Movie Advertisers Target Segments Via the Web, As Newspapers Lose Out

We will select a mix of media that hits all the individual segments with a creative message that breaks through and compels the audience not just to go, but go opening weekend.

-Suzanne Cole, executive vice president of of media for print, TV, online and outdoor at Universal Pictures

In Laurie Sullivan, "Universal's Suzanne Cole On Grabbing Attention," Marketing Daily, July 29, 2008

Promoting movies has become extremely difficult because of the need to have the greatest attendance during the film's first weekend of release. That is because, as Cole notes, "It sets the bar for everything that happens in the life cycle of the film." Even DVD sales are linked to how well the movie did on its opening weekend.

Cole, with many years of experience in the business, notes, "We're trying to figure out how to reach someone who has 10 things going on simultaneously." Studio planners have determined that the best way to solve the problem is to vary the ads and promotions by gender different age categories. Then the challenge turns on speaking directly to the segment in a way that makes them want to see the film on that on weekend. With TV, the question becomes "How do you make the 30 or 60 seconds of time that you have with consumers impactful?"

For Universal, as well as other distributors, broadcast television and cable remain at the center of advertising and promotional campaigns. What is changing is the advertising-and promotion budget allocated to newspapers. Cole says that newspapers don't do well for "the average moviegoers," because they typically find their movie information online. As a result, newspapers are losing movie-advertising money. Will broadcast and cable TV also lose it in coming years, as the new generation finds mobile phones, games and the web more likely places to learn about out of home entertainment?