Marketing in Madness in 60 Seconds: 7/3/09
Advertising/Marketing
Display ads will come to Dish Networks in early 2010 thanks to a partnership between that company and WPP’s GroupM. That system will likely then be rolled out to DirecTV and possibly even beyond that as addressable ads continue to be all the rage for cable television.
Advertising executives have an idea of what the impact of DVR ad-skipping is having on their business but don’t know how to counteract it.
Digital College Network is a new start-up out-of-home advertising network that is installing screens that will display entertainment, advertising and other content on those screens, which will be placed in college bookstores across the country.
YouTube has introduced new overlay ads that can link to an outside website directly. Overlays were all the rage about a year and a half ago and it’s odd they waited this long to jump on this bandwagon.
A study done by a television industry trade group says that television is a more effective environment for advertising than the web, especially in terms of “emotional engagement.” I’m awash in shock.
Advertisers have agreed in principle to new self-regulatory guidelines that would give web users more control over behaviorally targeted online ads. The proposed guidelines from the AAAA would require ISPs, ad servers (including Google, Yahoo and others) and companies that make browser toolbars to get opt-in agreements from users before serving up such ads, though how that assent is given and to what extent it would be applied remains unclear.
Media
The New York Times is dropping a restriction it had placed on member papers that content must appear in print first. Members can now post original NYT pieces on their sites before that content appears in print, a move designed allow those member papers to evolve to meet consumer needs.
Social Media
Flickr has made it easier to post the photos you upload there to Twitter.
Twitter has started the process of trying to copyright “tweet” in response to the wide-range of applications that use that word in their names. It says it won’t go after those currently using the word but just want to make sure that, since it’s so connected in people’s minds with Twitter, it’s not being abused.
Finding an Audience: Distribution Notes for 7/3/09
Theatrical
The few remaining indie arms of the big studios are buying minimally, some of the true independents are picking up a handful and the others are just kind of sitting there doing nothing. Yes, the market for independent movies truly does bite right now.
Home Video
Rumors are circulating that Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Sony are in talks to merge the production, distribution and other backend operations relating to the DVD business in an effort to cut costs.
Online/On-Demand
The Supreme Court has declined to hear arguments relating to the opposition by a consortium of Hollywood studios to plans by some cable providers to introduce networked DVR functionality. That functionality would un-hinge DVR services from a set-top box with its hard-drive and, for all intents and purposes, put it in the cloud that is the operator’s services. The system will be slow – and expensive – to roll out but will ultimately be a cost-savings since it means they don’t have to pay all those manufacturing costs. PaidContent has more of the winners/losers in this.
Warner Bros. has signed a deal to handle digital release of films managed by Oscilloscope, making sure those movies get into online storefronts. New media distribution will happen after the films complete their theatrical run.
The limited broadband speeds in the U.S. still aren’t enough to effectively stream HD video content to homes but are being utilized to some effect as complimentary channels for Blu-ray content.
Quick Takes: 7/3/09
The rising role being played by online, social network-based word of mouth is partly to blame, at least according to some people, for the fact that star-power seems to be waning in importance in movie marketing. Once-invincible stars aren’t bringing them in like they used to and are being beaten by movies with ensemble, second-string casts and other factors that don’t carry as much traditional weight.
The AMC blog looks at some of the greatest movie hype-starting hoaxes in history.
The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is increasing the pressure on federal regulators over the advertising for PG-13 movies that airs during programming meant for younger children. The group points to the large amount of ads for Wolverine, Transformers 2, Terminator Salvation and more that have been broadcast this year. In response, the MPAA, which is charged with self-policing the ads for these movies, says it works hard to make sure whatever is approved is appropriate for those audiences.
Valeris Van Galder is leaving her post as co-president of worldwide marketing at Sony Pictures but is not said to be going to another studio. Instead she simply appears to be stepping down for personal reasons. Mark Weinstock, the other co-president of the division, will assume her duties upon her leaving.
