Posted Feb 1, 10 02:50 PM
He Knows What Scares You
Ever get the feeling that you're being...followed?
If you're an XY chromosome between the ages of 18-34, paranoia it's not. But you can stop checking the insides of lampshades and under desk ledges. You take apart the telephone receiver? Then YOU put it back the way it was, bub.
Congratulations, Male 18-34. You're recognized as The Big Horror Fans and, therefore, The Industry Standard for genre advertising bulls-eyes.
Not Male? Younger than 18 but older than 34? Unhappy with the truism that commands the market? Then this is what you do - take out your disposable income, get together with mass quantities of your peers (and their disposable incomes) and pull a Titanic. That is, spend, spend, and spend IMMEDIATELY like the myriads of teenage girls who revealed themselves as a crucial demo to be reckoned with in catapulting the once-predicted flop into a $1.8 billion global box office dynamo. Or join the parishioners who pounded nail into niche with the astonishingly not NC-17-rated The Passion of the Christ.
Senior citizen audiences traditionally grumble at the under-representation of older actors onscreen. But the hard reality is that veteran viewers are often the last to arrive at the multiplex, often relying on weeks of word of mouth and careful critical critiques rather than impulse buying. Well, studios don't have weeks to wait. And in an age when execs pull the ads of a low-performing new release after its debut weekend, the correlation is clear: marketing revenues target demographics who are swift with their wallets. And demographic birds flock, by nature, to relate to depictions of their own brackets onscreen.
Moreso than any other genre, horror fans turn out ASAP. The Friday the 13th reboot raked in $40 million in its first few days. The Final Destination - the fourth entry in the franchise, this time cleverly sold on 3-D – posted the series' strongest kick-off to date, around $27 million. Final will best Friday's domestic take of $65 million with a few-seven digits to spare, and has resoundingly outperformed its hatchet chum in worldwide markets. Consequently, Rob Zombie's undistinguished Halloween II completely underwhelmed out of the chute with only a tad more than $15 million…its whimper total crawling past $33 million. That's enough to have the Weinsteins switch out Zombie with another helmer as Halloween 3-D ramps up.
But, I digress. CHILLER got behind the science of numbers with John McGuinness, Account Supervisor for Mediacom, an advertising company specializing in marketing Warner Bros. movies. And as he explains…
John: Basically, our strategy is pretty straightforward for horror movies. We go after the Male 18-34 audience, as they are the big horror fans and usually have a secondary demo. Adult 18-34 to capture all the horror fans.
CHILLER: What do you mean, "They usually have a secondary demo"?
John: You always have a primary demographic that you advertise to AND a secondary demo to make sure that no stone is left unturned. For horror movies, A 18-34 would be primary. Our secondary would depend on whether or not it's an established franchise. We want to make sure that as our primary demo gets older, they will come back to watch the latest installment. For a brand new movie, we want to ensure both male and female 18-34 are covered, so we can start establishing a fan base.
CHILLER: What research is involved in determining what programs M 18-34 is watching?
John: We use ratings that are available through Nielsen – the same that determines if a show is kept on the air. We would look at programs that this demo would like…Supernatural and anything sci-fi/supernatural and younger-skewing that don't air before 9 pm because we run into clearance issues.
CHILLER: What are the clearance issues before 9 pm?
John: It's a self-regulation, so the FCC won't do it. Before 9 PM is usually the (time allotted to) family-friendly programs; after is the more adult content shows. We will buy (on) cable networks that skew younger -
CHILLER: The late-night news?
John: The A 18-34 demo doesn't watch the news. We will buy a lot of late night TV…the Conans and Kimmels, basically anywhere that our research shows M 18-34 is watching. We also like to be a part of big events/stunts like the X Games or the Olympics.
We mainly focus on TV and build a four-week campaign, getting heavier towards opening. We don't do a lot of outdoor advertising. It really depends on the budget and that is out of our control. If we do, it would be wildpostings and some high profile units in LA/NY, depending on what is available.
CHILLER: "Wildpostings?"
John: It's where we can post multiple posters of the same creative, usually done in urban areas. Anything you can see from a distance…all the advertising you see in Times Square and along Sunset.
CHILLER: Soooo…what horror films have had the most successful ad campaigns? I think of the Jason in the iconic hockey mask and the slugline "Welcome to Crystal Lake." How about the toughest sells? Do you randomly observe, "Wow, that's ingenious" when you see something that works…or conversely, see a media spot and knowingly predict a lack of success?
John: They all pretty much have the same formula: make the ads look scary. There are standard rules you have to follow...(such as) no advertising an R-rated movie to anyone under 18.
CHILLER: Interesting. Especially when the Prom Night remake sold an R-rated idea in a PG-13 film, skewing the Disturbia crowd.
Posted by Mike Kalvoda at 02:50 PM