Hollywood will rack up a record summer box office haul, despite some big-budget flops, according to a USA Today story package that also points out the limits of social media in marketing. The industry is heading to a $4.7 billion total for summer box office (with days left in the season), compared to $4.4 billion in 2011—the current record. One article of the two-article … [Read more...] about Summer BO Sizzles, Online Marketing Fizzles
advertising
Lionsgate Consolidates Ads at Mindshare
Lionsgate consolidated its estimated $400 million domestic film advertising account with WPP’s Mindshare media buying agency, which handled Summit Entertainment that Lionsgate acquired a year ago. Interpublic’s Initiative unit—which bought adverising for Lionsgate pre-merger—is dropped. The assignment covers theatrical and home video ad spending. Kantar Media puts … [Read more...] about Lionsgate Consolidates Ads at Mindshare
Oscar TV Ad Sales Sizzle
Advertising sales for the Feb. 24 Oscar telecast are brisk, according to trade newspaper Advertising Age, which attributes strong demand comparison to recession-depressed rates in the past year and a belief a revamp this year will pull viewers. The performance of the Oscar telecast is of keen interest to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) because it … [Read more...] about Oscar TV Ad Sales Sizzle
AMC Revamps Consumer Marketing
The nation’s second largest theater, AMC Entertainment has completely revamped its consumer marketing in the past few years. Now the bulk of marketing spending goes into digital, instead of print newspapers, such as online digital platforms where consumer like to express their opinions about movies. “Social media is pervasive and consumers expect brands to be in social … [Read more...] about AMC Revamps Consumer Marketing
Book review: ‘Creating Blockbusters!’
A new book provides insightful analysis of the building blocks for successful Hollywood films, from script to promotion to licensed merchandise—all from point of view of marketing to the audience. “Creating Blockbusters!” by consumer researcher Gene Del Vecchio covers movies, TV programs, video games and books. Most film books lean toward arty but “Creating Blockbusters!” is … [Read more...] about Book review: ‘Creating Blockbusters!’
Ad Giant Enters Film Research
The small world of Hollywood movie research just got a little more crowded with an affiliate of advertising giant WPP agreeing to acquire film research boutique Movies First International. The Penn Schoen Berland consultancy—which is the WPP affiliate—issued a press release announcing its buy of First Movies, which has offices in Los Angeles and London. The WPP behemoth has … [Read more...] about Ad Giant Enters Film Research
‘John Carter’ Rattles Disney
Disney’s mega-budget “John Carter” premiered with a disappointing $30 million in opening three-day box office after pushing an arty presentation in early marketing, though the film is not arty. The sci-fi flop -- whose budget reportedly is around $250 million -- likely will trigger a writedown of tens of millions or possibly over $100 million on Disney corporate earnings. … [Read more...] about ‘John Carter’ Rattles Disney
Sony Marshals Siblings for ‘MiB3’
Sony Pictures pushes for maximum synergy within the $88 billion-revenue conglomerate for “Men in Black 3,” which will hit theaters May 25, 2012. In a press release, Sony Pictures says that consumer-facing businesses of the company that will promote sci-fi comedy “MIB3” include: * TV channels reaching 577m TV households worldwide (the U.S. alone has just 115m TV … [Read more...] about Sony Marshals Siblings for ‘MiB3’
Specialist Film Ad Agencies Merge
The two leading specialist advertising agency businesses that originally assembled detail-intensive newspaper ads are merging their operation into what is called Allied-THA. This enterprise that has 20 regional offices across the United States creates ads with theater play-dates and start-times in the fine print at the bottom of print ads for movies. A press release from … [Read more...] about Specialist Film Ad Agencies Merge
Movies Take Hefty Eight Super Bowl Ads
A sizeable eight movie ads appeared in the Super Bowl, as Hollywood shows no lack of confidence the theatrical distribution business. Another handful of movie ads were in pre-game and half-time adjacencies in the telecast of the professional football championship. Last year, just six movie commercials ran and the year before that nine films took 11 commercial slots. This … [Read more...] about Movies Take Hefty Eight Super Bowl Ads