Movie Ads in the Wild: New York City Edition
In running a website about marketing, sometimes we forget that the online space is not the center of the marketing universe. After all, the online marketing budget for most films amounts to only 10-15% of the total marketing spend. Now granted, that number is rising every day, and you do get more bang for your online marketing buck, but other forms of advertising -- namely print, television and outdoor -- are still the single biggest percentage of the movie marketing spend.
In recognition of that fact, Movie Marketing Update is starting a new feature called "Movie Ads in the Wild." Several times a month we're going to show you what marketers are doing on the street, in theater lobbies, on billboards, and in the local newspapers. This week's installment comes to you from New York City -- more specifically, Park Avenue between 17th and 23rd streets in Midtown, with a little dash of Queens to boot.
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Starting out Broadway at 19th street, we pass a wall of
"coming soon" posters outside of a six-plex. 'Casino Royale' seems to catch
the eye the most out of the four we see here. |
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| Walking cross-town to Park avenue, we found a poster for 'The
Guardian' hanging above a parking garage entrance. Not the greatest of
placements -- you have to be looking up to notice it. It's also a shame that nearly a third of the poster is wasted with an illegible credit block (but we get it, its in the
contract...) |
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| Still crossing over to Park, we noticed some great 2x2
wild postings at a construction site promoting 'American Hardcore'. Music releases and events are heavily promoted this way in New York, which makes this particular technique a good fit for this film. Its hard to see in this picture, but there is a mention of the "Vans Warped Tour," one of the film's promotional partners. |
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| Just a few feet away from the 'American Hardcore' posting,
we see an old Jet Li ad from a few weeks ago peeling away. Sometimes the layers of old postings get so thick that they simply shear off of the plywood under the weight of glue and paper, and other environmental conditions like rain, wind, graffiti artists, and drunken fratboys can wreak havoc on your ads. In prime areas, your adverts will need to be re-posted weekly, otherwise they simply get posted over by competitors. |
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| Turning on to Park Avenue, we see a phone booth (which are less common than you think) with an ad for 'The Grudge 2.' Note how much
better the ad works without a massive credit block? |
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| Looking up Park avenue, we see the massive, 60 foot noggins
of DiCaprio, Damon and Nicholson in the distance. |
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| Here's a closer shot of the massive 'The Departed' ad at the
corner of 23rd Street and Park avenue. You can barely see the workers affixing the
ad from a gondola hanging just below DiCaprio's head. I didn't get a close
enough look to see if they were painting or postering, but its a massive
undertaking in any case. You can see the last vestiges of blue in the lower left from
the 'Lady in the Water' ad that was there during the Summer. If my memory serves me well, this ad changes four to six times a year -- anyone have an idea how much this particular space goes for? If you do, or just want to guess, drop a note in the comments. |
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| On my way into the Subway I found yet another ad for 'The
Departed.' . Nicholson looks like he
aged in reverse by twenty years. And don't get me started on the quarter of the ad wasted on the credit block... |
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| Okay -- here we are in Long Island City, a 10 minute
subway ride away from Midtown. Upon exiting the station, I found this
jumbo-sized wild posting for 'Gridiron Gang.' This 4x6 foot poster is
right on the corner of a very busy intersection with heavy car traffic.
Unfortunately, whoever designed the poster made the release date illegible
from any more than a few feet away. Note that the poster to the left is
already partially covered with a competing music poster after a week. |
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| Just a little bit down the street we've got a big 6x6
wild posting for 'A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.' This is a smart
location right next to a bus stop, but the poster needs some help -- the
key art is too small and the talent's names should have been arranged better. The actual neighborhood may be a bad placement, however, because the local demographic isn't likely to be interested in seeing this, in my opinion. |
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| And here's where my journey ends -- at the Sunnyside Cinemas, a neighborhood first-run theater.
This 'Babel' poster is displayed under the Theater's marquee next to the box office window.
I would be surprised if this particular film actually plays at this theater, since they mostly run genre and family fare. Note the ridiculously low ticket prices for New York City,
by the way (and that's probably the last remaining matinee pricing in New
York as well.) |
CARU Asks Disney to Stop Advertising 'Pirates of the Caribbean' to Kids
According to Broadcasting & Cable Magazine, the Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has asked Disney to stop marketing the PG-13 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' to children on Nickelodeon.
