"The Dark Knight" is using one of the most creative campaign tactics that I have yet to discover this semester! Though the Batman movie is not due to be released until mid-July, they are not hesitating to begin creating a buzz amongst their audience. To do this, the marketing team created an idea which is brilliant, in my opinion.

In the film, one of the characters named Harvey Dent - better known to some as the evil villian Two Face - decides he wants to run for district attorney of Gotham City. Though I do not know the exact plot-line, I do know this is a large part of the movie. To play off of this, officials working with "The Dark Knight" have decided to create a fictional election campaign to promote Harvey Dent at obtaining this position.

The article I came across on this website discussed students at Colorado University eager to participate in this marketing stunt. Many individuals participated in the event, though they were 100% aware that Harvey was a make-believe character running for a position of a made-up town. Passerbys would have never known that these students were rallying for a fictional cause. People who were involved in this "campaign" signed petitions, distributed buttons, stuck on bumper stickers, wore t-shirts and paraded around with signs, all in support of Harvey Dent. From the pictures, it seems as if it created quite a scene of excitement and passion.

The event was promoted on this website, which is continually updated with news stories, photos and information about events in the past and future. The "Dentmobile", the vehicle which travels around to the different locations, is tracked on this website, so students can anticipate where the "campaign" is traveling to next. The site also features pictures, blogs and "Dent" downloads. This is important for including the people who don't have the ability to attend these events.

I wish that the "Dentmobile" would stop by this college campus, just so I could get a better feel of how this marketing stunt was functioning. As I mentioned before, I think this idea was genius and incredibly appropriate to the film and it's story.

I saw a commercial today for another marketing tactic being used to promote 20th Century Fox's latest Dr. Seuss movie "Horton Hears a Who".  Brandcurve, the movie's promotional team, has teamed up with IHOP (International House of Pancakes) to create some pretty extravagant menu items, inspired by the adventures of Horton the elephant.  Some of these concoctions - which include breakfast, dessert and beverages - are 'Who-Cakes', 'Beezlenut Splash', 'The Mayor's Breakfast', 'Jojo's Breakfast' and, the obvious, 'Green Eggs and Ham'.

I feel that this marketing approach is geared at the younger audience of this movie, while I felt "Horton At American Idol" - discussed in a previous post - was aimed at more of a teenage crowd.  To me, IHOP has a very family oriented atmosphere, and it serves as a place where parents take their kids as a treat.  Very appropriate placement, in my opinion.

These menu items have been available for a few weeks now.  How successful are they?  Well, in terms of marketing, I would say very.  The movie has gotten great reviews and brought in large revenue.  However, I don't think the menu items will be a permanent addition to the IHOP menu.  In the YouTube video found on this Brandcurve website, a customer proves that 'Horton at IHOP' may be just a bit too sweet for some taste buds.

Whether or not these dishes are actually enjoyed, or even finished, I still support this marketing idea.  I think it's creative, out-of-the-box and, above all else, fun.

I had heard rumors that HBO's hit television show Sex & The City was to be made into a movie right around the time the show aired their final episode, but I have only just now realized it was true. The movie, officially titled "Sex & The City: The Movie" doesn't have a release date yet, but already has a pretty extensive - and creative! - promotional plan underway.

The movie is teaming up with Skyy Vodka during their period of advertising. I think this is a perfect match; a "classy" vodka to promote four "classy" characters and, hopefully, all of the "classy" people who are going to go see the movie. (It's pretty obvious that their main target audience with this project is women.) Right now, the plan is to release a series of online, print and outdoor advertisements which promote both the vodka and the movie.

Starting April 1st, visitors to this website will have a chance to enter a contest through Skyy Vodka to win tickets to attend the Sex & The City Movie's premiere. This costs virtually nothing for film producers and is a great selling point for all women in the target audience. Obviously, I think it's an effective idea.

My favorite part of this campaign, however, is this next part. Skyy Vodka has created five cocktails named after the four women of Sex & The City and, another popular character, "Big". These drinks will be available for purchase at Houlihan's Restaurant and Bars around the nation, bringing another player into this advertising plan. Houlihan's will also be offering other promotional components at their restaurants, for example, "Girls Night Out" packages. Their purpose will be to promote the movie, encourage people to come out for dinner, and enjoy a Skyy cocktail while their out. Pretty clever!

Skyy Vodka will also be featured in the movie, as you could probably assume. For more information, check out the movie's official website. It, too, has a section formatted like a blog; I guess that's the trend these days? It does help answer questions! I don't mind it a bit!

Are writers running out of new and creative ideas? I think one of the newest trends of the film industry is turning big-name Broadway musicals into films. First, there was The Producers. Then, Chicago was released. Next was Rent, then Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, and now I'm hearing rumors of Wicked being produced. Along with all of those, Universal's newest movie project is "Mamma Mia", based on the Broadway musical that features the music of ABBA.

Being a large Broadway fan myself, I do get excited to see these kind of movies. However, I go to see them because of the music. Many people do not associate music with film, and are turned off by this concept. Perhaps that's why their marketing team has to go above and beyond what a normal movie does to promote themselves.

For "Mamma Mia" The Movie, one promotional website (link above) is formatted to look like a blog. It is updated every so often with news, video clips, competitions and audition/casting opportunities. For people who are genuinely interested with this story and familiar with themusical, I feel that this is a great interactive approach to getting more people excited and involved. Though visually the website isn't anything too special, I do feel the abundance of information is useful. For people who are unfamiliar with "Mamma Mia", one visit to this website is sure to answer any lingering or burning questions they may possess.

