Long Legs - the power of engaging all platforms for effective marketing

In the spirit of Halloween, I’ve been reminiscing about the (very) few horror movies I've mustered the courage to watch in my life - one standout being the 2024 sensation Long Legs. While I usually get swept up in the marketing of horror films without ever actually pressing play because I’m too scared to watch them, I couldn’t resist Long Legs. Its unique and powerful promotional campaign caught my attention… that, and the fact my horror fanatic friend made me watch it with them!  

Horror movies typically aim to evoke standard emotions like fear and anticipation. Sure, loud music and jump scares can get the heart racing, but I’m far more intrigued by the subtle, clever techniques used to instill fear beyond the movie screen. In today’s digital landscape, filmmakers have endless opportunities to reach audiences through social media, digital platforms, OOH advertising, and TV marketing tactics. This has led me to critique how films market themselves. A new horror flick featuring jump scares and a serial killer? That’s cool, but what’s new about that? I’m already feeling bored.  

That’s what sets Long Legs apart for me. The marketing was relentless and innovative, utilising everything from billboards and anonymous telephone numbers to YouTube clips, encrypted newspapers, and blog posts. One standout piece was a billboard featuring no words, just a phone number. If you called it (which I absolutely didn’t), you’d hear an audio clip from the movie - Cage singing “Happy Birthday,” a pivotal moment in the film’s story. There’s no additional context provided - spooky, right?  

The marketing tactics for Long Legs were incredibly clever in building anticipation. They employed encrypted messaging in their TikTok and YouTube videos, providing hardly any context and keeping the movie title under wraps for quite some time. Even Nicolas Cage’s character was shrouded in mystery; his face was distorted, making it hard to even recognize him at first. This created a powerful sense of suspense and intrigue - everyone was eager to see what Cage would look like in this eerie, unsettling horror film, myself included!  

Reddit exploded with activity as horror fans collaborated to decipher the code behind the creepy messages and uncover the film’s real title. This approach gives audiences a sense of autonomy - it's interactive, engaging, and fosters a sense of community. People began sharing their theories on TikTok about what the movie might entail and how Cage’s character would be portrayed. There’s even a website called ‘thebirthdaymurders’ that details each murder in Long Legs, outlining the police's findings, which are often concluded with murder-suicide, along with clues and codes left at the scene. Reading it felt like going through an actual police report - so creepy!  

What did this all make me realise? A marketing campaign needs to be more than a trailer - it needs to be a stunt. It highlights the power of immersive tactics in generating awareness and engagement. When audiences are actively involved, it sparks discussion that seeps into everyday life. This isn’t just an intrigue that flares up when the trailer plays and disappears afterward; it’s a gradual buildup of suspense that lingers in your thoughts. What does it all mean? Who is Long Legs? What about the birthday murders? And Nicolas Cage?! The questions are endless, just like the unsettling feeling it evokes.

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