• by John Gaffney , July 8, 2002

Hollywood Shelf-Life: Or maybe that’s an oxymoron. The advertising and marketing departments of big movie studios have mastered the art of opening a movie. They’ve mastered it to the point that they can pick a number for an opening weekend (which seems to always be a record) and go hit it. “MIB II? $90 million? Sure, babe.” What they have not mastered is the concept of shelf life. Last summer no film after Pearl Harbor’s Memorial Day two-week stint, spent consecutive weeks as the top rated movie. Part of the reason is synergy. The oft-trashed, overused s-word has worked wonders when you’re advertising the opening of a movie. My kids watch Nickelodeon (brash understatement). In a two-hour span of a Sponge Bob marathon, you see more about the opening of Hey Arnold: The Movie than you do anything else. I have dreams about the opening of Hey Arnold: The Movie. Then if my daughter decides to switch to Cartoon Channel (owned by TimeWarner) I have The PowerPuff Girls Movie screaming at me frequently. Movie studios, for the most part are so tied in with different media that they own or partially own, that they place for free what would normally cost millions in ad dollars. However, the studio that is reasonably independent, DreamWorks, does the best job of giving a movie legs. And that to me, is where the ad and marketing skill lies. DreamWorks does an amazing job of tying in with fast-food chains, packaged goods companies and even media companies to spread their ad dollars efficiently. These days, anybody can open a movie. But show me the planning or buying department that can make it stick.

Magazine Shelf Life: Had a conversation yesterday with Ellen Oppenheim, who is EVP of the Magazine Publisher’s of America, and it struck me that the more complex this business gets, the more basic it stays. I asked her what she thought would be the keys to success for print products in the second half of the year and she said: “In the end a magazine’s success depends on its relationship to its readers. The product has to resonate with the reader.” ‘Nuff said.

Reality Bites, Again: I like the Radio Advertising Bureau’s sales index. It’s for real. Here’s what it does. Call 1998 your base year. Not 2000, mind you, 1998. Give said base year an index of 100, and then compare subsequent years to that base. Radio’s overall index, using that method, is at 133 so far this year. I’d love to see that done for TV, print and newspapers.