News
Carmaker's woes undercut 'Transformers' promo
April 6, 2009 – Detroit’s car crisis is putting the squeeze on a promotional tie-in with Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, says a Los Angeles Times article. GM’s revival of the Chevy Camaro gets star treatment in the Paramount Pictures release, but reduced ad spending by the beleaguered carmaker means promotion ads to support the theatrical release will be muted.
As Marketing to Moviegoers notes, the big categories for promotion support are cars, soft drinks, beer, quick service restaurants, cell phones, video games and some other consumer electronics categories.
Transformers 2 is scheduled for June 24 premiere. The $180 million production will get $150 million in direct worldwide marketing/distribution expenditures, notes the article from LA Times reporter Claudia Eller. Paramount will augment that marketing spend with third-party advertising and promotion.
Besides GM, the film’s promotion partners are Burger King, wireless phone company LG Mobile, retailer Kmart, a candy company and convenience store chain. The latter two have not yet been announced. In the movie, a Camaro car morphs into into robots; as this is in the film itself, it is called a "story-point product placement," notes Marketing to Moviegoers.
For the first Transformers film, tie-in partners included GM, Mountain Dew, Burger King, EBay and Kraft, which collectively spent more than $40 million on TV, print, radio and online advertising.
For full text, click link below:
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cotown-transformers6-2009apr06,0,5419006.story
www.marketingmovies.net/news/transformers-2-bags-lg-cell-phone-promo/