Fox Searchlight Launches Top-Notch Fake Site for 'I Heart Huckabees'
 Fox Searchlight has taken the fake website marketing tactic to new heights with the 'I Heart Huckabees' effort. Featuring several great fake commercials, coupons, and even a fake magazine cover, they've really outdone themselves. The Open Spaces Coalition site is great too.
Fox understands the real reason for doing a fake site - to provide backstory that develops further interest in the film. unlike the Godsend Institute site from earlier this year, the Huckabee's site isn't just a quickie effort to gain publicity, and won't be mistaken for a "real site." Instead, it further develops the story and characters. Note that Jude Law and Jason Schwartzman are not hidden - they're prominently featured. There's also a little disclaimer link at the bottom that takes you straight to the film's page at Fox.
The Huckabees Corporation - Welcome
'Goodfellas' Cast Breaks Bread to Promote DVD Release
Missed this one earlier in the week -- nice, PR-friendly and cost-effective promo for the 15th anniversary DVD of 'Goodfellas':
The theme was "breaking bread, not legs" when some of the cast and filmmakers of GoodFellas reunited for dinner this week. Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino and real-life mob informant Henry Hill -- whose experiences inspired the story -- showed up to eat baked ziti, swap stories, sing some Italian opera and recall director Martin Scorsese's acclaimed mob movie.
This just goes to show you - a little creativity in DVD marketing can go a long way - over 76 article placements this week...Concord Monitor Online
'Super Size Me' to Use Guerrilla Marketing Tactics in the U.K.
Brand Republic is reporting that Morgan Spurlock will take the lead of an integrated guerrilla marketing effort to coincide with the film's U.K. launch:
Distributor Tartan Films has developed a marketing strategy to target both a mass-market audience and obesity campaigners.
A nationwide consumer push will include guerrilla activity at shopping malls and an outdoor and radio campaign. TV commercials are also being considered.
The film is being co-promoted with the British Heart Foundation, the British Medical Association and Sustain, which lobbies for better food and farming.
The Department of Health has also been asked to put together a panel of experts to talk about the issues raised. This will be filmed and screened in cinemas showing advance previews of the film.
Let's see if they can top the German distributors in the controversy category...Brand Republic
Today's Must Read: Why Does Hollywood Dominate US Cinemas?
Here's a must-read article from Yale Global Online about the shrinking foreign film market in the U.S. and the difficult time Hollywood's having in marketing them:
...few foreign films make it onto American screens. In 2001, imports represented less than 1 percent of all films shown in the USA. Free traders would argue that Americans simply prefer Hollywood movies, but the real reasons for this imbalance are more structural than cultural. The market for foreign films has contracted in the US over the past thirty years, due to the rise of American independent film, the decline in independent theaters, and the restored vertical integration of the US film industry. In such an environment, the gate-keeping role played by American distributors of foreign films becomes ever more crucial.
Why Does Hollywood Dominate US Cinemas?
Bollywood titles fill On Demand Niche
Seasonal and topical themed collections aren't anything new to VOD, but New York-based 212 Media and Schramm Sports & Entertainment have upped the ante with 'Bollywood on Demand.' Their special collection features Bollywood movies, series and other special events on the Comcast and Time Warner Systems. A quick survey of the MMB's own Time Warner box shows a nice selection currently available.
As VOD offerings increase, packaging offerings as niche collections will boost repeat purchases and drive program loyalty. If you look at the DVD business as an example, you'll notice that the companies with the greatest brand loyalty specialize in "enhanced collections. The fans of companies like The Criterion Collection will buy an unknown title purely on the strength of the brand. While they may not bring in huge sales figures like a Columbia/Tri-Star, their editorial expertise and emphasis on quality has helped Criterion build a sizable measure of trust with their consumer base. I guarantee you that when DVD growth drops from 44% this year to around 8% in 2008, Criterion will still show steady, stable growth with intense brand loyalty.