A self-regulating arm of the ad industry, CARU made a formal complaint about ads that ran in tandem with the film's theatrical release in June, three months after they had aired. Disney responded by saying they had no plans on rerunning the ads, and stated that they had relied on Nickelodeon's clearance department to ensure proper ad placement.
CARU frowns on advertising PG-13 films to children under 12 because the MPAA rating indicates the presence of content that "may be unsuitable." However, as the B&C notes, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' toys, games, food and a whole bevy of other licensed products are heavily marketed to children despite the film's rating.
It will be interesting to see how close and timely CARU's scrutiny will be when Disney launches the third installment of the franchise next year, and what changes Disney will make regarding ad buys on younger-skewing channels. As reported for Q3 2006, the Disney Consumer Products division’s income rose 70% over the previous year to $105 million, much of which was due to sales of Pirates-themed merchandise.
New Movie Marketing Collateral - Monday 9/18
In an effort to keep you abreast of the latest trailers, clips, posters, ads, websites and more, we're kicking-off a daily round-up of new movie marketing collateral releases. To get your collateral mentioned send an email to news@indiescene.net.
New Movie Trailers and Preview Clips:
'For Your Consideration' - Three new preview clips at Risky Biz Blog
'The Invisible' - New Trailer posted to MySpace
'Saw III' - Updated trailer at Yahoo! Movies
'Flyboys' - Exclusive Character clips at Coming Soon
New Movie Banner Ads:
'Casino Royale' -- New Flash leaderboard ad on Adverlicio.us
'Fearless' -- New Flash leaderboard ad on Adverlicio.us
Other Collateral and Ads of Note:
Heavy 'Jesus Camp' PPC ad placement on liberal blogs, to include Google video ads. Here's an example of a text ad (scroll to the end of the article.) Looks like they also did a banner buy on the same site.
Big Blogads buy for 'The Ground Truth' across liberal blogs -- see an example at Dailykos. Also note the 'Jesus Camp' ad.
2006 Key Art Awards on Starz Tonight
The Starz Network will be broadcasting highlights from the Hollywood Reporter's 35th Annual Key Art awards tonight - you can check local times here. It looks like there will be encore presentations as well.
For those not in the know, the Key Art Awards are held annually to recognize movie marketing achievement for all forms of film ad collateral including posters, trailers, print ads and TV commercials. This year's event was hosted by comedian and Saturday Night Live alumnus Kevin Nealon.
If you never had a chance to review the winners, the full listing is available here. VNU Media also sells illustrated programs highlighting the best of the print work.
New CBS Series 'Smith' Finds Ad Partner with Warner's 'The Departed'
 According to Zap2it, CBS has partnered with Warner Brothers for the premiere of the new crime drama ‘Smith.’ The pilot will be solely sponsored by the upcoming Scorsese film The Departed, with “limited commercial interruptions.”
The Warner Brothers sponsorship of the ‘Smith’ pilot takes care of a tricky scheduling dilemma faced by CBS. With the premiere running over an hour before commercial breaks, CBS would have had to trim down the episode, limit commercials, or run an extended premiere.
'The Departed,' a hard-boiled crime drama in the vein of Scorsese’s past work, is a natural fit for 'Smith.' The series also stars Ray Liotta, who had his big breakout role in the Scorsese classic Mafia hit 'Goodfellas.'
‘The Departed’ features an ensemble cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Martin Sheen, among others, and will premiere in theaters on October 6th.
Paramount's 'An Inconvenient Truth' Marketing Taps Current Events
 With the brutal heat wave making headlines across the country, the marketing team behind ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ have spun current events into a creative series of advertisements, according to the “Marketplace Report” broadcast yesterday on American Public Media:
Global warming might seem like counter-intuitive programming for folks trying to escape the heat, but the new ad campaign for the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" has used the toasty weather to its advantage.
Newspaper ads for the film now list scorching temperatures in several US cities.