Twitter Updates for 2009-07-02
- Love it. Broadbrand stimulus funds tied to net neutrality adherence: http://ping.fm/IpNk0 #
- RT @maxkalehoff: The State Of Social Media Measurement (aka Brand Monitoring and Listening Platforms) http://bit.ly/163KoE #
- WWUD? (What Would Unicron Do?) #
- Entering into hour two and paragraph five of this metaphor. Sometimes I amaze even myself. #
- This afternoon's productivity is being tackled at the Rt. 59 Panera thanks to some home internet MASSIVE FAILURE. #
- @ischafer: Sorry, I'll try to keep the word from getting out there. in reply to ischafer #
- @r: Hard core dedication and an unflappable work ethic? in reply to r #
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Filmspotting on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight”
Adam and Matty from Filmspotting appeared on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” the other day. Great appearance, guys.
Twitter Updates for 2009-07-01
- @cc_chapman: Which makes you either Steve Winwood or REO Speedwagon. I'm alright with the former but the latter…that's just disturbing. in reply to cc_chapman #
- RT @TheOnion: Modern-Day Martin Luther Nails 95 Comment Cards To IHOP Door http://bit.ly/M3MvG #
- Feeling light, feeling nimble, feeling like stirring up some trouble. #
- We call dads who stay home "Mr. Mom" but we don't call moms who work "Mrs. Dad." What up with that. #
- RT @annechun: Happy birthday to new mom and good friend @ornapickens! #
- @scott_tobias: Probably not. More probable it's them wanting to contact you and keep up on what you're writing in the future. in reply to scott_tobias #
- @MackCollier: it's great. You check out from work for a day or several and don't worry about all this but have "fun." in reply to MackCollier #
- @ischafer: There's that word again; "heavy". Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull? in reply to ischafer #
- @ischafer: You serve up the softballs, I'll keep hitting them. in reply to ischafer #
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Movie Marketing Madness: Public Enemies
Chicago – and Chicagoans – has always had a tough time dealing with its violent, mobster-speckled past. On the one hand it’s reality. It’s also good for tourism since lots of people want to come see the streets and locations where Al Capone and his cronies traded in booze and violence for so many years. On the other hand Chicago has done a lot of other things over the years and many people – especially the current mayor – are eager to put that sort of perception of the city behind us as they seek to define its future.
There’s no denying, though, that it’s impossible to read a history of 20th century Chicago that doesn’t include a chronicle of much of that past. Chicago was in-arguably host to some of the biggest events in the history of crime in that period.
Some of that included the career of John Dillinger. That career is now being mined as the basis for Public Enemies, the new film from director Michael Mann. In the film JohnnyDepp plays Dillinger and Christian Bale one of the FBI agents tasked with bringing him to justice. The film follows Dillinger as he engages in his much-publicized wave of bank robberies as he eludes the FBI, even as that agency looks to make that pursuit – and hopefully his eventual capture – the case that makes its reputation. It all ends, getting back to the Chicago connection, outside theBiograph Theater on Chicago’s near-north side.
The Posters
Three character posters were the first components of the print campaign that were released. Depp got one, Bale got one and Marion Cotillard, who plays Dillinger’s girlfriend in the film, got one. Each one was placed in a setting that was appropriate for their character, withDepp’s Dillinger standing on the side of a car with a machine gun at the ready, Bale’s Purvis hiding behind a tree as if he’s waiting for his opportunity to catch the bad guy and Cotillard’s character dressed for the night out and standing on a city street. They’re all very stylized and very cool looking and fit the atmospheric look the movie’s campaign is trying to create very well.
The theatrical poster puts the focus solely on Depp as he stands, machine gun in hand, looking north on LaSalle Street in Chicago – the same location of the last shot in The Untouchables – and the Chicago Board of Trade building behind him. It’s a shot that’s more or less synonymous, by virtue of that placement in The Untouchables, with Chicago and is used as shorthand not only for the geographic setting but its time as well. It works at what it’s trying to accomplish, which is to set the scene in that way and sellDepp as the main attraction for the movie.
