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Five reasons why Borat boldly goes where "Snakes on a Plane" could not....
Snakes on a Plane:
Opened in 3,555 theaters
1st Weekend Box-Office: $15.3 million
Fahrenheit 911:
Opened in 868 theaters
1st Weekend Box-Office: ~$24 million
Borat:
Opens in 837 theaters
1st Weekend Box-Office: $26 million
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In spite of alleged comparisons to Snakes on a Plane, I’m convinced more than ever that Borat is more akin to “Fahrenheit 911” and “Jackass” than it is to “Snakes on a Plane.” It is amazing to also see how similar the movie marketing has been and the phenomenal success they have achieved. Here are the five steps to market an indie movie – “Estyle Borat”:
1. Court Controversy:
Borat is in essence a controversial and politically incorrect film, kind of like "Fahrenheit 911" meets "Punk’d," with Andy Kaufman playing Ashton Kutcher. Beneath the veneer of his stupidity, Borat actually skillfully triggers all the hot-button topics possible, ranging from "the war of terror" to “preferred treatment of gay people,” without batting an eyelid.
In terms of timing, this movie couldn’t have been released at a better time than the mid-term elections especially since the country is in the midst of sifting through cultural/political issues while they decide the fate of their leaders -- yet again another similarity with the movie "Fahrenheit 911."
2. Pander to the Base:
Borat’s immediate target audience happens to be the “Jackass” crowd but on another level, the movie seems to be courting the mainstream majority of this country. How do you grab their attention? By releasing the movie in small numbers to large groups of college kids who create a lot of noise. Also, maximize target audience interest & participation by using the two most popular youth portals on the planet.
a. MySpace Treatment:
From a marketing standpoint it was incredibly smart for the studio to get the “Black Carpet” treatment from MySpace, where they offer exclusive free tickets to MySpace'rs to movie premieres. In Borat’s case the screenings were held a month and a half before the film’s release, thereby building buzz. (His MySpace Profile)
b. YouTu Borat:
The studio also accessed the popularity of YouTube by releasing the first 4 minutes of the movie on YouTube, a week before it’s release, which can then be sent virally across the nation.
3. Stir the Pot:
While "Passion of the Christ" raised the ire of the Anti-Defamation League, Borat has taken it one step further by annoying everyone from the government of Kazakhstan to the European Centre of Antiziganism Research (hostility to gypsies)!
What this does is actually provide controversial news items to the mainstream media, which is the greatest way to pique widespread curiosity. The government of Kazakhstan actually took out four-page ads both in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune.
The European Centre of Antiziganism Research accuses Borat of “defamation and inciting violence against Sinti and Roma (gypsies)”. State prosecutors in Hamburg are investigating the allegations before deciding whether to take action or not. (Source)
That’s a lot of free publicity for a movie made with a budget of $18 million.
4. Build buzz:
Once you grab the attention of a country with hysterical teenage fans and angry mobs, the rest is smooth going from there. Fake press conference against the government of Kazakhstan and a failed attempt to invite "Supreme Warlord Premier George Walter Bush" to the movie premiere is pure marketing genius.
Borat is also on, what must be, an incredibly tiring press blitz across the nation – meeting with pretty much every media personality from Howard Stern to Jay Leno (tomorrow) as well as being on all channels & programs -- from SNL to CNN -- pretty much covering all demographics possible.
5. Court the Mainstream:
I believe this is the single deciding factor in the success of Borat vis-à-vis the failure of Snakes on a Plane. SoaP was a decidedly blogosphere phenomenon and many bloggers (myself included) incorrectly perceived it to ensure a successful crossover into the mainstream world, but it did not and for obvious reason. However, we can see how clever 20th Century Fox has been in in crafting a movie marketing campaign around elections, hot-button topics, catering to the base, and building word-of-mouth like any clever political strategist would.
But let me point out that this strategy will work only for specific movies that satisfy certain criteria – the ability to shock & provoke (a.k.a the shockumentary) -- the one common theme that unites movies as diverse as Fahrenheit 911, Passion of the Christ, Jackass, and Borat. As Box-Office Mojo summarized last year:
The Passion and Fahrenheit emerged as the most talked about movies, sparking controversy that reflected and defined the nation, and re-configuring religious movies and documentaries as big moneymakers.
Have you seen Borat, yet? Any thoughts on its phenomenal marketing success?
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Comments
mario, i had the chance to view it. you are right about the inner meaning of the movie. 20th Century Fox was very clever indeed but they were mainly forced to look for alternative strategy because there was no way to advertise the movie in a classic way.
