New Redbox move, FREE MOVIE!!

Last time I blogged about the little red cabin they were launching a new promotion partnering with Foursquare to offer discounts on DVDs when you checked in. This only lasted for a limited amount of time to create awareness and urgency between consumers.

Till they started with a new promotion. Today, apparently, is America's Movie Night. Redbox asks us to change our FB status to our favorite movie quote and "be sure to remember to link back to the America's Movie Night Page so everyone knows why you're doing it". Subtle.

Due to being America's Movie Night, mark that in your calendars from now on, Redbox is offering us a free dvd or a $1 discount only available today. All you have to do is:

- Type Redbox on Facebook search Bar
- Like the page (and give them access to all your personal information), of course
- Go to the tabs in the left hand side and click on America's Movie Night
- Click on GET A FREE MOVIE NIGHT FOR YOURSELF
- They'll give you the code or the possibility of sending it to your email and phone.

I'm not sure how the code is going to work, I'm guessing you just punch it in, select your movie, and feel good about getting something for free.

Redbox is trying, hard. With their latest promotions they're increasing trial and their brand awareness. They're also positioning themselves as the fun brand that will help you out instead of increasing their prices, cough cough Netflix. I've never gone to a Redbox cabin and I'm already planning my trip today so I guess it's working. Nicely done and keep it up.

Tagline Thinking

Tagline Thinking is the start of a weekly Friday post dedicated to look at the movies coming out that weekend and noticing their taglines. Sometimes marketing teams focus on the poster and leave the tagline behind. Others have a boring poster and an eye catching line. The best seem to be able to combine both things and make the perfect pitch to the passerby. 

Movies coming out this weekend encompass some of  Hollywood's most used formats. We have a book adaptation, a horror film targeted to 18-25 males, a worned out franchise and the everlasting remake. 

ONE DAY : " Twenty one years, Two people...One Day"


The tagline works with numbers to make it catchy, 21+2+1. This movie is about time passing between two people and their lives together. The poster that accompanies it looks like a artsy instagram photograph, and reminds me of the 1940's photo " the kiss", romance and nostalgia. It could perfectly be the cover of the book,it certainly beats the one I bought at the airport.  Obviously they're going for a women target here and not even attempting to reach males. This is a film that girls will drag their boyfriends to and women will go to see together hoping ¨one day¨ they will have a moment nearly as good as the poster´s.

One Day movie poster

Veredict: They went for the full romance effect. The poster wasn't a romantic comedy, it sold love, as did the tagline. It´s appropiate but I would have liked something wittier to avoid the chesse.

FRIGHT NIGHT  " You can't run from the devil when it lives next door" 

This film has been previously described as Disturbia meets Vampires and this tagline couldn´t prove that better. Even Disturbia´s tagline was similar ¨ Every killer lives next door to someone¨.  While Disturbia´s makes you uneasy about your next door neighbors and ignites your inner voyeur, Fright Night´s takes itself less seriously. Obviously the devil is not going to live next door, but Colin Farrel gets close to it. 

Fright Night movie poster

Veredict: By itself, it´s nothing special, along with the poster it works. Shia La Boef´s lookalike grabs an ax in the middle of a suburbian background while Farrel´s ominous face hovers gigantically over him looking at us. I´m intimidated enough. 

SPY KIDS 4 : ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD " Small time spies, big time adventure" 
Lets look at the taglines from the previous movies:
Spy Kids 1: ¨Real Spies, only Smaller¨
Spy Kids 2: ¨ Huge new adventure * Slightly smaller spies¨
Spy Kids 3 in 3D: 3rd Mission 3rd Dimension

They´ve primarily focused on comparing the antonyms Big and Small. Hey, at least they´ve clearly been consistent with their marketing strategy throughout the years. Almost identical posters and taglines make the brand recognizable and familiar.The second movie and this last one are very similar on their taglines, except Spy Kids 4 starts with Small and Spy Kids 2 does it the other way around.

Spy Kids 4

Veredict: Out of all of them I still prefer the first one, simple and cute.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN   " Enter an age undreamed of " 


This tagline marks the beginning of an epic adventure, something apparently we´ve never seen before. A world of fantasy and pure movie escapism. The poster reminds me of Clash of the Titans: kinda comickbookie and emphasizing action while THOR decided to take another route and painted the town red with a close shot of Chris Hemsworth looking at us.