So what can VOD marketers learn from DVD niche marketing? If anything, the shift to a la carte offerings means that the studio brand will become increasingly important -- better to be the master of your genre (i.e. Dimension) than a broad-based player. We may see a mini 'balkanization' at the studios as branding grows in importance. Why? It's simple -- if you have to pick from thousands of unknown titles, genre signifiers will be truly important. And to all of you indie moguls-in-waiting, I say to you: pick an underserved niche, and ensure you lock up PPV and internet rights!
As an aside, I would also expect third-party information providers (like Muze or Rotten Tomatoes) to grow in importance as they will eventually become integrated into VOD menu systems. Look for a major deal in that space in the coming months...
'Bollywood on Demand' on US cable - Indiantelevision.com's Breaking News
Today's Must Read: "Grown-up Movies"
The USA Today has been a haven for excellent movie marketing articles lately, and this piece on the adult movie-going market continues this trend.
Think marketing to adults over 25 is a waste of time? Think again:
Moviegoers 50 and older accounted for nearly 25% of U.S. ticket sales in 2003, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. Attendance among 40- to 59-year-olds surged 7%. More than one in 10 moviegoers are over 60. Meanwhile, moviegoing among 12- to 24-year-olds is off 1% since 2001.
The article covers some of the major factors behind this trend including counter-programming, a renewed focus on genre titles (like romance), demographics and more.
USATODAY.com - Grown-up movies
20th Century Fox using 21st Century Sandwich Boards
Looks like Fox has been using human billboards wearing T-shirts with embedded LCD screens to promote new releases. This bizarre invention comes from Adam Hollander of Brand Marketers in San Francisco, CA, and from what I've been reading around the net, the premise is this: a "mobile marketer" simply walks up to people in high traffic areas with the shirt showing a special shortened cut of a film's trailer. My guess is that the individual has also memorized some talking points regarding the film and has some sort of flyer to give out as well.
The washington Times reports:
Movie studio 20th Century Fox saw the potential of the shirts and put them to use to promote "I, Robot," starring Will Smith. Last month the T-shirts were worn in 40 to 50 locations in 10 cities, including the District.
"Because it's something innovative and different, people want to check it out," said Jeffrey Godsick, executive vice president of marketing for 20th Century Fox. "It really drew people in."
The studio is considering using the shirts for future promotions, including for "Taxi." The movie, starring Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon, opens in the fall.
The India Times is reporting that the shirts cost roughly $550 apiece. I don't know if this is the manufacturing or retail cost though.
Boob tubes on flat chests, the latest fashion statement!
TV T-shirts - The Washington Times: Business - August 11, 2004
Blockbuster Officially Launches Online DVD Rental Service
It's official -- Blockbuster's online rental service is now live, and the press release just hit the net a few minutes ago. Although I am currently a Netflix member, I'll test out the Blockbuster service to compare the offerings, user interface, etc. to keep all you movie marketers up to speed.
As a cult/foreign/obscure movie fan, I am strongly considering Greencine, a niche competitor (and proud authors of the best damn film blog on the net) though the speediness of Netflix may have me spoiled.
The only one I have no interest in is the Wal Mart service. I'd rather stick with a "movie company," although Wal-Mart is arguably the single biggest DVD retailer in the U.S.
Ah, the old dilemma -- good, fast or cheap -- you can only have two of the three.
Blockbuster Launches New Online DVD Rental Service
Today's Must Read: Studios Spent $887 Million Marketing DVDs Last Year
The Hollywood Reporter has a must-read article on the ever-increasing marketing costs associated with DVD releases. Here's a little taste:
Industry analyst Tom Adams of Adams Media Research is not surprised by the overall spending numbers. According to his company's figures, studios are earning about 60% more upon initial release from video sales of theatrical feature films than they did during the VHS-only era. Among movies that earned more than $100 million at the domestic box office, the average home video yield last year was $152 million, a 71% increase on the comparable $89 million average in 1997, the year DVD launched.
Here's a nice breakdown of spending by sector:
There is one thing on which most studios agree: Allocating marketing dollars to the small screen makes sense. Nearly 80% of video marketing expenditures last year were for television commercials, with broadcast and cable in the lead at $385 million and $222.8 million, respectively. DreamWorks Home Entertainment spent the highest percentage of its marketing budget on network TV (58.3%), followed closely by BVHE (53.2%). Fox led percentagewise spending on cable television (37.8%), followed by New Line (31.4%).
