Dreamwork's 'Madagascar' trailered on a Paramount DVD
According to Video Business, the upcoming Dreamworks film 'Madagascar' has been trailered on Paramount's DVD release of 'Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events'. Although header trailers of new releases have been on DVDs for some time, this is the first instance of a competing studio's trailer on a DVD.
The unusual move is due to pre-existing promotional agreements between Dreamworks and Paramount:
This unusual case of a studio promoting another's fare came about because Lemony Snicket is a Paramount and Dreamworks co-production and thus the two are splitting domestic and international DVD revenue. The CG-animated Madagascar, however, is not a co-production.
DreamWorks and Universal Studios Home Entertainment discs often include cross-promotion of each other's movies, but that's attributable to the fact that Universal is DreamWorks' distribution partner. Paramount entered the mix back in November 2004, when DreamWorks' Shrek 2 DVDs featured a trailer for Lemony Snicket.
There just happens to be another great article in VB today discussing the inevitability of third-party studio commercials on DVDs. Today, a partner trailer, tomorrow, a Pepsi ad? Is this the opening salvo towards greater ad exploitation of the DVD platform?
[Via Video Business Online]
'The Interpreter' Draws Older Female Audiences to the Box Office
According to the USA Today, the Nicole Kidman thriller 'The Interpreter' drew a significant amount of its audience base from older viewers. Based on internal research by Universal, approx. 60% of the audience was 35 and older, and 58% was female. So what's the story behind $22 million take this weekend?
"We didn't bother marketing the film on MTV," says Nikki Rocco, Universal's distribution chief. "We knew that adults were going to be drawn to this more than the kids."
The industry's summer of explosions and special effects unofficially begins next weekend, with XXX: State of the Union and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Rocco says that, after months of romantic comedies and horror movies, audiences were ready for espionage.
"It was time for a serious movie," she says.
Combine the hunger for adult pics with a talented, A-list cast, and you've got the recipe for a spring success. Universal seemed to be focused more on getting Kidman in the press and advertising in appropriate, targeted places like women's mags and outdoor advertising.
[Via USA Today]
Warner Bros. to promo 'Batman Begins' during 'Smallville' Finale
According to Brand Republic, Warner Brothers will promote the upcoming release of 'Batman Begins' during the season finale of the hit series Smallville.
The finale, which will air on May 18th, will be showing an exclusive clip at some point during the show:
The eight minutes of footage will air within the 90-minute season finale of 'Smallville'. The two [Batman and Superman] have always been linked in comic book fiction and bringing the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight together is designed to further explore the relationship on the screen of two most popular superheroes in the history of American pop culture.
We've seen the broadcast of exclusive clips become an integral part of the movie marketing process over the past year, but none have been so topically on the mark as this one.
Batman begins is due out in theaters on June 17th.
[Via Brand Republic]
Marketing Preview: Superman Returns
Super Hero Hype is giving a brief overview of the advance marketing strategy behind the upcoming Superman Returns movie. Even though its coming from "anonymous sources," it looks in line with what we would expect from Warner Brothers:
The marketing will begin over a year in advance-starting with the teaser trailer that is now scheduled to air with Batman Begins, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Word is Sony Pictures Imageworks is about to start work on about 10 special fx shots that will be featured in the trailer. The official website is also scheduled to be activated around this time, as well, a teaser poster. Then in November, the second trailer will be released with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Rumor is W.B. wants to have the same trailer with King Kong as well. W.B. is also currently shopping for movie tie ins and product placement, and it comes as no surprise that the companies are lining up.
That's nearly 12 months of constant PR and marketing activities leading up to the theatrical, and almost 18 for the DVD release.
Superman Hype! - The latest Superman news and rumors
Fox Execs Make Store Checks to Hone DVD Marketing Efforts
The Los Angeles Times has a great article about how Marketing execs at Fox make frequent store checks to better gauge their merchandising and marketing efforts. The article sheds an interesting light on marketing DVDs in a big box environment:
"Men usually buy two or three, while women walk away with one," observes Mike Dunn, president of the division. "Eye level is not always the optimal position — low is good for kids," adds Simon Swart, who heads up sales.
"The worse the weather, the better for business — unless, of course, it's a blizzard," Senior Vice President Steve Feldstein says.
Here's another bit of wisdom:
In the store, packaging and labeling missteps became obvious. Type positioned too far down could be obstructed by store shelving, Fox executives found. "Long boxes," developed to discourage shoplifting, solved that problem. But after the monotone black was found to be a consumer turnoff, they now get a four-color treatment.
For all of the DVD Marketers out there that can't afford endcap promos, custom displays or even face-out fees, remember to pay attention to your spine -- that's how most smaller retailers get displayed, and its easily overlooked.
Chicago Tribune | Coming soon to a store near you: Fox executives
NBC Universal's Promotional Planning Efforts Pay Off
According to an article in today's Mediaweek, the promotional synergies planned by the NBC Universal Marketing Council have been paying off. The council, which is an internal task force comprised of key marketing executives from NBC and Universal, have been coordinating efforts to maximize promotional opportunities. The article cites three films -- The Bourne Supremacy, Meet the Fockers and Along came Polly -- that the Council focused on where they had attained positive results:
For Bourne, all dayparts on NBC, Bravo, USA and the other company-owned cable units ran promo spots leading up to the premiere, which resulted in a $52 million opening. And for Fockers, the NBC-owned stations held contests in their local markets, where viewers with the last name Focker were invited to a “Focker Family Reunion” at the Universal Orlando theme park. NBCU’s Access Hollywood ran a show on the reunion promo, and, along with the NBC O&Os, premiered the movie’s trailer.
According to Mediaweek, the council devotes between 100-120 gross rating points per week to the current promotional effort.
It would be interesting to see if Time Warner or Fox uses an approach similar to NBCU -- they are decidedly less vocal about it if they do.
NBC Universal's Cross-Promotion Strategy Pays Off
Bollywood Star Urges Shift to Hollywood-Style Marketing
While speaking at a conference in New York, veteran Bollywood film star Amitabh Bachchan urged Bollywood production companies to refine and redouble their marketing efforts to make them more in-line with western standards:
"Bollywood is a movement known to Americans only through satire. That needs to change. The Americans have a very good marketing system in place... which can, and should be emulated. (Bollywood producers) should get together as one united force. We need to market it [Bollywood] much better, and a lot of discipline is required for that. Hopefully with everybody's concerted efforts. I'm sure the good word will go around and there will be great interest in our cinema."
The Indian film industry's output is the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced and in number of tickets sold. Given that production values have been steadily increasing as the audiences demand quality comparable to Hollywood, it seems only natural that Indian movie marketing budgets will follow. Perhaps we'll soon see the first big "crossover" hit?
Bollywood Star Urges Shift to Hollywood-Style Marketing
Amityville Horror remake backed with online ad push
In their latest issue, Brand Republic covers the online movie marketing push for the Amityville Horror remake. Sam Ball of London-based Lean Mean Fighting Machine, the agency behind the ad, described their approach:
It was important that the flies looked and behaved realistically to create an impression of a plague of disgusting flies infesting your computer. By giving each fly its own simple artificial intelligence the illusion was made possible despite the tight file size restrictions.
Horror marketing campaigns are becoming quite the playground! We would really like to see this ad -- if anyone has a link, please forward it to us.
Amityville Horror remake backed with fly-ridden online ad push - Brand Republic
box office prophets april forecast
Posted on Sunday April 3, 2005
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April 2005 Forecast
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