Title	THE WORLD'S MOST CLAUSTROPHOBIC CINEMA
Brand	GÖTEBORG FILM FESTIVAL
Product/Service	FILM FESTIVAL
Category	B07. Use of Events & Stunts
Entrant	STENDAHLS ADVERTISING AGENCY Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Idea Creation	STENDAHLS ADVERTISING AGENCY Gothenburg, SWEDEN
PR	STENDAHLS ADVERTISING AGENCY Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Production	FANNY & ALEXANDER Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production 2	STUDIO MINT Gothenburg, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Martin Cedergren	Stendahls	Chief Creative Officer
Andreas Gunberg	Stendahls	Head of Strategy
Jens Flensburg	Stendahls	Client Director
Zeynep Sahin	Stendahls	Art Director
Mats Tellving	Stendahls	Art Director
Sandra Bondesson	Stendahls	Copywriter
Annie Lundgren	Stendahls	PR Manager
Linda Fernell	Stendahls	PR Strategist
Gustav Öhman Spjuth	Fanny & Alexander	Film Director
Alexander Gibbons Barth	Fanny & Alexander	Film Director
Sofia Englundh	Fanny & Alexander	Production Manager
Sebastian Danneborn	Freelance	DOP
Robin Johansson	Freelance	Editor
Jonas Wikstrand	Freelance	Composer
Sebastian Guest	Terrassen	Digital Artist
Gabrielle Wikhede	Ljudbang	Sound Designer
Emelie Nilsson	Media Monks	Digital Artist

Why is this work relevant for PR?

Gothenburg Film Festival wanted to reach out to a much broader audience than the usual local festival goers and film media relations – with a 100% PR driven communication strategy. 'The World's Most Claustrophobic Cinema' is primarily an activation to awaken curiosity about the festival in media that extends beyond the usual cultural and local media. With a clear PR strategy to reach out broadly and internationally, and through only deserved attention and zero media budget, we achieved all-time-high results.

Background

Streaming apps, tablets and mobile phones have replaced the big screen experience. People are staying home, and cinemas are struggling to survive. In the age of Netflix, the Film Festival needs to turn movie-streamers into moviegoers. Brief: Break through the international media noise while offering something unique that cannot be experienced either at home or at other festivals. Objective: Attract international attention that positions the festival in an innovative and creative context and by that get more visitors to the festival.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Göteborg Film Festival decided to offer something Netflix don’t. Introducing: The World’s Most Claustrophobic Cinema. The highlight of the festival was Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson’s end-of-the-world movie, Aniara. Like the film’s characters, we wanted the audience to feel claustrophobic in deep space. The comfy theatre seats were replaced with 8 coffins. Each coffin was constantly monitored and equipped with a panic button.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

"The World’s Most Claustrophobic Cinema" became the key message pitched to media, a trigger phrase to early awaken curiosity and newsworthiness in headlines. The creative initiative was to spark media attention about the festival, extending beyond the cultural verticals, with a clear PR strategy on reaching out to much broader media by merely deserved attention and zero media budget. We started teasing about the upcoming activation by leaking dramatized images of the claustrophobic cinema, and then follow up and hyping up the news with a film trailer about the unique screenings. The usual media target audience for film and culture was obviously important, but the strategy was to reach a brand-new audience: not just the usual festival goers, but also those difficult to win over – the “Netflix addicts”.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

The PR campaign started during the first days of 2019, and continued to the festival ended February 3. Main assets: a film trailer of the event, dramatized images, and a press release. To get your hands on a ticket, you had to register on a unique website where tickets for the 28 screenings became available for some lucky ones. The limited sarcophagi screenings were also introduced to selected media, leading to even more live PR and reporting from the actual screenings.

List the results (30% of vote)

Tier 1: This became a global news event with over 500 shared articles and great engagement on social media. The initiative got an over 1.2 billion reach and a media value of over $13,533,532. During the first launch days, an estimated one tweet every three seconds was published about the event. Including articles from The Times, CNET, People Magazine, AV News, as well as reports and articles in major Swedish media outlets. The event got through to the Hollywood entertainment sector media such as Hollywood Reporter, Perez Hilton X – a major achievement and the first ever for the Swedish festival. Tier 2: New target groups that had never before visited the festival began discussing the campaign and planning their upcoming visits on global digital forums and social channels such as Reddit. Media mentions for Gothenburg Film Festival increased with 30% compared to previous years. Tier 3: The sarcophagi screening were globally one of the most trending festival events on one of the world’s largest trend sites (Trendhunter) and featured on Google News. All 28 screenings sold out in record time and the festival had All-time high visitor numbers since the start 42 years ago.