The website that was solely created for the movie, and has no association with the Broadway show, does look a bit more "spectacular", for lack of a better word. It uses Flash, animation and lots of images and links to draw in a crowd. Also, it plays the movie trailer at the top so you have choice but to watch it. This website is much more appealing to me than the other.

Meryl Streep is set to star in "Mamma Mia" which should hit theaters this summer.

When I was in the city today, I saw something that caught my eye. It was an advertisement on top of a taxi which read "I am so over you Sarah Marshall". It appeared to be in messy handwriting and was extremely simple, as if someone had placed it there overnight to deliver a message to Sarah herself. However, after some investigation online, I have found that messages like this have been appearing everywhere as a promotional vehicle for a new movie called "Forgetting Sarah Marshall".

The signs lead confused viewers back to this website. Apparently, a month ago the URL read "ilovesarahmarshall", and it now reads "ihatesarahmarshall". The website is not typical. In fact, it hardly promotes the actual film at all. It appears to be a blog written by a boy named Peter Bretter - I'm assuming the main character of this movie - and is all about why he hates Sarah Marshall. It is complete with video, character bios, descriptions and dates, but you must read the material to understand what is going on.

I think this is an extremely unique approach to movie marketing. It lets viewers feel as if they are interacting with the characters before they have even seen the film. It also gives people a chance to gain insight on to the plot of the story, preparing them for the film without watching a simple trailer online. I haven't seen everything this site has to offer, but I definitely want to investigate further when I have down time.

On Wednesday night's American Idol, I caught a glimpse of an unusual movie marketing approach. As the program began, an animated skit replaced Ryan Seacrest's usual opening shpeal. I recognized the animated characters as those from the new movie based on Dr. Seuss's childrens book "Horton Hears a Who". The skit showed the characters fumbling with their television set trying to get reception so they could watch, of course, American Idol. (This scene was created just for this event and not actually found in the movie).

I found this strange, and kept watching the show only to see even more marketing ploys placed inside. Well-known actor Jim Carrey, also the voice of Horton in the movie, was present in the audience and was, at one point, even dressed up as his part; an elephant. He sat with the contestants on stage, dancing along as they each sang their number, and got nearly as much camera time as these rising stars. Also, their was a segment of footage showing all of the contestants attending the "Horton Hears a Who" premiere and having a great time.

To me, the audience I perceive as being interested in this movie does not match up with the audience that watches American Idol. I see American Idol-ers as an older audience, and I don't see a lot of teenagers ecstatic over Dr. Seuss. However, a lot of moms and dads do spend Wednesday nights glued in front of the television set, so I suppose it could have been geared at more of a secondary audience. In the end, I do think it was a creative tactic. It eliminates the risk of the advertisement being skipped over or fast forwarded with devices such as Tivo. I'll be sure to keep an eye on the film and see how it did after it's first weekend in theaters.

A few weeks back, I saw a movie that thoroughly disturbed me - to the point where I had trouble falling asleep at night. It was called 'Untraceable', and it was about a murderer who uses technology - more specifically, a website entitled www.KillWithMe.com - to commit his crimes. As more and more people log onto this website, the more tortured one individual becomes, and it can all be viewed online. To be quite honest, it was not only disturbing, but borderline inappropriate.

This movie is being released in the UK this week, and apparently there were some extremely controversial marketing tactics being used to promote it. The first is a Facebook page that mimics the "Kill With Me" website. As more and more Facebook users become "fans" of the page, the more gruesome the torture becomes on one (fictional) person. The next technique is through a site called Seesmic. It pretended that a person disappeared, was found, and now is being held hostage. "Footage" of this person could then be viewed on this site.

The company behind these horrific marketing plots is called Picture Production Company, and interactive marketing company run by Dan Light. Much to their dismay, both promotional tools were removed off the internet. Light's reaction? He claims that he anticipated this and has back up techniques planned already. He admitted he knew that he was "pushing boundaries".

My question is, in the world of marketing, how far is "too far"? If Dan Light knew that his ideas were going to be shot down, unappreciated and removed, then why did he bother? Was it for the buzz, even if it was negative? My only hope is that both web sources had age safeguards and were not viewed by anyone who was deeply disturbed by them.

I found something interesting after skimming over this website this morning. It was in regards to Facebook, which is a social networking site that most college students log into multiple times a day. Movie marketers have now jumped on the "Facebook Bandwagon" and created a tool to help make their jobs a little easier.

"Film on Facebook" is a new Facebook application that has recently been developed as a tool that can be added to an individuals profile page. It allows for the creation, release and distribution of promotional content related to film. It is a free application that can be retrieved with the click of a button, and once one individual adds it, it can be viewed by anyone who visits their page. "Film on Facebook" is free, provides clips and trailers, distributes movie reviews and assists with ticket purchases. To me, it sounds like a smaller scaled version of Moviefone with a large emphasis on the college aged demographic.

Creators behind this application say that they are still brainstorming and exploring more possible marketing opportunities (Entertainment related, of course) to release in the near future.

Josh Catone, from Read/Write Web, states that this new application is made primarily for smaller studios and film writers looking to make creation and promotion of trailers easy and accessible. This means that it has not yet branched out to the big names... yet. They do have hopes that Facebook will be a long-lived site, allowing for expansion of applications such as "Film on Facebook" which could eventually appeal to even the largest film studios.

I'm going to download this application right now!