Movie Marketing Madness – happythankyoumoreplease

What do you want out of life? Many people in our lives – including ourselves – might talk a lot about what we want and complain about how we don’t have it, whatever it is. Sometimes all we’re looking for is some little modicum of happiness that we can latch on to. Often our desires go deeper than that but they usually start with just something that brings a smile to our face, whether it’s a job that fills us with satisfaction or someone who loves us for who we are when we come home at the end of the day.

How many of us have the nerve to actually ask for what it is that would make us happy?

The new movie happythankyoumoreplease looks to answer just that question. Written, directed by and starring Josh Radnor, the movie looks at the angst that seems to be all the rage with late 20-somethings in the first couple of decades of the 21st century. Radnor plays Sam, an aspiring writer who struggles with the fact that his comfortable and balanced upbringing doesn’t exactly provide grist for his artistic mill. He meets Mississippi, a waitress who has her own issues but who seems to like him. Around them swirl two other couples: Sam’s friend Annie and the guy she’s just beginning to date and who unlike most of her boyfriends actually treats her with respect, and Mary-Catherine and Charlie, who have been together a while now but whose relationship is being strained by a potential move from New York to California. Sam also winds up caring for Rasheen, a young boy who he begins to spend time with after the boy is accidentally left on the subway and whom refuses to go back to social services.

So the movie is, like with many such stories about this generation, about finding yourself and growing up into the adult you never thought you’d be. Mostly, though, it seems to be about defining happiness and deciding what that’s going to be for each and every individual person.

The Posters

The first poster debuted back around the time of its 2010 Sundance screening, I believe, and was pretty basic. The title for the movie is spelled out on a shelf of what appears to be blocks of modeling clay of different colors, which manages to give the design an artistic and certainly colorful bent. This was pre-acquisition though if memory serves and while it’s not bad it was certainly destined to be replaced after the movie was picked up for distribution.

The second poster, which debuted just a few months prior to release threw all the characters together with some funky lettering for the title treatment and a few other seemingly hand-drawn elements and have at it.

The design’s main element is Radnor standing with the little boy he befriends in the movie in front of a terribly artistic rendering of the New York City skyline, so artistic in fact that some of the buildings are pencils, markers, paint brushes and so on. Above that are a handful of stills from the movie that show the rest of the ensemble cast. Finally at the top is the movie’s title in bright, bold letters and in a style that looks like something someone doodled on the front of a spiral notebook while they weren’t paying attention in Social Studies.

It might sound like I’m making fun of the poster but I’m not. OK, a little bit, but I really do like the design here and think it conveys an interesting spirit to the audience. As I said, it’s bright and bold and pops off the page in its efforts to attract people.

The Trailers

The trailer shows the spinning world of angst and frustrations these three couples: Radnor and Mara, Akerman and Hale and Kazan and Schreiber, are living in. Radnor and Mara have a meet-cute and then decide to proceed, though not without reservations, a relationship. Akerman and Hale are on a first date that is alternatively heartfelt and touching and awkward. Kazan and Schreiber are already well into their relationship, to the point that they’re extremely comfortable with each other.

The trailer is light and funny and sells the movie pretty darn well by showcasing the fact that it’s the chemistry between all the leads that is what will drive the movie along. There are somber moments and there are funny moments but it’s the interplay between the actors that seems to root the movie in something substantial. While the trailer shows there’s little new thematic ground being covered (how many times have we seen a bunch of people in their late 20s/early 30s searching for love and their identity) this promises an engaging take on that idea.

Online

The movie’s official website opens with a variation on the poster key wart and a video player that has the trailer, which is definitely worth re-watching.

In “Story” you’ll find a decently written synopsis of the movie’s plot, though it does seem to be rather adjective heavy.

“Clips” has eight extended scenes from the movie, many of which are longer versions of ones we got brief looks at in the trailer and most of which are focused on the Sam/Mississippi relationship.

Career histories for the major players are found in the “Cast” section and you can play longer versions of some of the music that’s featured in the trailer in “Music.” Finally there’s a section for “Showtimes.”

The Facebook page for the film has links to all the new clips that were released as well as photos and information on where and when Radnor and the rest of the cast were making promotional appearances.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

Nothing in the way of advertising, though listed on the front of the home page is a promotion with retail site Michael Stars, which was giving away a $500 shopping spree to those who entreated their sweepstakes. There were also a variety of fashions available there that were “inspired by” the movie.