Conan the Barbarian

Veredict: It´s an ok tagline, nothing new, the poster has so much things going on that it almost doesn´t need it. The white and small typography doesn´t help it´s case either.

I personally will see One Day this weekend, but I have to admit I´ll probably watch Fright Night in Netflix... See you next weekend!

Foursquare+Redbox= DVD Discounts!

After the much hyped Netflix summer move of separating streaming(7.99) and dvd prices (7.99) resulting in a whooping $15.98, most of their current subscribers, including your fellow blogger, decided to drop one of their services. Finally the time had come when Netflix realized it was being way too cheap and customers were angry. Meanwhile, Amazon and Redbox started planning ahead their next move. Amazon started stocking up their catalog with new titles and Redbox grinned happily as the majority of Netflix´s old customers vowed to change to the red telephone cabin.

Netflix is starting their new plan September first and Redbox is ready to counterattack with a new offer only valuable August 15 to August 24. Their joining up with Foursquare to offer discounts (from $0.10 cents to $1.00) every time you check in at one of the Redbox kiosks. Given that the DVD´s are only $1.00 any reduction is price is quite nice.

During that trial week Redbox can see if partnering Foursquare (the cool kid in the block) is actually worth it and if it increases trial. But most of all, this will be about spreading buzz and reminding customers of the Redbox brand when September comes and they decide to leave Netflix.

I want to embrace Redbox but the late fees and the fact that their catalog is not that big turns me off. However, I find myself looking at their DVD´s at Ralphs and seeing titles that are not in Netflix just yet. Fact is, will you want to leave the house and drive for five minutes to return your dvd? Or would you rather pay and not worry?

Either way, it´s healthy to see some competition and options for movie watchers out there. Netflix, brace yourself, fall is coming. 

¨Take Shelter¨ and get ready for October 14th

Take Shelter movie poster

• Winner of Cannes Critics Week
• Winner of Fipresci International Critics Awards
• Named one of the best films of Sundance 2011
• Has collected amazing reviews in Variety,Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair and Indie Wire
•  Michael Shannon was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Revolutionary Road for 2009 Oscars
•  Jessica Chastain is already having raving reviews for The Tree of Life

Enough reasons to get you hooked up in the latest work of Austinite Jeff Nichols? Brief synopsis: A working class father and husband is haunted by his apocalyptic visions of a storm coming to his town. Fearing for his family's life he starts building a shelter,to keep everyone from the storm,or from himself.

The feel of the trailer reminds me of The Happening and Signs. It doesn't help that Jessica Chastain has a strong resemblance to Brice Dyllas Howard, which M Night Shamalan used for his Lady in The Water and The Village.

Bryce Dallas Howard

As for now they haven't done much marketing on the film. A Facebook page is up with recent press releases, but their official website only showcases the movie trailer and a press kit. As a festival movie it'll gain recognition through critics reviews and word of mouth.

Judging by Black Swan's surprising success, the audience will probably warm up to this thriller paranoia. While Swan had big starts attached to it and a well-publicized sex scene, the latter one will have to take advantage of critics and reviews. I for one can't wait till October to Take Shelter.

Take Shelter

Zinga knows how to play the game

Kung Fu Panda 2

With Kun Fu Panda's opening weekend coming up in a couple of days, I couldn't help but notice their promotional movie tie in with Zynga's social game ¨Cityville¨. This weekend is going to be a tough one to beat in the box office, due to Warner Brother's Hangover 2, and Dreamworks knows it. That's why they're trying to step it up and push these social gamers from their computer chairs to the closest movie theater.

After Gagaville's recent success (Ladygaga+Farmville) Zynga has proven again that social gaming is one of the fastest growing technologies and they're at the top of the list.  Lets learn a few facts about them:

1. It owns six of the ten most popular games in Facebook, including crowdpleasers such as Farmville, Citiville, Mafia Wars and Pet Ville. 10% of Facebook users  play on Farmville.

2. Players use Pay Pal to exchange money for game credits. In September of 2010 Zynga created their Platinium Purchase program allowing members to wire more than than $500 at a time.

3. Reports have stated that 68.7 million Americans will be playing social games by 2012. As of May 2011, Zynga's games on Facebook have 250 million active users every month.

Taking all these facts into account, it's not surprising to find the film industry trying to take advantage of this rising technology. Here are some examples of the most recent movie tie-ins with gaming mogul Zynga.

