants Paul PFlung, YoonHee Chai,
June Park, Dear Kyo, Lee, Chai and Lim. Lastly, but not least, many thanks
to my beloved family and friends who always stand behind me: Mom, Dad,
Two Seok’s, Ti, Ss, and especially, Ms. Teresa. Although completing this
thesis required considerable time and effort, I am more than happy to offer it
for possible use in future research.
iii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ii
List of Tables v
List of Figures vi
Abstract vii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
A. Purpose of the Study and Hypothesis 1
B. Characteristics of Motion Pictures 2
Chapter 2: Situation Analysis 4
A. History of Motion Pictures 4
1. South Korea 4
2. United States 6
B. Overview of the Film Industry 7
1. South Korea’s Film Market 7
2. Comparison with the United States’ Film Market 11
2.1 The Film Market 11
2.2 Filmmakers / Distributors 13
2.3 Home Entertainment Market 16
2.4 10 Top Grossing Films in History 17
C. Comparison of South Korean and United States’ Moviegoers 19
Chapter 3: Defining New Media 22
A. The Definition of New Media 22
B. New Media in Relation to Marketing PR in the Film Industry 23
1. New Media Marketing PR in South Korea 25
2. New Media Marketing PR in the United States 27
C. Comparison of Moviegoers’ Media Habits in South Korea and United
States 30
Chapter 4: Methods 34
A. Hypothesis 34
B. Primary Research 34
1. Interviews 34
2. Focus Group Interview 37
C. Secondary Research 38
Case Study 1.Welcome to Dongmakgol (2006) 40
Case Study 2. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) 42
iv
Chapter 5: Conclusion 45
A. Main Research Findings and Implications 45
1. Interview Findings 45
2. Focus Group Interview Findings 48
3. New Trends in the Film Industry 51
B. Discussion and Conclusion 54
1. Discussion 54
2. Conclusion 55
3. Proven Hypothesis 56
Bibliography 57
Appendices
Appendix A: Glossary of Terms 63
Appendix B: Welcome to Dongmakgol’s Homepage 64
Appendix C: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’s Homepage 66
v
List of Tables
Table 1: Yearly Box Office in the U.S. 12
Table 2: All Time U.S. vs. South Korean Box Office 18
Table 3: Media Habit of South Korean Consumers 31
Table 4: Sources of Movie Information in South Korea 31
vi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Review of South Korean Film Industry in 2005 by KOFIC 9
Figure 2: Range of South Korean Film Production Costs by KOFIC 10
Figure 3: 2005 U.S. Home Entertainment by MPAA 16
vii
Abstract
In the digital age, as the use of new media increases dramatically
among moviegoers seeking to acquire movie information, film marketing
public relations in South Korea are being applied to diverse outlets such as
blogs, videocasts, online social networking sites, and mobile TVs. This study
analyzes the way in which the strategic use of new media capable of
generating rapid word-of-mouth can affect the success of “sleeper hits” at the
box office. To examine this hypothesis, interviews, a focus group and
secondary research have been conducted. The study also includes a
description of the U.S. film industry with respect to its market,
filmmakers/distributors, moviegoers and new media habits.
This analysis concludes that a number of “sleeper films” have
achieved unprecedented success at the box office in the U.S. and Korea since
new media has emerged. At the same time, generating word-of-mouth buzz
does not always guarantee the box office success of a film, creating an
uncertainty about the overall effects of new media that necessitates more
extensive research.
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
A. Purpose of the Study and Hypothesis
Over 13 million people viewed the legendary South Korean film The Host in
2006, shattering the previous South Korean box office record. In contrast to earlier
movies, word-of-mouth acted as the hidden force that drove a quarter of South
Korea’s population to see this unprecedented film.
In the digital age, reliance on traditional media such as TV and newspapers
for movie PR has been fading. At the same time, new media – considered the pivotal
channel for generating positive word-of-mouth, also known as a “buzz” – has
emerged as a key marketing strategy in the film industry. The use of new media has
been increasing rapidly in both South Korea and the United States as frequent
moviegoers acquire film information from online social network sites, blogs and
official movie websites. Today, the strategic use of new media can play a decisive
role in the success of movies in both countries as it generates highly effective word-
of-mouth enthusiasm among moviegoers. New media can be especially effective in
generating a buzz about “sleeper films” not expected to be profitable at the box
office that nonetheless achieve unanticipated success as a result of word-of-mouth.
This analysis examines the use of new media by the South Korean film
industry in relation to that of the U.S. film industry. Although the film markets differ
vastly in size, the media habits of the two cultures correspond. As such, new media’s
role in the South Korean film market could function as a miniature model of the U.S.
2
market in the near future. The following discussion examines the degree to which
new media influences the film industries in South Korea and the United States.
B. Characteristics of Motion Pictures
A motion picture is a unique artistic invention that has the characteristics of
non-rivalry and non-exclusion (Lee, 2004-2005, P.16). This means a movie is not
exclusive to one buyer at one particular time, but includes multiple buyers
simultaneously. For example, a cup of coffee is purchased for one customer in one
transaction, while a film, in contrast, is not restricted to a single viewer but relies on
many viewers at multiple times. Similarly, a movie is an “experience good” insofar
as one review of a film influences other consumers’ decisions to see it.
Unlike other commodities, a motion picture is one facet of entertainment
content – known as cultural content in South Korea – and is considered a ‘one-source
multi-use product’ (Lee, & Kim, 2006, p. 5, 11-15). ‘One-source multi-use product’
refers to an initial product that can offshoot into multiple, related products. For
instance, a movie’s life does not end in the theater, but can offshoot to DVDs, video
games and character toys. While producing a film is an expensive undertaking,
producing DVDs or video games costs far less, which is why investing in movies
carries a high risk and “sunk cost.”
1
Creating subsidiary products such as DVDs or
videotapes once the movie is completed, however, has proven relatively inexpensive.
1
Sunk cost: Cost already incurred which cannot be recovered regardless of future events. Definition
retrieved January 12, 2006, from http://www.investorwords.com/4813/sunk cost.html
3
Motion pictures normally are distributed to various channels at different
times – a practice known as “windowing”– which takes into consideration audience
interest, copying, and public demand for a program (Lee, 2004-2005, p. 17). The
effect of movies also may be determined by factors such as the content of a film, the
actors or directors involved, the production budget and the awards it receives.
4
Chapter 2
Situation Analysis
A. History of Motion Pictures
1. South Korea (Koreanfilm.org, 2006)
South Korea’s first public screening occurred in 1903. However, most major
films made before 1940 were lost in the destruction caused by the Korean War
(1950-1953). Only five films made before 1936 survived, though a surprising 160
features were filmed from the early twenties until Japan’s surrender to Allied forces
in 1945. The latter half of the 1950s has been considered a period of revival for the
South Korean film industry as foreign aid programs provided film technology and
equipment, setting the stage for the rebirth of South Korean cinema.
Contemporary film history began in the 1960s when several highly talented
directors emerged in South Korea. In the 1970s, with many South Koreans deserting
movies in favor of television, the Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation (the
precursor to the Korean Film Council) was founded in an effort to revive the film
industry. Although moviegoers lacked sophistication at that time, by the 1980s South
Korean films witnessed a slight relaxation in censorship and garnered increased
recognition from the international community as evidenced, for example, by Korean
actress Kang Su Yeon’s award for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1987.
