Semester Summary

Throughout the semester, I have read countless articles on movie marketing and marketing within movies. After reading and blogging about these different marketing techniques, I feel that I am more marketing-savvy and that I am able to spot marketing ploys when I see them. There are literally hundreds of ways to market a film, some of which include: delayed release, viral marketing, special events, trailer leaks, the use of other media channels, and using the celebrity status of the stars of the film to promote the project.

         There are many reasons why a studio would delay the release date of a film. One reason, as was the case with the war film "The Lucky Ones", is that the studio feels that the film will be better received if the opening weekend is held at a different time. A studio has to assess the movie market at the time of the release for the film because the other films being released that same weekend could either raise or lower ticket sales for your particular film. Lionsgate did not want to release "The Lucky Ones" in March because Stop-Loss was also set to be released then. The studio did not want its film to be associated with another war movies that ended up doing very poorly in theaters.

         Another element to consider when marketing a film is evaluation of the genre of film to be released. If audiences are not running out in droves to see films about Scandinavian Ice Fishing, then you might reconsider producing your film about Scandinavian Ice Fishing in the first place. A critical part of marketing a film is knowing your audience, and knowing if your audience does not exist. Performing adequate research before production begins will save tons of time and money for all people involved. There is nothing worse in Hollywood than when a film bombs at the box office. 

         A relatively new technique that movie-marketing executives are implementing is viral marketing. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is the perfect example of a marketing campaign that aims to reach the target audience through unconventional means. Studios are realizing that moviegoers are not affected in the same way by traditional marketing techniques, such as trailers and movie posters. Moviegoers need to be reached constantly and through media channels that no one would expect, such as posters around major cities that appear to be homemade and real, yet in reality, are movie posters distributed by the movie studio. The key to having successful a successful viral marketing campaign is to make the executions appear as real as possible, and to make them not appear as promotional tools strategically by movie houses.

         Although holding special movie events is not a new marketing technique, it is a very profitable one. By having the premiere of a new film in a location other than Hollywood, the film automatically increases its reach and boosts its credibility with moviegoers. A recent example of a special event is George Clooney's newest film "Leatherheads". Clooney chose to follow in his Aunt Rosemary's footsteps by having his newest film premiere in his hometown in Kentucky. This technique does bring added costs to the studio because they have to pay to have the film in a special location, but in the end, it does pay off in ticket sales. Moviegoers like to feel special and like to feel that the producers of the film are trying to target them specifically. By having a special movie event, it is a win-win situation: the moviegoers feel special and the studio house promotes the film in a unique way.

         A new trend in movie marketing is to leak the trailer well in advance of the film release and making it seem as if it were an "accident". This is by no means a new practice in movie-marketing but its popularity is rapidly growing as of late. By releasing the trailer early, the buzz surrounding the movie automatically magnifies, which is exactly what the studio is looking for. The newest installment in the Indiana Jones films released the trailer for the highly anticipated film in order to reach the younger demographic of the target audience that would not be especially interested in a film starring a 65-year old Harrison Ford. Films have also released portions of the trailer, pairing this method with an interactive website that gives the user the power to reveal more of the trailer by solving clues or performing small tasks.

         "Vantage Point" and "The Dark Knight" both had interactive websites that gave the users just a small amount of the trailer and encouraged users to investigate clues in order to release more of the trailer. If applicable to the film, every marketing campaign should include this technique. Not only does it get the moviegoer involved, but it also creates excitement surrounding the film. As mentioned earlier, this method will not work for every film, such as "There Will Be Blood" or even "Dan in Real Life" because they are not the types of films that warrant such user involvement.

         The cutting edge of movie marketing is involving other media channels, mostly non-traditional channels such as facebook. "Untraceable" paired up with Facebook to create a fan page called "Kill With Me", where Facebook users can subscribe and according to the number of users, that determines how much graphic footage will be shown from the film. This was and still is incredibly controversial because of the content of the page and the questionable ethics of the page.

         Although individual films are using the resource of Facebook to promote a film, studio houses are also taking advantage of this large reaching channel. Paramount Pictures struck up a deal with Facebook to market new films or new DVD releases on the social networking site, pairing digital images with thousands of clips of Paramount films. Once again, this technique engages the moviegoer and makes him or her feel special and that they are involved in the movie process.