Even though this article is about the "big fish," Indie DVD marketers should read it to see where the big money's not being spent -- in particular, niche, small circulation magazines/fanzines with favorable CPM costs, online contextual advertising and Blogs. The online sector is especially important for those unable to spend more than a few grand in advertising and need an effective way to manage ROI.
Home entertainment marketing
Columbia TriStar Reignites Colorization Debate with New 'Three Stooges' DVD
 Here's a hot story making its rounds on the wires: Columbia TriStar's home-video unit will be releasing a 'Three Stooges' DVD including colorized and black-and-white film versions:
"The best thing about this DVD release is it gives the consumer the ultimate choice," said Suzanne White, vice president of marketing for Columbia TriStar home entertainment. "They can watch the very best, the finest restored image of the black-and-white version, or watch the new colorized version and switch instantaneously between the two."
According to the article, this new release isn't like the Turner colorization fiasco of the mid 80s -- today's colorization technology is vastly improved, and the studio actually did some research this time out. This isn't the first colorization effort this year (The History Channel's 'Time Machine: World War I in Color' Series has been airing since the spring) but it does represent the first colorized DVD release.
Is this a savvy DVD marketing move? First off, the massive amount of publicity will definitely benefit the stagnating stooges, who rarely break out of their rabid fan base.
Second, it gives the studios one more "bite at the apple" -- an excuse to re-release all of their B&W B-list titles. After all, we're not talking about colorizing 'Citizen Kane' or 'The 400 Blows' -- It's a couple of goofy, dated slapstick movies.
I personally would love to see an overtly artistic colorization attempt on a 1950s atomic scare or hygiene film, but hey -- that's just me.
Boston.com / A&E / Movies / Stooges digitally painted on DVD
Twentieth Century Fox and eBay Enter Marketing Partnership
Just got this press release a few minutes ago. Looks like Twentieth Century Fox is increasing their online marketing footprint (the ubiquity of 'Aliens vs. Predator' banners on the top web properties lately should give this one away). By partnering with eBay, they're getting a broad-based online demographic similar to what they used to get with network buys. Here's a little excerpt from the release:
Fox is the first movie studio to have rich media ads on the eBay homepage linking to integrated promotional pages on an eBay micro-site; and the first film company to have movie trailers and integrated showtimes accessible on a micro-site linked from eBay.
"We are thrilled to be working with eBay, a worldwide community of more than 105 million registered users. The relationship will give us the ability to interact with eBay users, as well as gain access to frequent moviegoers," said Jeffrey Godsick, executive vice president of marketing at Fox. "We are always seeking exciting, non-traditional marketing opportunities, and this one with eBay fits perfectly with our goals to find new ways to reach new audiences."
You can see the first Fox-Ebay microsite here.
Fox Reaches eBay Community With Trailers, Showtimes, Props and Related Listings; Twentieth Century Fox and eBay Enter Into Marketing Agreement
Wellspring Steers Their Own Kind of "Hummer" onto Hollywood Boulevard
 A controversial billboard depicting a key sex scene in 'The Brown Bunny' has been generating quite a bite of publicity for the film's upcoming theatrical release. However, Wellspring, the film's distributor, has a long way to go before it digs Vincent Gallo's film out from under the massive mountain of bad publicity that it garnered last year. Dubbed the "worst Film at Cannes" by many prominent critics, the film sparked a venomous back-and-forth argument between Gallo and critic Roger Ebert.
The billboard has accomplished two critical things:
First, it has generated a massive amount of print publicity (articles in the New York Times, L.A. Times, and countless others) that is easily worth more than the $50,000 cost of the billboard.
Second, the attention has been shifted away from the nearly insurmountable wall of critical disdain towards the most talked about element in the film - the sex scene involving Gallo and Chloe Sevigny. One trick pony or not, that is the one big marketing hook that will get even the most jaded hipster's butt into the theater.