The most significant name in 1980s Korean cinema was Im Kwon-taek, who
emerged as Korea’s best-known filmmaker. Director Im devoted much of his effort
to capturing and enshrining the elements of traditional Korean culture which, as time
5
passed, were in danger of being forgotten. Until the early 1990s, the Korean cinema
was controlled primarily by the government, which meant most official publicity
could be discounted as propaganda. Correspondingly, a cultural understanding of the
importance of underground, word-of-mouth publicity evolved in response to the
Japanese surrender to the democratic opposition.
A new constitution, enacted by military leader Roh Tae-woo in 1988, led to
the gradual easing of censorship. Revision of the Motion Picture Law loosened
some of the regulatory restrictions on Korean filmmakers, permitting independent
production in South Korea. At the same time, the new law allowed foreign films,
including Hollywood and Hong Kong movies, to make inroads into the Korean film
market. As a result of growing international competition, the Screen Quota System –
a quota introduced in 1966 requiring every theater in South Korea to screen domestic
movies at least four times per year – has been preserved to protect the Korean film
industry.
Beginning in 1996, the South Korean film industry was taken over by a new
generation of directors, including Hong Sang-Soo, Kim Ki-duk, Lee Chang-dong and
Chang Yoon-hyun. The surprise success of Kang Je-Gyu’s Shiri (1999) represented a
turning point in South Korean filmmaking as Kang and a new generation of directors
helped set the stage for the subsequent success of numerous South Korean films.
Historically, Korean cinema has suffered from Japanese colonization,
national division, civil war, authoritarian military governments, strict censorship, and
highly restrictive and distorting film regulations. Partly due to the Screen Quota
6
system, however, the popularity of South Korean films domestically precipitated
their expansion throughout Asia – including Japan and China – in the 21
st
century,
leading to a dramatic growth in the “Korean Wave.”
2
An overview of the
burgeoning South Korean film market is presented in Section B-1.
2. United States
Hollywood is universally recognized as the capital of the world’s film
industry. Early cinema started in Europe and soon spread to the United States.
During World War I (1914-1918), Hollywood expanded its film industry as
European countries, particularly France and Italy, struggled to cope with the
devastation brought about by the war (Branston, 2000, p. 11-13).
The U.S. film industry moved to Southern California in the early 20
th
century
because its pleasant, year-round weather conditions were conducive to the efficient
production and distribution of films. In the early 1920s, Hollywood created the
studio system, in which studios produced films on their own lots and pursued vertical
integration of production and distribution. At the same time, Hollywood invented the
star system, which focused on the creation and promotion of film stars to attract
public interest. In classic Hollywood cinema, the studio system and star system
functioned as equally important components of the film production and promotion
machine (“Cinema in the U.S.,” 2006).
2
Korean Wave: The cultural and social phenomenon of South Korean entertainment contents such as
music, soap-opera and films that are experiencing rising popularity around Asia.
7
The Golden Age of Hollywood flourished from the end of the Silent Era to
the late 1940s. In 1948, the production and exhibition of films were departed as a
result of a case brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act. With this ruling, film
studios no longer held exclusive distribution rights for their films. This led to the
‘post-studio’ period in the 1950s, which witnessed the emergence of blockbuster and
independent films. Simultaneously, the advent of television drew audiences away
from theaters and films (“Cinema in the U.S.,” 2006).
The New Hollywood period arose in the 1970s with the emergence of several
new, young directors, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford
Coppola. These directors earned degrees from prestigious film schools and adopted
film-making techniques developed in Europe. The 1980s and 1990s brought about
another significant development – the rise of home videos – which opened a vast
new market for film studios to exploit (Branston, 2000, p.44).
In the 21
st
century, Hollywood faces a host of challenges, including new
technologies, shifting business models, and threats to intellectual property rights. An
overview of the American film market is presented in Section B-2.
B. Overview of the Film Industry
1. South Korea’s Film Market
The year 2004 was notable for the South Korean film industry as both
TaeGukGi: Brotherhood of War and Silmido attracted over 10 million viewers. In
2005, The King and the Clown drew over 12 million moviegoers, while The Host
8
(2006) drew over 13 million, earning $90 million in South Korea alone. The success
of these films signaled a period of remarkable growth (See Table 2).
Numerous factors have contributed to this recent growth. In 2006, South
Korea ranked third in occupancy rate – the percentage of domestically produced
films shown in a country – at 59%, preceded by the U.S. (94%) and India (93%),
according to Yonhap News on July 27, 2006. The South Korean film market now
ranks as the world’s ninth-largest movie market as measured by sales of theater
tickets and home videos. Increased production budgets for South Korean films and
brisk admission ticket sales reflect the growing South Korean domestic film market
as well as the increase in film export revenue. According to the “Review of South
Korean Film Industry,” total domestic box office sales increased from $205 million
to $959 million over the ten year period from 1995 and 2005, representing a fivefold
increase
3
(See Figure 1). Film production has increased dramatically during the last
decade, with 83 domestic South Korean films released in 2005 versus 62 in 1995
(Kim, & Doh, 2006, p.34-38). Continued market growth at this pace will compel the
public relations industry to expand its capabilities and strategies to publicize films
that are gaining sophistication in both quality of product and diversity of genre.
3
Exchange rate: US $1 = 933.80 Korean Won, Retrieved November 18, 2006.
9
Figure 1. Review of South Korean Film Industry in 2005 by KOFIC
4
South Korea’s growing film market also is linked to a rise in the average
ticket price from $4.50 in 1995 to $6.70 in 2005. At the same time, the number of
screens increased from 577 in 1995 to 1,634 in 2005 due to the emergence of the
multiplex movie theater which, owing to the expanding array of entertainment
options offered, attracted more moviegoers to the theaters (Kim, & Doh, 2006, p.34-
38). South Korea’s threefold increase in screens reflects how the successful films can
generate higher profits by fueling an overall increase in movie going.
Along with the growing number of moviegoers and rising ticket prices,
average production costs for South Korean films increased to nearly $3.99 million in
2005 while profits have increased by 27.6% since 2004 (See Figure 2). When Shiri
was produced for $2.7 million seven years ago, no one predicted film production
costs would increase so sharply. Since then, films with production budgets topping
4
Kim, MeeHyun, & Doh, DongJoon. (2006, April). Review of South Korean Film Industry in 2005.
Korean Film Observatory. Korea: Korean Film Council [KOFIC]. p.34-38.
10
$15 million, such as TaeGukGi (2004) and Typhoon (2006), are becoming more
feasible. Mounting production costs have motivated filmmakers to produce more
engaging movies, improving the quality of South Korean films as the market
expands to other parts of Asia.
A new phenomenon emerging in Asia referred to as the Korean Wave can be
attributed to the successful export of South Korean cultural entertainment content in
the form of film and TV dramas. Nearly $76 million worth of South Korean films
were exported in 2005, a 30% increase over 2004, according to the “Review of South
Korean Film Inudstry” (Kim, & Doh, 2006, p.43-45). Those figures reflect the
success South Korean films enjoyed at the international box office as the country’s
filmmaking reputation rose throughout Asia. In 2004, 77.8% of South Korean films
were exported to Asian countries, with many achieving success because of cultural
similarities in language, ethics and religion (Lee, & Kim, 2006, p.14, 91).