         The field of movie marketing is growing tremendously and is broadening the scope of marketing channels. It will be exciting to see what is coming next and which medium the studios will implement in order to further reach the target audience of a film. I think it is safe to say that we can expect great, unexpected things from the movie-marketing industry in upcoming months. 

Yet Another War Movie

I know I`m not alone when I say that I am just about sick of seeing movie after movie on the war in Iraq. The most recent of which, "Stop-Loss", bombed in theaters, following suit with similar films that had come before it. 

Lionsgate, the distributor of "The Lucky Ones", a movie about three soldiers back from duty that take a road trip across the country and discover themselves and each other along the way, is struggling with the marketing of this project. The film, according to an article written by David Halbfinger for The New York Times, is a serious film with comedic undertones and an uplifting message. 

The cast and crew are getting antsy because the release date has been pushed back three times so far, with the next tentative release date of October 24th. The studio is worried that people will associate this film with the other war movies that have done outstandingly poor in theaters, but the filmmakers would like to point out that the word "Iraq" is never once mentioned in the film (as if that changes the fact that its about the war).

Marketing any type of film is an exceptionally hard thing to master, but that task becomes even more daunting when the genre is not generally accepted, at least at this time. Lionsgate has the opportunity to market the film as a light hearted, uplifting comedy and completely leave out the part about it being a war film, but that would be misleading to all moviegoers. Essentially, the studio just has to bite the bullet and proceed with the marketing campaign as if Iraq-based movies were popular in the United States right now. 

Run, Fatboy, Run!

I am a HUGE Simon Pegg fan. When I first saw the trailer for his newest romantic comedy, "Run, Fatboy, Run", I knew I would be there opening night with my best friend and fellow Pegg-lover, Sarah. Although Pegg was at his finest, the film was less than exceptional, leaving a sense of emptiness as the final credits rolled. After much thought, it became a possibility that my friend and I had inflated our expectations of the film as a result of the long waiting period between first viewing of the trailer and the actual release date. According to this article on theglobeandmail.com, the studio had originally planned to release the film in the UK in December and then shortly thereafter in the United States. The film did debut in the UK right around Christmas but was delayed until March 28th here because of the Oscar race. When marketing a film, you have to be careful about when you start promoting it because too much build-up can lead to large fan disappointments and subsequently, awful reviews from critics. 

Another thing to note about the film was the incredibly large amount of Nike product placement. The entire film was based around the Nike River Run in London, in which both Simon Pegg's and Hank Azaria's characters participate. This article states that the producers wanted to use the London Marathon as the race but couldn't because it is owned by another company, so the studio decided to get in talks with Nike to do some company sponsoring. Overall, I could have lived without the constant image of the Nike logo in almost every frame of the film, but I still love Simon Pegg and will undoubtedly be there on every opening night with Sarah laughing right along with me.

Poor Sarah Marshall

Universal Studios has decided to do something quite unique in terms of marketing its newest comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." Stephen Becker writes for the Dallas News that the studio has gone the "viral-marketing route" in that it has posted signs throughout major cities, including Dallas and New York, that say horrible things such as "You do look fat in those jeans, Sarah Marshall" or "My mom never liked you, Sarah Marshall." Along with these, and countless other 'hate' signs, the studio has launched a handful of websites that fall in line with the Sarah Marshall-bashing theme.

Although this form of marketing could not possibly work for every film out there, in the case of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", a film about a love-sick man who just can't seem to get past his ex-girlfriend, it does. 

It's nice to know that studios are actually working on creative techniques to get our attention...it makes being a moviegoer that much more fun.

Movie Buzz

When marketing new films, having dynamic trailers and flashy posters helps but what is essential for getting the word around about your new film is BUZZ. Buzz is exactly what George Clooney is doing with his newest film 'Leatherheads,' which is a comedic take on 1920s professional football. According to this article from USA Today, Clooney has decided to premiere the film at the Washington Opera Theatre in Maysville, Ky, which is about 16 miles from Augusta, Clooney's hometown. This theatre has special meaning for Clooney and his family, because 55 years ago, his aunt, actress Rosemary Clooney, premiered her film 'The Stars are Singing' at the exact same venue. 

Maysville's Mayor, David Cartmell, suggests that Monday night's premiere will be the biggest event to happen in this town since Clooney's aunt premiered her film. 