1.  Farmville and Megamind: It was Zynga's first film partner and the promotion was held only 24 hours before the film opened. Paramount built a ¨Mega Farm¨ hosted by the plot's villain and even gave gamers the opportunity to purchase and watch the movie inside Farmville.  It allowed the studio to reach the 16 million daily users of Zynga's game and engage them long enough to watch the movie on opening weekend. 

Megamind Farmville

2. Mafia Wars and Public Enemies: A couple of years ago Universal decided to launch their home video campaign with the help of Zynga's mob game. The result was a success: it gathered 55 million interactions in a week and 25,000 likes on the film's Facebook page.           

Mafia Wars Public Enemies

3. Frontierville and Rango: This week long promotion had several incentives for gamers. The main objective was to Find Rango (Where's Waldo style), buy virtual goods related to the movie, watch the trailer inside the town, engage in a multiple quests and get rewarded with a special virtual prize. Rango gained exposure to Frontierville's 19.4 million active users and increased buzz and box office revenues.

Frontierville Rango

And now it's time for Dreamworks and Kun fu Panda 2. The fact that almost a third of the movie's fans were already playing on Cityville before their product integration works in their advantage. Moreover, Cityville as of now has 100 million users, double than Farmville. Starting Friday and lasting one month players will be able to compete to get their Panda Statue. What are you waiting for?

Cityville Kung Fu panda 2

We'll have to wait till this weekend to find out if their efforts have paid off. As of now, I leave you with Gagaville's video, a fun and glittery way to start your evening!

Movie Taglines: Or how to sell your movie in one sentence

¨A tagline is a succinct phrase, situated under or alongside your logo, that communicates a single but powerful brand message designed to resonate strongly with an intended audience.¨ 

And movies have it more difficult. Not only do they have to be memorable, they have to recreate the film´s essence in one line and be another element to persuade the audience to spend that extra 12.50, without the popcorn bucket and that delicious overexpensive Coke.

Adweek recently posted an article about their choice of the Best 66 movie taglines in the last 30 years. Take a trip through geeky movie memory lane and read the whole article here. My three personal favorites were:

 1. For Harry and Lloyd every day is a no brainer - Dumb and Dumber. Match it with Jim Carrey (and his bowl cut, another character in itself really) and Jeff Daniels on a motorcycle and    you´ve got gold. It´s funny, memorable and delivers the essence of the movie. 

2. Her life was in their hands, now her toe is in the mail- The Big Lebowski. It´s such an unusual and awkward line that it completely matches the Coen´s cult movie. It´s also memorable and quite unique, I´m sure you haven´t seen it before in another poster.

3. A romantic comedy, with zombies- Shaun of the Dead. And    that´s just what it is exactly, blunt but true. 

Lets take a look at the movies that are opening this week and their taglines

THOR: Courage is inmortal: They´re trying to keep the solemn look of their posters and the superhero feel to it, but, do they really have to take it that seriously? Not a fan of the tagline this time. It doesn´t bring anything new to the table and is quite forgetable.

SOMETHING BORROWED: It´s a thin line between love and friendship: This same tagline could have been use for the other zillion romantic comedies out there or just every Kate Hudson film.  I think having such a great repertoire of actors and A-listers they decided to give up on selling it, thinking it already sells itself. Fail

THE BEAVER: He´s here to save Walter´s life. It talks about the movie plot, it´s sentimental and it raises the stakes. I think it works, at least better than its counterparts. The poster works very well with it aswell, showing Mel Gibson falling apart but holding a stuffed beaver in one hand. It keeps us wondering and sparks the     audience´s curiosity.

And to end this list with a great guilty pleasure, rejoice with me and read this great tagline form the 90´s: One dream. Four Jamaicans. Twenty below zero. 

You gotta love it. For those who want to remember what I´m talking about here is the trailer:

VOD, Facebook, Netflix...What ever happened to going to the movies?

The delicious buttered up smell of popcorn when one enters the doors of a theater. Arguing with friends in the middle of a dark room to decide which row to seat on. Not the last one, she forgot her glasses, what about the first front seats? Someone always gets motion sickness. After standing there blocking everyone´s view, the middle is always chosen as the fair choice for everyone. If you manage to get a good seat and avoid a line of screaming girls behind you or the guy that decides to share his director commentary on the movie with the rest of the audience, you´re safe. Lights go out, trailers start and magic happens. There´s nothing like it.

