It's Not Easy Being Green

In the months leading up to the release of "The Muppets," you couldn't turn on a television without seeing a myriad of (rather clever) ads for the upcoming movie.  These ads ranged from the typical movie trailer to  spoofs of Bollywood movies.  Marketing for this hit is easy to understand.  Publicity, however, is a little bit harder to grasp.  According to Drake's article, publicity of a film refers to all of the media coverage it receives without payment.  Examples include news stories, interviews, and the like.  So for a film like "The Muppets," when your stars are literally puppets, how do you publicize?

The solution is pretty ingenious, actually.  The publicity department decided to treat Kermit and the gang as real life Hollywood stars.  And, thankfully, interviewers and the public go along with the gag.  In the interview Ellen did with Kermit before the release, she comments, "This is the first time I've ever had a frog on the show!" No kidding.

These appearances are obviously unique, and, therefore, stick to the audiences mind.  For a publicity team, that is all you can ask for.  "The Muppets" was a smash hit.  By its third week in theaters, these puppets had made over $67 million, surpassing all other previous Muppet movies.  This seems to be a pretty big feat to me, considering how long it had been since our furry friends had made a film.  It appears that the "standard rich and famous" contract for Kermit the Frog and Co. won't be expiring any time soon.

Questions:

1. Did you always know you wanted to work for Disney? What drew you to the company, and, specifically, to the Studios portion?

2. How did you first get involved with the company?

3. I really enjoyed "The Muppets." Can you describe how doing publicity for a film like that was different than ones without puppets? Were there challenges that normally don't occur with your other films?

The Lengthy Process of Hyping a Movie

Drake’s third peculiarity of Hollywood states that film revenues are streamed across a long span of time.  In essence, movie marketing is essential in the continued strive for public consumption.  To begin, marketing is paramount in attracting the public to see the movie in theaters.  Drake explains that opening weekend is now huge, accounting for nearly 50% of the movies revenue during its time in theaters.  Furthermore, a successful opening weekend likely ensures a lengthier stay in theaters, which in turn continues to help ticket revenue.  That being said, the movie must have thoughtful and well-planned marketing, advertising, and publicity to generate a “buzz” for the film.  Whether this is through hyping a particular star like Brad Pitt, another film in a series such as Toy Story, or promoting an acclaimed director, there is an obvious necessity to generate a public excitement toward the release of the film.

The importance of movie marketing doesn’t end after opening weekend.  After the first four days, almost every movie changes their marketing strategy to reflect either the success of the film or critic’s reviews.  I can’t think of seeing a movie that didn’t have a commercial stating it was, “now the number one comedy in America”! Or “Roger Ebert calls this movie a timeless classic”.  No matter the case, each film attempts to continue to get the public in the theater through this second-round advertising.

Still, advertising and publicity attempts do not end when the plug is pulled on movie screenings.  After this stay in theaters, the publicity and marketing team must discover the best way to develop excitement for the DVD release, or movie’s soundtrack.  DVD revenue accounts for a bulk of the success of the film, and successful marketing is likely to lead to a more successful revenue stream.

Quite clearly, choosing the correct marketing strategy is very important to establishing a successful film.  Using a solid strategy such as publicizing the known stars of the film help to minimize the risk associated with a film’s production.  In this regard, the die-hard followers of this actor or actress will be likely to attend the theater, no matter what genre of film it may be.  However, there are certainly some risks that still hold true.  For example, the 2005 average cost of marketing was nearly 36 million.  It is important to be able to manage this money in an intelligent way.  If you market the movie in a way that generates little buzz, you will have wasted that money without generating success at the box office.  Furthermore, there is also the prospect of under-marketing.  Some films hit theaters with relatively few ads, and few interviews with popular TV shows or magazines.  That can be equally as troubling, as the public may be less inclined to see a movie they have heard almost nothing about.

Therefore, it is truly a balancing act.  The publicity and marketing team must analyze the framing of the film and determine the best way to market the picture to the public.

I thought this link was perfect, as Will Ferrell recently went on Conan to announce Anchorman 2.  Fit perfectly with trying to already generate a "buzz" for the film.

Anchorman 2

1.) As a publicist, have there been any stations or people in particular that you or the production crew has steered clear of?  Was there ever a time when the publicity department knew to stay away from a particularly hazardous interview or one that could generate negative buzz?

2.)  How much say does the talent actually have in the publicity department?  Specifically, do the stars of the film get to decide whom they want to be interviewed by, or how much they want to publicize the movie through TV shows, magazines or newspapers?

3.)That being said, is there one particular medium that you prefer to channel your publicity through?  Do you think magazines, per say, are better publicity than TV or is it all relative?

Utilizing Hugh Jackman for Publicity

Drake defines publicity as media coverage for which no payment by the studio is made. While a member of the marketing department essentially, it functions at a very different frequency. Instead of being handed budgets and creating campaigns, publicity looks to utilize the talent of their movie through media use. Interestingly, Drake notes that reviews, television appearances, and interviews do not usually involve a direct payment to the media, and therefore may be more trusted by audiences. Trailers, and ads for movies are clearly attempting to spin and sell something to the consumer, but a late night interview with the star in which the movie is not the sole topic can spark peoples interest in a unique way.

Real Steel starring Hugh Jackman, took full advantage of its ability to utilize film publicity. With an estimated budget of eighty million dollars, turning a profit for this action oriented film based around the simplistic theme of robot boxing seemed imperative. While the marketing campaign was certainly high budget, a similarly strong publicity campaign was happening. Hugh Jackman was pushed as the loveable character who brought depth and importance to a movie revolving around robots boxing. Jackman appeared on most late night television shows, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jay Leno, and Conan O’brien. During interviews Jackman clearly was attempting to show that this film had heart, and while very Hollywood in its nature, it contained some layers. His attempts seemed valiant, he was charming, friendly, and very optimistic about the movie.

Despite excellent differential promotion efforts from Jackson and the publicity team to create a dichotomy of messages from the trailers, the film still has not grossed enough to make a profit. Currently at approximately 66 million dollars, the film had a strong opening weekend but has cooled off sense. Much of this may be due to mixed reviews and not the strong publicity campaign which utilized the television media incredibly well.