A company that thrives on the visual, Canadian prodco Maple Pictures has released an app that aims to give movie lovers everything they want in a neat, free and mobile package. Here, the company’s VP of marketing, Joanna Miles, tells MiC about the strategy behind its development, and the features it includes. The app is available for free on the iTunes App Store and was developed by Big Picture Group in LA.
Q: Tell us about your app: what does it do and why did you develop it?
A: The Maple Pictures App gives its users instant access to our catalogue and social networking sites. For our theatrical titles, we offer trailers, info and showtimes complete with a map to the closest theatre. For our Home Entertainment titles, we offer trailers, info and a direct link to purchase the title on iTunes. With a search tool the user can easily search their favourite title in our catalogue. We developed this app to bring fans of Maple closer into the fold. They’ll have immediate access to all things Maple.
Q: How will this app be promoted to consumers?
A: We are promoting the App through Apple on the iTunes store, on our social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter), as well as through our own film marketing. We are including a shout-out for the app on all our print ads and most of our online campaigns for our future releases.
Q: What is your media strategy here? Why did you think an app was the best way to reach your target audience?
A: As our social networking sites grow, we wanted another platform to engage our fans. We felt the app was the most effective way to reach our target audience because it allows for an engaging platform where we could include our social networking sites and our film catalogue, complete with trailers, iTunes downloads and showtimes.
Q: How does this app contribute to your overall campaign or brand strategy?
A: The Maple Picture App brings all of our products under one roof and allows us to promote all of our titles to the user with synopses, trailers, showtimes and all of our social networking sites. By being the first of the independent studios in Canada to create an app, Maple Pictures promotes their brand as a forward-thinking company willing to venture into the new mediums and give our audience an easier platform to engage themselves with our product.
Q: Will this app continue to be developed going forward? In what ways?
A: We are working on a few updates for the new OS 4 software. Among the changes is a feature to save the release date of any upcoming title to your iCalendar so you can get a reminder on its release, a new user interface for our social networking platforms where the user can browse without leaving the app, and a quicker loading time. We will also continue to look for new and exciting ways to improve the user’s experience on the app.
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