Anchorman2 has been doing some really creative marketing for the upcoming release.
I’m really enjoying the effort that Paramount Pictures have gone to in the marketing of Anchorman2.
Creative marketing strategy from Paramount
Whether or not you’re a fan of the actual show or of the marketing and promotional activity, I think you can agree that its a bit different to what the movie distribution companies normally serve up.
From what I’ve seen most of the promotional activity in the last year, from the Announcement of an Anchorman Sequel to the Premier today in Sydney (which my husband has got an invite to but opted not to take me with him), has been PR and online viral media based, of which I’ll show some of below.
There has been more Anchorman2 promotion in the USA of course and some of it is syndicated here on late night TV (Conan O’Brien’s show as the primary partner) but Paramount Pictures Australia has also made sure that Ron Burgundy also had some Aussie specific messages.
Great Localisation for the Australian market
The first one I saw was for the Australian Election – I was overseas for the election and had already posted my absentee vote in. I don’t think this would have swayed my choices but I thought it was a great random tie in.
Ron then followed up with a message for AFL fans before the grand final. I think this one was even better as the Ron Burgundy character was on show in all his greasy glory, referring to the female presenter on the Saturday Night Footy Show.
This is an awesome use of localisation (for Aussie’s) that many people first saw done by Old Spice in their widely appreciated viral video campaign from a couple of years back.
A global PR and content focus
The most recent Ron Burgundy appearance that I’d come across was the ‘chance’ encounter with Daft Punk, where Australia still gets a shout out. This was put together for the MTV Music Awards but was a great opportunity to tap into a large audience & be associated to a brand like Daft Punk who has received a lot of hype around their most recent album and rise to international superdom fame.
I’ve dug around a little to see if I could find the clip but mostly its restricted to UK or European IP addresses *grrr – aren’t we supposed to be a “global community” now?* but you can see a segment on the Good Morning America show and some dude has put together a little tribute of the Ron Burgundy & Daft Punk Parody that’s even more random as he takes a call on skype while he’s recording the clip.
Brand association and marketing partnerships
Anchorman2 has also partnered with Chrysler Durango (a car) doing a reported 70 commercials, of which only 9 have been aired. Apparently Chrysler’s Durango sales are up 59% as a result.
Apparently Ron Burgundy has also been pimping himself out to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and more. Paramount have loaned their talent to charity as well with Will Ferrell encouraging donors to give to the Comic Relief appeal, in the offensive way that Ron Burgundy would. It’s not my cup of tea but loads of people love this kind of outrage humour.
Integrated, multi-channel marketing is memorable and effective
So as you can see, there has been a lot of integrated marketing and cross channel promotion for Anchorman2. Some great experiential stuff, linked in with local partners like Telstra. The above pic is of my friend Craig which he posted on Facebook.
There has been loads of PR, which is a natural fit when you are marketing a movie and have celebrities at your disposal. Loads of stunts and content marketing – which give us bloggers material to work with and the media things to talk about.
And now that we’re in the last weeks before the movie hits movie theatres around the world, I’m starting to see bus sides and the Official Trailer is getting more push online (although it still has less views than the Australia Election clip) but I haven’t yet seen a TV trailer for it (but I don’t watch that much TV so it might just be me). They have such a cult following and there has been so much work done over a year leading up to this launch that they don’t even have to use the name of the movie. Now that’s brave.
Outdoor Advertising for Anchorman2