• by Aaron Baar , April 9, 2014

Wiring money to foreign lands isn’t for the birds, unless they’re animated and appearing in movie theaters this April. 

Western Union has signed on as a partner for the film “Rio 2,” owing to its keen understanding of consumers who cross global and/or local borders to work and live. For many of these people, according to the company, providing financial support for their families at home is essential to staying connected to their roots. 

This is the first tie-in Western Union has done with a movie, says Laston Charriez, senior vice president of marketing, Americas for Western Union. Partnering with “Rio 2” is a perfect confluence of message and timing, he says. 

“We found our consumers love loyalty, family and staying true to their words. Working with 20th Century Fox … we had a chance to see the script and saw those themes [in this movie],” Charriez tells Marketing Daily. “Mother’s Day is also a big deal for our consumers, and this movie, which opens this Friday, will be out during that time.”

(Charriez added that the DVD release will correlate with the back-to-school season, which is also an important time for Western Union’s customers.)

The partnership will include a collaborative global marketing campaign featuring television, print, point-of-sale, online, out-of-home and social media advertising. The company will also launch a scratch-and-win game in the U.S. One of the new ads depicts one of the characters of the film (a dog) wanting to deliver some money for his faraway uncle’s birthday. As the envelope goes over an Amazonian waterfall, another bird suggests a better way. “Take control of your money with Western Union,” says a voiceover, suggesting the number of offices make it easy to send and easy to receive money. The materials will run in both English and Spanish.

“[The studio] produced it for us, and it works across all different diasporas and consumer segments,” Charriez says.