Movie lovers flock to Comoyo Filter

When the telecom industry enters into the movie space, there’s a job to be done to build credibility among the film-loving public. A company like Telenor is known as a reliable provider of services and content, but would you trust them to recommend movies?

That’s the challenge that Joakim Thorkildsen of Comoyo set out to tackle. With a background as a movie, music and culture reporter for one of Norway’s largest newspapers, Joakim knew that Comoyo needed to earn the trust of the critical consumer in order to credibly sell content. And the best way to do so was to show that they actually love what they sell.

You have to love the content

“I think that in order to be successful with a new movie service like Comoyo, you have to care about more than just money or distribution. You have to actually love the content and have an interest in that content. That was the idea that led us to our movie blog, Comoyo Filter,” said Joakim Thorkildsen, executive editor for Comoyo Filter.

Comoyo Filter was launched on December 1, 2011, with the intention of providing a place for people to share personal opinions, experiences and thoughts on the films they watch.

“We recently published a story about a woman’s top five movies that make her cry. That’s a very personal text, and that’s what we intended. We encourage our writers to share their personalities and opinions with our readers,” said Joakim.

Newspapers now quoting Comoyo Filter

With the demise of in-house newspaper film critics, Comoyo Filter fills a unique space in the Norwegian media landscape…and the content industry is starting to take notice. Filter has become the first-stop for the release of new movie trailers, images and even news. Norwegian dailies VG and Aftenposten recently cited Comoyo Filter as the news source announcing that Norwegian blockbuster Kon-tiki got a Hollywood distribution deal.

“One of our goals was to raise awareness about Comoyo among the content industry, and now we see that these content owners are coming to us to make their films available through Comoyo first, partly because of the awareness our blog has raised,” said Joakim.

Attracting the early adopters

Approximately 30,000 people visit Comoyo Filter regularly. These visitors typically have “above average” interest in film and TV and can be considered “early adopters” when it comes to trying out new services.

Comoyo Filter engages these 30,000 film buffs in discussions about movies that they may not typically see. The idea is to show these viewers that while Comoyo does carry the big blockbusters, it also has a wide selection of content outside the mainstream.

“You don’t need a movie blog to tell you to see the latest Batman movie. You’re probably going to see that anyway. That’s why we try to talk about the movies that you wouldn’t normally hear about, and in turn raise awareness about the breadth of Comoyo’s move selection, as we have quite a good range of independent films,” explained Joakim.

Not afraid to tell the truth

Comoyo Filter has garnered the attention of the Norwegian media, the content industry and even the country’s film buffs. Joakim believes that this success is in part due to their honest and impartial take on movies and TV shows. Filter writers aren’t afraid to say when a movie is terrible, in fact they encourage it.

“We have succeeded in showing people that we offer a personal and honest perspective on movies. This helps people understand that we aren’t just trying to sell them something, but rather create a place for people who love movies,” said Joakim. “Slowly but surely we are building the Comoyo brand by showing people that we truly care about what we are selling.”

About Comoyo

As an independent subsidiary of Telenor, Comoyo is responsible for all product development of internet services for the consumer market in the Telenor Group. Its products will be sold both in the open market and through Telenor’s operators worldwide.