The fact that Bale didn’t get more prominent placement in the poster component of the campaign surprised me and a few other people. But, as one film marketing industry watcher says, Bale still doesn’t have the audience recognition factor that makes him, as opposed to the roles he plays, a big draw factor, at least not a big enough one to pushDepp off the front burner.
The Trailers
It’s hard to comment individually on the two trailers that were released because, quite frankly, they’re both so very awesome.
It’s not just that they’re both visually fantastic, it’s that they both do a great job of creating the sense that they walk the line between showing some awesome scenes andcinematography without spoiling it or making the viewer think they’ve seen all the best bits. Both build the story and the characters in slow and steady ways and build to an eventual exciting climax.
While each features a slightly different take on things – one of them doesn’t show Depp in close-up until over 30 seconds in – they do both hit on the common themes of this being a manhunt that the FBI is mounting on Dillinger and that Dillinger is enjoying his role as a celebrity, an anti-hero for the working man during the early years of the Depression.
They also both make it clear to the audience that this is a stylishly told story that features compelling and deep characters and some darn fine acting.
I’m actually a bit surprised they don’t play up the violence in the film more. I’m not sure how much of that is contained in the actual film but this is summer action movie season after all and accentuating that violence might have been seen as a safe marketing play by the studio and its partners. I’m not complaining – I think they’re great – I’m just saying I’m surprised they didn’t reach for the lowest common denominator.
Considering the local connection it’s not surprising that the Biograph would have the trailer playing on a screen in the lobby on a continuous loop.
Online
The official website opens by playing the second (I think it’s the second, I don’t remember what order they were released in) trailer, which you can close to start diving into the site. You can continue down that road by clicking “Enter the Site.”
There are a few options right off the bat on the site, which takes forever to load.
“Explore the Crime Wave of John Dillinger” presents a timeline of the real Dillinger’s activities, from his first jail break through his being gunned down outside theBiograph . I love features like this on sites for movies that are based on historic events as they provide a resource for people who want more than just a movie to get some background on the subjects and people involved.
Along those same lines is “Gangsters and G-Men” which gives you some historic biographic information on the people being portrayed. Each one is presented along with the face of the actor doing the portraying, helping you put a face with the name when you eventually see the movie.
In the final of these featured spots the spotlight is turned directly on director Mann, with a Biography, Images and Insight into the themes he explores in his movies and how this plays into those. I don’t see this kind of thing on many movie sites, where an A-List director gets broken out in this fashion, but Mann is certainly among those few that deserve such treatment.
Getting into the site’s main content, the menu is actually arranged like a map of the Midwest, with the different areas represented by points corresponding to the areas Dillinger struck in his career.
First up is “Downloads” where you’ll find three Desktop Wallpapers and 11 Buddy Icons you can grab to make yourself up in the style of the movie.
There are 18 stills from the movie under the “Gallery.”
I love the “Videos” section since it contains the Trailer (but just the one, a slight demerit), seven TV spots and seven extended clips from the film. That’s more TV spots than the official site for the Transformers sequel, which had asizably bigger push, contained.
“Notes” has a ton of good information about the creation of the movie and the people involved in said creation. It’s well-written and has quotes from the real people depicted and it’s a good read. “Filmmakers” and “Cast” both give you a bit of information on the talent behind the movie and their film histories.
Finally, “Story” dives into just what the movie is all about and the path the characters take.
At the bottom of the page there are the now-usual array of buttons that let you share a link to the site with your friends on Facebook, StumbleUpon and elsewhere.
There was also an online game that Universal ran called BankRaids that used Twitter and Facebook Connect to let people promote just how well they had done in their quest to become a notorious – and successful – bank robber. Seems like a fun game and I like the instant post-to-Twitter/Facebook once you finish your run aspect of it.
Advertising and Cross-Promotions
The primary component of the advertising campaign was the seven or so TV spots that were created and which aired in the four or five weeks before the movie’s release. These were all pretty good, essentially slimmed-down and rearranged footage from the trailers. The main problem faced by these spots was that they were airing right in the middle of the campaign for Transformers 2 and it’s almost two dozen different commercials so it was a little hard to find some breathing room around them.