Figure 2. Range of South Korean Film Production Costs by KOFIC
5
5
Kim, MeeHyun, & Doh, DongJoon. (2006, April). Review of South Korean Film Industry in 2005.
Korean Film Observatory. Korea: Korean Film Council [KOFIC]. P. 43-45.
11
That success, unfortunately, was limited to Asia and could not be duplicated
in other parts of the world. Further, according to DongA-Ilbo, export of Korean films
to Asian countries sunk 82.8% between 2005 and 2006 as South Korean films
flopped, particularly at the Japanese box office (Chai, 2006). South Korea’s current
decline in film exports is attributable to lack of genre diversity and excessive reliance
on movie stars who spearheaded the Korean Wave. At this stage, South Korean
studios need to focus on developing higher quality film content and establishing an
international marketing system that generates ongoing growth worldwide.
2. Comparison with the United States’ Film Market
2.1 The Film Market
The U.S. film market dwarfs South Korea’s in every respect, although U.S.
domestic market revenue has flattened in recent years. As the capital of the film
industry, Hollywood reigns as the largest producer in the world, earning $34.3 billion
in 2004 compared to South Korea’s $1.3 billion (Yonhap News, 2006). Nevertheless,
total U.S. domestic box office remained at nearly $9 billion in 2006, indicating the
market has stagnated. Although Hollywood saw a 5.5% increase in gross revenue in
2006, the U.S. film industry had been struggling with declining domestic ticket sales
since 2002. According to MPAA, theater admissions in the U.S. remained at 1.44
billion in 2006, decreasing from 1.63 billion in 2002 (See Table 1).
With its domestic market saturated, the U.S. has been seeking avenues to
expand its international market. In fact, U.S. films, which rely on foreign markets for
12
more than half of their total revenue, have been highly successful worldwide,
garnering a 46% increase in international box office receipts since 2000. For
example, the biggest hit in 2006, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest earned
$423 million (39.7%) in domestic box office, but topped $642 million (60.3%) in
foreign markets (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” 2006).
Table 1. Yearly Box Office in the U.S.
6
(*: million)
Year
Total Box
Office
Gross*
Change
Tickets
Sold*
Change
# of
Pics.
Ticket
Price
Avg.
Production
Cost*
#1 Picture
2006 $9,487.8 +5.5% 1,448.5 +3.3% 607 $6.55 $65.8
Pirates of the
Caribbean:
Dead Man’s
Chest
2005 $8,991.2 -5.7% 1,402.7 -8.7% 549 $6.41 $63.6
Star Wars:
Episode III -
Revenge of the
Sith
2004 $9,539.2 +0.5% 1,536.1 -2.4% 482 $6.21 $65.7 Shrek 2
2003 $9,488.5 +0.3% 1,574.0 -4.0% 473 $6.03 $66.3
Return of the
King
2002 $9,519.6 +13.2% 1,639.3 +10.2% 466 $5.81 $47.8 Spider-Man
2001 $8,412.5 +9.8% 1,487.3 +4.7% 483 $5.66 $47.7
Harry Potter
and The
Sorcerer’s
Stone
2000 $7,660.7 +2.9% 1,420.8 -3.0% 478 $5.39 $54.8 The Grinch
1999 $7,448.0 +7.2% 1,465.2 -1.0% 461 $5.08 $51.5
The Phantom
Menace
1998 $6,949.0 +9.2% 1,480.7 +6.7% 509 $4.69 $52.7
Saving Private
Ryan
1997 $6,365.9 +7.7% 1,387.7 +3.7% 510 $4.59 $53.4 Titanic
6
“2006 Theatrical Market Statistic Report.” (2007). MPAA. P. 21-23.
Yearly Box Office. (2006) Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
13
Average U.S. theatrical costs
7
for MPAA member companies dropped from
$102.9 million in 2003 to $96.2 million in 2005, while South Korea’s theatrical costs
increased during the same time period (“U.S. Theatrical Market,” 2005, p.2-14).
Nonetheless, South Korea’s average production cost of $3.99 million in 2005 was
less than 15% of the average U.S. film’s production cost
8
of $60 million. Although
average U.S. theatrical costs have declined 6.5% since 2003, average marketing costs
increased 5.2%, from $34.4 million in 2004 to $38.2 million in 2005. A similar shift
has occurred in the South Korean film industry. Marketing costs for Welcome to
Dongmakgol (2005), for example, which cost $6 million to produce, ran to $2
million.
9
2.2 Filmmakers / Distributors
The South Korean film market is dominated by four major film
investors/distributors: CJ Entertainment, Showbox, Cinema Service and Lotte
Entertainment. CJ Entertainment’s introduction of multiplex movie theaters, called
the CGV, in 1998 strongly increased its brand power. Orion Group/Multiplex
established Showbox in 2002 and has been growing steadily with Megabox, another
multiplex theater. In 2006, CJ Entertainment controlled 34.6% of the Korean films’
domestic market share while Showbox controlled 31.2%. A large gap exists between
7
Theatrical cost includes production costs and marketing costs.
8
This is the average production cost of MPAA member companies including Buena Vista Pictures
Distribution (The Walt Disney Company), Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures
Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios LLLP, and
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
9
From the interview with June Park on January 5, 2007.
14
these two conglomerates and the third largest competitor, Cinema Service, which
controls 16.9% of the domestic market share. Lotte Entertainment, another
conglomerate that has entered the film market since 1999 controls only 7.2% of the
domestic market share (Kim, & Doh, 2007, p.6). Since three conglomerates share
nearly 82.0% of the market, there is concern about the South Korean film market
being monopolized by conglomerated film investors/distributors, which may limit
creativity by quashing competition. The Fair Trade Law in South Korea prohibits
one company from controlling more than 50% of the market or three companies
sharing more than 75% (Lee, & Kim, 2006, p.90). The South Korean film market is
not monopolized yet, but obviously an oligopolistic market arose when CJ
Entertainment partly merged with Plunus Cinema (now as known as Cinema
Service) in 2004.
Another significant change in South Korean film investor/distributor
companies came about with their entry into the stock market in 2004. Cinema
Service and CJ Entertainment were listed on the South Korean Securities Dealers
Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) in 2001 and 2002 (Lee, & Kim, 2006, p.91).
South Korean film investors/distributors have joined with telecommunications
companies to expand their reach and financial resources. For example, KTF, one of
the largest mobile service providers in South Korea, was negotiating with Showbox
to create a $20-30 million film fund among mobile users (Yoon, 2005). KT, Korea
Telecom, also merged with Sidus Pictures, a filmmaker that produces more than five
films a year in South Korea, to create one of the largest entertainment networks in
15
the country. Prior to this, SK telecom took over 21.4% of IHQ, the mother company
of Sidus HQ. These mergers reveal how telecommunications companies are funding
the film industry as its market value expands. The integration between broadcasting
and telecommunications evidenced in Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) on
mobile TV also is accelerating. The entertainment contents for DMB will consist of a
film produced in the upcoming year. Mergers with new media companies have the
potential to bring more successful films to the South Korean box office by boosting
production and marketing funds available to filmmakers.
Since the late 1980s, Hollywood filmmakers have been dominated by global
media conglomeracy (Branston, 2000, p.53-54). Twentieth Century Fox was taken
over by Australian Rupert Murdoch’s News International in 1986. Columbia is
merged with Sony Pictures, a Japanese company in 1989. Warner Brothers became
the world’s largest media conglomerate, Time-Warner, in 1989. Time-Warner’s
subsequent merger with AOL and EMI in January 2000 was recorded as the largest
in history. A few years later, in 2004, Universal was taken over by NBC. Most
recently, Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks was purchased by Viacom, the parent
company of Paramount Pictures, in 2005. Hollywood’s global conglomeracy
illustrates the challenge filmmakers face in competing with the multimedia
entertainment industry, whose global media giants market an array of products
through entertainment outlets as diverse as video, cable TV, DVD, podcast and
Internet link-ups.
16
2.3 Home Entertainment Market
The U.S. home entertainment market is unique in that DVD sales exceed box
office revenue. According to “Cultural Contents Marketing,” the New York Times
reported that in 2004 the U.S. film industry earned 21% of its annual revenue from
theater tickets and 63% from sales of DVDs (Lee, & Kim, 2006, p.11). MPAA also
reported U.S. consumers spent nearly $24.9 billion on home entertainment including
VHS and DVD sales in 2005 (See Figure 3). The home entertainment market in the
U.S. accounts for 60% of film market revenue, a far larger percentage than in South
Korea, suggesting the U.S. could make use of different types of film marketing PR
that capitalize on expanding video sales through such strategies as shortening the
time between a film’s theater debut and release on DVD.
Figure 3. 2005 U.S. Home Entertainment by MPAA
10
10
“U.S. Piracy Fact Sheet.” (2005). MPAA. p.5.
17
The South Korean film market, on the other hand, relies on theater tickets for
80% of its revenue, while the home entertainment market is collapsing due to illegal
online downloading. According to “The Research of Korean Moviegoers’ Behavior
conducted in 2006,” South Korean consumers prefer online downloads or Internet
VOD (Video-On-Demand) services to DVD/VHS rentals. DVD sales in South Korea
dropped to $8 million in 2005 after peaking at $11 million in 2004. DVD sales
grossed just $8.5 million in 2005, while VHS rentals brought in a paltry $18,000
(Kim, H.W., 2007, p.21). Although DVD sales increased from 1998 to 2004 in both
countries, the home video industry has been undercut by declining profits since 2006
(Bond, 2006).
At the beginning of the 21
st
century, the DVD became a profitable product
that opened a new market for studios, leading to an explosion in packaging that
included extra scenes, extended director’s versions and commentary tracks with
films. However, the DVD market has been flat for five years as new technology such
as portable media players (i.e., the Apple iPod and Microsoft Zune) gain popularity.
Since emerging portable media in the home entertainment industry still is in
transition, it remains to be seen whether it ultimately will benefit the film industry or
detract from its revenue.
2.4 10 Top Grossing Films in History
The South Korean film industry has experienced steady box office success
since 2000. All ten top-grossing South Korean films have been made since 1999,