"It's kind of unusual in the 7th, 8th week of release to have fresh ad campaigns going out to keep a film in the public eye. I think it's been pretty effective." The film has grossed just under $19 million through July 24th (very impressive for such a "didactic" documentary), and the platform release up to the current peak of 560+ theaters has been handled exceptionally well by the Paramount team. Keeping a film"fresh" during a long roll-out is one of the biggest challenges in film marketing, and tying into current events on both the publicity and advertising fronts is a smart approach to achieve that end.
The film is likely on track to gross in the $20-22 million dollar range, and has a good chance of usurping ‘Bowling for Columbine’ for the number three spot on the list of top-grossing documentaries of all time (‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ holds the top spot at $119 million, and ‘March of the Penguins’ is at #2 with $77.4 million).
Fandango Teams with PointRoll to Sell Movie Tickets via Online Ads
 According to a joint release, Fandango, the web’s largest online movie ticketing site, has been selected as a Preferred Partner by rich media ad developer PointRoll. The partnership will enable Fandango to serve dynamic, location-targeted rollover ads that will enable users to search for and purchase movie tickets within the ad, when the consumer’s intent to purchase is at its highest.
PointRoll has been a major developer and ad server of rollover and other highly interactive flash-based ads for the film industry since 2000, and with the steady increase in broadband penetration, they are now delivering up to six billion ad impressions yearly on top-tier destinations like Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. The partnership comes amidst a robust growth period in the online movie ticketing business, which, according to Jupiter Research, is projected to grow at nearly twenty percent a year for the next three years.
With the advanced tracking capabilities of the PointRoll system, studio movie marketers will be able to measure the actual return on investment for their rich media campaigns, which will give them similar tracking capabilities to text-based advertising systems like Google Adwords.
Tags: movie marketing, online advertising
Report: Teens and Tweens are abandoning TV
According to Packaged Facts, a new division of Marketresearch.com, teens and Tweens are not all zoned out in front of the tube, making them increasingly difficult to reach via TV advertising: Almost 80% of the 8- to 14-year-olds, or so-called tweens, "love" television. But that number drops to 60% in 12- to 14-year-olds.
The research points out that the 8-14 audience gets "distracted" by other activities when watching the television. As they get older, other activities take up their interest--such as reading, listening to music, or mostly, surfing the Internet--while watching television. This research has found out what other studies have shown--the young people are masters at multi-tasking. The movie marketing implications are quite clear: if you're trying to reach this demographic, you need to shift your efforts to other outlets like online and outdoor. Additionally, partnerships with purveyors of products that teens love (cell phones, fast food, video games) will be increasingly important.
[Via Mediapost]
Netflix to Launch Advertising Program
According to a press release from online DVD renter Netflix, the company will begin selling advertising to those interested in reaching the company's three million subscribers:
Netflix said it will offer advertisers a range of options, from placements in emails to its members to presence on its trademark red mailers and positioning on its Web site.
This could be an great opportunity for movie marketers, especially if their advertising platform allows for precise segmentation of specific demographics. Imagine, for example, targeting all people who have rented 'Winged Migration' with ads for 'March of the Penguins.' Their media kit should have some interesting insights about the habits of online renters...
Via Yahoo! Finance
AMC Offers Money-back guarantee on 'Cinderella Man' Ticket Purchase
According to Reuters, AMC, the #2 movie chain in America, is offering a money-back guarantee for those who purchase tickets to see 'Cinderella Man':
Advertisements offering on-the-spot refunds to AMC patrons unhappy with the film began running on June 24 in newspapers and on the exhibitor's Web site (www.amctheaters.com), AMC spokeswoman Pam Blase said on Tuesday.
The ads, welcomed by the film's distributor, Universal Pictures, say in part: "AMC believes Cinderella Man is one of the finest motion pictures of the year!"
Blase said AMC provides occasional rebates to dissatisfied moviegoers on a case-by-case basis. But the "Cinderella Man" offer marks the exhibitor's first money-back guarantee since "Mystic Pizza," Julia Robert's breakout 1988 film.
The move comes amidst the widespread belief that releasing 'Cinderella Man' as a counter-programming measure was a failed move, and there has been speculation the Universal may try a limited re-release in the fall. This guarantee is an interesting effort to drum up business, particularly because the demographic most receptive to these types of offers is also the same one most likely to be interested in seeing this film. And much like rebates, the redemption levels are, barring aberrations, usually pretty low. AMC isn't releasing any numbers, and so far has just said that the refunds requested have been "minuscule."
