On motion picture marketing – Star Trek shows the way

Zeitgeist was lucky enough to be a guest at the BFI Imax the other day when a select few members of the press, film industry folk, hangers-on and, yes, Trekkies, were shown footage from the Star Trek film to be released next summer, “Into Darkness”. It was a mere nine-minute clip of the film – the rest of which is still under lock and key / being edited under the watchful gaze of J.J. Abrams – but it was deemed enough to hold a Friday morning event around, with a very well-catered brunch afterward. What made the morning special was the presence of two of the stars, Alice Eve and Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as the producer, Bryan Burk. The Q&A session, preceded by video salutations from J.J. and Simon Pegg, had many Trekkies in the audience aflutter and was a nice bit of promotion.

Regarding the footage itself, any excitement at seeing fleeting glances of futuristic shots brimming with portent were somewhat diluted by the fact that the same nine minutes were to be shown from that day before select showings of “The Hobbit”. Which of course means it was also pretty much immediately available on YouTube (if only to be removed, in an understandable but somewhat counter-intuitive move by the studio).

The status quo at the moment is one in which films often have longer life-spans than ever before (especially if more than one iteration is being shot simultaneously a la Lord of the Rings, or the studio making the film falls into financial trouble, as with the last James Bond film, Skyfall). If the production time isn’t longer, the lead-in for marketing certainly is. Disney’s Tron remake, which came out in 2010, was several years in the making. The marketing campaign was three and a half years long. One promotional tactic used was to give away free – but very scarce – tickets to select sneak peeks at the film, several months before its release, which at the time Zeitgeist took full advantage of.

This is not without drawbacks for the studio of course, as early bad press could scupper a film’s chance of commercial success. But in part perhaps recognising the need to constantly remind people of a product, in a society today that values instantaneous media and loves to second-screen, the risk is one worth taking. It’s especially appropriate if the film has a built-in, excitable fanbase, which both Star Trek and Tron do, and you can feed them occasional scraps to keep them satisfied. The TV series Lost, which invited similar nerdy inclinations – and was another brainchild of J.J. Abrams – made a similar move when the studio behind it released tantalising clips on YouTube in an effort to stir interest. Crucially, it also meant they beat the pirates at their own game. All in all it was a nice little bit of promotion by Paramount, creating coverage in media old and new as the stars gave interviews afterwards, and keeping die-hard fans on the slow-boil, ensuring the film remained top of mind while the final product remains a work in progress.

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.

At the apex of art and commerce

The highly-aniticipated film Tron: Legacy has been building promotional steam for some time now, as Disney has been racheting up the buzz slowly over the past 18 months. Daft Punk’s presence as composers of the film’s score has played no small part in creating awareness ahead of the release. Not only was the act of courting the artists a savvy move on Disney’s part, it has brought the collaboration front and centre with its latest trailer, which doubles as a music video.

In the meantime the film has a highly engaging Facebook presence a la Inception, and recently released tickets for a free 23-minute sneak peek of the movie at London’s Odeon Leicester Square tomorrow night, which Zeitgeist is attending with sweaty palms.