The days of movie going are not over but more than ever, the movies are coming to us. Tribeca has recently acknowledged the importance of social media and digital platforms.  Some panelists are convinced that watching movies will be soon something ordinary in Twitter. Hollywood will start fishing where the fish are and these social platforms full with potential moviegoers. According to them, digital distribution will take form when: the devices are easy to use and content is available at a reasonable price.  Some of these prerequisites have already been solved but others, such as price, are still trying to find what works. Lets take a look at the recent digital distribution events that have been WOM these past couple of months.

1.  Netflix has become the largest subscription entertainment business in America: 

  

Netflix

Nowadays, six out of ten movies are streamed out of Netflix and 7% of Americans are subscribed. Dethroning Comcast, the red envelope has proven that it´s here to stay. However, competitors have not waited to counterattack. In February Amazon announced it will allow their Amazon Prime clients (who pay 79$ a year) to stream shows and movies free of charge. HBO has launched its HBO GO app this month that will show every episode of every season of their cable channel in mobile devices and TVs, subscription required. 

Netflix, however, has an ace up its sleeve. Earlier this year it announced the launch of its first original and licensed series: House of Cards. 26 episodes directed by the great David Fincher and with Kevin Spacey as the leading role. This one hour drama will debut in late 2012 and will talk about the ruthless world of British politics in the Thatcher era. Netflix takes a risk after recently acquiring successful deals for the rights of: Mad Men ($1M per episode), Glee, Sons of Anarchy, The Wonder Years, Fraiser and Cheers.  

2. Facebook is the first social platform to rent movies

 

Dark Knight on Facebook

Warner Brothers took the lead making the Dark Knight available for 3 dollars or 30 Facebook credits. Type the name of the movie in your search bar and the page of the movie will immediately pop up. You don´t even have to LIKE it, just click on watch, pay, and you´re ready to go. The movie is available for 48 hours, during which Facebook still has full functionality. The interesting part about streaming in a social network is that it makes the experience more interactive for users. Now the audience can post comments, talk with their friends, quote the movie, at the same time they are watching it. For a generation full of digital natives who can´t seem to concentrate and need to be doing three things at once, this seems ideal. WB has recently added the Harry Potter franchise to the list, Inception, Life as we Know it, and Yogi Bear.

Four studios in P-VOD

3.The Premium VOD Controversy

Las Vegas´s Cinemacon was in for a big surprise when it was leaked that the four major studios( Universal, Sony, Fox, WB) planned to shorten the theatrical window 90 days and make their movies available in Premium VOD (for $29.99) just two months after their theatrical release. Exhibitors were outraged and studios defended themselves saying that their movies made most of their money in the first 4-5 weeks anyway. Read this interesting article that explains the 7 Key questions surrounding the controversy.

A list of 23 high recognized directors and producers such as James Cameron, Todd Philipps, and Peter Jackson have already spoken against it in their manifest. You can read the complete version here

Question is, will it work and will it severely affect the movie business? I personally think they will have to reduce the price gradually till the audience at home is willing to pay. For now, $30 seems too much, but what about when it´s $15? We´ll just have to wait and see how this turns out.

The audience is overloaded with options. Where should I see a movie? Facebook so I can talk to my friends? Netflix so I don´t have to drive and find parking in the theater? Premium VOD? People should remember even though more and more platforms will be invented there will never be something quite like an dark room full of strangers laughing and crying at the same thing.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of Planet of the Apes poster

Haven´t we learned already that using monkeys for scientific research leads to opening Pandora´s box? Every time a trailer or movie starts with some kind of chimp in a cage you know hell is about to break loose. If we add an overly ambitious scientist who thinks making an animal more intelligent than humankind is the perfect solution( as if they weren´t already), we end up with an explosive combination. Deep Blue sea anyone?

Rise of the Planet of the Apes just released its first trailer in which we get to see James Franco as the scientist(not convinced about that), the beautiful Freida Pinto as his love interest, Draco Malfloy from HP, and Andy Serkis as Caesar, the chimpanzee that decides to start the uprising. It won't be the first time Serkis portrays a primate, remember him as the dangerous but cute King Kong?

Something that caught my eye was that instead of highlighting the film's star names they decided on emphasizing the work of WETA digital, Avatar's special effects company. They're clearly trying to tell the audience that it's not about the people in it, it's all about the rise of the apes. Through its constant remakes Planet of the Apes has gotten a bad rep, especially with Burton's version, and they're trying to differentiate themselves from them.