18
four of which have been seen by over 10 million viewers in South Korea. The
average gross for U.S. box office greatly exceeds that of South Korea due to
theatrical costs and market size. Detailed figures for the top grossing South Korean
and U.S. films of all time are listed in Table 2.
Table 2. All Time U.S. vs. South Korean Box Office
11
($: million)
United States
South Korea
Rank
Title Studio Year Gross Title Distributor Year
Gross
1 Titanic Paramount 1997 $600 The Host Showbox 2006 $90.0
2 Star Wars Fox 1977 $461
King and the
Clown
Cinema
Service
2005 $84.0
3 Shrek 2
Dream
Works
2004 $441 Taegukgi Showbox 2004 $ 77.6
4 E.T.
Universal
Pictures
1982 $435 Silmido
Plunus
Cinema
Service
2003 $ 76.9
5
Star Wars:
Ep. I
Fox 1999 $431 Friends Korea 2001 $56.8
6
Pirates of the
Caribbean:
Dead Man's
Chest
Buena
Vista
2006 $423
Welcome to
Dongmakgol
Showbox 2005 $55.4
7 Spider-Man
Sony
Pictures
2002 $404 Tazza CJ Ent. 2006 $47.0
8
Star Wars:
Ep. III
Fox 2005 $380 Shiri Samsung 1999 $ 43.0
9
The Lord of
the Rings:
The Return of
the King
New Line
Cinema
2003 $377
My Boss My
Teacher
CJ Ent. 2005 $42.0
10 Spider-Man 2
Sony
Pictures
2004 $373
Joint Security
Area
CJ Ent. 2000 $ 40.2
11
Domestic Grosses in the U.S. (2006). Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved December 21, 2006.
Paquet, Darcy. (2007, January 9). Global Box Office Report: South Korea. Variety.com. Retrieved
January 19, 2007.
19
C. Comparison of South Korean and United States’ Moviegoers
According to demographics in South Korea and the U.S., people in their
twenties constitute the bulk of moviegoers, with slight differences in age and income
between film audiences in the two countries. Movie Contents Users’ Survey of
1,000 South Koreans who attended movie theaters in September 2005 indicated
44.8% of moviegoers are between the ages of 24-39, 22.1% between the ages of 14-
24, and 25.3% between 40 and 49 (“Movie Contents Users,” 2005, p.8, 35). The
survey disregarded moviegoers over the age of 50 since they numbered too few to
include in the research. In comparison, U.S. moviegoers’ age demographic is spread
more evenly than that of South Korea. Research indicates that in the U.S. 29% of
moviegoers are between the ages of 12-24, 28% between 25 and 39, 32% between 40
and 59
12
and 11% over 60 (“Movie Attendance Study,” 2005, p.1-3).
The average education of moviegoers is higher than college level in both
countries, but income levels differ considerably. In South Korea, more than half of
moviegoers have college degrees or higher, 33.4% are high school graduates and 9%
are middle school graduates. While half of U.S. moviegoers also have a college
degree or higher, income levels in the U.S. far surpass those in South Korea, with
more than half having an annual income exceeding $50,000 (Bouvard, 2003, p. 14-
15, 39). In South Korea, only 8.8% of the moviegoers earn more than $4,000 per
month, 37.4% earn less than $1,000 per month, 24.5% between $1,000-2,000, 19.2%
between $2,000-3,000, and 10.1% between $3,000-4,000 (“Movie Contents Users,”
12
The 40-59 demographic can be skewed because the age range is twice that of other age ranges.
20
2005, p.8, 35). The disparity between moviegoers’ incomes in the two countries
mirrors the overall difference in economic prosperity. Additionally, since Americans
in the 40-59 demographic frequent the theater more than their South Korean
counterparts, U.S. moviegoers’ register a higher income level.
In the two countries, the primary reasons people give for going to the theater
differ somewhat. In general, slightly more women than men go to the theater because
young adult females are more likely to hang out with female friends to watch movies.
According to an LA Times Poll, the two main reasons Americans between the ages
of 12-24 give for going to the theater are for social interaction and big screens. Few
young adults mentioned enjoyment of the film as the main reason for going to the
movies (“Movie in Theaters,” 2006). This may in part account for the shift in U.S.
moviegoers’ preference for blockbusters over independent films in 2005, as eight
blockbuster films grossed over $200 million, compared to only five blockbusters
achieving that level of financial success in 2004 (“U.S. Theatrical Market,” 2005,
p.8).
In contrast to the U.S., the main reason South Korean moviegoers give for
going to the theater is the success of the film. Almost 35% indicated the success of
the film drew them to a theater, while 24.1% mentioned the outstanding screen
achievements and 22% pointed to the different taste of genre as the principal reason
(“Movie Contents Users”, 2005, p.8). In addition, half of South Korean audiences
were not active customers – people who intentionally set out to watch a specific
movie – but rather, passive customers. A passive customer goes to watch a film
21
simply because s/he is following the recommendation of friends (Lee, 2005, p. 26).
Most South Korean moviegoers live in the country’s capital, Seoul, and more than
half prefer to watch South Korean films rather than Hollywood films. According to
Korean Film Council, South Korean films’ average annual admission increased from
20.9% to 50.0% over the last decade, while foreign films’ decreased from 79.1% to
41.0% (See Figure 1). However, the majority of foreign films released in South
Korea are Hollywood films (38.8%) while others come from Europe (2.3%), Japan
(2.0%) and China (1.4%) (Kim, & Doh, 2006, p. 38).
Overall, although the majority of moviegoers are young adults in their
twenties, demographic research demonstrates different age ranges, varying income
levels, and disparate reasons for attending theaters between South Korean and U.S.
audiences. In South Korea, the majority of moviegoers are between the ages of 25-
39, but in the U.S. moviegoers’ ages extend across a broader range, while income
level is markedly higher. In addition, compared to U.S. moviegoers, South Korean
audiences are more concerned about the success of the movie than the social
activities that revolve around seeing a film. Lastly, South Koreans prefer domestic
productions to Hollywood movies.
22
Chapter 3
Defining New Media
A. The Definition of New Media
What constitutes “new media” is debatable since the term is an abstract
concept with a general meaning. According to Martin Lister, new media is defined as
media established with a sense of interactive communication, while conventional
media refers to established institutions and organizations such as the press,
broadcasting, publishing, and so forth. The idea of new media emerged in the late
1980s when the world of media and communications looked quite different. New
media is part of a much larger landscape entailing the social, technological and
cultural change referred to as “technoculture.” The term “new” in new media carries
the ideological implication of “the most recent” or “the cutting edge,” derived from a
modernist belief in social progress arising through technology. In this analysis, new
media is classified as websites, blogs, emails, DVD, virtual reality, mobile TV or
text messaging, podcast, and so on (Lister, Dovery, Giddings, Grant, & Kelly, 2003,
p. 9-13).
Certain characteristics define new media as that which employs technology
based on digitality, interactivity, hypertexuality, dispersal and virtuality (See
Appendix A). Above all, new media has been designed to make communication
interactive and information more accessible in the digital age. Traditional methods of
communication, including TV, radio, and newspapers, serve as one-way
communication tools. New technology breaks down the walls of traditional media by
23
providing interactive communication tools. The convergence of new and old media
is an emerging phenomenon in South Korea and the U.S., with an accelerated
movement toward the use of new media among moviegoers.
B. New Media in Relation to Marketing PR in the Film Industry
As more individuals watch a particular film, each viewer’s choice adds more
value to it. Similarly, steady viewership of a film leads to more accolades,
embedding greater value in the film. As a result, movie marketing and PR play a key
role in drawing larger audiences to the theater. With the expanding ubiquity of
digital technology, new media is being increasingly utilized for online PR in film
marketing.
In general, the purpose of PR is to spread messages into the public domain
and leave a positive impression on the public. In order to increase profits, however,
PR needs to be integrated with marketing. As a result, marketing PR has become
prevalent in diverse mass markets as well as the film market. As mass moviegoers’
tastes become individualized with the growing variety of new media outlets,
marketing PR increasingly attempts to cater to the audience’s lifestyle by
personalizing its message. According to “Film Marketing PR,” film marketing
strategies are classified into two categories: the Push Strategy and the Pull Strategy
(Lee, 2005, p.60-72).
The Push Strategy involves aggressively using “pushing” tactics on the
public and journalists through the following methods: 1) holding a press junket; 2)
24
holding special events, including film festivals and award ceremonies; 3) having a
grand opening with the press kit; 4) day marketing; 5) orchestrating oral PR through
press tours and interviews; 6) creating official movie websites or fan-based websites;
7) partnering with marketing; and 8) participating in guerilla marketing (Lee, & Kim,
2006, p.338-370). The Pull Strategy, in contrast, entails “pulling” the audience’s
attention to go to the theater by airing TV trailers and advertising in newspapers. In
the pre-production stage, companies stage a grand opening, inviting journalists to
publicize a film. Official movie websites and fan-based websites often are created
during the film’s production, but also are discussed in the pre-production stage.
Filmmakers sometimes seek to partner with companies that are interested in product
placement (PPL) to achieve a synergistic effect when the film becomes successful at
the box office. In the post-production stage, various marketing strategies are
employed, including holding press tours, organizing interviews, and engaging in
guerilla marketing. Once a potentially successful film is produced, it is screened at
film festivals to create a buzz. Ahead of its official theater release, journalists are
invited to view an upcoming movie at a press junket which the main actors, along
with the director, attend to generate publicity. Before and during a screening, film
trailers and advertisements are released to television, newspapers, magazines, and the
