Twentieth Century Fox, PointRoll partner for DVD release campaign

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) has partnered with rich media technology firm PointRoll to launch a viral online ad campaign for its DVD and Blu-Ray Disk release of horror film, Shutter.

The interactive campaign consists of banner ads that drive users to www.shutterdvd.com, where they can upload pictures of themselves to create “fear photos,” which are layered with ghostly images from the movie. Photos are then incorporated into a PointRoll-developed advertising unit which serves users' photos to a variety of publishers, such as entertainment and gaming site Ugo.com, allowing the customized photo to be featured on the user's computer as part of an actual banner ad. “Fear photos” can also be embedded into social network profiles and e-mailed to friends.

“The more personalized advertising is, the more engaged a consumer will be,” said Ken Graffeo, COO of PointRoll, “We wanted to create excitement for the film. This was a way to create viral communication and a community aspect, which is very powerful.”

TCFHE worked with digital agency ThinkJam to develop the Web site and with Moxie Interactive on its media buy.