The Magic Behind "Beauty and the Beast"

Yes, it's a tale as old as time - yet, years after the release of Disney's animated feature "Beauty and the Beast," kids and adults alike still feel undeniable excitement at the mere mention of the cartoon classic's live action adaptation. It helps that Disney chose one of today's most bankable stars to take on the role of Belle (Emma Watson is as wonderful as ever in her role!), but a lot of the "Beauty and the Beast" live action movie's success could also be attributed to Disney's all out marketing efforts.

Beauty and the Beast stickers on iMessage.

As part of its marketing efforts, Disney released exclusive "Beauty and the Beast" stickers on several social media platforms, most notably on iMessage and Twitter. In addition, Disney further banked on the power of social media by holding a hashtag promo last month wherein lucky winners who tweeted #BeOurGuest could receive or send special rose deliveries as Valentine's day gifts.

What I find the most engaging of all, however, is the interactive marketing promo Disney launched on Twitter. Aside from the specialized stickers and the rose giveaways, Disney, in its official Beauty and the Beast Twitter account, also gave fans the opportunity to receive special messages directly from the live-action movie's cast (Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Luke Evans), as long as they respond one of the account's tweets (as seen in the photo below).

The interactive factor of Disney's marketing efforts to promote "Beauty and the Beast" make it an excellent form of promotion for the movie. By doing this, social media users (and Disney's potential market) feel more connected to the cast and could thus be more persuaded to see the movie in cinemas. Furthermore, in conjunction with its online marketing efforts, Disney also set up exhibits in various malls worldwide (I actually saw one in Langham Place, Mongkok) to reach out to kids without social media accounts who might not have the opportunity to view its interactive marketing online. By targeting the social media generation as well as the younger generation (kids whose interests are easily captured by colorful, physical displays) and by combining both online and offline marketing, Disney was able to successfully promote its newly released movie to its intended audience.