The Unique Tracking Challenge Of Having Two Imaginary Friend Films In The Marketplace.

Back in 2022, there were two PINOCCHIO movies. One was by Robert Zemeckis for Disney+, and the other was GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO for Netflix, which added the director’s name to distinguish it from the Disney film. At the time, The Quorum was tracking high-profile streaming films (we have since focused only on films exclusive to theatrical).

Because the two PINOCCHIO films with nearly identical titles were in the market at the same time, we decided not to track either one. In a survey environment, it’s nearly impossible to get distinguishing data on two films with the same name. We can ask people if they are aware of or interested in Disney’s PINOCCIO, but there’s no way to know if respondents aren’t expressing their opinions on the Netflix version. So, we decided not to track them rather than publish unclear data.

Though not as similar, we have two imaginary friend films in the marketplace. IMAGINARY opens this weekend, while IF arrives on May 17th. The two films couldn’t be more different. One is a horror film, and the other is a family film. When we survey people, it’s not hard to differentiate between the two. Especially when including loglines and posters.

But things do get tricky when it comes to unaided awareness. Our surveys ask the open-ended question, “What upcoming films are you aware of?”. Some people will say “if”. Others will say “imaginary. That’s easy enough. For the most part, we know which film they are referring to.

It’s less clear when they say “imagine” or “imaginary friend.” Are they talking about IMAGINARY? IF? Both films? That means we have to make a judgment call. It also means that the unaided scores for these two films are not entirely unimpeachable.

To that end, The Quorum has created a series of rules. Obviously, if they get the film’s title exactly right, credit is given to the respective film. Any use of the word “imagine” by itself without the word “friend” is credited to IMAGINARY. Once the word “friend” appears, credit is given to the film IF.

Can we say that this allocation is perfect? No. Is it possible we’re understating or overstating unaided awareness for one or both of these titles? Absolutely.

Hopefully, this will resolve itself in the coming weeks once IMAGINARY cycles through. Once the horror film fades from the spotlight, it should be easier to designate unaided to IF. In the meantime, we caution users to take the unaided scores for these two films with a grain of salt.