How ‘Sausage Party’s’ Digital Marketing Blitz Paid Off

"Sausage Party," the most recent production from comedy masterminds Seth Rogan, James Franco, and Jonah Hill is making a big name for itself.First off, it’s offending parents across the country who mistake the raunchy CGI adventure for a family-friendly outing. But that’s not what we’re concerned about. Instead, we noticed the film’s unique digital marketing process, which could be a game changer for the industry.To promote the movie, Sony Pictures implemented the largest digital marketing campaign in history (regarding overall marketing budget), by dedicating half of its marketing budget to outlets like Snapchat, YouTube, and Twitter. In comparison, most studios spend closer to 12% of their marketing budgets toward digital campaigns – and it paid off in a big way.With a total production budget of $19 million, “Sausage Party” raked in $33.6 million during its debut weekend.“We doubled down on digital,” Rory Bruer, Sony’s distribution chief told Variety. “That’s what propelled us into the zeitgeist.”But Sony Pictures isn’t the only company making a push towards digital marketing. We recently discussed in our Time to Rethink Your Social Media Ad Spending Strategy blog post that, in fact, the vast majority of companies across the nation are planning to spend more on social over the next six months.