How can a small budget film suddenly score big at the box office without the marketing might of one of the big studios behind it? The answer is proper marketing, not mass marketing.

The original view of marketing a film was to cast a wide net. Make the ads appeal to as many people as possible. Inundate the public with the images of the movie. Make sure all the key one liners are being said by everyone before the movie even begins. Then, when the movie comes, out, make sure it is on as many screens as possible, to capture as much of the movie going public as possible in one sitting. Make all your money in one weekend or else be considered a failure.

Welcome to the new marketing. Marketing done properly. There is no doubt if Artisan had the money, it would have forced the Blair Witch myth down our throats. During Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, we'd sit through three or four commercials telling us how scary this movie is. The actors would have been on every talk show praising the movie and who wonderful the crew was. They might even tell the 'cream pie' joke. But the money to do this was not there. Instead, they took their money and sank it in a website. A damn good website.

They told us the story. They built the legend, so it was as familiar to us as any other scary story we might have heard in camp or at a sleepover. Slowly, those people who were interested in such things, found the site. The word of mouth kept the site alive. Those who couldn't have cared less about such a film, avoided the site. Those of us who didn't want all the back story, also had that choice.

Finally when the movie was released, it was released on a few screens. Those who wanted to see the movie did so. And they reported back what they saw. Some loved it. Some were scared. Some said it was lame. But based on those reports, the next wave of people going were even more prepared for the type of movie they were going to watch.

Eventually, the marketing technique proved successful. Artesan didn't have to shove the marketing under people's noses, doing statistical evaluations (for every 200 people who sees this billboard we can guarantee 3 will see the movie). Instead, the type of people who would see this film found the marketing for themselves.