Posted by: gianandrea facchini | 11.08.06
Comparing SoaP to Borat is like comparing apples to carburetors. The only common thread they have is that they’re both movies. Snake on a Plane was “hijacked” by the audience, and ultimately they influenced the rewriting and addition of scenes, etc. No, it didn’t live up the hype. But Borat is doing the typical Hollywood marketing blitz. He’s not the only movie character with a MySpace page, etc.
You’re right, it’s fair to compare Borat with Jackass. But not with SoaP.
Nice post…
Posted by: Spike | 11.08.06
Mario,
I agree with Gianandrea. This is not a movie with broad appeal; therefore, traditional marketing would fail.
But help me understand what you mean by "phenomenal marketing success." Twenty-six million dollars doesn't resonate with that phrase, so how are we measuring success in this instance?
Posted by: Lewis Green | 11.08.06
Hi Mario,
I read recently that movie studies are increasingly creating buzz by promoting their new releases through the blogosphere. Some have even invited participants to view films ahead of their release dates. Apparently, this technique is being used to build enough of a groundswell to ensure a huge audience turnout; and to circumvent tepid to bad reviews by the movie critics. By the time the lead actor(s) hit the media circuit, these movies have already been hyped up to the public.
Posted by: Claire Ratushny | 11.08.06
OK, first off, leave the movie marketing analysis to the professionals.
Secondly, good stuff.
The only point I disagree with you on is where you say the movie's target audience was the "Jackass" crowd. I think this was always playing to the coffee-house, still prefer the BCC "Office" to the NBC one group.
But you're right in that the campaign was executed very well and timed within an inch of its life by Fox. This movie, as opposed to SoaP, proved that word-of-mouth can be a huge factor in a movie's success.
Posted by: Chris Thilk | 11.08.06
Thanks to Gianandrea and Spike for your comments.
Lewis,
As intangible as it may seem, in my opinion, the only way to measure marketing success is in the numbers related to the adoption of a product/service that's being advertised for.
In the case of a movie I believe the box-office numbers are the best indicator to whether or not we've been able to convince moviegoers that this is an entertaining film.
And when a movie with a minuscule budget goes onto become the "highest-grossing wide opening ever for a picture playing at less than 1,100 theaters", I consider it a phenomenal word-of-mouth marketing success.
How do you think movie-marketing should be measured?
Posted by: Mario Sundar | 11.08.06
Claire,
I agree that the blogosphere is being increasingly used to hype movies. But as with SoaP, if the product isn't good then all that the hype can generate is only a small spike in the first weekend's box-office results.
Thanks, Chris.
As for the target audience, the Jackass crowds were the ones you saw at the my space premieres, but the movie's staying power will depend on how many of the mainstream audience have converted to "Borat" moviegoers.
Only Time will tell.
Posted by: Mario Sundar | 11.08.06
one more comment. majors do consider main goal the box office of the first week end. the common practice is to stop adv on that week end and then let the movie go on the buzz generated by the first week end audience. borat is coming a long way from this point of view. but as it is born on a buzz and viral campaign, then it's crucial to ride the wave when it's higher. btw in italy apparently 20th century fox was delaying borat launch to march 2007. but at that time will be any wave around? i'm afraid not.
Posted by: gianandrea facchini | 11.09.06
Mario, Good post!
I haven't seen the movie but I feel like I am in a constant trailer for it....my two teenage sons and all their friends think Borat and the Borat movie is the funniest thing they have ever seen and just to prove it they feel the need to repeat the lines to each other over and over again. The Jackass crowd.
But you know what? I don't think its marketing as much as they think he is really really funny; almost as much as I think the opposite.
With SoaP, they went to see it to check out the supposed buzz, which is all they found..with Borat they went to see the movie because they wanted more Borat and they are part of the Borat buzz. As much as I don't see the humor, to them Borat is the real deal.
Marianne
Posted by: Marianne Richmond | 11.13.06
Mario-- great article. I certainly agree that the heavy guerilla marketing helped boost movie sales. Not to mention the controversy Borat has caused- with transitions to PR! And, his utilization of open-source media outlets like YouTube and Myspace. I think the most amazing thing is the fact that Borat spent ZERO on his media budget and movies like Snakes and Farenheit I know were a little more traditional. Still, BORAT came out on top. I have written about this also, more details at my blog, theviralmarketingbug.blogspot.com. Some other really interesting uses of consumer-generated and open-source media can be found there too. I encourage you to check it out.
Thank you for your time and contribution to the marketing blogosphere.
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa V | 11.17.06