Media and Publicity

The movie’s been bouncing around for a while, first debuting and getting some positive buzz from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. There Akerman and the rest of the cast did the usual rounds of interviews. Later on in 2010 it would appear at the Gen Art Film Fest and the Virginia Film Festival, where it was named the Audience Favorite.

Other than that there hasn’t been a whole lot of press activity, at least not outside the world of independent film journalism. The movie was lumped in with others about 20-something discontent (Filmmaker Magazine, 1/23/11) and Radnor has been interviewed (Filmmaker, 2/28/11) occasionally and others have been beating the drums as much as they can.

Overall

The key to a good movie – or any sort of other artistic expression – is that it’s able to present itself as being appealing even to those who can’t personally identify with what the creator is trying to express. So while I don’t share much of the angst (I have plenty of my own issues, thank you very much) the campaign presents the movie as being very attractive, largely because of the charm and ease with which the actors appear to approach the material. More than that the filmmaker, Radnor, seems to be actually trying to express something as opposed to many others who are trying to document the lives of a comfortable but somehow disaffected generation of young people. There’s a nice consistency to the campaign and, of course, a heavy reliance on the word-of-mouth that’s been generated from festival screenings that will hopefully add up to some measure of success for the movie.

Movie Marketing Madness: Rango

We never know who we really are or who we really can be until we’ve been tested. There’s a process that we as individuals go through in truly trying times that brings out the best or worst in our natures, including bravery and fortitude that we may never have known or even suspected that we have. The best of these situations inspires not only ourselves but also those around us, whether they’re family, friends or even complete strangers whose lives are suddenly intertwined with our own.

One would imagine this goes for chameleons who happen to be actors as well.

The new animated feature Rango tells the story of just such a lizard. When Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) suddenly finds himself outside the home where he’s been a pet for years and thrust into the dangerous world of an old-fashioned Western town where he’s an outsider among people who don’t cotton to outsiders he has to scramble to just survive. But he soon finds that because he’s from outside the town the law-abiding citizens look to him to help them out from under the thumb of a gang of outlaws who terrorize them. Taking on the role of sheriff he must decide whether to rise to the occasion and along with that win the heart of Beans (voiced by Isla Fisher) who more than anyone is counting on him to save the day and become more than he thought he could be.

The Posters

The first poster was essentially a character introduction to Depp’s Rango. The character stands there staring at the camera looking slightly befuddled and worried. So we get a look at a small portion of the movie’s design look, conveniently in the form of a poster that highlights Depp’s involvement in the film.

The second poster fills in a bit more of the story by way of filling in more of the cast. The title character is still front and center, this time clutching the weird wind-up plastic fish that’s been so central to the campaign, with Depp’s name above him and above that the intonation that this comes from Depp’s POTC director as well. But this time behind him are all the townspeople, who are kind of staring wide-eyed at him.

It’s a nice poster that asks the audience how far they’re willing to buy in to the idea that Depp as a lizard with a plastic fish is funny. But it’s bright and colorful and will likely attract a few folks based on the promise that the film itself is mildly amusing.

The Trailers

The first trailer – an extreme teaser that was later clarified as being a website announcement more than anything – was, well, quite loopy. All it showed was a plastic wind-up orange fish slowly crossing a rural road. No dialogue, very little about who was in it or who it was coming from. It was all about, seemingly, telling the audience that they’re about to be taken on a trippy ride of some sort.

The first legitimate trailer is only slightly less confusing but certainly makes it more clear we’re not just going to be watching an 88 minute Salvidor Dali painting come to life.

We’re basically shown the movie will be a fish out of water story, with Rango walking through the desert and then being told by a toad to not be so conspicuous – a tall order for a green lizard wearing an orange Hawaiian shirt. The reason he shouldn’t stick out is the hawk that’s circling overhead is likely to see him as food, which it does. So Rango runs around for a while trying to evade being eaten.

The trailer’s second half expands the range a little bit, showing that Rango comes across some sort of old western type town of animals, none of whom are too happy to welcome a stranger. So he basically goes from one hostile environment to another with potentially comedic results.