There was also some outdoor advertising done and, I think, some online as well, but I didn’t see very much of it and haven’t heard a lot of buzz in that area.
Media and Publicity
As is befitting a movie with a couple of high profile stars and such a big-time director there was a decent amount of publicity around Public Enemies. Interviews with theDepp, Bale and Mann were in steady supply in the weeks leading up to the movie’s release. There was also plenty of local attention given to the film’s shooting while the production was in Chicago, with other Midwest locations that don’t usually host movie shoots focusing in their own way on the fact that there were major stars in town.
Some of that local Chicago coverage
The film got a decent shot in the arm when it was announced it would screen, likely for the first time to a general audience, at the Los Angeles Film Festival in mid to late June.
Overall
I’m always amazed when I watch a Michael Mann film at how the director is able to combine slick, amazing visuals and meaty, substantive story-telling.
The campaign for Public Enemies positions the movie along those very same lines. It presents a movie that contains some great performances, really cool visuals and a story that is engaging and interesting, meaning there’s something for everyone. It certainly makes the movie most attractive to those interested in serious movies. It’s probably going to have little overlap with the Transformers 2 crowd that’s more into sweaty Megan Fox and flashyCGI visuals.
The main problem with the campaign has nothing to do with the actual marketing but instead is about the release timing. It’s among the highest-profile releases this week but it’s still coming after those big effing robots and so the campaign has had to run more or less in parallel to that push, meaning it’s been a chore for it to not be drowned out. Hopefully, though, it’s managed to find the audience it needs this weekend.
Best Picture winners/losers
I haven’t weighed in on the move by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to expand the Best Picture nominees from five to 10 has been the subject of a lot of commentary and speculation. It seems like everyone is more or less reading their own agenda into it, saying it’s going to be good for animated films/good for genre films/bad for studios/good for ratings or whatever else.
So allow me to do the same.
No, studios probably weren’t lobbying for this change since it means they’re now on the hook for a ton more “For Your Consideration” ads for more movies.
The winner in this is actually going to be the industry trade publications that are hurting so badly in this advertising spending downturn. There are going to be a ton more of those “For Your Consideration” campaigns for a broader swatch of movies, including a good amount from the big studios that have deeper pockets. So this might – might – stem the decline of advertising dollars titles like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter are seeing.
Just a thought, but it’s been percolating in my mind and wanted to throw that out there.
Twitter Updates for 2009-06-26
- @MackCollier: I could hug you right now, big guy. in reply to MackCollier #
- Fox Searchlight releases trailer for Amelia, prompting 1 million "Didn't we just get this movie…oh, no, that was Night/Museum 2" comments. #
- @MackCollier: I'd love to comment but I'm still trying to recover the psychosomatic blindness. in reply to MackCollier #
- @MackCollier: I tried to mimic Michelangelo once but then realized I was reading the wikipedia entry for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. in reply to MackCollier #
- @jspepper: You're my hero. in reply to jspepper #
- RT @jonsel: First! You've been pwned! http://tinyurl.com/l4w5×8 #
- Anyone driving around here and have a spare Dairy Queen sundae they're looking to get rid of? #
- RT @mattsingerIFC's 50 Greatest Trailers List is updated with a convenient index. If you didn't want to click around before… bit.ly/cdEqN #
- @ScottKirsner: That's awesome. I saw HL&N a couple years ago and they put on an awesome show. in reply to ScottKirsner #
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Marketing Madness in 60 Seconds: 6/26/09
Advertising/Marketing
Yes, the FTC is looking into paid placements of online mentions that aren’t fully disclosed by the author. But I’m hoping that what Andy Beal says is right and that most writers won’t have to worry about it since there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing. For those worried, a simple bit of disclosure should suffice nicely.
Yahoo is launching a new self-service ad product, something it’s hoping will attract the attention of local and other smaller businesses. At least one person who deals with the local advertising market, though, thinks that this sets the entry bar too high for businesses that are used to having programs built for them and don’t have the skills or the time to do it themselves.