Internet. Using strategies designed to generate a buzz, new media outlets are
becoming an invaluable tool for marketing PR at this stage in the both South Korean
and U.S. film industries.
25
1. New Media Marketing PR in South Korea
New media PR has created numerous opportunities for South Korea’s film
market. First, as one of most developed digital nations in the world, 67% of South
Koreans use the Internet. The online social network site, Cyworld.com
13
, has been
the most frequently visited site since 2001. With more than 10 million subscribers –
over 30% of the total online population in South Korea – the site grosses $159,000 a
day (“Content Generation,” 2006). Subscribers keep online journals and post pictures
taken with digital cameras or camera phones. Since Cyworld merged with SK
Corporation, it has expanded to the U.S., China, Japan and Taiwan. Cyberspace also
is being used to post movie trailers and reviews, and the most searched topics or
terms may become social issues. Web portal sites such as Naver.com or Daum.com
14
provide web news while search engines serve as space for online social networks.
Web portal sites also have a subsidiary blog, which engages with movie marketing
PR to provide more interactive familiarity to audiences, especially netizens
15
in
South Korea. Cyworld Mini-hompy, Naver Blogs and Daum Planet – all used as star
marketing tools for launching new films – attract a large audience interested in
viewing movie stars’ photographs and writings (Online Editors, 2005).
Another new media tool utilized to generate word-of-mouth in South Korea is
UCC (user created video contents online). Highly developed interactive
communication technologies enable audiences to create video contents and share
13
Cyworld’s Mini-hompy is so named because of the smaller size of the webpage. www.cyworld.com
14
‘Naver’ is a web portal site considered like ‘Google’ in South Korea. ‘Daum’ is another rival dot-
com-company.
15
The word ‘Netizen’ originated from ‘Internet’ + ‘citizen’ in South Korea.
26
them with others through the Internet and mobile sources. South Korean consumers
who create contents (referred to as the ‘C generation’ – Content Generation) are the
key target for new media film marketing PR (“Content Generation,” 2006).
South Korea is recognized as one of the largest mobile communications users
in the world. According to the “Mobile Market News,” mobile media is South
Korea’s fifth most popular medium after the newspaper, radio, television and
Internet. Mobile user demand encourages entertainment content beyond text
messaging; the number of mobile subscribers worldwide increased from 86 million
in 2003 to 110 million in 2004 (“the fifth media,” 2006). Further, mobile content is
expected to become a major source of profit for the entertainment business in the
near future. Launched in 2006, TU (mobile TV), for example, carries sizeable
entertainment content as a mobile marketing tool. Other interesting mobile movie
events in 2005 included “KTF Cinema Party” held before the official release of the
film, Welcome to Dongmakgol (See Case Study 1).
Since 1995, cable TV’s power has been reaching moviegoers throughout
South Korea. Within the last 5 years, a number of home-shopping channels such as
GS Homeshopping, Hyundai Homeshopping and Woori Homeshopping have seen
increased profitability and become lucrative marketing distribution channels. In 2005,
Showbox sold 5,000 “Big 5 tickets”
16
on the GS home-shopping channel in the first
airing. The Big 5 ticket included admission to Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) and
Marrying the Mafia (2005), two of the top ten highest grossing films in South
16
Big 5 ticket: the package of five tickets for five different movies released by Showbox. Interviewed
with June Park on January 5, 2007.
27
Korean box office history. Selling movie tickets as a package on a home shopping
channel represented a new marketing approach that proved to be an ingenious
strategy for utilizing new media to promote a film to success. It is this film
marketing strategy, initiated in 2005, that situates cable TV within the rearm of new
media.
The new media prevalent in South Korea offer an opportunity to approach
film marketing PR from a fresh perspective in the 21
st
century. How these new
media affect moviegoers’ behavior is discussed in the following analysis.
2. New Media Marketing PR in the United States
New technologies, especially the Internet, have brought changes to film
marketing PR in the U.S. as well. According to “How to Make the Web Your
Friend,” the Internet has become critical in the U.S. as American online penetration
reaches pay-TV levels. By 2010, 78% of U.S. households will be online accessing
the Internet (Schatsky, 2006). The launching of Apple’s video iPod, Google’s new
video store, and Microsoft’s Zune are recent examples of the growing importance of
new media as a distribution platform for video content.
Recently, Hollywood studios have been tapping into new media as an
attractive and potentially lucrative alternative for film promotion. According to the
article “New Media Attract Studio Marketing,” for example, Paramount provided
video game users free trailers of The Longest Yard (2005), a remake of a seminal
1970s comedy, which could be downloaded from a website to users’ Sony
28
PlayStation Portables. Paramount also employed other wireless devices, including
cell phones, as marketing platforms for the Sundance Film Festival hit, Hustle &
Flow (2005). In addition, Warner Brothers podcasted details of Paris Hilton’s life
before releasing the House of Wax (2005) (Stanley, 2005).
The most well known online social networking site in the U.S. is MySpace,
which attracts more than 70 million visitors and has become the “must have” digital
venue for teens. Other emerging social networking sites include Facebook, LinkedIn,
Friendster, etc. Additionally, to share one’s thought or opinions about a movie, film
blogs that allow interactivity through personal commentaries have become the most
popular movie review sites for Internet users.
MySpace and Facebook are extending their reach to cell phones as well
(“MySpace, Facebook,” 2006). Cingular Wireless, Sprint Nextel and Verizon
Wireless allow users to post messages on Facebook or search for phone numbers and
e-mail addresses from a cell phone. MySpace has agreed with Helio, a wireless joint
venture between SK Telecom in South Korea and Earthlink in the U.S., to allow
users to send photos and update their blogs or profiles with cell phones. Through this
process, a market integrating Internet with cell phones will soon enter the U.S. film
industry.
AOL’s Moviefone and Yahoo Movies have drawn more than 10 million
unique visitors each from January through May, 2006, according to
Nielsen/NetRatings NetView (O’Malley, 2006). Big-name brands are signing up to
sponsor what essentially is movie advertising through free exposure from Yahoo and
29
AOL. For example, Disney’s Cars (2006) was sponsored by a micro site run by State
Farm, AT&T and Georgia Pacific. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
(2006) had Verizon and Kodak as site sponsors. For X-Men: The Last Stand (2006),
20
th
Century Fox recently set aside 8% of its total marketing budget for web
outreach, and a MySpace page created for the movie accumulated over 680,000
“friends” during its first week in existence. Movie studios spent more than $40
million on online advertising between January and May, 2006, according to
estimates by Nielsen/NetRatings AdRelevance, an amount totaling 39% of
entertainment spending online. Film trailers constitute the biggest slice of online
business. Websites such as hollywood.com, comingsoon.net, movie-list.com, movie-
page.com and ez.entertainment.net give web surfers early access to the latest movie
trailers (O’Malley, 2006).
As in South Korea, use of videocast and podcast to promote films is
becoming prevalent in the U.S. Videocast such as YouTube is a popular website in
which movie trailers sometimes have proven more effective than text news. For this
reason, YouTube is considered a hot cyberspace by the film industry. Podcasts with
i-Pod by Apple Corporation also are available for downloading free movie trailers
consisting of multimedia files that can be distributed through RSS (Real Simple
Syndication) feeds. Once downloaded, podcast users can play back clips on i-Pods,
PCs or cell phones. Although, despite the popularity of i-Pod, podcasting has yet to
reach a wide audience, it nonetheless offers tremendous opportunities for moviegoers
in the 21
st
century.
30
Another popular facet of new media can be found in online virtual reality
games such as Second Life – a 3D virtual world built and owned by online residents.
Since its launch in June 2003, Second Life has brought in 3.1 million registered users,
attracting its audience not only with banner advertising in the virtual world but also
through marketing and partnership in the real business world. Sponsored by real
marketing and advertising corporations NBC Universal, BBC Radio, and MTV,
Hollywood studios are considering Second Life another potential channel for film
marketing PR.
C. Comparison of Moviegoers’ Media Habits in South Korea and the
United States
Although the size of the film markets in South Korea and the U.S. differ
significantly, comparable percentages of people use the Internet in each country.
According to Internet World States, in 2006, 69.3% of the U.S.’s 295 million citizens
used the Internet, compared to 67% of South Korea’s 49 million people (“Top 20
Countries,” 2007). In both countries, new technologies are expanding rapidly as the
Internet becomes the primary source for movie information.
In 2006, roughly 58.6% of South Korea’s moviegoers viewed a movie in the
theater, while 6.1% downloaded films from the Internet, which they are more likely
to watch than DVDs (See Table 3).
31
Table 3. Media Habit of South Korean Consumers
17
(%)
Media
/ Year
Theater VHS DVD TV Cable TV Online Download
2006 58.6 11.1 4.8 8.1 11.3 6.1
Additionally, in 2005, 42.5% of moviegoers relied on the Internet to acquire
movie information, an increase from 10.2% in 1999. Research indicating 19.5% of
moviegoers shared information about a film reveals how the Internet has boosted
word-of-mouth publicity. Meanwhile, movie marketing through traditional media
has decreased markedly in South Korea. Since 2004, TV trailers as a source of film
information dropped from 37.4 % to 29.1%. The biggest shift is evident in print
advertising which, though in 2002 was the most frequently used marketing tool to
generate a buzz about movies in South Korea, dropped 8.1% in 2005 (Lee, 2005, p.
96).