Judging the trailer´s powerful images, it looks like they could. We will have to wait till summer comes to find out. Rise of Planet of the Apes, August 15th.

SCREAM 4: What is your favorite scary movie?

Looks like Wes Craven did it again. The movie that transformed the horror genre in 1996 and invented a new one of its own, is set out to transform (and mock) the new rules of horror 2.0.If Craven, once again, succeeds in making the audience scream and snort at the same time, he promises to continue the franchise with a Scream 5 and 6 in the makings. Unfortunately(for those hard core slash 3D horror fans) he refuses to shoot it in 3D, claiming that he considers it a distraction and is not fond of the glasses.  Lets take a look at its marketing campaign:

TRADITIONAL AV MEDIA

Teasers/ Trailers/TV spots

Dimension Films, The Weinsteins's brothers baby, started releasing the teaser in October of last year, which would be very similar to the trailer they would eventually pop out at the beginning of 2011. It all starts with a phone call and the rest, like they say, is history.They feature the old cast and introduce the new faces in the game. A young smart ass movie buff warns the audience about horror movie clichés. Ghostface makes people jump off their seats as the shots get faster and shorter. Deja vu perhaps? Scream 4 goes back to its roots in their AV campaign. Refresh your memory with their trailer for Scream 1.

To watch the four TV spots released, clips, and behind the scenes footage just click here


PRINT
On print they decided to focus on the most recognizable symbol of the whole franchise: the ghostface mask. After all, we've seen it in so many Halloween parties, parodies and even commercials that it personifies the movie itself.  Their tagline: New Decade, new rules. Even their cult fans will expect something new after ten years to spruce it up. The tagline makes that promise. Same old characters but new made up rules to kill them, perfect. 

Scream 4 poster

Take a look at the rest of the posters in here

The ones featuring Ghostface are the most appealing, the others  hide behind their 90´s precessors and are afraid to innovate. Notice how the international poster relies more on the different name actors bringing Adam Brody into the main picture.

INTERACTIVE&SOCIAL MEDIA

Since the self reflective horror film makes fun of the digital world we live in and how things have changed, it's not surprising to see they have spend their time on their website. It starts with a trailer, which you can skip or not, and then leads you to an intro main page. In it you can purchase tickets online, sign up for their newsletter and decide if you want to connect with them (Facebook, Twitter) or continue without connecting.  If you continue you're lead ( after a small clip of the film) to their final main page. There you can scan through the cast and crew's bios, read the film´s synopsis or download some wallpapers and buddy icons ( Icons for your IM chat). 

The website also has a feature called ¨ SCREAM 4 Soundtrack¨. If you click on it it'll take you to a Facebook fan page of the movie´s soundtrack, which you can listen to while you see still images of the film. If you're eye starts wondering off you can entertain yourself with  a five minute av clip of the film premiere in Los Angeles. It includes short interviews with every actor in the cast and is fairly entertaining. The site also includes a Fandango link to check showtimes, interviews of the cast in several talk shows, links to articles talking about the franchise and lots of photos.

The site´s most interesting feature is its Victims category. In it you can add Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell´s character) as a friend and she was she´s up to in her Facebook profile. Her status are mostly a countdown for the film's release and include inspirational quotes based on her new self help book. It includes photos of Neve and her character in the movie and still shots.  While they could have done something more with it, it seems like they already paid their dues with their Facebook fan page for their soundtrack. Plus the site has been up since February and has already accumulated more than 6,000 fans. You don't have to LIKE it to see all the site's information which I found interesting.

Scream 4 also used Twitter to get hold of their hard core artistic fans. Wes Craven posted a notice on hist tweeter announcing a poster contest. There would be two grand winners and ten finalists. The first two would get to go to the premiere in LA while the others got a signed poster and recognition. Check out the creative winners in Craven's flicker page. He used the same strategy for his movie ¨My Soul to Take¨ with great results. I think it was a great idea to engage the fans and make them win something out of creativity and not pure luck.

Overall I think it was a good campaign. It gave fans what they wanted and promised new changes. They´re staying faithful to what they know works but, like the movie, they´re also embracing the viral world and taken full advantage of it. Now we will only have to wait and see if Scream is the gift that keeps on giving. To make the waiting easier, I'll leave you with a reel of outtakes from Scream 3, laugh now soon you´ll be screaming at the theater.

Sara Ceberio