There will be about 300 tickets available for locals to acquire, allowing some of Clooney's hometown pals the chance to experience Hollywood in this Northern Kentucky town of only 9,000.

By staging a marketing stun such as this, Universal studios has killed two birds with one stone: they will premiere the movie (a must) and at the same time, they will generate buzz for the film's nationwide release on April 4th.

If done correctly and tastefully, an event such as this will provide immeasurable benefits for the success of the film. 

Not-So-Private Lives

In this day and age, there is no such thing as 'privacy' for A-listers in Hollywood. The personal lives of almost every celebrity worth writing about are plastered all over the tabloids, with readers paying little attention to the actor's actual work. 

The Boston Herald wrote this article about the impact that actors' personal lives have on the marketing of his/her most recently completed film. Using Owen Wilson's suicide attempt and Ryan Phillippe's divorce-prompting affair, the article highlights the problem that movie marketers face when publicizing films with leading stars plagued with controversy. Films like "Drillbit Taylor" and "Stop Loss" depend on the star-power of the leading actors to boost ticket sales opening weekend, but is it realistic to go see a comedy starring funny-man Owen Wilson when you know he's so depressed that he tried to kill himself? Do you really want to sit through two hours of Ryan Phillippe showing on-screen affection to the woman that broke up his marriage to Reese Witherspoon?

The marketers of these films decided it would be best to promote the movies as if they had no stars in them, as opposed to stars with major real-life problems. 

It is an unfortunate situation for all parties involved, but with movie marketing, taking risks is never a reliable option.

The Super Bowl For Women

Sex and The City:The Movie is quite possibly the most anticipated movie release of 2008. Set to hit theaters at the end of May, this uber chick flick has defined target marketing to a tee. Stuart Elliott writes in this article for the New York Times that "when it comes to products helping to promote the coming film based on the popular TV series “Sex and the City,” it seems the sky is the limit." 

"The partner brands are included in the film in ways that range from mentions in lines of dialogue to numerous appearances on screen. In exchange, the owners of the brands will help publicize the movie with commercials, posters, sweepstakes, viewing parties, events in stores, contests, ticket giveaways and even products with labels inspired by 'Sex and the City.'"

New Line Cinema has decided to position this movie "as a Super Bowl for women" in that the products that are marketed within the film are targeting at the viewing audience. "Executives at New Line and the partner sponsors met frequently to coordinate how the brands’ efforts can amplify the campaign planned by New Line."

If you've seen the TV series that inspired the film, you`ll know that designer brands were frequently mentioned throughout the six seasons of the show, so having a bit of name dropping in the film is not much of a surprise. 

The key to New Line Cinema's success with this marketing plan is that all of the products are geared directly towards the people that are expected to see the film. Other movie houses can learn a lot from the marketing techniques used on this film.

Movie House to Blame for Failure?

The Golden Compass was a gigantic flop in the United States. The film only brought in $70 million in the states, which didn't even cover half of the $180 million production budget, according to an article written by Ed Perkis for Cinemablend.com. Contrary to the poor numbers states-side, the film did incredibly well in other countries, expected to "gross as much as $400 million worldwide." 

Perkis believes that the reason the film did so poorly in the U.S. but so well elsewhere is not because of the horrible critical reviews or America's "Puritanical reaction to the anti-religious mania of the movie", but because of which movie house distributed the film.

"New Line sold off foreign rights during the production phase and the foreign distributors did a better job marketing the film and keeping it in theaters. Even in heavy Catholic countries, like Italy, the movie did fairly well because it was pushed as a family film rather than a Lord of the Rings style fantasy adventure. It also played longer despite a slow start."

When marketing a film, it is important to cater to your audience and tailor your marketing plan to fit each individual area. Without doing so, a great film can fail miserably.

New Advances in DVD Marketing

Paramount Pictures is the first of many movie houses to use the extensive reach of Facebook to market new films or new release DVDs. The New Zealand Herald recently wrote an article announcing that Paramount will make "thousands of movie clips available to Facebook users." 

"Silicon Valley developer FanRocket will launch an application called VooZoo that will go live Monday [March 17th]."

