An outstanding movie supported by an effective PR campaign

Les Misérables - I saw it a few years ago in the Opera House of Graz and was deeply impressed. Yesterday I finally went to the cinema and watched its film adaptation. I was wondering how they had adapted the musical to the screen and if the story itself didn´t become more important than the music. But it didn´t. The movie absolutely exceeded my expectations. It is a lot more emotional and intense than the live show. This is because the actors' faces are shown in close-ups during most of the songs, which means you not only hear the emotion through their voices, but you can also see it in their eyes. Even though the movie is 158 minutes long, it never gets boring or lengthy. 

Anyhow, the most extraordinary characteristic of the movie is that the actors sing live instead of being lip-synched to pre-recorded songs. There have only been a few other movies, in which a live record method was used. In Les Misérables the actors have little earpieces, through which they can hear a piano playing their songs. Of course, this unique way of producing a movie has been the main message of the PR and marketing campaign of the movie. It was not only topic of press releases, interviews and behind-the-scenes features, but also a special teaser trailer was produced, which explains the uniqueness of the movie. See for yourself... 

Besides Youtube, also Facebook has been used for communicating with the target audience. (Because of this strong use of social media, I assume that especially young people were targeted – as they are probably not so familiar with the story itself) Before the premier of the movie the extended trailer mentioned above was also posted on Facebook to give their fans broader insights.

In my opinion the communication campaign is a real good example of an integrated campaign. One main message was chosen and spread through different channels. Additionally, the actors supported the main message by expressing their approval of the live record method. Moreover, the message shows the uniqueness of the movie and is a major motivation for seeing it. And that is also my recommendation: Go to the cinema and enjoy an amazing movie - But be aware, there are only about 6 spoken lines in the whole movie ;)