Table 4. Sources of Movie Information in South Korea
18
(%)
Source/
Year
Internet TV trailer WOM Newspaper ads Poster/ pamphlet
2005 42.5 29.1 15.1 8.1 5.2
2004 20.5 37.4 18.1 12.8 8.8
2002 25.6 21.4 19.5 26.5 3.2
1999 10.2 24.3 15.4 37.4 6.4
17
“The Research about Revival of the Korean Home Entertainment.” (2006). KOFIC. p.5.
18
“2005 The Research of Moviegoers’ Behavior.” (2005). KOFIC. p.169.
32
While South Korean theater attendance is growing with the expanding film
market in Asia, MPAA reports that the U.S. film industry finds itself in a precarious
situation domestically. The frequency of theater attendance has fallen to its lowest
level in eight years. Only 34% of moviegoers are frequent viewers – at least once per
month – while 47% are occasional viewers who go approximately once every six
months, and 19% are infrequent viewers who go to the movie theater less than once
every six months (“U.S. Theatrical Market,” 2005, p.8).
U.S. movie going trends demonstrate how traditional media outlets have been
waning as marketing tools since 2005. While TV ranks as the most popular source
for movie information – with 29% of moviegoers relying on this medium – the
Internet is likely to surpass TV as the most powerful source in the future. Statistics
indicate that in 2006, 25% of moviegoers cited the Internet, 15.7% cited in-person
word-of-mouth and 10.3% cited local newspapers as their primary source for film
information. By the same token, 10.7% reported using their computers to watch a
movie or movie clip during May 2006 (O’Malley, 2006).
Online users in the U.S. continue to explore new hobbies and entertainment
activities on the Internet. Three out of four Internet users have sought information
about a hobby or interest online. The number of hobby seekers increased by 40%
between March 2000 and January 2002 – from 65 million people to 91 million (“The
Changing Picture,” 2003). Use of the Internet for this reason encourages online
exploration for related purposes, such as acquiring film information. At the same
time, word-of-mouth now travels more quickly online than ever before. In a survey
33
of teenage moviegoers, 38% indicated they had shared their opinions online about a
movie on the day of its release or soon thereafter (“Movie in Theaters,” 2006).
Most importantly, new media in relation to moviegoers’ film habits is closely
related to the Internet in both the U.S. and South Korea. The study, “Why Do They
Go to Movie Sites,” states that “new interactive media offer a communication
platform users can appropriate for various purposes – from entertainment to
knowledge sharing,” meaning empowered Internet users go beyond the limits of
traditional media not only in receiving information, but also in actively appropriating
it for their wants and needs. Drawing upon the following case studies, this analysis
examines the most promising new media marketing PR for the film industry (Park,
Kim, & Koh, 2005, p.221).
Interestingly, the population of new media users overlaps with that of
frequent moviegoers – the younger generations. Although it is difficult to determine
precisely to what extent new media affects moviegoers’ behaviors – since media is
now in a transitional phase from “old media” to “new media,” – new media appears
to be overtaking traditional media as the preferred source of movie information in
both countries since the majority of moviegoers are more likely to cite the Internet
rather than TV as their main source of movie information. Sharing information also
has become speedier than ever due to e-mailing and mobile text messaging. At the
same time, however, the number of moviegoers has been decreasing as new
technology enables people to view films from venues other than the theater.
34
Chapter 4
Methods
A. Hypothesis
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of new media marketing
PR to determine ways in which it affects the success of sleeper hits in the South
Korean and U.S film industries. Based on the literature review, situation analysis and
foregoing discussion describing film markets in the two countries, the following
hypothesis is proposed.
Hypothesis: Through its strategic use in online networking, mobile media, blogs, and
videocasts, new media can play a decisive role in the success of sleeper films in
South Korea and the U.S. by generating highly effective word-of-mouth marketing
among moviegoers.
B. Primary Research
The following qualitative interviews were conducted with film marketing and
PR professionals in the U.S. and South Korea. A focus group of South Korean
moviegoers has been included to supply data supporting the hypothesis.
1. Interviews
First, I conducted a phone interview with Paul PFlung, 36, a PR specialist in
the Principal Communications Group and former head of publicity at Artisan
35
Entertainment. He managed publicity on The Blair Witch Project (1999) when the
movie was released by the studio using new media marketing strategies.
The Blair Witch Project (1999), a low budget sleeper film released in July
1999, debuted in just 27 theaters around the U.S and broke American box office
records largely as a result of online word-of-mouth messaging. According to the
column “The Blair Witch Myth,” a new group of online tastemakers, referred to as “E-
fluentials,” are shaping the opinions and attitudes of the Internet community. The
website for this movie cost $15,000 and generated 75 million visits in 1999. Today
the film remains a legend, grossing $140 million at the U.S. box office alone. One
New York Times article indicated that The Blair Witch Project had gotten a “mixed
reaction” at the Sundance Film Festival, while the movie’s Internet campaign
contributed to its unexpected financial success. The Wall Street Journal explained
how “… the website for months built anticipation for the film’s release.” The Los
Angeles Times agreed that the “clever campaign could change the way Hollywood
thinks about publicizing its product” (“The Blair Witch Myth,” 2000).
When The Blair Witch Project’s national campaign began in the Sundance
Film Festival circuit, people focused on the movie as if it were a real story. Soon
after, the film dominated the media, with a strong buzz gathering online. It was not
hard to approach the media, including editors from CNN, Time magazine,
Newsweek, and local newspapers, because journalism colleagues were already
talking about the film. Artisan Entertainment allowed reporters to write about the
movie with their own sense of discovery about “a never-before-seen movie.”
36
However, PFlung mentioned that although websites offer an exceptional
opportunity for marketing, they do not represent the only source for generating a
buzz, a goal that has proven uniquely challenging. Consumers are able to figure out
whether and how film websites are being used as marketing tools. Savvy web users
of MySpace and YouTube are willing to expose themselves to marketing, but
probably are not fooled by it.
Following the interview with PFlung, I conducted an interview with YoonHee
Chai, CEO of All That Cinema, which was the first film PR agency in South Korea.
The interview findings from Chai are followed in the Conclusion, Section A-1.
Questions
R1. What are the differences between the time when you opened your first film PR
agency in 1994 and today?
R2. What do you think ‘new media’ is?
R3. What is the most effective marketing tool among new media?
R4. What percentage of the marketing budget goes into online PR in the South
Korean film industry?
R5. Is there a specific target market for new media PR?
R6. How do you use new media in film marketing? What are the selling points,
genres or contents for that?
R7. What is the index of new media to succeed in the South Korean box office?
R8. Do you think new media PR can make a film successful at the box office?
37
R9. What is a good example of new media’s PR effect on the South Korean film
industry?
R10. What do you think is the future of new media PR?
2. Focus Group Interview
A focus group interview (FGI) can provide an opportunity to obtain data with
particular significance and meaning in a study. The purpose of this focus group is to
clarify ideas about how moviegoers in South Korea use new media. To verify my
hypothesis and interview findings, The FGI examined new media habits among
moviegoers in South Korea with respect to the following criteria:
a. The most popular new media for acquiring information of movies in contrast
with traditional media
b. Their use of new media to acquire information about movies
c. Examining new media habits of moviegoers
The sample group consists of four 27-32 year old moviegoers living in urban
areas in South Korea. As key movie targets, the two females and two males – all of
whom have college degrees and careers – comprise the focus group. Subject A (32)
is an account executive in an advertising agency; Subject B (32) works in an office at
a small trading company and is writing a film script; Subject C (27) is a movie
website columnist and prospective drama writer; and Subject D (29) writes for a
current TV reality program. All subjects are frequent moviegoers who attend the
38
theater at least once a month, with Subject B being a heavy moviegoer who sees
movies in the theater at least once a week. The findings from the focus group
interview are followed in the Conclusion, Section A-2.
Questions
R1. Are you going to the theater with a specific movie in mind?
R2. What is your primary source for movie information before going to the theater?
R3. What do you think new media is, and how much time are you spending on new
media to research movie information?
R4. When, where and how do you share movie information after watching the film?
R5. How much do you think new media affects a film’s word-of-mouth?
R6. What concerns you the most about movie information in new media?
R7. What is the most memorable movie marketing PR campaign in your memory,
and why?
C. Secondary Research
To locate data supporting my hypothesis, the author reviewed numerous news
articles, scholarly studies, film-related reports, blogs and media coverage of movie
websites to assess the role of new media, particularly word-of-mouth, in the
marketing PR of sleeper films. This research also examines case studies in South
Korea and the U.S. of well publicized sleeper films that achieved box office success
at least in part as a result of new media PR.
39
Since the late 1990s, the South Korean film market has seen many examples
of highly successful sleeper films. Rising marketing costs demonstrate that the
success of sleeper films is based primarily on strategic marketing as well as
appealing film content. According to “Film Marketing Public Relations,” the average
Korean film marketing budget increased from $106,000 in 1995 to $958,000 in 2005,
compared to the average production budget of $3.99 million in 2005. In the case of
The Way Home (2002), one of the most successful sleeper hits in South Korean film
history, the studio spent $2.1 million on marketing, but only $1.6 million on
production (Lee, 2005, p.60-72, Epilog).
In the U.S., Little Miss Sunshine (2006) is a recent example of a surprise
sleeper hit. A bittersweet comedy about an eccentric family’s road trip to a children’s
beauty pageant, Little Miss Sunshine generated a strong buzz after its broad acclaim
at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival (Rpttenberg, 2006). The production costs for the
film ran to only $8 million. After its release in July 2006, the film earned almost $60
million from only 1,602 theaters in the U.S. and so far has brought in $95 million in
box office revenue worldwide. A long-running film that remained in theaters for 31
weeks, Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for four Oscar awards and won Best
Supporting Actor and Most Original Screenplay for 2006 (“Little Miss Sunshine,”
2007).
Sleeper hits are becoming more common in the digital age due to the myriad
effects of new media. The following case studies illustrate how new media can
contribute to the box office success of sleeper films.
40
Case Study 1. Welcome To Dongmakgol (2005)
Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005), a drama about the Korean War, was the
biggest hit film in South Korea in 2005 despite the lack of A-list movie stars in the
cast. With a limited theatrical budget in the pre-production stage, the producers of
Dongmakgol looked forward to acquiring increased funding during production;
however, investors proved difficult to recruit because no factors guaranteed the film
would be successful at the box office aside from its brilliant story (“Welcome to
Showbox,” 2006). When the project reached Showbox, one of the big three investors
and distributors in South Korea, the movie was able to secure a higher than average
production budget because of the strategic use of new media such as mobile fund
marketing and homeshopping channel marketing.
Ultimately, Dongmakgol’s success is attributable to well-written scripts and a
clear strategic marketing plan. Behind the impressive success of the film, was a
mobile event with Showbox and KTF called the “Cinema Party” project
19
(See
Appendix B). Prior to its official release, Cinema Party held a mobile investment
event online to attract movie investors from among mobile users. As a result of this
event, 6,300 KTF users invested $2 million in the film. Individual investment ranged
