News
Some films drop all newspaper ads
By Robert Marich
Apr 20, 2009 – 20th Century Fox marketed Dragonball: Evolution – the movie based on the cult teen market Japanese comic – without any newspaper ads, notes a Los Angeles Times journalist in a blog. That’s an ad spend reduction gaining momentum.
“Since the film only earned $4.7 million last weekend, a cynic might say that Fox, not wanting to waste money on promoting a stinker, was dumping the picture,” writes journalist Patrick Goldstein, in a LA Times Blog. “But it turns out that the Dragonball marketing strategy is just another part of a shift away from print advertising.”
Goldstein checked with Fox, which said that releasing films without newspaper ads occurs occasionally on a case-by-case basis, when the studio feels newspaper demographics aren’t a good fit with a given film’s audience. Fox’ Street Fighter also had no ads in conventional newspapers. Newspapers are heavy with ages 50+ readers and Dragonball is oriented to a teen/youth demo. But for Marley & Me, Fox pointed out that it had a big newspaper campaign to influence mothers, who are a big part of the newspaper audience.
Noted Goldstein: “A survey of marketers at other studios finds that with youth-oriented movies -- especially in the horror, slasher, teen-comedy and comic book adaptation genres -- studios are cutting back significantly on their newspaper ad buys. While most studios still buy newspaper ads on the Friday of release, the ads are smaller in size and in frequency. For many youth-oriented films, studios have stopped buying print ads the Sunday before release, as well as for the Saturday paper after opening day.”
Though not mentioned in the blog, newspapers have a long and somewhat tortured history with film distributors. In good times, newspapers jacked up ad rates for all advertisers when enjoying their former dominance over local audiences. Movie ads in the film theater directory section typically were subject to higher-than-regular ad rates, because newspapers knew film distributors were desperate. Once websites and other new media reduced newspaper readership and created alternative local ad platforms, film distributors were eager to chop what they perceived as high priced-newspaper ads.
Goldstein writes, “You couldn't find a review of (Dragonball) in any Friday newspaper either, since the studio, figuring the movie -- which scored a lowly 15 at Rotton Tomatoes website -- was too juvenile for critics, didn't screen it for them either.”
Marketing to Moviegoers would counter that another problem newspapers have is they downplay editorial film coverage for movies like Dragonballs – which admittedly is youth market fluff. But it was good for its genre, although a box office disappointment. Newspapers instead devote lavish coverage to high brow films – such as low grossing Oscar films – which contributes to an inability to attract a youth readership.
As reported previously on this website, Dragonball was rapped by the fanboy audience in cyberspace, so presumably Fox kept the film under wraps as long as possible.
For full text, click links below:
latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2009/04/movie-newspaper-ads-going-going-gone.html
www.marketingmovies.net/news/fanboys-knock-dragonball/