The marketing campaigns behind the big Oscar winners

Target Media’s Tom Sutherland on the advertising and promotional activity behind the main movies at last night’s Academy Awards.

The movie world’s most anticipated event of the year has drawn to a close amid a flurry of flashbulbs, fashion and firsts. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards are over, and as the red carpet is rolled back up and the dust begins to settle on another year in Hollywood, the press is awash with the news of the big winners and unfortunate losers.

We at Target Media, the entertainment specialist media agency, are always interested to see which select bunch of actors, directors and animators scoop the prizes on the night, but this year we’ve decided to bring the action closer to home by awarding our own Oscars based on the media and marketing campaigns for the nominated flicks.

Here’s our verdict on who would have won Oscars if they had been handed out for advertising.

Avatar may have lost out in the best picture category but it’s our clear winner for promotional activity. Yes, they had the budget and the assets to really go to town and they didn’t under-use any of their media mix but the fact that they dominated the box office takings for close to three months is testament to how strong their mix was.

The film was certainly helped by director James Cameron’s blockbuster pedigree and his track record with box-office success but it was a return to what Cameron does best – epic, effects-driven sci-fi – and the fact that it pioneered “game-changing” 3D technology that enabled its marketing campaign to move to another level. The anticipation was built around three core factors – pedigree, technology and story – which were then carefully seeded and targeted to different spheres of the public at different stages, which all provided an immediate platform for PR and then fuelled the actual campaign, enabling it to hit the ground running.

A more low-key film that we think should be commended for its advertising strategy is superhero flick Watchmen, which had a clever and extensive campaign that hit early adopters and became a real talking point. They seeded early, building hype with online activity via a widget and then offering downloadable content via social media. The marketing team on the movie joined forces with Microsoft, appearing on all its channels including the portal and Xbox Live. The rest of the traditional media had impact and presence, making it a much anticipated event release.

If there were an Oscar for innovation and creativity in a media campaign it would have to go to District 9, the low-budget science fiction thriller. Throughout the movie an enormous UFO hovered over Johannesburg and the ads successfully replicated this key visual hook with the use of rich media on key placements, such as homepages. The campaign’s online ads also deserve special mention. An online interactive hub reflected District 9’s premise effectively which synched nicely with their outdoor campaign.

But let us not forget the real winners of the night, whose marketing campaigns each excelled in their own way.

The Hurt Locker‘s campaign adopted the indie style of the picture, appearing raw, unapologetic and adrenalin-driven which cleverly reflected the essence of the film.

The marketing for Up, the winner of best animation, focused on the colour and symbolism of the film’s key image: balloons. This gave the campaign a feel of buoyancy, optimism and universal appeal to all ages.

A different take on the marketing strategy was adopted by Precious with the actors themselves huge drivers of PR and word of mouth, helping the film to cross from small indie to bigger, iconic film of 2010 and a winner on the night.

One lesson everyone should remember when it comes to film advertising is it’s not how much budget you have but what you do with it that counts.

This is never more true than with the advertising for Moon: a striking, single image which did not give too much away but managed to fuel just the right amount of intrigue, built solely around main actor Sam Rockwell.

So as we close the books on this year’s Oscar runners and riders we cast an eye over the next 12 months and what we can expect from the most hotly anticipated releases.

The Target Media gang believes Iron Man 2 will set the benchmark for the summer season ahead and no doubt have an exciting campaign behind it.

Universal’s Robin Hood hits the cinemas in May and is expected to carry against Gladiator so will surely come up with a stunning campaign ensuring the cinema-going public will want to see this in its own right and will garner a new generation of Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott fans.

Toy Story 3D will also create a campaign rejuvenating the previous films, making it this year’s family favourite and broadening the appeal of 3D already set in motion by Avatar.

But, as we witnessed at the 2010 Oscar ceremony, there are no sure things in the movies, which is why it is so important to put as much thought in your advertising as your leading lady.