WITH the constant expansion of marketing mediums, Marketers continue to look for economic and measurable ways to showcase their Brands to growing numbers of fickle and promiscuous customers. One area of mass communication which continues to tempt Marketers by its strong aspirational bonds with target audiences of all demographics, is Movies.
For decades, consumers have built strong emotional associations with Movies and Movie stars, aspiring to drive luxury cars, or to wear designer fashion they saw in Movies. More affordable product placements are the new Nokia touch screen phone, previewed in “The Dark Knight”, Crest Whitestrips in “He’s Just Not that Into You” or Purina Dog Chow in
“Marley & Me”.
Many Marketers have captured valuable “implied star association” by integrating their Brands into Movies via traditional Product Placements. However, in some instances, placements haven’t appeared in the final print, frustrating Marketers to a point where only Blockbuster Movies may be considered, and then by only major multi-national corporations with strong budgets and bargaining leverage.
Digital placements are a new and guaranteed opportunity for a Brand to be integrated into a Movie, allowing the Marketer time to develop plans to leverage the placement to address their Marketing Objectives.
With Film Finance tightening because of the global credit crisis, Studios and Production Companies are expecting a much stronger return on their Movie investments, across all spectrums of revenue (Box Office, DVD’s, Cable TV and Free to Air Networks) than ever before. Focus is also being levelled on cost conscious Movie-goers who might wait to rent a DVD, rather than go to the Cinema.
Standard methods of Movie Promotion by Distributors involve Advertising in Movie media, editorials, preview screenings and ticket giveaways on radio, in magazines and newspapers. In some cases, generic Movie Promotions (Movie Ticket Offers) are run by Cinemas, but don’t feature specific titles.
Because of the large number of Movies being produced by major and independent studios, there is little time and a lack of expertise, for Distributors to negotiate marketing campaigns with Corporate Partners which will generate advertising, on-pack presence, point of sale material, sales/trade incentives, online and database marketing. These areas are generally ignored as being too hard.
Consequently, there is ‘much of a muchness’ to Distributor Movie Promotion.
Digital placements can now give Studios a new opportunity to create and direct awareness for the Movie, this time to a Marketer’s customers, using the Marketer’s budget, which can include traditional and online Advertising, Point of Sale, Web Promotions, data capture, Mobile phone marketing, on-pack presence and trade and sales force marketing. Globally, or by Country. These Campaigns can add millions of dollars to the marketing of a Movie without cost to a Studio. And the Studio generates new Revenue from the Digital Placement.
Leveraging Promotions can involve any of the following incentives, viz
• Walk-on roles in the Movie, for Customers, Sales Force or Trade.
• Visits to the Set, particularly aspirational for Key Accounts.
• “Money can’t Buy” Movie experiences.
• Invites to a global Red Carpet Premiere, or to a local one.
• Private screenings in the Marketer’s city.
As a Promotion Marketing Agency, Blockbusters apart, we always found it difficult to involve a brand in a Movie, because of the short time to Release given by Distributors. Digital Placements allow sufficient time (see chart) to negotiate with a Marketer, armed with synopses, scripts, scene breakdowns so the activity can be locked away in a Marketing Calendar. Do this successfully and Movies will become an effective marketing tool and will attract regular budgets. And new revenue streams for Agencies.
By Mike Da Silva