Marc Benioff is the CEO of Salesforce.com, a cloud computing company, and now the latest investor in MovieLaLa, a social network for movie buffs.  The idea behind the start-up social network is that it will help studios gain a much better idea of the analytics and data needed for accurate advertising and marketing, and serve as a way for film lovers to get exclusive early info on anticipated movies.  Not only that, but MovieLaLa will also be a way to connect enthusiasts and their favorite stars.  “Movie studios are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to market movies without the analytics and data to know where to target that marketing and to know it’s working,” says Benioff.  

MovieLaLa offers itself as a sort of sustainable marketing platform; after users group around a particular film they like, they’re all in one place and looking for new info when it’s time to release a sequel or related film.  Anyone interested in movies knows that the opening weekend for a film will largely determine or indicate the overall success of that film, and MovieLaLa can help boost these opening weekend sales by generating and building buzz.  

This sounds like good news for both marketers and fans of the movie business, but the MovieLaLa does have a tough job ahead.  In order to be successful, it will have to enter with a bang and really convince people that it offers something they can’t get quickly or easily from blogs or existing social networks.

MovieLaLa will debut within the next two weeks.

Story via TechCrunch