And as far as the risk of a public backlash is concerned, the billboard's not in Kentucky or Ohio -- it's in L.A., the home turf of the porno industry. And while I think Wellspring's notion that the ad's "no worse than a Calvin Klein ad" pretty ridiculous, we all know that an "incensed public" will only create a self-perpetuation of interest.
My biggest concern -- Wellspring has a "classy" brand image, and however you want to spin it, this campaign is the antithesis of classy. What would Sony Pictures Classics or New Yorker Films do?
The New York Times > Movies > Art? Smut? Commerce? Billboard Gets Attention
Russian blockbuster 'Night Watch' slashes 'Spiderman II'
'Night Watch,' the Russian-made thriller with Hollywood quality special effects, has broken all Russian box-office records, according to MOS News. Described by many as a blend of 'Blade Runner' and 'Blade,' MOS News analyzes the marketing success of the film:
Many observers explain the movie's phenomenal success by an unprecedented marketing campaign that was carried out Channel One, the state-controlled television channel which acted as the film's producer. According to one of Channel One's officials as much as 50 percent of the film's $3 million budget was spent on publicity.
It's pretty unlikely we're going to get hard and fast numbers since the Russian film industry isn't as "open" with their figures as Hollywood. Nonetheless, the quality of the special effects and the fact that the film is trouncing both 'Spiderman II' and 'Lord of the Rings' introduces two big issues:
1. It may be increasingly difficult for Hollywood to compete in countries with consolidated national media and a technological prowess for special effects.
2. U.S. based digital effects animators, already facing stiff competition from India and China, have a new competitor.
The big question in the short term -- will this film translate to U.S. audiences, and if so, who has the best experience in marketing it? Given the intense level of blood and gore, the film may warrant an NC-17 rating in the U.S., which would limit the number of people willing to run with it. Based on that, I would expect either Lion's Gate or maybe Newmarket (with Palm Pictures a distant third) interested in something like this. Until we get our eagerly awaited review copy, it's difficult to know if the story translates.
You can see the trailer and TV promo clips here -- looks like quite an effective marketing campaign, if you ask me...
Related Links:
Channel 1 -- Production Company Dozorfilm (in Russian)
Channel 1 -- Russian TV<
Russian Blockbuster Breaks All Box Office Records - MONEY - MOSNEWS.COM
DVD Successor 'Blu-Ray' Outlines Format Specs
Looks like the format squabbles around DVD successor "Blu-Ray" are settling down enough to agree on some specs. With only a few more wayward companies and their competing strategies to bring into the fold, it seems 'Blue-Ray' will become the new standard. Or we might have the "Beta vs VHS battle" redux. It's hard to predict, as usual.
As movie marketers, most of us here at the MMB should be excited about next generation media. But we're also weary consumers, and having just replaced our extensive collection of 8 tracks for these new-fangled "cassette tapes," we have just two words for the tech heads at Samsung, Sony et al: Slow down! Talk with your colleagues on the consumer side of the PC business and ask them how much real demand there is right now for 5 GHZ processors, 1 Terabyte hard drives and 2 gigs of ram. Have the software manufacturers looked to exploit these capabilities yet? If you read the minimum required specs on most software packages, the answer is obviously no.
The same thing goes for Hollywood. Do you really think Hollywood is ready to shell out billions of dollars for repurposing all their old content to HD when the DVD goldmine hasn't been tapped out yet? Can most of these works even be repurposed for HDTV? Are they willing to invest their hard-won profits on new production equipment without any real demand yet?
We're not trying to stand in the way of progress -- we love any technology that improves the entertainment experience -- but as the old saying goes, "timing is everything."
Related Links:
Blu-Ray Standards Homepage
Digit Magazine Online
Declining Novel Readership and its Effect on Movie Marketing
The Hollywood Reporter has an excellent, must-read article about the effect of declining readership among adults, and the effects on movie marketers has different implications than you might think. For example, the real boon from securing a book's rights isn't the large reader base:
Actually, people who read novels may be the wrong audience to bring into theaters opening weekend. Having read the book, they know the story that's supposed to be on the screen and that probably isn't going to be there. People who have read the book are likely to leave a movie theater and tell others that the film wasn't as good as the book or, worse yet, that so many of the good things in the book never made it into the movie. There are reasons for this, of course, that reflect the differences between writing novels and making films.
