20 Best Marketing and Advertising Campaigns We Have Ever Seen e book 20_Best_Marketing_and_Advertising_Campaigns | Page 11

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THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
BRAND & CREATIVE:
Artisan Entertainment
Arguably the very first online “viral” marketing campaign
predating YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and even
Friendster, The Blair Witch Project remains an
often-imitated, never-duplicated runaway success.
Shot on a shoestring budget of just $22,000, the film
raked in over $250 million, thanks in part to its novel
approach of terrifying audiences into believing that
STEAL THIS
TELL GREAT STORIES! (Sound familiar?)
It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to be remarkable.
the fictitious story of three missing film students was
100% real. The key? A deft combination of “found
footage,” strategically seeded rumors on online
message boards, and a series of low-budget ads and
trailers that perpetuated the legend.