Research from Harris Interactive suggests people are over-hyping online word of mouth, with their study saying offline recommendations or discussions carry more weight than their online counterparts. The numbers skew slightly more in favor of online among younger respondents. This is another one of those issues where each new survey will suggest something different but it’s worth noting the back-and-forth.
Google is introducing AdSense for Mobile Apps as a way to help developers of applications for a variety of platforms, including its own Android and the iPhone, monetize those creations even if they don’t charge for them directly.
Some shows are commanding higher ad rates for their online streaming through Hulu, TV.com and other outlets than they are for their main, traditional television broadcast. You can mark the day old media began officially dying….NOW.
Media
It shouldn’t be surprising that few news organizations have a solid set of social media guidelines in place when you know that few companies of any sort have a solid set of social media guidelines in place. That being said, there seem to be a couple examples of reasonable guidelines in this story, where the employer is taking a “Hey, just don’t be irresponsible on Twitter” stance.
A newspaper-content licensing agency in the U.K. is actually considering trying to collect royalties on behalf of papers for links to stories. That’s right, links. So even if someone links to a newspaper story without reprinting content the agency would try and collect a fee. Not right on any level.
Google is once again being blamed as the source of all problems for newspapers when it’s actually a combination of a half dozen things, none of which is Google and many of which reflect the “we’re the only ones that exist” attitude that dominated the early web, that have papers in this position.
A Reuters editor has told the governing body of the Olympic Games that they need to change their accreditation rules to accommodate and acknowledge the insta-publishing reality.
Social Media
Wiki creation service WetPaint is launching a new product that seeks to measure online interest – judged by participation and engagement with related social networks and site – in television shows. The most interesting thing about this story is that it’s not a company that you’d usually associate with tracking and measurement doing it.
Similarly, a new deal between TiVo and Quantcast would seek to offer a single, unified metric that spans both TV and online advertising. This would save marketers having to cluge together disparate numbers from two – or more – different reporting services and give them a better sense of how their cross-platform campaigns were running.
MySpace is suffering from a serious lack of cool perception right now. But as Catherine P. Taylor says it can get some of that back by involving social media bigwigs in its future developments and plans.
Finding an Audience: Distribution Notes for 6/26/09
Home Video
Redbox’s kiosks are taking business away from Netflix. It’s not that surprising since those kiosks very much serve the hits-driven head of the Long Tail consumer market and so are going to be attractive to the pedestrian traffic that their placement in McDonald’s restraurants and outside Walgreen’s stores draws in.
Online/On-Demand
You can now download and view movies being distributed by Cinetic Rights Managment on your Vudu set-top box.
Gigantic Group is launching an online streaming service that gives customers unlimited viewing access for three days for $2.99. The first movie being released is the documentary Motherland. The interesting part is that Gigantic can block the movies they release from being available in areas where the films are playing in actual theaters. That’s kind of a big deal and could go a long way in making distributors more comfortable with the arrangement since they don’t have to worry about angering theater owners.
Picking Up the Spare: Terminator, Star Trek, Transformers, Watchmen
James dropped me a line to let me know he had snagged an online ad that Visa created as part of a promotion they were running for Terminator: Salvation.
Star Trek
Star Trek – and Terminator – was among the most searched topics in the month of May according to Nielsen. The report says that searchers were looking for details on the film’s story and other information that would help them get informed on the movie.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
George Parker at AdScam has some problems with the Burger King promotion for the movie.
The much-ballyhooed Director’s Cut of the film has begun to hit select theaters, featuring additional scenes and with The Black Freighter footage integrated back in to the story as it was in the comic.