The next trailer lays out even more of the plot. After opening with Rango running away from the hawk we see he escapes to the town of Dirt and kills said hawk, endearing him to the townsfolk. He becomes sheriff of the town and works to save them from the clutches of an evil snake that is terrorizing them. But his determination is bigger than his skill and he’s not exactly the smoothest sheriff the west has ever seen.

It’s an amusing and interesting trailer that’s all the stronger for how it finally gets into showing us what the movie’s story is going to be about, something that also gives the audience a bit more exposure to Depp’s voice work, which seems spot on and quite funny. Parts of the trailer almost play more like an old Looney Tunes cartoon than anything else and it’s funnier for that.

Online

The movie’s official website, launched early with the extreme teaser mentioned above, was updated a short while after that launch with interactive elements. Basically if you clicked on most of the objects scattered across the landscape – the fish, the guitar, the frog etc – they would react to you. If you clicked them enough they would jump up and play you a song or tell you to bug off or whatever. It was basically our first rough introduction to the characters.

Visiting it later and closer to release Mr. Timms, the wind-up fish, travels across your screen as the site loads. Once that’s done a video player unfurls that lets you watch either trailer or the Super Bowl commercial that aired. Closing that player then takes you to the same interactive elements that were there upon launch but then you can proceed to the town of Dirt by clicking on the sign to that effect.

Once you’re in town you can move the camera around to look up or down the street or enter either the Saloon, which has video, images and other information on the tie-in console video game or the General Store which is where you’ll find some online games to play.

Go back to the main street to access the main content via the “Take Me To” sign in the lower left hand corner.

“Saloon” is roughly equivalent to About the Film and the first thing there is “Cast and Filmmakers” which has profiles of the characters but not the people who play them and the Filmmakers portion of that section is still labeled as “Coming Soon.” There’s also a “Gallery” that has about 15 stills from the movie.

“Partners and Promotions” lists the companies who have helped the studio with some publicity and promotions for the movie.

A collection of Wallpapers, IM Icons and Screensavers were available under “Downloads.”

There seemed to be some sort of achievement tracker at the bottom of the screen that filled in little boxes after you played a game or watched a trailer or something. I didn’t complete all of whatever this was prompting me to since the site navigation was just so horrible but if anyone does let me know what happens when you fill in all those boxes.

The movie’s Facebook page has the usual assortment of photos, videos and updates on promotional activities. There’s also something called “Blend In” that isn’t described very well – or at all – but which seems to be some sort of feature that lets you take your picture with Rango or something. A little bit of explanation here would have been super.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

The movie advertising campaign kicked off when it got some commercial love during Super Bowl XLV with a spot that opened up with Rango and a young rodent trading insults but then gave way to claims of adventure, romance and more being part of the movie. It’s short (of course) but actually sells the spirit of the movie pretty well by playing up the different aspects of the story and showing off the playful visuals contained therein.

The movie also got a massively-multiplayer online game that allowed people to explore the world of the characters more interactively. Unlike most movie-based MMOs that are announced at the time the movie is released but not available until years later (Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean are two examples) this one is hitting on the same day the movie is released.

Also in the online marketing arena was a promotion run with Zynga’s popular Frontierville social game. Players were offered the opportunity to complete three Rango-related tasks within the game and, if they completed all three, they were rewarded with a Rango statue that could be placed on their property.

Most of the promotional partners were running some sort of sweepstakes. Amtrack had one going that gave away a trip to the Grand Canyon and both Mean Green and Biz Stain Fighter were giving away a hometown screening of the movie.

Hampton Inn and Suites just gave out some movie tickets to those who booked a hotel stay during a specific period of time. Finally PetSmart offered a coupon to those looking to buy a lizard as a pet at one of their stores.

Media and Publicity

In addition to the coverage of the trippy marketing materials, there was some initial press about how the movie was one of the first to come out as the result of a new effort by Paramount to turn its Nickelodeon brand into movie production unit (New York Times, 7/4/10).

The movie was brought to Comic-Con 2010, particularly in the form of an appearance by Mr. Timms, which is the name of the weird orange fish that glides through the announcement trailer. Mr. Timms got his own fan site, which really fails on multiple levels to be anything near approaching engaging, fun or viral. First off, it’s written in the worst form of broken English. It’s like the Mr. Sparkle commercial from “The Simpsons” only without the knowing self-awareness. Second, if you’re trying to create anything that is supposed to come off like a fan-created site then loading it up with corporate-written Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies probably is a tell that something’s amiss. Despite my qualms, having a presence at Comic-Con was more or less essential and bringing the big wind-up fish there was a decent way to achieve that.