When a clip of a Paramount film is viewed, which can range from a few seconds long to several minutes in length, a button will appear that will make DVD purchase quick and easy. "Associated Press reports that Paramount parent Viacom is working with viral video specialist FanRocket to come up with a clever game plan to promote the next Indiana Jones installment Kingdom of the Crystal Skull before it uploads clips from previous titles."

"Viacom, Paramount Pictures parent company, has previously been very active in keeping its movie clips on video sharing sites like YouTube."

With new media channels, like Facebook, the face of movie marketing is drastically changing. It is a very real possibility that in a few years, the majority of movie trailers may be debuted on Facebook instead of in theaters. Who knows what this will mean for the future of Hollywood.

Great Year for Hollywood

Scott Bowles writes for USA Today that Hollywood made more money in  2007 than in any year ever before, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. MPAA chief Dan Glickman says that studios across the United States and Canada brought in $9.6 billion last year alone. 

"While the figure is $300 million more than any other year, rising ticket prices — the average cost was $6.88 a ticket — meant attendance has remained relatively unchanged over the past three years. Roughly 1.4 billion million tickets were sold in 2007, well below the record 1.6 billion sold in 2002."

Although ticket sales were well below average in recent years, Glickman is confident in the success of Hollywood in 2007 with the rising competition from the internet and the home video phenomenon.

"Meanwhile, studios are spending more than ever to lure audiences. The average Hollywood film cost $106.6 million to produce and market, about $6 million more than 2006." With studios spending millions more on marketing films each year, why is it that the ticket sales are declining? This could be attributed to the fact that as production and marketing prices increase, so does the cost of each individual ticket, with some movies costing upwards of $15 in major markets. 

Maybe a solution to this problem would be to spend less on marketing and thus, charge less for admission. As crazy as this sounds, it just might work.

19 Years Later and He's Still Got It!

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," Harrison Ford's latest Indy-flick has done something that every major film wishes to accomplish: create huge buzz way before the movie hits theaters. Paramount Pictures achieved this goal by premiering the trailer for the film February 14th on "Good Morning America," according to an article from The Associated Press. The studio "estimates that the trailer was seen more than 200 million times worldwide in the first week alone." Riding this wave, Paramount Pictures decided to launch an "aggressive online campaign, which included what Paramount says is a record 4.1 million views on the Yahoo movie site in the first week and 2.6 million on the official IndianaJones.com site, the most ever for the studio." 

Harry Knowles, "Head Geek" of AnitItCool.com, says that "people generally really, really loved the trailer. Some people think it's a little more cartoonish-looking compared to the prior films, with him whipping the lights and swinging on them from stuff. But at the time, it seems that everyone is extremely excited that there's a new 'Indiana Jones' film. The excitement for it is palpable. It's much more aggressively anticipated than anything else that's coming out right now."

Gerry Rich, president of Paramount's worldwide marketing says "the trailer caught on like wildfire, around the world, in all mediums, [targeting moviegoers] from 8 to 80." By releasing a high-impact, exciting, unexpected trailer, Paramount Pictures has created sufficient hype for the newest Ford film.

Maybe it's the star-studded cast, maybe it's the release date, maybe it's the combination of Lucas and Speilberg; whatever it is, 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' is bound to be a huge success.

Facebook Enters the Movie Business

Universal Pictures has decided to take movie marketing in a new director for its latest horror film "Untraceable." In the movie, a serial killer has a website that cannot be traced by law enforcement officials. On the website, the killer performs violent and graphic murders live, for the entire internet to view.

In an interesting new approach to marketing, Universal Pictures teamed up with Facebook to create a "Kill With Me" page where the number of fans that visit the page determines how much of the graphic footage from the film will be shown.  According to an article posted on UTalkMarketing.com, "[this tactic] was accompanied by a Facebook-only banner campaign, warning visitors not to visit the page in question ." 

"Facebook has since removed the page explaining in a statement to Universal that it contravened their policy not to allow pages that are 'hateful, threatening, or obscene.'” Also, the banners have been altered so that when clicked, they redirect the viewer to a different website with the torture scenes available for viewing."If the site receives over 10,000 visits before ‘Untraceable’s UK release on Friday, February 29 it will be updated to show the entire first 10 minutes of the film."

Movie marketing has changed incredibly over the last few years, aiming to become more tech-savvy and more easily accessible to movie lovers. Sometimes, as is the case with "Untraceable", the studios take the marketing a step too far. Although it was a great marketing idea to create an interactive website that relates directly to the film, many people, including the regulators of Facebook, found it offensive and inappropriate. 

