Faces of Serenity Campaign by mrmgraphics

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Faces of Serenity Campaign

POSTED BY: MRMGRAPHICS
UPDATED: Monday, March 3, 2008 13:24
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Sunday, February 24, 2008 7:23 AM

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To members of fireflyfans.net, I proudly announce the Faces of Serenity Campaign ( http://facesofserenity.com). The goal: Convince Universal that greenlighting a sequel to Serenity is a sound business decision. The methodology: a two-part campaign consisting of both mail-in and related online components that will show them exactly what we are willing to spend on the expansion of our 'Verse via a Serenity sequel.

The mail-in component involves sending two pages of 8.5x11" standard laser or inkjet paper to Universal, in a standard #10 envelope, with a standard stamp. That's it. Nothing more. And nothing more to buy, other than paper, envelope, and a single stamp. No foodstuffs, nothing annoying, nothing nasty or hostile. It's what's printed on the paper itself that I hope makes all of the difference.

The first page consists of a form. Divided into two basic parts, the form contains both a boilerplate cover letter and a fill-in-the-blanks section. In sum, they will illustrate, from every participant, the exact dollar amounts being spent on Serenity- and Firefly-related products. A completed form (my own) looks like this:

The form is the key to the campaign. And key to the form is listing every 'Verse-related purchase, whether benefitting Universal or not. They need to see what we're spending and willing to spend -- regardless of who's now getting the money -- to see how much money they could make if offering the products we want. And they need to see it all at a glance: a single page, an argument, a statement, a product list, and a dollar amount. One page, one glance, end of story. And no annoying foodstuffs. Instead, we're giving them something every company wants:

We're providing them with market research.

While the basic form is one page long, I realize that many will run out of room real fast while listing purchases. Thus, a companion form is available for people who need to list more than eleven line items of 'Verse-related product purchases:

And the boilerplate text -- which summarizes both this campaign and our argument -- reads as follows:

Quote:
Universal:

I am your customer. Let’s continue doing business.

I am writing as a member of the Faces of Serenity. We are a worldwide customer base of enthusiastic supporters of Universal’s 2005 motion picture, Serenity. This film was the continuation of a story begun in 2002 via FOX Network’s Firefly television series. While the series was short-lived, it earned legions of fans worldwide that propelled Firefly DVD sales to numbers significant enough for Universal to greenlight the Serenity motion picture and subsequent Serenity DVD. Since then, sales of the Serenity DVD proved significant enough for Universal to produce a Serenity Collector’s Edition DVD, released in August 2007.

As owner of the Serenity brand and related DVD properties, you have the numbers regarding sales of these products. However, these figures don’t present the complete picture of the tremendous demand for all such products –– for the continuation of the Serenity story. To present a more complete picture, members of the Faces of Serenity are sharing with you the tremendous numbers of Serenity-related products we’ve purchased and the amounts of dollars we’ve spent –– and will continue to spend –– on this remarkable fictional world. We’re also attaching photos of ourselves and our Serenity-related products, so that you may see the faces and products behind the numbers. The sale of many of these products would have directly benefitted your bottom line. Some revenue may have benefitted others, including FOX. Of importance to Universal: All sales of future Serenity-related products –– a movie sequel, subsequent DVD releases, books, and related merchandise –– will directly benefit your bottom line. You need only to create the products; your customers are already in line and waiting.

In sum: Worldwide, we number in the hundreds of thousands. We have money to spend, and we know the products we want. Only Universal can now deliver these products. Thus, we respectfully ask that you consider producing a Serenity sequel, subsequent DVD releases, books, and related merchandise, so that we may continue doing business with you as your customers.

Thank you. For more details and information, please log onto: facesofserenity.com

The text, above, mentions our sending in photos of "ourselves and our Serenity-related products." Its these photos that will be laser- or inkjet-printed on (or taped/pasted to) the second page. First page, a form listing 'Verse-related purchases and $ sum total thereof (plus attachment form, if needed); second page, an actual picture of each of us posing with our 'Verse-related purchases. Again, for the sake of example, here's mine (sans Firefly DVD box set, out on loan):

The online component then takes the pictures already created, above, for the mail-in component, and puts them into Galleries on the Faces of Serenity website ( http://facesofserenity.com/?page_id=8). Thus, at any time, simply by logging into the Galleries on the Faces of Serenity website, anyone -- at a glance -- can see just how many Browncoats there are, and how many 'Verse-related products they're purchasing.

There is much greater detail on all of this on the Faces of Serenity website ( http://facesofserenity.com). The site, too, is in a far greater state of completion than SD08. It has to be. It is a far more complex and interactive site, and had to include a complete photo gallery management system built right into a WordPress blog. Even the forms are available, right now, in PDF:

http://facesofserenity.com/fos_forms/fos_form_03k64_ff-03.pdf (basic FOS form)
http://facesofserenity.com/fos_forms/fos_atch_03k64_ff-03.pdf (optional attachment form)

It's all there, it's live, it's working. Check it out. If you do, you'll see that pictures of my cats are being used right now to test the galleries. And you'll see that there are only two galleries specified right now: UniHD and fireflyfans.net. More galleries will be added ASAP, and more cat pics will be used to test them, but I assure all of you that the cat pics come down as soon as I have Browncoat-with-product pics to put up.

Now's the time for your thoughts. I look forward to comments.

mrmgraphics
(website under serious reconstruction, if not life-saving surgery)

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Sunday, March 2, 2008 5:35 PM

NCBROWNCOAT

For all you folks that want to see a second movie, here's something that Universal WILL see.

I'm going to do it and so should you!

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Monday, March 3, 2008 1:24 PM

STOWEAWAY

MRM,
I've been following this from over on the Uni-HD board and I think it definitely gets to the heart (read: bottom line) of the matter.
I do have one suggestion for promoting it at Fireflyfans.net, though.
You should post this whole thread in the Guerilla Marketing forum. Folks here know that that's the place for ideas on how to get our Big Damn Sequel. And, since that category doesn't see as much traffic, your thread won't get buried on a daily basis. And it will still be visible on the front page -- about halfway down.

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Check out http://www.americasfunniesttshirts.com for hilarious shirts at a great price.

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