As this issue hits your desk, the Academy Awards hype is kicking
into full swing. This time of year, the studios step up their
marketing efforts to wring every last dollar out of the media
attention. Annoying? Maybe. Potentially profitable? Definitely.
In this issue’s cover story on movies and tourism (page 60), the
concept of marketing is central. The typical national tourism
office might spend a few thousand dollars on a promotional video
for their country. Compare that to the hundreds of millions spent
on “Lord of the Rings,” for example, and it’s no wonder that the
film is the best marketing tool New Zealand could have hoped
for.
Like national tourism offices, if your agency seizes on the
opportunity such movies present, then this sort of marketing is the
best of all, as you piggyback on the money spent by others. Let
Warner Bros. take out the expensive ads and Universal do the
commercials. They’ll advertise the destination, your job is to have
your clients turn to you when they want to walk in the footsteps of
the stars.
Of course, there’s still work you need to do to take advantage
of the trends. For instance, do some research on future movies and
television shows, so you’ll be sure to be ahead of the demand.
Remember it doesn’t have to be an Oscar movie (as I write this,
Hilton Hawaii is promoting a package based on the film “50 First
Dates,” which was shot on Oahu).
Finally, when a client does express an interest in traveling to
a film’s location, be sure to ask what in particular he or she
liked about the movie. Nothing is worse than sending a client to
New Zealand, when the scene he liked was shot in beautiful
Burbank.
