Trailers have always been important for a movie’s success, but a decade’s worth of YouTube has only increased the weight people place on a form that it somewhere between advert and art.
The function of the trailer has changed too. Rather than getting people in cinemas to make a note of what they should watch next, the idea is to get people with a million other distractions into theatres in the first place.
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New research from Think With Google, conducted with Ipsos combined with data from Google and YouTube, highlights the growing influence of movie trailers on YouTube, especially on mobile devices, and the important role YouTube and Google search activity plays in driving people into the theaters.
Here are some of the key findings from the research:
- Over 35 million hours of movie trailers have been viewed on mobile on YouTube so far in 2015
- 74% of moviegoers search online to find movie showtimes
- 56% of searches related to movie tickets are from a mobile device
- 41% growth in mobile searches related to movie showtimes so far this eyar
- 81% of moviegoers who watched trailers online did so on YouTube
- 88% increase in movie trailer views on YouTube Y/Y
- YouTube is an influential source of content for teens and millennials: More than half of young millennials (13-24 year olds) agree they are more likely to watch a trailer on YouTube than TV
- 65% agree that watching trailers on YouTube influences what move they will see in theatres
- 47% watched a trailer on YouTube before the last time they went to the theatres
Top trailers
Think With Google has also released a leaderboard showing which trailers have got YouTubers excited in 2015. The was curated with the same criteria as its monthly YouTube Ads Leaderboard – promotion (paid ads) and popularity (organic views). The trailers leaderboard includes content uploaded between April 1, 2015 and June 30 2015.
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2
Views: 67.8-million
2. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Official Teaser Trailer [HD]
Views: 57-million
3. Jurassic World – Official Global Trailer (HD)
Views: 27-million
Terminator: Genisys Official Trailer #2 (2015) – Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie HD
Views: 19.7-million
Marvel’s Ant-Man – Trailer 1
Views: 17-million