[Via Reuters]
Flashback -- Hear the Original 'Star Wars' Radio Spots from 1977
If you want to see just how far ad creatives have come in the last 30-odd years, listen to these original 'Star Wars' radio ads from 1977. Quaint by today's production standards, the constant "Don't be afraid - it's only a movie" seems like it was culled from the the horror genre playbook. It's amazing that these ads are still kicking around -- get 'em before they're gone.
[Via A Small Victory]
Studios Clamoring For Trailer Slots in Front of 'Star Wars: Episode III'
Posted on Tuesday May 17, 2005 Filed under 18-35 Males, 20th Century Fox, Action & Adventure, Dreamworks, Lionsgate Films, Movie Advertising, Movie Trailers, Paramount, Theatrical, Universal, Warner BrothersAccording to the Los Angeles Times, the highly-anticipated 'Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith' is bowing in 3,700 theaters, and movie marketing executives are jockeying for coveted trailer slots. Further exacerbating the demand is Lucas' demand that no more than five trailers bow before his feature. Given how lackluster the box office has been so far this year, many films are banking on this added push to help get butts in seats:
Others in the mix, according to another studio: New Line's 'Wedding Crashers,' DreamWorks' 'The Island,' Universal's 'Cinderella Man' and Warner Bros.' 'Batman Begins.' And some studios are also sending trailers for other films directly to exhibitors in hopes of screening with 'Revenge of the Sith.' Sony, for example, is distributing a new "teaser" trailer for 'The Da Vinci Code,' even though the movie doesn't come out for a year
The article mentions that the only film guaranteed placement is 'The Fantastic Four.' Of all of these films, the films that probably need the marketing boost most are New Line's 'Wedding Crashers,' and Universal's 'Cinderella Man.'
[Via the Los Angeles Times]
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
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. NBCUs Access Hollywood ran a show on the reunion promo, and, along with the NBC O&Os, premiered the movies 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
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
Today's Must Read: The Business of Movie Trailers
Here's a must read article from the Los Angeles Times on the business (and politics) of getting movie trailers in front of theater-goers. It gives a good summary of how the system works. Here's the meat of the matter:
Movie marketers will tell you that the only place where their ads are guaranteed to reach proven moviegoers is not on television or in newspapers, but inside a darkened theater preferably one where the weekend's hottest movie is reaching the most pairs of eyes. Woe to the trailer that runs first, when many people are buying their popcorn and Milk Duds. The coveted spot is right before the feature, when the theater is full.
One thing the article fails to mention, however, is the immense importance that online trailers have gained in the past two years. Getting exclusive movie trailers and clips on AOL and Yahoo has become an important part of movie marketing, especially since those places gain greater influence in consumer's buying decisions. After all, how many businesses ply their consumers with competing ads right at the point of purchase?
Movies: Trailers: How a small time slot adds up to big industry headache
Racy 'Harold and Kumar' DVD Poster Stirs Free Speech Debate
 According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, racy posters advertising the 'Harold and Kumar go to White Castle' DVD have riled up some of the faculty and student body at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.
The poster, which advertises DVDs of the movie "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle," depicts the torso of a woman, whose face isn't shown, with a DVD - one for the regular version of the movie and one for the unrated version - covering each naked breast. The poster reads, "Either way, you score."
The poster was placed in campus common areas by 360 Youth, a New York-based ad company catering to the college market. Several other unnamed universities have already pulled the ads, but SIU Edwardsville has not made a final determination yet. The ads have spurred a free speech debate on the campus, and the school's paper has rallied behind the ads. However, the school has said they will pull the ads if a majority of the students and faculty call for it.
Whatever the final outcome may be, one thing is certain: the ads, though tacky, have definitely been effective. While suggestive, the ads are not really any worse than a swimsuit issue, and they definitely capture the attention of their target market. In fact, compared to the relatively tame, off-target key art for the theatrical release, the DVD ads have been well thought out. This is just one more example of studios rethinking the DVD campaign on its own terms, especially when the theatrical campaign underperformed.
Racy ads stir free speech debate at SIUE
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