Does the early bird get the Oscar?

Sunday was the biggest night in hollywood. The Oscars are notorious for being extremely long and saving the best award for last, The Best Picture. 

This year, "No Country For Old Men" not only won best picture, but it also won best best director, best screenplay, and best performance by a supporting actor (Javier Bardem). According to Martin Grove's recent article in The Hollywood Reporter, "No Country For Old Men" won Best Picture because of the remarkable marketing campaign that Miramax implemented in order to promote the film. Grove says that the "campaign started way back before the film opened in limited release last Nov. 9. If anything, "No Country's" win should be a signal to Oscar marketers that campaigning early makes all the sense in the world -- as long as you have a picture that delivers the goods the way "No Country" does."

The article also says that delaying the release of an Oscar contender only causes more problems for the movie because it doesn't give the Academy members enough time to view the films before they leave for winter vacations. So even though some studios might not want to release a movie too soon before the Oscars race in order to keep up the suspence, in the long run it actually helps the movie because if the film is Oscar-worthy, then there is no use in keeping it a secret. 

Paris Hilton Talented? Really?

You would be lying to yourself if you said you had never heard of the one and only Miss Paris Hilton. You would not, on the other hand, be remiss if you were unable to say why exactly she is famous. I`m sure if you asked her, or any Paris-wannabe out there, they would say she's a singer, a runway model, a print model, and, most notably of late, an actress. The 'renaissance woman's' newest project is "The Hottie and The Nottie", a romantic comedy about a young man that tries to woo the love of his life, only to find that he begins to fall in love with her ugly, always-at-her-side best friend. If that doesn't just scream out Best Picture, I don't know what does. 

Eonline!.com's Jefferson Reid posted an article that attempts to answer the question "did Paris' high profile doom the film?" The article quotes Christine Lakin, 'the nottie', about the marketing techniques used in order to reach a large market. Lakin says that "with any project you take, you can't think about reviews and you can't think about the way a studio is going to market a film. I have no control over that. At the end of the day, people either love or hate Paris Hilton, and they will either want to go see the movie or they don’t."

Lakin also says that the film was "marketed as a vanity piece that’s not what you think it is, you think it’s going to be one big music video, and it's not at all. The thing that’s hard about it is I think [Paris] actually does a really nice job. She’s much more relaxed and real then you have ever seen her onscreen. It's very endearing. It's kinda how she is in real life behind the scenes."

So did Paris Hilton's love-her-or-hate-her-reputation cause the demise of her own film? It's quite possible. It is always a risk to bank on your star being the major selling point of a film. With actors like Brad Pitt and George Clooney, you can almost guarantee that their faces on the posters will bring in some highly-desired film-goers, but with a no-talent, good-for-nothing socialite like Paris Hilton, it's a real gamble. I guess that's what the studio gets for putting all it's eggs in one basket.

What's Your Vantage Point?

Columbia Pictures has been working long and hard to promote its newest action-thriller blockbuster Vantage Point, in theaters this friday, February 22nd. The Earth Times writes in this article about the movie that Columbia launched a ground-breaking and innovative promotional plan that involved one of TV's biggest shows, 'Lost', and the biggest TV event of the year, The Superbowl. "A multi-platform, groundbreaking challenge, the Can You Solve the Puzzle Sweepstakes kicks off on January 31 during the season premiere of "Lost." Culminating a week of on-air and online promotion on ABC and abc.com, the network will air a sixty-second spot during the highly rated program. Hidden within the spot is a unique numerical clue that will lead web sleuths tohttp://www.whatisyourvantagepoint.com/ to unlock special "Lost" content." Once viewers get to the website, they have the opportunity to view an "online mosaic composed of thousands of images from the film," where the secret to the puzzle is hidden.

"Valerie Van Galder, president of domestic marketing for the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, said, "We are incredibly excited about this multiplatform promotion, a unique marriage between event television and an immersive online environment. Vantage Point is a film about deciphering different points of view to solve a puzzle or uncover the truth, and given this theme, an interactive challenge seemed a natural fit. Whether people are watching the season premiere of 'Lost,' going frame-by-frame on their DVR to check out the Super Bowl spot, or visiting the Vantage Point site, they are interacting with the movie in the way that people consume media today. And while they are at it, they'll have the chance to enter a sweepstakes.'"The sweepstakes allows participants the opportunity to solve the puzzle as well as be entered to win high definition Handycam video cameras or a high definition TiVo box with a one-year subscription. 