from $50 to $100,000 (“Mobile Investors,” 2005). To reduce the risk to mobile
investors, Cinema Party also guaranteed that mobile investors would recoup 70% of
their initial investment regardless of the film’s success or failure (Yoon, 2005).
Cinema Party offered ending credits and an official DVD of the film to its mobile
19
KTF Cinema Party. Retrieved December 12, 2006, from www.cinemaparty.com.
41
investors. Additionally, mobile investors were able to check the status of the film’s
score on the website anytime. When Dongmakgol achieved box office success,
selling more than 8 million admission tickets and grossing $55.4 million, mobile
investors received the return of their principal plus more than 60% profit.
According to June Park, the Marketing Manager for Showbox, Cinema Party
generated a buzz that lured general moviegoers to the theater. Cinema Party took
place approximately three months before the film’s official release, which is unusual
since most films have only two months for promotion in South Korea. At that time,
Park felt certain about the film’s success because of its well written script, but the
challenge lay in attracting the public’s attention. With sufficient promotion time,
Showbox decided to show pre-screenings to 100,000 viewers. In general, a pre-
screening with about 20,000 viewers is typical before a film’s official release. In
order to have an additional 80,000 viewers, Showbox had to target audience lifestyle
by showing movie trailers on monitors at the E-mart shopping mall and public
saunas. Due to the nature of the film’s story, the age range of target audiences
extended from 12 to 60 and included both females and males. New technologies that
surround routine life were used as marketing tools, which created a synergistic effect,
generating word-of-mouth about Dongmakgol’s pre-screening as pre-viewers’
reviews traveled quickly online. Partnership with KTF attracted a wider audience by
using cable TV channels and official movie websites in addition to mobile users.
The total theatrical cost of Dongmakgol was about $8 million, with
production amounting to approximately $5.8 million and marketing totaling $2
42
million – more than a third of the production cost. The online marketing cost came to
nearly $1.35 million, more than 60% of the total marketing cost. Cinema Party relied
on new media to publicize the film, using the online event as an innovative avenue
for earning production funds. The strategic marketing plan for Dongmakgol was
considered a breakthrough in South Korean film history and is regarded as a new
model for obtaining investments through the use of new media.
Case Study 2. Borat: Cultural Leanings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
As an Internet-hyped movie, Borat: Cultural Leanings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006), a Kazakh TV mockumentary,
generated considerable buzz ahead of its official release. Borat held the number one
position at the U.S. box office for 2 weeks, grossing $127 million in domestic sales,
and stayed in the theaters for over 20 weeks, which is considered a long-run for this
type of a movie (“Borat,” 2006). Compared to big budget films that typically open at
3000-4000 screens, Borat opened at only 837 theaters. Although its admission
gradually decreased after two weeks, sales rose after several weeks as a consequence
of online word-of-mouth. Sasha Cohen’s award for Best Actor at the Golden Globes
boosted sales two months after the film’s official release, an unusual occurrence at
the U.S. box office.
The production budget for Borat totaled $18 million, far less than the average
$90 million production budget for U.S. films (“Borat,” 2006). After the Toronto film
43
festival, the Internet generated buzz about Borat for months before its official release.
In addition, Borat ignited sensitive social and cultural issues and finally faced
expensive lawsuits because of the film’s depiction of the people of Kazakhstan. The
negative publicity, however, ultimately helped Borat become a sleeper hit at the box
office. By dramatizing the issues surrounding Borat, bloggers – who posted
comments about weird pictures from the film’s website – enticed people to see the
movie, which further inflated the box office gross.
Borat’s partnership with MySpace proved to be a profitable use of new media.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, MySpace screened Borat exclusively for its
members in Black Carpet, MySpace’s international screening series. Borat marked
the first international rollout in the Black Carpet series in Canada, Germany, the U.K.
and Australia. Pam Levine, Fox president of marketing, mentioned the company had
experienced great success in its partnership with MySpace over the past year,
particularly in the case of Borat (Sperling, 2006). Borat’s poorly designed website
(http://www.borat.tv), with its intentionally amateurish homepage that played upon
the premise of a film made by an amateur Kazakhstan reporter, appealed to Internet
users with its comical faux pas advertising, “PLEASE, be my friend on the
MYSPACES!,” (See Appendix C) which helped the film get close to its broad target
audience (Dylan, 2006).
Early on, some worried about whether Borat would suffer the same fate of
another film, Snakes on a Plane (2006). Despite a strong buzz, Snakes on a Plane
underperformed at the box office and failed to make a profit. Borat, in contrast,
44
ranked 15th in total domestic box office gross in 2006. Behind Borat’s victory lay
the strategic use of new media that capitalized on controversial social and cultural
issues, as distinct from Snakes on a Plane’s word-of-mouth that sailed to carry over
at the box office.
The two case studies discussed above demonstrate how sleeper films can be
promoted effectively through new media. While, prior to Borat, it was implausible
for a sleeper film to be at the top of the box office more than two weeks, the
Internet’s capacity to spread word-of mouth quickly and efficiently generates a buzz
that heightens public interest and multiplies box office revenue. For this reason,
online marketing is rapidly becoming a valuable new tool in creating sleeper hits at
the box office. At the same time, partnership between mobile service providers and
online social networking sites enhances communication with the public and
improves the overall effectiveness of new media marketing PR.
45
Chapter 5
Conclusion
A. Main Research Findings and Implications
1. Interview Findings
Overall, South Korean specialists in film marketing and public relations are
more likely to use new media selectively, depending on the genre and the content of
a film. Although they do not divide media into categories of “new” or “old” for film
marketing PR, as the online population matures, specialists are considering new
media outlets an integral part of marketing. At the same time, overrating the potential
of online marketing is a common concern.
a. The Power of New Media Effect
In their interviews, both PFlung and Chai noticed the powerful effect of new
media in the U.S. and South Korean film industry. Ten years ago, when Chai
established the first film PR company in South Korea, All That Cinema, many
people were unaware of film PR as only traditional advertising outlets such as TV,
radio, newspapers and magazines existed. Today more options are emerging in
online media, which includes portal websites, blogs and social networking sites.
b. Increased Cost for Internet Film Marketing PR
An important finding in this study reveals that use of the Internet can be
costly, at times rivaling traditional media outlets. In general, online marketing costs
less than traditional media; however, online marketing budgets are increasing as the
46
online population rises along with a growing expectation that the online market’s
reach will be far. As the budgets for film marketing mount, the future of online
marketing appears unlimited. As costs for creating official movie websites rise,
growing numbers of un-official websites such as Cyworld Mini-hompy and personal
blogs are emerging as alternatives. With these sites, online film marketing PR gains
momentum as word-of-mouth publicity travels across national borders.
c. UCC in New Media
Applying UCC (user created video contents online) to movie PR is another
recent trend. From the pre-production stage, not only film marketing, but also movie
PR is considered critical since it includes interviews with movie stars and the
creation of special video clips. Depending on the film, target markets for UCC may
vary from kindergarteners to senior citizens, even if a majority of moviegoers are in
their twenties. Comedy genres are especially popular with UCC, as comedy holds
universal appeal and is easier for all ages to understand. Many cultural topics and
social issues attract online users, who create video content online that can encourage
either a negative or positive word-of-mouth buzz.
d. Personalized New Media Sources
Chai’s interview responses support findings from the article, “The Survey of
Internet Film Marketing” (Kim, Y., 2006). The survey of 73 film marketing PR
specialists in South Korea supports Chai’s assertions about the potential influence of
new media. The survey demonstrates the power of the Internet – the primary tool
being used by new media marketers in South Korea – in today’s film marketing PR
47
by exploring four major points: 1) the importance of Internet marketing PR; 2) its
effect and influence; 3) an examination of Internet marketing PR; and 4) the
prospects for its future.
According to the survey, over half of the respondents expressed positive
opinions about the influence and impact of Internet marketing PR. Most importantly,
survey results point to the growing effect of online movie trailers and decline in
official film websites. From the late 1990s, when Internet fever was at its peak, until
the early 2000s, official movie websites served as the main source for movie
information; today more South Korean moviegoers seek out blogs, social networking
sites and portal websites. As people become more comfortable with film reviews
posted by the general public, they are more inclined to rely on unofficial movie
websites than on official sites.
e. Caution of Film Marketers
Although new media has proven an effective tool in attracting moviegoers,
marketers need to proceed with caution as its efficacy ultimately depends on the
film’s target age, gender, and genre, all of which make it critical to gauge new media
strategies according to each particular situation. It is still difficult to measure new
media PR as an index of success at the box office because independent variables
abound, such as online critics initiating negative rumors about a movie that hinder its
success. In such instances, it has become nearly impossible to control negative
publicity generated by new media, as word-of-mouth travels quickly. According to
“Word-Of-Mouth For Movies,” data collected from the Yahoo Movies message
48
boards indicate that word-of mouth becomes highly active during the pre-release
period for movies; however, word-of-mouth communication about a soon-to-be-
released movie may not be based on a viewer’s actual experience, but on speculation,
gossip, or rumors (Liu, 2006). The lesson here is that studio and theater managers
need to manage the buzz that extends beyond the new film’s publicity. During the
transition toward attaining measurable effects of new media marketing PR in the
South Korean film industry, mixed media marketing strategies that use both
traditional and new media continue to be necessary to ensure a film’s success.
According to “The Survey of Internet Film Marketing,” almost 40% of
marketers believe new media-based film marketing PR is overrated (Kim, Y., 2006).
The majority contend more caution should be exercised when using new media
because the efficacy of Internet marketing PR can vary between film genres such as
comedy, horror, action and drama. Respondents expressed concern about incorrect
information on unofficial movie sites as well. Although film news released in both
traditional media and new media is more effective in generating a buzz, people are
more inclined to believe traditional media. Generally speaking, the credibility of
online news is still a serious concern for Internet marketers and PR specialists.
2. Focus Group Interview Findings
Overall, focus group interviews (FGI) of young South Koreans found
subjects go to the theater when they have extra time. When they want to locate
information about a specific movie, they usually consult their own cyber world, such
49
as online networking sites, which tend to be more familiar and credible. Moreover,
focus group subjects mentioned several online sources for gathering information on
specific movies, which fall into the category of online word-of-mouth.
a. A Movie as One of the Entertainment Options
In FGI discussions, subjects reported they consider watching a movie an
entertainment option they pursue in their spare time. Although a frequent moviegoer,
subject A indicated he typically follows the lead of his friends or selects a film based
on positive word-of-mouth. Subjects C and D also watch movies when they have
extra time. Only Subject B indicated he spends time searching for details about a
