Attention-grabbing film promotions were the exception and not the rule


It wasn't just the boxoffice that was lackluster this summer. For the most part, film promotions were so tepid that only a few even managed to get noticed. "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," "Fantastic Four" and "Madagascar" attracted full-blown promotional programs with numerous blue-chip advertisers, but "Sith" proved to be the only film to equal the blockbuster success of "Shrek 2" and "Spider-Man 2," the biggest promotional hits of summer 2004.


Cingular Wireless and "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith"

Cingular's promotion was viewed as enormously successful because of a fully integrated marketing campaign and a humorous TV spot that featured Chewbacca struggling to alter his monotone grunt as music producers recorded his voice for a "Star Wars" ringtone. While nearly all of the promotional partners for "Sith" had the rare opportunity to feature "Star Wars" characters in their commercials, the Cingular spot was widely viewed as the favorite, according to marketers surveyed. "The Cingular campaign with the ringtone ad was just phenomenal," says Jeff Greenfield, executive vp at branded entertainment and marketing firm 1st Approach. "It was a great commercial that created a lot of buzz." Initial concerns that Lucasfilm had overextended the "Star Wars" characters by allowing them to appear in too many promotional partners' commercials at the same time quickly evaporated. By offering new Cingular customers free tickets to see "Sith," free "Star Wars" ringtones preloaded on selected phones and access to the first collection of "Star Wars" mobile content ever available in the U.S., Cingular created a highly effective and fully integrated program. "The 'Star Wars'-Cingular promotion was one of the strongest this summer," says Mark Workman, president and CEO of First FireWorks Group. Budweiser and

"Wedding Crashers"

Despite criticism from anti-alcohol watchdog groups like the Marin Institute, Budweiser's tie-in with the summer's surprise hit "Wedding Crashers" — its first movie promotion in 14 years — was considered a smashing success. " 'Wedding Crashers' was huge, the tie-in with Budweiser was perfectly done, and it was a perfect movie for Budweiser," Greenfield says. In the view of the marketing community, the movie and the campaign effectively hit Budweiser's target audience of young males, while irreverent TV spots, directed by "Crashers" helmer David Dobkin, gave Budweiser the opportunity to closely associate Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson with its beer by tying in clips from the film in a creative and organic way. One of Dobkin's TV spots featured a group of young women being briefed with clips from the movie on how to deal with wedding crashers. Budweiser also got the bonus of being featured in at least one scene in the movie. "The consumer acceptance of 'Wedding Crashers' and the corresponding boxoffice success have made our affiliation with the movie a huge hit for Budweiser," says Michael Gianino, director of film and television branded entertainment for Budweiser's parent company Anheuser-Busch.



SBC and

"Fantastic Four"

While not quite as successful as its tie-in with "The Incredibles" last year, SBC's partnership with 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" was nevertheless considered quite effective — mostly because of TV spots for its DSL high-speed Internet service that blanketed the airwaves. The commercials featured movie clips of the Johnny Storm character, who flies at breakneck speeds after turning into a human torch. "You couldn't turn on a TV anywhere and not see those spots," says Mike Mallone, vp at entertainment marketing firm Alliance. "They just blanketed everything. It was a great way to promote their high-speed DSL." Marketers say the SBC campaign worked despite similar marketing messages in SBC TV spots promoting the Walt Disney Co.'s "The Incredibles" last year. SBC spokeswoman Tiffany Nels notes that the "Fantastic Four" promotion introduced many new nontraditional marketing initiatives such as interactive floor displays in malls and movie theaters, interactive taxi displays and exclusive, customized content on its "Fantastic Four" microsite. "What differentiates the 'Fantastic Four' promotion from 'The Incredibles' promotion is not so much the product messaging but the extension of the theme into a lot of additional outlets beyond radio and TV," Nels says.



Hitachi and

"War of the Worlds"

When Hitachi initially announced its partnership with Paramount Pictures' "War of the Worlds," it was lauded as a major coup for the brand because Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg had granted Hitachi permission to use their images in its advertising materials — a rare occurrence among Hollywood's A-list celebrities. But in the end, sources suggest that Hitachi was extremely disappointed with the tie-in. The brand was apparently unhappy that their plasma TVs and DVD camcorders that were slated to appear in the movie were not actually identifiable as Hitachi products. Several months before the movie even opened, the company had publicly touted the product placement as a major component of its promotion and overall marketing strategy. In addition, Cruise's controversial remarks about psychiatry and mental health drugs on NBC's "Today" turned the very images of the actor that had been hailed as a marketing coup into a major liability, sources say. "Hitachi is pleased with the partnership," a Hitachi spokesman says. "We are expecting increasing sales and Hitachi brand awareness through the cross-promotion activities." Reportedly valued at about $25 million, the promotion was Hitachi's first major movie tie-in and was implemented on a global scale. And while Hitachi was the only promotional partner for "War" — scoring what was hailed as yet another marketing coup — some marketers questioned the wisdom of any company partnering with such a violent movie. "I would have stayed away from 'War of the Worlds,' " says Ferris Thompson, president of entertainment at Edelman. "Who wants to be associated with the end of the world?"

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