Twitter Updates for 2009-06-25
- Getting the morning started with some writing, reading and marveling at how smart the people I know are. #
- It might sound funny, but the Reader Shared Items of @rklau is among my "Must Read" RSS feeds. The guy highlights some great stuff. #
- @awolk: I'm waiting for the inevitable stories on how the change wasn't well communicated to users. Cause that *always* happens with FB. in reply to awolk #
- @awolk: What's less than zero. Can I get into negative numbers? I see nothing on the site about the change so I'm guessing very, very few. in reply to awolk #
- I tell you, it's days like today that I love living at the intersection of entertainment and marketing. #
- "Sponsored conversations" come to the movie blog world. What does it mean? http://ping.fm/7aLEv #
- So the guy who couldn't keep Fly Clear, something that provides demonstrative value, going is now going to save newspapers? #
- Capitalization in your writing should not be that big a deal. Come on people, we're trying to have a civilization here. #
- RT @ConcordiaPub: Factoid: June 25 is the anniversary of the Augsburg Confession. #
- Mashable has some good common sense thoughts about the AP's social media policy: http://bit.ly/zO2rI #
- The first season of Parker Lewis Can't Lose hits DVD next week. Not saying this is the most important thing ever but… I kind of am. #
- RT @mattsinger: Long in the making, here's IFC.com's List of The 50 Greatest Trailers of All Time: http://bit.ly/cdEqN #
- @tamarlovesu: Congrats! Make sure the kid knows that you're the one who's actually in charge, not his or her actual parents. in reply to tamarlovesu #
- @croncast wins. He just does. #
- In retrospect, I probably picked this fight. I'm torn up abo….no, sorry, can't keep that up. #
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What’s the thinking behind a re-tweet
Daniel Honigman asks: Does a re-tweet equal an endorsement?
While I certainly concur with the point behind Dan’s anecdote about journalists double-checking things before randomly re-tweeting – and the larger caution that anything that can’t be verified should be re-tweeted with care – I think the answer to Dan’s question is, almost universally, “Yes.”
A re-tweet, in essence, is the equivalent of saying “I would have said this myself but this person said it first and just about as well as I would have so I’ll publish it under my own feed.” So it’s very much an endorsement of the original publisher’s point of view. It’s also a recommendation of that person in general to others and a way to label them as somewhat of an influencer.
Dispelling the “free advertising” myth
This New York Times story on “free advertising” has my irritation levels set on maximum. That’s because it’s centered around one of the most persistent – and wrong – myths about social media and word of mouth marketing: That it’s free.
It’s this particular paragraph that I’m going to take issue with:
What does free advertising look like? It can take many forms: Getting a journalist or blogger to review a new mobile phone, placing a video on YouTube, spreading the word via bloggers, and starting a Facebook group dedicated to a brand or product.
All of those cost money.
Getting a journalist or blogger to review a product is not just something you come into work and throw together before you begin your real work. It’s (or at least it should be) part of a larger campaign strategy for which goals and benchmarks have been clearly defined. Having worked on more than one product review campaign involving bloggers I can tell you to do them right they’re both time and resource intensive.
Placing a video on YouTube is free, yes, but if the brand wants a slick branded channel that’s going to cost some dollars in terms of design work. It’s also not exactly as simple as upload and let it go. Someone needs to be in charge of managing the tags and keywords on the video and tracking its spread. With the millions of YouTube videos it also helps to do a little outreach to interested bloggers and writers with the link to the video to help spread the word and that costs money.
Which gets me to the “spread the word via bloggers.” Not free. It’s media relations, which companies have always paid for from their agencies and always will. If you pay an agency $500 for media outreach and that results in 20 mentions *from the people they contact* that comes to $25 per mention, but that billed time also should include vetting a media list and doing their research on the bloggers they’re going to be contacting. If, as a result of those 20 initial hits, 10 other bloggers pick up the story the client’s costs drop to about $17 per mention. But that’s not free.
Finally, starting a Facebook group for the brand or product is, once again, not free. You can’t just expect the page will automatically start attracting hundreds of fans that are just waiting for the brand to show up. Agencies need to research if there are existing fan-created pages and talk to them, they need to do outreach around the page and might even recommend doing some advertising to promote the page and drive membership. Plus, since this should be part of that larger online strategy, it’s not great thinking to break this out from the overall cost of that campaign.
One of the great things about social media is that the tools that make up that category are indeed free or at least relatively low cost. But while the tools aren’t going to cost very much out of pocket the implementation of those tools and the strategy around their usage does and always will. If you’re doing it yourself and not using an agency or consultant it’s still going to cost something, even if that’s just your time and resources.
