To reach teen audiences, marketers pushing an upcoming movie thriller are selling a ringtone only young consumers can hear.Ultrasonic ringtones — audible to teenagers but not adults — are a featured aspect of the promotional campaign for “The Messengers.” It’s inspired by the movie’s story line about a 16-year-old (Kristen Stewart) insisting she hears voices that her parents can’t pick up.
‘’We wanted it to be really relatable to teens, conveying to this target audience that this is a character a lot like them, along with this sense that kids and young adults are better conduits to the paranormal,'’ said Joe Epstein, executive director of worldwide digital marketing strategy for Columbia TriStar Marketing.
The ringtone, which can be purchased for $2.49 at www.sony.com/TheMessengers, was created specifically for the film and is a combination of several ultrasonic frequencies tied together to mimic a musical sound resembling a high-pitched chord.
The theory behind such ringtones is that as people get older, their hearing normally worsens. Ultrasonic ringtones are thought to be inaudible to people over the age of 25.
The film opens Feb. 2.
