Marketing “Tron”

Form follows profit is the aesthetic principle of our times

– Richard Rogers

You know your movie is knocking on the door of the cultural zeitgeist when razor brands are piggybacking off your product. Disney’s ‘Tron: Legacy’, released around a month ago, has accrued a great deal of spilled ink in newspapers and online. The reporting has focussed not only on the film itself, but also its unique design aesthetics and marketing formula across multiple platforms.

Zeitgeist has mentioned the film’s marketing activities before in it’s blog, including it’s three and a half year journey as a promotional campaign to screen, (surely a record). It was a good eighteen months before the December 2010 release of the film that electronic music duo Daft Punk were revealed to be composing the soundtrack. On a brand level, this was a good fit; those who were inclined to see Tron would find this news very exciting; it would hopefully also pique fans of Daft Punk’s interest in the film. The collaboration naturally allows for figurines, bears and awesome headphones to be created, too.

The razor mentioned earlier – the Philips Norelco Senso Touch 3D – could have been an exploitative gimmick launched without much thought of the product itself and how it connects to the movie or their audience. To it’s credit, as reported by brandchannel,

The maker of the new Senso Touch 3D electric razor is offering tickets to an advance screening of Tron: Legacy via a special website that includes a rebate offer, the ability to “customize your photo into the world of Tron,” and a sweepstakes with a $10,000 prize.

The above tactics all help build a connection with the movie itself, ameliorating the product in the eyes of the film’s audience, as well as building anticipation for the film’s release. The week of the release was when footwear designer Edmundo Castillo announced the arrival of a pair of LED ‘Light Sandals’ that, according to Luxuo “pay homage” to ‘Tron: Legacy’. They will retail at $1,650 at Sak’s from February 1st. The article also mentions eyewear manufacturer Oakley is releasing special 3D glasses to tie-in with the film’s opening. Nokia have employed a similar effort with the release of a new handset. More collaborations can be found in a very comprehensive article by brandchannel, here.

In the digital world, it would be ironic if Disney had dropped the ball. Similar to other recent accounts like that for the film ‘Inception’, the film featured several region-specific accounts on Facebook that were regularly updated, informal and promoted reaction and engagement. One of the best things that Zeitgeist saw on the account was the brief chance to attend a free 20-minute preview of the film in several locations around the country. Zeitgeist attended and found himself surrounded by a very particular type of demographic, who doubtless were exceedingly excited to be there, as evinced by their cheering when anything vaguely exciting happened during the select scenes shown. The other digital platform to be wisely exploited was that of videogames. We’re not there yet, but we are fast approaching a time when movies open to support the release of a new videogame, rather than the other way around. There has been a significant fanfare around the release of the videogame based on the film. The game(s) make the bold, yet logical and laudatory move, of differing greatly between platforms, based on the typical owner of such consoles, reports Reuters. For example, the more family-friendly Nintendo Wii’s version lets you race around on a variety of the vehicles featured in the movie. For other platforms, where hard-core gamers make up a bigger portion of the audience, the game delves deeply into the mythology of the films, providing a back-story only hinted at in the new film.

The film itself also sees a number of product placements, including Coors, Apple (so to speak) and Ducati. The latter’s placement seemed rather glaring to Zeitgeist, but to those not on the lookout for such placement it might blend in more easily and authentically. The prominent placement of the motorcycle was spotted by many on Twitter however, with mostly positive reactions:

Associating one’s brand or product with such a cool film is a way of adding to your cachet, to be cool by proxy. Most surprising of all the collaborations then, is that of Apple, who need engage in no such ‘cool by association’ tactics. Yet here they are with a very, very cool app on the iPad. Between the film and the tablet, which is promoting the other in this case is hard to divine.

All this talk of marketing ploys ignores the film’s greatest asset, it’s aesthetic beauty. The film is indeed a wonder to look at, hence how it has inspired so many product collaborations, particularly in the world of fashion. While Zeitgeist realised he was supposed to be feeling somewhat tense and anxious near the end of the film as the goodies race for home, the climactic chase scene is one of a stunning light display that leaves one fairly awe-struck. The design of the film as a whole has been influential enough for the Los Angeles Times to produce a feature on it recently.

You may of course just be looking for a Tron: Legacy Coliseum Disc Battle Play Set, or one of the 37 other items related (vaguely) to the film that Disney has commissioned. In which case, best to head here.