Technical achievements were the focus of much of the press as people buzzed about various behind-the-scenes videos or news stories (Los Angeles Times, 2/20/11) talked about the digital animators who made Rango and other character move in the way they do. Closer to release there were also interviews with Verbinski (NYT, 2/27/11) where he talked about the process he went through in conceiving the character and otherwise bring the film from its first few rough ideas to a final product.

Overall

I’m honestly not sure what to make of this campaign.

On the one hand you have it being sold as some sort of post-modern bit of deconstructed art where genres are torn down left and right. That’s the part of the campaign that’s built around Mr. Timms and the odd characters in the desert.

On the other you have it being marketed as a pretty mainstream action affair. This is the portion of the campaign that focuses on making sure we all know that it features Johnny Depp reteaming with Verbinski because hey, we all enjoyed all those Pirates movies.

What I keep expecting to find but never have seen is the part of the campaign that is meant to appeal more to families. I don’t think this is all Disney-fied sweetness and light but I was expecting some sort of pitch more directed to kids or other all-ages audiences.

Despite the seemingly scattered approach to the campaign there are core elements here that work rather well. More than anything, though, everything works well together, creating a consistent experience for the audience from one element to the next. So while the audiences or approaches might be varied, the overall look and feel of the campaign doesn’t vary too terribly much throughout.

Something to help you get through the last bits of winter

Movie Marketing Madness: Take Me Home Tonight

Those of us who lived through the 1980′s (which saw me in my formative 5 – 15 years) fall into one of two camps: Either we think back on those days with heartfelt nostalgia or we cringe every time a certain photo album is pulled off the shelves in our parent’s homes. Personally I fall into the latter camp and would gladly tell people I was torn from the thigh of Zeus as a fully grown 16 year old in 1990. That’s not to say nothing good came out of the 80′s – it gave us Ghostbusters, Top Gun, the first three Indiana Jones entries and other movies – but personally there’s very little about the decade I’d voluntarily revisit.

Current movies about the 80′s tend to take a humorous look at the styles and culture from that period. There are usually jokes about the hair, the suits and such as people comment on how compact and portable that clunky Walkman hanging off someone’s belt is and such.

Playing it more straight is Take Me Home Tonight. Matt Franklin (Topher Grace) is an aimless college grad working at Suncoast Video while he tries to figure out what to do with his life. One night he, his sister Wendy (Anna Farris) and his friend Barry (Dan Fogler) get invited to a party and they decide to go a little nuts. Matt decides this is the night he’s going to tell Tori (Teresa Palmer) he’s in love with her. As is the case with many such movies things don’t go quite as planned, though, and everyone’s night takes a turn they weren’t expecting.

The Posters

The one poster for the movie is pretty funny, not so much explaining the story but certainly setting the scene. Each actor is placed in their own quadrant of the poster, each sporting their best 80′s era sunglasses, hairspray-heavy doo or rocking bandana. The colored lights behind everyone are bright and neon, adding to the notion here that we’re a couple decades behind the pace in the movie. And finally the “Best. Night. Every” clearly lays out that the action in the movie is going to unfold over one fantastic night.

As I said, there’s not a ton of creativity going on with the poster but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. It lays out a couple basic elements rather well and while it’s not a surefire home run it presents a bunch of amusing people in what might be for some an amusing situation so works well enough.

The Trailers

We start off in the first trailer by meeting Matt, who’s under pressure by his parents to do something with himself. When he sees the girl of his dreams he lies and says he’s much more successful than he really is and then watches as his friend “borrows” a car from the dealership he works at. Barry then finds himself in a weird cocaine/sex situation while at the party and Matt then watches as his sister accepts her boyfriend’s engagement proposal, all while he works on wooing Tori at the party as well. But then things start to go massively wrong as he finds he gets in his own way and can’t have a purely enjoyable night.

The trailer works far better than it should as we get a good sense of where most of these characters are coming from. There are a handful of references to 80′s nostalgia but they don’t seem to be played for laughs so much as they’re there just to more fully set the scene for the audience. So there’s no one laughing at the pushed up jacket sleeves or anything like that. They’re just there. But honestly it’s Grace’s deadpan delivery the last scene of the trailer that actually makes the whole thing seem at all attractive.