movie, even if that means attending independent film festivals or seeking out his
favorite director’s new films. Consistent with findings mentioned earlier in this study,
Subjects A, C and D suggested they participate in moviegoing because they enjoy
the social act of going out as much as watching the film itself.
b. Internet as the Most Used Source for Movie Information
Sources the focus group subjects mentioned for obtaining information about
movies varied, but included mainly online sources such as social networking sites,
blogs, portal websites, film festival websites, official movie websites and multiplex
theater websites. The free daily newspapers (tabloids) at the subway stations also
were mentioned. All subjects refer to their own social networking sites, such as
Naver blog and Cyworld Mini-hompy, and share their reviews through postings and
replies. Subject C reads critics’ reviews on Naver Genre Mania after watching a
50
movie because she is curious how her views compare to those of experts. Subjects
usually surf webpage links and sometimes click on interesting pop-up or banner
advertisements. The immeasurable amount of time spent surfing the Internet while
subjects are working or at home led some to stay up all night. However, using cell
phones to get information about movies was limited, even for heavy mobile users.
c. Favorite Sources for Movie Information
Although the Internet provides a plethora of film information, how the
subjects use their sources varies. Subject A stated that he relies primarily on
traditional media such as TV trailers and newspaper advertisements to find movie
information initially, then visits portal websites such as Naver.com or Daum.com to
gather specific details. Subject B, on the other hand, never watches commercial
advertisements, instead consulting his favorite links on Cyworld Mini-hompy and
regularly reading reviewers that share his tastes. Subject C also visits favorite links
on her Naver blog, at times meeting others online or off-line to share movie
information. Subject D accepts mailing service from a multiplex website and
searches online for her favorite movie stars’ and directors’ personal websites. Amid
the flood of movie information, subjects are more likely to visit familiar websites
where they trust movie information rather than watch commercial online banner
advertisements or read general publicity statements. Subject C is concerned about the
credibility of online sources, although she has an online movie column. An
overabundance of information online prompts people to visit their favorite sites,
which have more credibility and familiarity.
51
d. Prevalent Online Movie Downloading
Online downloading constitutes a frequently used method for viewing a
newly released film in place of actually going to a theater. Subject D watches
downloaded movies on her laptop on public transportation while commuting from
home to work. Other subjects had participated in online movie downloading and in a
P-2-P (Peer-to-Peer) file-sharing program either legally or illegally. Such online
activities are prevalent regardless of whether downloaders are considered frequent or
infrequent moviegoers, and have resulted in declining theater revenue in South
Korea.
3. New Trends in the Film Industry
The movie industry has always been affected by new technology: television
in the 1950s, digital devices such as VHS and DVD players in the 1990s, and the
Internet in the 2000s. Through interviews, FGI, and secondary research, this study
found that film marketing is in a transitional stage, as PR moves away from
traditional toward new media outlets. The following represent new trends created in
the film industry as a consequence of emerging new media.
Trend 1. New media lead as the most frequently used source for film information.
As moviegoers’ media habits demonstrated in this study, moviegoers are more likely
to use the Internet rather than traditional media such as TV or newspapers for
acquiring information on movies. This trend can be traced to the development of new
52
technologies that gave rise to innovative media outlets such as web blogs, social
networking sites and videocasts. These two-way communication media promote
faster word-of-mouth buzz, contributing to its efficacy. Immediate feedback through
online commentary generates both positive and negative reviews that powerfully
impact the success or failure of a film. In addition, word-of-mouth crosses national
boundaries easily, especially as communication through wireless Internet gains speed.
Trend 2. Increased online marketing budgets underscore the importance of new
media PR in film marketing. Emerging new media make publicity activities more
effective than commercial advertising. The cost of advertising a film has decreased
while film PR costs have risen. PR is considered more credible than advertising
because today’s audiences are smart enough to recognize advertising is paid for by
studios. Through PR, more topics can be made accessible to the public, such as how
a certain movie was received at film festivals and what movie stars were doing
during production. New media acquire more power when used in conjunction with
traditional media, which still retains greater credibility. Although traditional media
outlets generally carry more credibility than new media in film marketing PR, if one
compares the budgets of off-line and online marketing, an unmistakable shift toward
new media in the form of personally known social networking sites is occurring.
Trend 3. The emergence of new media makes it possible for more sleeper films to
become hits at the box office. As case studies demonstrate, several sleeper films
became hits in the late 1990s when new media emerged in South Korea and the U.S.
53
The number of Internet and mobile users has grown exponentially in recent years and
their reactions to films are immediately accessible on movie websites, social
networking sites, blogs and mobile messages. Consequently, film marketers are more
inclined to rely on new media outlets to generate a buzz once a promising film comes
out. Before the digital age, well-made films were easily missed due to lack of budget
or film marketing PR. A film not covered by TV or newspapers, for example, is still
difficult to publicize. With the advent of the digital age, audiences are made aware of
well made movies through new media, making outstanding films less likely to slip
away unnoticed.
Trend 4. Various integrated film marketing PR available in the form of partnership
with new media are opening new opportunities. A clear example is integrated
marketing involving the Internet and cell phones with the film industry. For example,
mobile companies’ increased funding for movies in South Korea improves a film’s
chances of success and enhances communication with audiences. Online social
network sites provide a new avenue for attracting niche audiences’ attention, while
partnership increases the frequency of visits to these sites. For the film industry,
strategies that employ new media to enhance marketing PR are regarded as a win-
win strategy.
Trend 5. New media cater to moviegoers’ tastes by introducing long tail marketing
with entertainment content. Long tail marketing involves a technique for increasing
54
sales when the cost per sale declines in the theater. According to “Cultural Contents
Marketing,” Information Technology (IT) developed new media and promoted the
rapid flow of information by saving time and energy (Lee, & Kim, 2006, p. 332).
Two-way communication avenues, such as cable or satellite TV and the Internet,
stimulate film marketing PR to focus on various niche targets known as long tail
marketing. After theaters can no longer earn revenue on a film, movies are
distributed to new media in the form of DVDs, cable TV, and mobile DMB, to earn
higher profits from niche markets. In a world of personalized media choices, a
relatively short time difference exists for the release windows of movies as they
transition from theaters to Pay-Per-View, cable TV, online downloading sites and
DVD/ VHS rental stores (Gentile, 2006). Long tail marketing in the film industry
caters more specifically to moviegoers’ diverse tastes and demands.
B. Discussion and Conclusion
1. Discussion
In this study, the central question is whether new media marketing PR affects
the actual success of movies at the box office. New media marketing has clearly had
this impact on several sleeper hits, although no amount of marketing guarantees
success at the box office. While new media can generate a buzz around a film faster
and further, this effect becomes fleeting when the movie is not appealing enough to
generate a positive buzz immediately after its official release. At the same time,
concern abounds about how extensively film marketing PR can rely on responses
55
from new media, such as repliers on the web board of official movie websites. In
addition, it is not yet possible to ascertain which online video clips have been viewed
most frequently in the previous week, although equivalent information about
traditional television can easily be determined by Nielsen Media Research (Kirsner,
2007). The primary obstacle for new media lay in its credibility, which has not yet
been firmly established due to relatively large amounts of misinformation circulating
within it. With its credibility already well established, traditional media holds the
clear advantage in this case.
2. Conclusion
Research suggests that the effect of new media marketing on moviegoers in
South Korean has been similar to that in the U.S. So far, data indicate that new
media marketing PR is as influential as traditional media, though certain negative
side effects may offset the positive influence of new media’s impact on the film
industry.
Studies focusing on the impact of new media, such as the Internet and mobile
communications, in the film industry will certainly proliferate in the coming years,
as new media exposure leads to more sleeper hits at the box office. This study
predicts more instances of sleeper film success in the near future, a phenomenon
which will provide more detailed insights into this discussion and clarify the impact
of new media marketing on the film industry overall.
56
3. Proven hypothesis
Hypothesis: The strategic use of new media such as online networking, mobile
media, blogs, and videocasts can play a decisive role in the success of sleeper films
in South Korea and the U.S. by generating a highly effective word-of-mouth
marketing buzz among moviegoers.
This study demonstrates the way in which the success of several recent
sleeper hits can be attributed to the emergence of new media, which generates
effective word-of-mouth when a solid strategic film marketing PR plan is in place.
Creating a buzz does not, however, always guarantee a film’s success at the box
office in South Korea or the U.S. Appealing content and high quality are essential to
the success of sleeper films at the box office as word-of-mouth, both positive and
negative, travels quickly and widely, allowing it to spread to the ever-expanding
universe of new media outlets.
57
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63
Appendix A
Glossary of Terms
1. Characteristics of New Media
Digitality: The digital media data are input as converted numbers and can be output
in the form of online sources, digital disks, or memory drives. (Lister, 2003, p.14)
Interactivity: It refers the new media texts afford their users to ‘write back into’ the
text immediately. (Lister, 2003, p.21)
Hypertexuality: ‘Hypetext’ + ‘Reality’. Any verbal or audio data that has links to
other data might be referred to as a hypertext. (Lister, 2003, p.23)
Dispersal: It is key difference that distinguishes new media from existing forms of
mass media that explore the idea if what confronts us is a dispersed media system.
(Lister, 2003, p.30)
Virtuality: ‘Virtual’ + ‘Reality’. It frequently cited some several different forms of
media and image technologies simulated on the Internet and World Wide Web such
as 3D. (Lister, 2003, p.34)
64
Appendix B
1. Welcome to Dongmakgol’s Hompage
65
2. KTF Cinema Party Website
66
Appendix C
1. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious
Nation of Kazakhstan’s Homepage
2. The Unofficial Borat’s Homepage
67
3. Borat at Myspace.com
4. Borat at YouTube.com

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Asset Metadata

Creator Park, In Soon (author)

Core Title The influence of new media marketing public relations on the South Korean film industry -- in relation to the U.S. film industry

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 04/19/2007

Defense Date 03/30/2007

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag film,Marketing PR,new media,North America,OAI-PMH Harvest,South Korea

Place Name South Korea (countries), USA (countries)

Language English

Advisor Swerling, Gerald (committee chair), Floto, Jennifer (committee member), James, David E. (committee member)

Creator Email isalicepark@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m413

Unique identifier UC1483716

Identifier etd-Park-20070419 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-476338 (legacy record id),usctheses-m413 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Park-20070419.pdf

Dmrecord 476338

Document Type Thesis

Rights Park, In Soon

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu