The following campaigns are winners of the 2009 GSCA Marketing Awards. Thanks to everyone who submitted their campaigns for consideration, and congratulations to the following winners.
Best Marketing Campaign by a Distributor:
IMAX Corporation for their submission of Under the Sea 3D
Under the Sea 3D totally immerses the audience and takes them on a one-of-a-kind journey through some of the world’s most remote and stunningly colorful marine habitats on Earth, including Southern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Indo-Pacific Islands. Along the way, they encounter the very strange and unusual sea creatures inhabiting these waters, such as the giant cuttlefish, wonderpus, leafy sea dragon, and the great white shark. As the film is shot in stunning IMAX 3D, audiences are literally face-to-face with these rare and exotic creatures. The dazzling colors and amazing behaviors captured in this incredibly ambitious expedition make this film the most exciting IMAX 3D underwater adventure ever. Incorporating the impact of global climate change on these unique ecosystems, Under the Sea 3D also educates future generations worldwide on the importance of our planet’s health and well-being.
For the launch of Under the Sea 3D, the goal of the IMAX Film Marketing team was to develop a comprehensive and cohesive marketing plan with our partners at Warner Bros. that effectively conveyed that the film was from the award-winning team behind past IMAX fan favorites Into the Deep and Deep Sea and was an IMAX 3D event film not to be missed. Leveraging the box office success and accolades bestowed on these past films, we reinforced the impressive pedigree of Under the Sea 3D while positioning the film as new and different, highlighting the exotic locations, green/environmental themes, and even more strange and unusual creatures. Our marketing approach focused on elevating the film’s presence among other underwater documentaries through innovative marketing strategies and tactics. Keys to our success included developing dynamic in-theater materials that the theaters could use to generate awareness with their captive audience; creating publicity opportunities with the filmmakers and narrator, Jim Carrey; engaging and interactive online assets; partnerships that extended the film’s awareness through alternate channels; a targeted education program that reinforced the many educational opportunities; and tools, resources, and regional marketing opportunities to layer on the theater’s existing local marketing and outreach. These initiatives also provided a strong foundation for future theaters planning to lease the film.
Pictured here is the IMAX marketing team: Christine Tasto, Bernie Gaw, Allison Tanita, Brian Yamamura, Victoria Montoya, Shelley Graner, and Lindsay Artof.
Best Film Launch by a Theater:
Krungsri IMAX Theatre in Bangkok, Thailand
for their launch of Wild Ocean
Launching any film in Thailand is a particular challenge as the relatively low ticket prices combined with relatively high media prices require extreme economic efficiency. A film like Wild Ocean has the added challenge that Thais tend to view any documentary as “boring.” Therefore, we must be both cost efficient and make it look fun and interesting.
Over the past few years the Krungsri IMAX Theatre has developed a comprehensive film launch plan that has similar components for each film but unique executions. The primary components are:
Extensive use of posters, handouts, billboards, and displays on our well-located mall in central Bangkok. We have nurtured the relationship with the mall so that they typically allow us about 50 no-fee displays per film.
- We work the press and set up fun-looking press meets. We use VIPs, actors, models, and props to make the films look worth seeing.
- We typically have 10-12 no-cost promotional partners who promote our films via their communication channels at no cost to us. Most promotions focus on giving the better seats and low cost premiums with only minor discounts.
- We extensively use the web, utilizing multiple sites, games, and creative social posts.
For Wild Ocean 3D we had over 50 articles with pictures making the film look fun. We visited the offices of key media, used VIPs and models, and had 12 promotional partners communicating with a couple of million customers in total. Partners included GE (Bank), McDonald's, Toys R Us, and the Aquarium. Coverage was on about 10 websites and throughout the mall. As we have carefully developed these precious relationships over time, we are able to achieve the comprehensive, wide coverage in our submission at total launch budgets varying from US$10,000 to $20,000. Wild Ocean was launched for $15,000, including everything except internal staff costs. We get about $750,000 per year in cash sponsorship so our marketing department is a profit center.
Best Theater Launch:
Science North, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
for the launch of their 3D theater
Like many giant screen theaters worldwide, the Science North IMAX Theatre was faced with the challenge of declining attendance and the need to attract a new audience. 2009 would mark Science North’s 25th anniversary, and the organization was using this milestone to launch a major renewal campaign, beginning with a complete renewal of the IMAX theater, including new seats, a new screen and, most of all, a new projection system for 3D films.
Over the next three months, the community was kept up to date by local media as seats were removed and donated to a school, a screen was installed, the old projector was taken out, and the projection booth was expanded. While the construction crew worked to a very tight schedule, the buzz continued to build.
On the weekend of February 21 and 22, the community was invited to free “Quick Clips” screenings, which pulled trailers from seven different 3D films to demonstrate the superior quality of 3D on a giant screen. Community influencers were invited to a series of free film previews. Science North partnered with local media and used on-line and social media strategies to develop contests to attend free screenings.
As part of the partnerships with local media, Science North secured $200,000 in donated advertising for local TV, radio and print campaigns, which doubled the original projections. The donations were used to deliver continuous messages to the target audiences locally and within a 1.5 hour driving radius of the theater.
A new micro website was created for the theater, with a goal of increasing online sales and impressions. The online strategy also incorporated the use of social media and online advertising to increase awareness of the newly renovated theater, the 3D capability and the Sea Monsters 3D film.
The results of the re-launch campaign were spectacular. More than 5,800 people participated in the Quick Clips and Sea Monsters 3D previews. During the preview time, there were positive impacts on the Science Centre’s attendance, revenues, and per capita spending.
When Sea Monsters 3D officially opened on February 28, Science North achieved between 70–90 percent capacity, with more than double the attendance, and triple the revenues for the same period the year before. Attendance and revenue results for the Science Centre, concessions and other retail businesses increased substantially.
The re-launch of the IMAX Theater also had an impact on March Break attendance and revenues (March 16–20), which is Science North’s single busiest week of the year. Although Science North had set high goals for March Break 2009, the results were higher than expected. Total ticketed attraction revenues exceeded targets by 47 percent.
Feedback from visitors was very positive. Thousands of surveys were collected. The responses demonstrated that all embraced the new 3D technology. It also attracted new audiences that have either never experienced an IMAX or had not been to an IMAX film in more than a year.
The Big Idea Award:
Montreal Science Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
for their unique ideas promoting U2 3D
In April 2008 the IMAX Telus theatre at the Montreal Science Centre launched two IMAX films, an educational one and U2 3D.
U2 3D is a non-traditional IMAX film that gave us the opportunity to attract a new audience and to offer a different experience to our regular IMAX customers. A non-traditional IMAX film needed a non-traditional Marketing strategy.
We started by positioning U2 3D as a rock show, not a movie, and selling it as a unique experience: “Be on stage with Bono.”Our advertising strategy and Media Plan were driven by this positioning.
We planned marketing activities to support the film for five months. The countdown started in December with online pre-sale tickets, partnerships with media to attract music fans through non-traditional advertising, and a press release on the U2 3D World Premiere (January 23) to announce that U2 3D would play at the IMAX Telus Theatre on April 23.
We also got media attention when we installed the new platters to accommodate the film: “The IMAX Theatre is getting ready for U2 3D.”
Our strategy was to create different events that capture the excitement of the film and create a strong impact and word-of-mouth, starting with the pre-launch activities. One week before the first public show we organized five different events for five different target groups to achieve one goal: start the word-of-mouth.
The first one, an exclusive “Red Carpet” evening sponsored by Sleeman Brewery and Hard Rock Café, was for local stars and VIPs. Guests received an invitation headlined “chic’n Jeans,” and we created the atmosphere of a “Rock Show.” A live band playing U2 music on an outdoor stage attracted many curious fans, and papparazzi were waiting for local stars on the red carpet. A media promotion was integrated (radio and web-banners), and four lucky winners were part of this big event.
The editorial coverage was amazing, with more than 20 articles (instead of the typical 3 to 4 articles for an educational IMAX film), presence in all major newspapers, magazines and website. The site visits on the IMAX website increased substantially.
The first public show of the film was for our U2 fans. We created a Facebook page and promoted the exclusive show.
Web was important in our strategy. It represented 21 percent of our media investment.
Also, we built a micro-website in addition to the regular institution website, used Facebook, YouTube, and web banners, and sent an e-mail blast to 165,000 e-mail addresses.
Different sweepstakes were organized during the five months, but the most important one was organized with the music channel Musique Plus:“Invite 379 of your friends to a private screening of U2 3D!”
The marketing strategy paid off. 90,000 tickets sold with $1,000,000 in net revenues. The box office revenues for U2 3D equalled the box office revenues for all films for the previous summer.
Pictured here are Montreal Science Centre’s Alexandra Jonnaert, Marketing Advisor; Michel Rafie, Public Relations & Marketing Alliance Director; Julie LaRoche, Director Sales, Business and Entertainment.
The following campaigns are winners of the 2009 GSCA Marketing Awards. Thanks to everyone who submitted their campaigns for consideration, and congratulations to the following winners.
Best Marketing Campaign by a Distributor:
IMAX Corporation for their submission of Under the Sea 3D
Under the Sea 3D totally immerses the audience and takes them on a one-of-a-kind journey through some of the world’s most remote and stunningly colorful marine habitats on Earth, including Southern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Indo-Pacific Islands. Along the way, they encounter the very strange and unusual sea creatures inhabiting these waters, such as the giant cuttlefish, wonderpus, leafy sea dragon, and the great white shark. As the film is shot in stunning IMAX 3D, audiences are literally face-to-face with these rare and exotic creatures. The dazzling colors and amazing behaviors captured in this incredibly ambitious expedition make this film the most exciting IMAX 3D underwater adventure ever. Incorporating the impact of global climate change on these unique ecosystems, Under the Sea 3D also educates future generations worldwide on the importance of our planet’s health and well-being.
For the launch of Under the Sea 3D, the goal of the IMAX Film Marketing team was to develop a comprehensive and cohesive marketing plan with our partners at Warner Bros. that effectively conveyed that the film was from the award-winning team behind past IMAX fan favorites Into the Deep and Deep Sea and was an IMAX 3D event film not to be missed. Leveraging the box office success and accolades bestowed on these past films, we reinforced the impressive pedigree of Under the Sea 3D while positioning the film as new and different, highlighting the exotic locations, green/environmental themes, and even more strange and unusual creatures. Our marketing approach focused on elevating the film’s presence among other underwater documentaries through innovative marketing strategies and tactics. Keys to our success included developing dynamic in-theater materials that the theaters could use to generate awareness with their captive audience; creating publicity opportunities with the filmmakers and narrator, Jim Carrey; engaging and interactive online assets; partnerships that extended the film’s awareness through alternate channels; a targeted education program that reinforced the many educational opportunities; and tools, resources, and regional marketing opportunities to layer on the theater’s existing local marketing and outreach. These initiatives also provided a strong foundation for future theaters planning to lease the film.
Pictured here is the IMAX marketing team: Christine Tasto, Bernie Gaw, Allison Tanita, Brian Yamamura, Victoria Montoya, Shelley Graner, and Lindsay Artof.
Best Film Launch by a Theater:
Krungsri IMAX Theatre in Bangkok, Thailand
for their launch of Wild Ocean
Launching any film in Thailand is a particular challenge as the relatively low ticket prices combined with relatively high media prices require extreme economic efficiency. A film like Wild Ocean has the added challenge that Thais tend to view any documentary as “boring.” Therefore, we must be both cost efficient and make it look fun and interesting.
Over the past few years the Krungsri IMAX Theatre has developed a comprehensive film launch plan that has similar components for each film but unique executions. The primary components are:
Extensive use of posters, handouts, billboards, and displays on our well-located mall in central Bangkok. We have nurtured the relationship with the mall so that they typically allow us about 50 no-fee displays per film.
- We work the press and set up fun-looking press meets. We use VIPs, actors, models, and props to make the films look worth seeing.
- We typically have 10-12 no-cost promotional partners who promote our films via their communication channels at no cost to us. Most promotions focus on giving the better seats and low cost premiums with only minor discounts.
- We extensively use the web, utilizing multiple sites, games, and creative social posts.
For Wild Ocean 3D we had over 50 articles with pictures making the film look fun. We visited the offices of key media, used VIPs and models, and had 12 promotional partners communicating with a couple of million customers in total. Partners included GE (Bank), McDonald's, Toys R Us, and the Aquarium. Coverage was on about 10 websites and throughout the mall. As we have carefully developed these precious relationships over time, we are able to achieve the comprehensive, wide coverage in our submission at total launch budgets varying from US$10,000 to $20,000. Wild Ocean was launched for $15,000, including everything except internal staff costs. We get about $750,000 per year in cash sponsorship so our marketing department is a profit center.
Best Theater Launch:
Science North, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
for the launch of their 3D theater
Like many giant screen theaters worldwide, the Science North IMAX Theatre was faced with the challenge of declining attendance and the need to attract a new audience. 2009 would mark Science North’s 25th anniversary, and the organization was using this milestone to launch a major renewal campaign, beginning with a complete renewal of the IMAX theater, including new seats, a new screen and, most of all, a new projection system for 3D films.
Over the next three months, the community was kept up to date by local media as seats were removed and donated to a school, a screen was installed, the old projector was taken out, and the projection booth was expanded. While the construction crew worked to a very tight schedule, the buzz continued to build.
On the weekend of February 21 and 22, the community was invited to free “Quick Clips” screenings, which pulled trailers from seven different 3D films to demonstrate the superior quality of 3D on a giant screen. Community influencers were invited to a series of free film previews. Science North partnered with local media and used on-line and social media strategies to develop contests to attend free screenings.
As part of the partnerships with local media, Science North secured $200,000 in donated advertising for local TV, radio and print campaigns, which doubled the original projections. The donations were used to deliver continuous messages to the target audiences locally and within a 1.5 hour driving radius of the theater.
A new micro website was created for the theater, with a goal of increasing online sales and impressions. The online strategy also incorporated the use of social media and online advertising to increase awareness of the newly renovated theater, the 3D capability and the Sea Monsters 3D film.
The results of the re-launch campaign were spectacular. More than 5,800 people participated in the Quick Clips and Sea Monsters 3D previews. During the preview time, there were positive impacts on the Science Centre’s attendance, revenues, and per capita spending.
When Sea Monsters 3D officially opened on February 28, Science North achieved between 70–90 percent capacity, with more than double the attendance, and triple the revenues for the same period the year before. Attendance and revenue results for the Science Centre, concessions and other retail businesses increased substantially.
The re-launch of the IMAX Theater also had an impact on March Break attendance and revenues (March 16–20), which is Science North’s single busiest week of the year. Although Science North had set high goals for March Break 2009, the results were higher than expected. Total ticketed attraction revenues exceeded targets by 47 percent.
Feedback from visitors was very positive. Thousands of surveys were collected. The responses demonstrated that all embraced the new 3D technology. It also attracted new audiences that have either never experienced an IMAX or had not been to an IMAX film in more than a year.
The Big Idea Award:
Montreal Science Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,
for their unique ideas promoting U2 3D
In April 2008 the IMAX Telus theatre at the Montreal Science Centre launched two IMAX films, an educational one and U2 3D.
U2 3D is a non-traditional IMAX film that gave us the opportunity to attract a new audience and to offer a different experience to our regular IMAX customers. A non-traditional IMAX film needed a non-traditional Marketing strategy.
We started by positioning U2 3D as a rock show, not a movie, and selling it as a unique experience: “Be on stage with Bono.”Our advertising strategy and Media Plan were driven by this positioning.
We planned marketing activities to support the film for five months. The countdown started in December with online pre-sale tickets, partnerships with media to attract music fans through non-traditional advertising, and a press release on the U2 3D World Premiere (January 23) to announce that U2 3D would play at the IMAX Telus Theatre on April 23.
We also got media attention when we installed the new platters to accommodate the film: “The IMAX Theatre is getting ready for U2 3D.”
Our strategy was to create different events that capture the excitement of the film and create a strong impact and word-of-mouth, starting with the pre-launch activities. One week before the first public show we organized five different events for five different target groups to achieve one goal: start the word-of-mouth.
The first one, an exclusive “Red Carpet” evening sponsored by Sleeman Brewery and Hard Rock Café, was for local stars and VIPs. Guests received an invitation headlined “chic’n Jeans,” and we created the atmosphere of a “Rock Show.” A live band playing U2 music on an outdoor stage attracted many curious fans, and papparazzi were waiting for local stars on the red carpet. A media promotion was integrated (radio and web-banners), and four lucky winners were part of this big event.
The editorial coverage was amazing, with more than 20 articles (instead of the typical 3 to 4 articles for an educational IMAX film), presence in all major newspapers, magazines and website. The site visits on the IMAX website increased substantially.
The first public show of the film was for our U2 fans. We created a Facebook page and promoted the exclusive show.
Web was important in our strategy. It represented 21 percent of our media investment.
Also, we built a micro-website in addition to the regular institution website, used Facebook, YouTube, and web banners, and sent an e-mail blast to 165,000 e-mail addresses.
Different sweepstakes were organized during the five months, but the most important one was organized with the music channel Musique Plus:“Invite 379 of your friends to a private screening of U2 3D!”
The marketing strategy paid off. 90,000 tickets sold with $1,000,000 in net revenues. The box office revenues for U2 3D equalled the box office revenues for all films for the previous summer.
Pictured here are Montreal Science Centre’s Alexandra Jonnaert, Marketing Advisor; Michel Rafie, Public Relations & Marketing Alliance Director; Julie LaRoche, Director Sales, Business and Entertainment.