Movie Marketing

From Trailer to Oscar and other strange things on the way

http://www.cbc.ca/undertheinfluence/season-1/2012/03/03/movie-marketing-1/

A marketing dilemma: How to get people to watch?

• Hollywood now spends an average of $32 million dollars per movie to advertise. $3.5 billion overall

• But trailers have changed dramatically over the years - and now many give away the entire storyline. How much is enough?

• Do you tease with plot points, or will more people see the movie you give away the ending first?

AdWeek Magazine noted recently that the genius of modern Hollywood lies not just in its ability to make movies, but to create weekly audiences for them. 

Back in the pre-TV days, a full two-thirds of North Americans were moviegoers. Even as late as 1948, nearly 100 million people went to their local movie theatres every week without any national advertising to prod them. 

The Good Old Days…

The Current Challenge Today, Hollywood can count on less than 10% of the

population seeing any given movie - and attracting that 10% requires huge multi-million dollar ad campaigns. 

In 2010, studios spent an average $32 million in advertising per movie in wide release. Most of it spent airing movie trailers on television. 

Those ad campaigns must draw people to the 39,000 screens across North America, and hope that audience is in the mood for lots of popcorn and soda pop. Because without the concession stand, most multiplexes would be out of business. 

Then there’s the big ad…• When used in marketing

campaigns, an Oscar win or nomination increases the desire of moviegoers to see the films and the talent being honored.

• Keeps the movies in theaters longer boosting box office receipts.

• Substantially increases DVD, streaming, download, and cable TV revenues.

To tease or to give it away?

•One of the biggest dilemmas of movie trailer marketing is... how much of the story do you give away?

Where is that fine line between:$giving enough of a tease that a moviegoer's

curiosity is piqued$but not giving away so much that the public

feels it has just seen the movie? 

In action films, that answer is easy•Vin Diesel's movie, Fast Five.

•Show the stars, •The stunts, •A few scantily-clad women and •The slightest hint of a plot: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FDOBLS8m2yE

But other trailers have given away a lot

• The trailer for Contagion for example, gave away the fact that star Gwyneth Paltrow dies early in the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4sYSyuuLk5g

 

• To give away the fact a major star dies early in a movie is a very rare thing in a trailer

• The studio's belief was that the more the audience knew, the more they would want to see the story.

What's the tipping point of plot giveaway versus plot secrets?

Arlington Road - 1999• Jeff Bridges stars as a university professor who teaches

a class in terrorism. A new neighbour, Tim Robbins, moves into the house next door, and he seems nice enough. But soon, Bridges begins to suspect his new next door neighbour is a terrorist.

•  But is Robbins just a nice guy, or is he a terrorist hiding in plain sight?

• That's the core tension of the movie. 

• But the trailer reveals, in no uncertain terms, that Robbins is a terrorist

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tzzT_Iaw0t8

Movie Trailer Case Study: Cast Away 

• First Trailer: Hanks' character Chuck Nolan promises his fiancée that he will be back in time for New Year's Eve, flying to Russia, then his plane crashes on the way home... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2TWYDogv4WQ

• They hoped that trailer would be enough of a tease to attract moviegoers.

• But the feedback was that people weren't sure they wanted to sit through a two-hour movie about one man all alone on an island. 

Second trailer spoiler

•Gave away the entire storyline, from the first shot to the last shot.

•Showed Hanks' character Chuck Noland not only being marooned, but being rescued: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PJvosb4UCLs

Does Ruining the Surprise Ruin the Movie? The Fallout…

• Internet websites began buzzing with complaints that the trailer gave too much away. Even actress Helen Hunt weighed in. "I love Cast Away. I loved making it, but I hate the trailer" she said angrily. 

Not only did she object to so many of the plot points being given away, she argued that so many of the movie's unique visuals were exposed, spoiling their later impact. 

The Defence•Director Robert Zemeckis countered that the

main audience for the film - men under 25 - approach a movie the same way they approach a hamburger stand: They want to know what they're getting before they plunk their money down. 

Said Zemeckis: "There's a McDonalds on every street corner, and none of them is losing money." 

Movies are Huge Investments

• Dreamworks had $80 million invested in Cast Away. 

• Both the studio and the director believed the spoiler movie trailer was a necessary marketing strategy to bring in the core moviegoer. 

• Consumers simply demand to know what they're buying. 

Alternative Movie Marketing

•http://www.businessinsider.com/13-really-strange-movie-marketing-campaigns-2012-2#chronicle-1

•The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Trailer

Would you want to see the following movies? What do you like about the trailer? Dislike?• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbp3Ra3Yp7• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juxTC7hYGT• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ewaCVARtM• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-EEqJ9HyTk• https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjtg7m1MMM• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVeI-VVUsLM• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCTen3-B8GU• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYemY3xFsB• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Pbz85vYdw