By having a multi-platform marketing plan that involves viewers and welcomes them to be a part of the experience greatly increases the reach of the marketing techniques. Just by checking out the website, you get entered into the sweepstakes to win great prizes, which further solidifies the relationship that the viewer builds with the film. Even if the film is a major flop, at least the marketing team will know they did no wrong.

Will Ferrell is a Marketing Pro

Semi-Pro, the latest installment of Will Ferrell comedies that have swept the nation, is doing something that few other films have done before: mixing real-life movie marketing with brand marketing. The film has Ferrell playing Jackie Moon, the owner/coach/player for the fictional 1970s  Flint, Michigan basketball team The Tropics. Marketers of the film have decided to promote the comedy through various commercial spots for brands such as Old Spice and Bud Light, where Ferrell, in his Jackie Moon get-up, endorses the products through the "cliched athlete-in-the-locker-room ad."

Karl Greenberg writes for Media Post Publications that "in one of the ads, in which [Ferrell] is clearly improvising, he talks about how Old Spice means the world to him. 'Not today's world,' he says. 'The world of yesterfar. When Columbus discovered the world was round. When wild berries grew on every street corner. And gentlemen wore monocles. When cavewomen hunted for food.'"

Many might remember that a similar commercial spot was shown during the Superbowl for Bud Light, in which Ferrell improvises his way through a commercial shoot for the product. 

The marketing team that decided to integrate brand marketing with movie marketing paved the way for future comedies. Not only do these spots increase the reach of Semi-Pro's marketing, they also help create added revenue, if not for the film, at least for the star, Ferrell. 

Although this technique might not work for every film (just imagine "No Country For Old Men" using Javier Bardem in Bud Light ads to promote the film), this is the perfect outlet for a light-hearted comedy who's target audience is exactly the same as that of Old Spice or Bud Light.

Wayne and Garth Really Did Know Best

If you were alive in the 90s at all, then you can probably call to mind with some ease phrases such as "excellent!," "party on!," and "schwing!". If you can't, then you unfortunately haven't experienced the comic genius that is Wayne's World: the SNL skit-turned-major movie success of 1992. Besides being an incredibly hilarious film, Wayne's World pioneered a marketing strategy that reached young males that few other films could manage. 

Deborah Broderson wrote in the St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture that "the promotional team took the unprecedented step of pouring the majority of their relatively small budget into buying advertising time on the youth-oriented cable music channel, MTV, including sponsorship of an hour-long special on the film, and the bet paid off with huge box-office sales to the targeted youth audience." This strategy helped to target cynical and hard-to-reach teenage boys that were the perfect audience for this film and are notorious for being submissive of advertising geared towards them. 

Daniel Terdiman wrote an article for wired.com about the desirability to puncture the marketing-protective bubble that surrounds what is quickly becoming known as "mooks". "For the film industry, finding new ways to reach young males in particular is crucial. That's because young men under 34 are watching less television than they have in the past, spending more of their free time doing other activities, like playing video games or surfing online. But so far, no one seems to have settled on a plan." 

Sixteen years later and movie execs still haven't figured out how to reach the mooks that they so desperately seek, yet the execs that marketed Wayne's World somehow got it right. By incorporating the cynical views of the target audience into the film, the execs helped to bridge the gap between the film marketing and the mooks. The scene that best depicts this incorporation was when Wayne and Garth are approached by the producer who tells them that they must sell out to corporate sponsors and that they have no choice in the matter. At this point, Wayne and Garth, played by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, launch into a five minute comical sketch in which they endorse a multitude of products ranging from Pepsi to Doritos to Grey Poupon Mustard. Wayne's World should act as an example to movie execs today that are trying to target the unreachable young male demographic. 

Never underestimate the power of the mook.

