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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Why Some Disney Movies Flop

When you her the names G-Force and Bolt what do you think of? Some people think of two bad movies that they didn't see.  Some people think of two good movies that no one saw.

I have to say G-Force and Bolt were good movies but they did awful in the theaters.  So why didn't they make it as movies?

I've found that Disney Marketing is a strange duck.  To be honest I blame them for the failures of the two afore mentioned movies.  Before those movies came out I didn't know they were coming.  I saw maybe one or two TV ads for them.  In the case of Bolt I saw far more ads for the Blu-Ray then I did for the actual movie. 

I really belive that Disney sometimes totally fails when it comes to pushing their movies.  Take for example Tangled.  It comes out on Thanksgiving. I saw the first trailer for it on Novemeber 17th.  That's barely a week before it comes out.  Before that I didn't even know when it was coming out. 

I'm sorry but that's a total failure.  The Disney Machine should have kicked in gear and stuffed that movie down my throat.  Does no one realize how important repeated exposure is? Take for exampel Tron Legacy.  I loved Tron but didn't have any plans to see Legacy.  I saw the first trailer and it didn't change my mind.  I saw another and I was a little intrigued.  I saw a couple more and I'm almost ready to line up a midnight. 

Each type of marketing has it's place.  Movie trailers and tv ads are still the most important to draw a wide audience.  Viral is ok but it's better used to kick a promotion off.  Online serve as good reminders.  In an online ad you should push the release date.  Online makes sure the people who already decided to see the movie don't forget. 

If you focus mainly on viral and online ads you're not going to reach your goals.  You really need a wide reaching promotion that hits all channels.

1 comment:

  1. Add another one to the pile - Mars Needs Moms - I didn't see one ad for this movie before it was released.

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