The article goes on to discuss some of the marketing benefits of securing literary properties, including the benefit of a coherent thematic "spine", and the substantial publicity "hooks" that will help differentiate the film in an otherwise crowded marketplace:
Having a best-selling novel as the basis for a movie provides a publicity hook for the initial media coverage of the project. It gives a project a legitimacy that an original doesn't usually have, unless it happens to be the product of a high profile screenwriter and an A List director. Just the fact that a novel is being turned into a movie sets in motion a chain of media coverage that invariably centers on how the book will have to be changed to become a movie, how its author feels about Hollywood making those changes, who will or won't or should or shouldn't be cast in the film and how the author really feels down deep inside about those particular actors. Novelists whose affection for Hollywood diminishes once the check cashing ritual is over, can and often do take full advantage of the media's interest in pursuing such stories.
So does this new climate make much difference for movie marketers? On the studio side, the penchant for following risk-averse, homogenized properties will most likely continue, while many smaller producers will continue to pick up books that they like. Would you ever expect to see a David Foster Wallace film from Sony? Not Likely, but someone at Plum Pictures has plans to make one. At their investment level, they don't need the marketing clout of a name familiar to the general public, but rather, one that resonates with an audience whose sensibilities match those of the producers'. This is where the notion of business and art clash; as opposed to constructing a film out of a marketing hook, these indie producers create films that they would like to see, and leave it to others to figure out how to market it. It's a gamble that, for all practical purposes, rarely pays off, but when it does, we get films like 'The Godfather.'
For a movie marketer, the real challenge is not getting a neatly packaged product easy for consumption. Instead, they crave to work on marketing plans that leave no blog unturned, no niche publication unconsiderered and no potential butt-in-the-seat forgotten. And in an era of massive audience dissonance, these are the marketers that will be successful.
Related Links:
NEA Report on Declining Readership
Novel reading decline not good for H'wood
'Outfoxed' to Commence Theatrical Run August 6th
Posted on Monday August 2, 2004 Filed under Theatrical
According to a press release issued by Cinema Libre Studio, 'Outfoxed' will commence it's theatrical run this Friday in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C. A larger national roll-out is planned for the following week, though it will still be in limited release.
From a marketing standpoint, this very presence of the film in theaters is unusual because the DVD has been available for over two weeks on Amazon, and there has already been more than 3,700 free screenings nationwide at house parties. Given the political backdrop surrounding the films release, and it's sponsorship by moveon.org, expect special events and heavy marketing by interest groups to drive ticket demand.
Related Links:
OUTFOXED: Screenings
Press Kit for 'Outfoxed'
German 'Super Size Me' Promo Riles Advocacy Group
The German division of sandwich chain Subway has drawn the ire of U.S. based advocacy groups for using POP marketing materials that refer to Americans as "obese," according to Money Online.
As you can see from the image, the tray liners show a cartoonishly obese Statue of Liberty, and the headline above it reads "Why are the Americans so Fat?"
This has riled the Center for Individual Freedom , a D.C. based organization, who alleges that:
...the ad promoting the movie contains a German word "amis" that is a derogatory term for Americans. "It is appalling that Subway, a U.S. company, would attack Americans and the Statue of Liberty, our most recognizable symbol of freedom, in a time of war just to gain market share," the Center's executive director, Jeffrey Mazzella, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Subway-Germany denied the allegations -- in a nutshell, they believe that it's blown out of proportion.
My guess? Given the stereotypical perception of Americans as burger-chomping, white-socks-to-the-knees-wearing, NASCAR-worshipping warmongers, these marketing efforts were most likely intentional and probably effective from a regional marketing standpoint. This could come back to bite Subway in the U.S., much like the Heinz vs. 'W' Ketchup scenario. If this scenario were to play out, Subway's efforts will look about as prescient as Jaguar's participation in the marketing of 'Catwoman.'
Group calls Subway ad 'unpatriotic' - Jul. 30, 2004
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