Cloverfield: A Monster Marketing Success

January is notorious for being a horrible month for new films. 'Cloverfield', Paramount's Manhattan-based monster flick broke movie records when it made "the biggest January opening of all time, [even though] it's turning out to be more of a marketing win than a runaway crowd pleaser at the box office," according to a recent article from Variety. Although Paramount spent about $25 million dollars to make the entire film, it probably "spent as much marketing the movie as on the production budget...which [Paramount] says will easily be a financial success." Even though 'Cloverfield' opened big, it dropped 68% in the second weekend in theaters, which has been attributed to the lack of plot and the fact that the film was "shot to resemble a homevideo."

Many in Hollywood are praising Paramount for the creative and incredibly effective marketing techniques that definitely led to such a big opening weekend. According to Variety, "they eventized the film...they had a finite audience and they burned through it quickly...word-of-mouth takes care of the rest."

Much of 'Cloverfield's' $64.3 million gross profit comes from the fact that Paramount targeted young men and teenage boys with their marketing techniques and relied on their core audience to promote the film through first-hand reviews. 

Although this is a risky practice, the executives at Paramount were not expecting 'Cloverfield' to do as well as it did and were actually quite surprised at the success of the marketing campaign.

This case is clearly an exception and movie executives are not likely to quickly follow suit by relying on their target audience to do the marketing for them. Execs at Paramount were marketing for a movie that is about a giant monster attacking the city of New York. With a film like that, it doesn't make much sense to waste a ton of dough on marketing.

Sweeney Todd: Definitely a Musical

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Johnny Depp's December blockbuster, was met with great success across the board. Although many viewers were pleasantly surprised at the mix of horror, dark comedy, and musical interludes, others still were very upset and accused a United Kingdom advertising firm of false advertising. According to an article posted on contactmusic.com, angry moviegoers are asking the Advertising Standards Agency to "investigate the misleading advertisements." The frustrated film lovers claim that the U.K. trailer for Sweeney Todd blatantly portrayed it as a horror film and left out any signs that it was a full-fledged musical.

"Richard Brunton, head of online film site Filmstalker, says, 'When the U.K. trailer came out there was nothing in it that pointed it out to be a musical. 'I would say the advertising has been blatantly misleading and I assume that the feeling was that less people would pay to see a musical so it would be better to sell it as a horror movie.'"

It is not a new notion to target a movie towards a certain demographic that would yield higher revenues and this practice has, as such, been criticized through and through by the public. Bottom line: its no secret that Sweeney Todd is a musical and "true" fans should have suspected a musical, even if advertising lead them to believe otherwise. 

Hannah Montana

Miley Cyrus, also known as her alter-ego television personality Hannah Montana, is quickly becoming the biggest hit in the world of pre-teens since Nickelodeon's Gak. Montana's latest venture is a 3D version of her concert, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, to be shown in theaters all across North American for one week only.

The Toronto Star's online edition wrote an article about the popularity of Miley Cyrus and the success that this concert/movie will produce. Cyrus is quoted as saying that the idea for the concert "was mostly because of the tickets and there were so many people that didn't get to come to the show...this is like better than front row." 

The tickets went on sale starting December 1st and most were sold out within a few days for the one-week run of the movie.This latest marketing idea is relatively new and cutting edge, which helps to branch out the success of the Hannah Montana Dynasty even more. 

"The Dark Knight" Marketing

By now, pretty much everyone that has access to a computer, newspaper, or radio has learned of the untimely death of the acclaimed australian actor, Heath Ledger. What many do not know is that Ledger had recently finished working on the latest installment of the Batman film franchise, "The Dark Knight," taking on the role of The Joker.

  Warner Brothers Studios launched an incredibly extensive and creative web campaign to create buzz about the new movie months before the first trailer was even screened in theaters. The question now is whether or not to continue with the marketing of this film in the wake of one of the principal character's death.

  The Wall Street Journal published an article about the marketing of "The Dark Knight" that included information about the interactive feature of the web campaign that encouraged fans to participate in a scavenger hunt in order to unlock clues about the plot-line of the film. Movie Marketing that promotes fan involvement has been proven to increase the success of the film, as was the case of "The Blair Witch Project," according to The Wall Street Journal.

Although Warner Brothers Studios released a statement about Ledger's death, nothing was said about whether or not the web campaign to promote the movie will continue or not. "An executive at a rival studio said that...'the best thing that could happen is that all this marketing stuff just goes on and the movie and the campaign don't turn into some kind of weird grave marker.'"