Entertain Impact helped build a co-marketing campaign to support the release of the blockbuster “Pawn Sacrifice.” Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire. This film stars Tobey Maguire as U.S. chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer and Liev Schreiber as soviet grandmaster Baris Spassky.
For this campaign, we worked with Grand Master and former world champion Maxim Dlugy to build an effective campaign strategy. We engaged the chess community to generate support for the film and to encourage young people to learn chess. The U.S. Chess Federation, the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, local chess clubs, education outlets, mainstream media, Grand Masters and chess public figures, academics, and creatives across the country embraced “Pawn Sacrifice” through social media, film screenings, and Q&A sessions. We also worked with chess.com and its 12 million members to coordinate online chess matches.
We reached 30 million people in the U.S. alone through Grand Masters, connecting audiences with the chess community to showcase chess, and encourage future players.
Check out more of our campaigns here.
Originally posted September 15, 2015