• by Doug Chavez , Columnist, July 12, 2012

Brody: It doesn't make any sense when you pay a guy like you to watch sharks.
Hooper: Well, uh, it doesn't make much sense for a guy who hates the water to live on an island either.
Brody: It's only an island if you look at it from the water.
Hooper: That makes a lot of sense.

Remember that ominous sound from “Jaws?” You probably do, and, if you’re going to the beach this summer, you may be thinking about what may be lurking out there just past the beach. 

Nearly all the entertainment brands I have worked with are always looking for better and more efficient ways to connect with audiences. In many ways it’s a bit like Roy Scheider as Brody, saying he needs a bigger boat to catch the shark.

A bigger boat that some smart entertainment brands are tapping into is the ocean of big data that is social sharing. Each day over 16 billion things are shared across the Open Web. Think for a minute about what things you have already shared or what has been shared with you today; now consider that type of social sharing across the web. Today’s web is the conversation economy. Social sharing data is massive but it’s also a pool of hand raisers and intent that is rich with audience targeting. Tapping into real time audience sharing trends enables entertainment brands to capitalize on fans sharing things such as movie trailers, actor interviews, show times and then target interested audiences in real time. This approach turns casting the proverbial net into a very targeted activity in qualified pool vs. casting into a vast ocean. 

Lately, I have noticed that 20^th Century Fox has been tapping into social data and doing a much better job casting their net into the social data pool. For their launch of "Prometheus," 20^th Century has been using something as simple as shortened URLs, to identify new audience segments. If you look closely at photos and other content they have posted to Facebook, Twitter and Via.Me, you will notice they are using a new URL shortener called re.po.st. Using re.po.st enables brands to leverage shortened URLs to identify audiences based on clicks and user engagement. The lay-up for the advertiser is targeting users with a display ad on the web or in mobile setting. The beauty and the ROI come in using those shortened URLs to re-direct to ticket sites -- and that means the studio can see an ROI from their social investment. Brands have moved beyond vanity metrics of likes, especially since it’s hard, if not impossible, to translate likes into an ROI.

Brands that understand the tides and currents of the sea of social data will reap the rewards that real-time social data represents. Successful brand fishermen will need a bigger boat and will continually re-invest their dollars into a fishing juggernaut that creates an annuity stream from the sea of social data. 

Ask yourself if your approach is working, if you need a bigger boat or if you’re fishing from a dingy.