Later on a red-band trailer was released that basically jettisoned any pretenses of showing off the story or plot in favor of a bunch of R-rated antics. So we get drug use, some naked breasts and more as we focus on the night of debauchery that the characters partake in. They steal the car, someone rides a big metal ball and so on at the crazy party they attend. It’s actually not all that funny since there’s no connective thread here and is instead just a bunch of strung-together scenes that were chosen because they contained swear words. Unfortunately by eschewing all the setup of Grace’s character trying to go crazy and escape his directionless experience the jokes are given no setup.

Online

The movie’s official website opens with a recreation of the poster key art and the prompt to watch the trailer or connect with the movie on Twitter or Facebook.

When you Enter the Site and it finishes loading the cover of “Don’t You Want Me” by Atomic Tom starts playing and there’s a nice little cassette icon down by the player. Along the bottom of the page there’s also the option to “Watch the Music Video” and there will be more on that later. Also down there is a link to a movie-themed app for both iPhones and Android devices called Best Night Ever, something that allows you to catalog your best nights out and invite friends to share their own photos and comments from whatever activities you all were engaging in.

Going back to the main Menu, the first section there is actually “Gallery” and it’s there that you’ll find about a dozen stills from the film. Both trailers and a TV Spot are in the “Video” section.

“About” has bios and career histories of the Filmmakers and Cast as well as a Synopsis that gives the reader insights into the story and setting.

There’s a Twitter Background as well as Wallpapers formatted for both computers and either iPhone or Android phones can be found in “Downloads.” The last point is a nice touch since I don’t see a lot of content that’s specifically meant for mobile phones on sites like this very often.

The “Arcade” has some mildly fun games to play that look like the kind of thing you’d find in a mall arcade. Finally there’s a section for the “Partners” that worked with the studio in promoting the movie.

The Facebook page for the movie has photos, videos and plenty of updates on the movie’s marketing and other promotional activities. A similar stream of updates can be found on the Twitter profile.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

A bit of TV advertising was done, with spots airing that didn’t mention the 80′s retro theme overtly, only hinting at it enough that people paying attention to the clothes being worn could peg the time setting. Instead it’s positioned as simply a raunchy comedy that takes place at some form of wild party.

There was also some online advertising done that simply re-purposed the poster art into ad units.

Two companies signed on as promotional partners for the film, Virgin Mobile and Zorb Smokey Mountains, a theme park attraction that’s location in Pigeon Forge, TN. No details on what those partnerships entail are on either of those company’s websites.

Media and Publicity

While media stories on the movie were few and far between one thing that got a lot of people talking was a music video (how 80′s is that) that featured the cast at a party and had them eventually reenacting in makeshift costumes iconic 80′s movies ranging from Say Anything to Ghostbusters to Dirty Dancing to Weird Science to E.T. to The Karate Kid to Back to the Future and more. It’s more fun than it really should be.

There were also a couple stories like this one (New York Times, 2/20/11) that talked about how much the movie owed to other “one night out” films like Dazed and Confused and American Graffiti as well as how the filmmakers didn’t want to make fun of the 80′s but instead wanted to just use it as the legitimate setting for the story.

Overall

When the campaign first started I was, to put it mildly, skeptical. Whatever it was trying to do just was not working for me. While things changed over time and I began to get what the marketing was trying to do I think my perception of it personally changed a bit and I began to see it as a movie that might have a few laughs from a mostly game cast.

That doesn’t mean, though, that I think there are going to be vast swaths of the audience that are super interested here. I just wonder who the people are who are clammoring for a straight and not ironic, post-modern take on the 80′s party scene are. You can make a period piece without going for the tongue-in-cheek laughs but I think by selling the movie as a return to the decade of Reagan a lot of people are going to be expecting laughs at the expense of hairspray and rolled-up jacket sleeves.

So while the campaign might be authentic enough it’s questionable as to how much it’s actually going to resonate with the audience.

PICKING UP THE SPARE

• 03/01/11 – Terry Heaton captures a look at the huge banner/video ad that was running on the front page of YouTube in discussing how that site tries to appeal to advertisers while also being sensitive to the audience.
• 03/03/11 – Grace makes the best of the movie’s history of release delays (it was finished in 2007), saying it gave the movie some time to build buzz as well as reshooting some key scenes.