The Force Is Strong on Social Media for Blockbuster Film Star Wars

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - January 05, 2016) - Technology and data company, Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL), creator of the eValue™ score, today released rankings for the top 2015 U.S. blockbusters on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram during the holiday weekend.

Top Ten 2015 U.S. Blockbusters on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Over the Holiday Weekend

Source: Engagement Labs eValue ™ rankings of 2015's Holiday Blockbusters

"The holiday season is always one of the busiest for the film industry with studios releasing some of the biggest blockbusters of the year and movie-goers hitting the theatres during their time off," stated Bryan Segal, CEO at Engagement Labs. "To create buzz and excitement, films turn to social media as it's an ideal avenue for promotion, which can lead to an increase of box office sales. Therefore, it's no surprise that we found social media activity for these films were highly active during the holidays with audiences turning to online mediums to discuss the latest films."

On Facebook, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip ranked first with the highest eValue score and the largest fan base of the top ten films. The film leveraged its near-Christmas release date by posting content that combined references to the holiday and promotion of its arrival in theatres. However, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, which broke box office records, ranked second place on Facebook for overall eValue score. The movie also garnered the highest Impact score and the largest follower growth over the timeframe measured.

Joy used its Facebook page encouraging users to watch the film in theatres by posting content that included a link to purchase film tickets. The move ranked fourth for eValue score with the highest Engagement score. Additionally, Joy had the most active user base and the highest number of likes per 1,000 fans.

On Twitter, box-office winner Star Wars, dominated with the highest eValue score as well as Impact and Responsiveness scores. The film promoted content such as movie stills, film clips and images from world premieres and experienced the largest follower growth of 84,637 during the holiday week. Joy came in second for overall eValue score and leveraged the same strategy as the film's Facebook page, sharing links to buy tickets at a local theater. It also scored the highest retweets and favorites per 1,000 fans of the group, despite having significantly less fans than Star Wars.

On Instagram, Star Wars surpassed the competition to rank first for eValue score and Impact. With the largest fan following and highest follower growth of an impressive 297,104 fans during the weekend, the film's highly active user base interacted frequently with the film's content showcasing behind-the-scenes images of the film. Jennifer Lawrence-helmed films, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 and Joy placed second and third for eValue score, respectively. Joy had an impressive score for Engagement by posting the most content during the weekend, which included images of the film's star. The film showcased the most active user base and the highest number of likes per 1,000 fans.

"With the latest Star Wars movie having built buzz for the last year via social media, the film has seen successful returns on its online fan engagement as the film continues to destroy box office records," continued Segal. "Joy and Alvin and the Chipmunks scored well in terms of fan engagement, which indicated that posting content that resonates with followers will really help to engage fans and increase brand affinity, ultimately driving sales."

About Engagement Labs

Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) offers intelligent Total Social™ data, analytics and insights for marketers and organizations enabling them to track, measure and benchmark the conversations happening around their brand or industry both online and offline. These conversations are proven to drive critical business outcomes, including sales, while Engagement Labs' tools provide data and actionable insight to help guide business decisions and power marketing effectiveness.

Engagement Labs' eValue™ Analytics tool is the global benchmark for social media scoring. eValue's proprietary data technology offers real-time analysis to measure a brand's social media and digital marketing efforts, distilling it down to a single meaningful number between 0 and 100 -- an eValue score. Composed of a series of metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), an eValue score measures social media Engagement, Impact and Responsiveness which is benchmarked against 100,000+ handpicked and verified brands. The Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs company, is the only firm to regularly measure offline conversation via TalkTrack ®; independent research finds offline conversation is a significant driver of sales with twice the impact of online conversation.

Engagement Labs maintains offices in Toronto ON, Montreal QC, London UK and New Brunswick NJ.

www.engagementlabs.com / www.kellerfay.com

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