News
Nike boss directs unorthodox 'Coraline' push
March 4, 2009 – It’s little realized, but athletic apparel billionaire Phil Knight produced animated family feature Coraline and directed that some outside-the-movie-box marketing be employed in promoting the Focus Features release.
Knight, who is the founder of the Nike-brand sports apparel empire, worked with one-time Nike agency Wieden & Kennedy on advertising, according to an Advertising Age article. A foundation was to identify and targeting 15 demographic audiences – referred to as “spokes” – that weren’t necessarily already in the film-goers marketing pot.
For example, Coraline portrays a girl who stumbles into a parallel world where people have buttons sewed on their heads in the places of eyes and the girl’s parents are gardening writers. So Knight targeted knitting and craft maker consumers, notes the Ad Age article by Claude Brodesser-akner. More conventional movie-centric spokes were comic book geeks and casual gamers.
“The original agreement was that Focus would do the advertising,” Knight told Ad Age. “But in some of the early meetings, it was clear that we had a difference of opinion on the advertising – ‘target audience’ being one. They were used to doing ‘data’ advertising: They wanted to push this more as a kiddie film, because that's what the data told them. (But) Nike and Wieden & Kennedy together had grown up with what I call 'emotional essence advertising' -- the essence of the product is its emotional core, and you push that.”
In the end, Knight says that Focus stepped aside and let him and W&K direct marketing. Coraline opened to decent $16 million weekend Feb. 6-8 and rolled up $62 million so far, which is good but not great.
The film has an edge as, for example, the lead character must decide if she will let her eyes be plucked out to be replaced by buttons if she wants to stay in the alternative world. So Knight’s orientation to go beyond the kiddie audience is very appropriate.
In defense of Focus Features, Marketing to Moviegoers notes that targeting for a traditional cinema kids audience has its benefits. Marketing is then aimed at heavy movie-goers – nothing wrong with that! -- and the alternative of affinity groups – those various spokes – are not shoo-ins to go to cinemas.
For full text, click link below:
adage.com/madisonandvine/article