At iMedia and Variety's Integrate '05 Summit, Rick Parkhill chatted about entertainment marketing with agency execs; later, Carat and Sony presented case studies.

Editor's Note: You can find part one of Gunjan Bagla's Integrate '05 coverage here, and part two here.

At last month's Integrate '05 Summit, iMedia President Rick Parkhill moderated a discussion among media agency executives.

Karen Bloore, whose group buys media for Sony, was emphatic that creative executions must be specific to the medium and cannot be easily re-purposed. “A good 30-second spot on broadcast TV can’t be readily altered to become a successful 15-second pitch for video on demand.” This is good news to many online publishers, who are often asked to force fit TV commercials onto the web or worse, onto mobile phones. Bloore is EVP and managing director of the Universal McCann Entertainment Group, which buys all media for Sony Pictures, including TV, home entertainment and theatrical release movies. Sony and its agency are known for pushing the envelope in the online medium, although they prefer not to talk about many of their successes.

Parkhill described a changing landscape: Half the box office revenue still comes from 12- to 29-year-olds, but these consumers are getting harder to reach, and they are also seeking entertainment in new places. Lee Doyle, managing partner of MediaEdge:CIA, which buys TV media for Paramount Pictures, agreed. But Doyle also pointed out, “DVD is making movies available to audiences who would not otherwise go to theaters as much.” He further added, “distribution mechanisms (such as pay-per-view) and new technologies (such as TiVo and PVRs) put the consumer in control. We no longer have a captive audience.”

When asked about integration, Bloore replied that Sony was unique among the studios, “The agency is seen as an extension of the in-house staff, and we work seamlessly across various media; while I’ve seen other studios where various departments are not open -- even within their own walls.” Much of the integration at Universal McCann takes place at the media planning stage, well in advance of any buying.

Doyle’s agency, MediaEdge:CIA, also works closely with the client, not only for advertising in other media but also including the promotional and publicity efforts.”

Both panelists agreed that the media mix is evolving: moving away from network TV toward cable and a bit toward spot TV. Due to the shortening windows between theatrical and home entertainment releases, every major studio finds increased competition for a viewer’s time. “We end up competing against our own properties, more and more.”

Parkhill asked whether there would ever be ratings for TV commercials. “With Nielsen offering minute-by-minute numbers,” Bloore responded, “we are getting closer to such a model.” Fortunately according to both panelists, movie commercials are seen as extensions to the entertainment content, rather than as advertising. “We have a much easier time than makers of toilet paper or peanut butter,” chuckled Doyle.

When it came time for Q&A from the audience, Tom Deierlein of Dynamic Logic asked whether agencies make decisions in a media-neutral manner. Doyle responded, “We do take a media-neutral approach. We actually fit the media plan to the product. So, for some theatrical release movies, we may use only television. For a home entertainment release we might use all media. For many niche movies we sometimes use only online media.” Indeed for online publishers, home entertainment is a huge success story.

“Time spent on a medium is not an effective measure for movie advertising,” elaborated Doyle. “Magazines and radio consume a lot of the audience’s time, but we consistently find that TV is more effective.” As far as online is concerned, Doyle asserted that journalists still give disproportionately more attention to it than to older media forms.

Case Study #1: Sony PSP, more than a handheld game device

With its ubiquitous GameBoy Advance and dual-screen DS, Nintendo is the gorilla of the hand-held entertainment business. Analysts also see mobile phone games looming as a big factor in this business. Into this ecosystem Sony Computer Entertainment of America decided to launch the PlayStation Portable in North America in April 2005.

OMD’s Mike Rose, client communications director, told the story of the product launch.

"Today’s youth are cyber-nomads. They can’t live without being connected,” said Rose. Research shows that four out of five teens have cell phones and take them everywhere. Many carry multiple mobile devices and use them as a way to make public spaces personal.

Sony hoped to legitimize the PSP as portable entertainment, not just as a device for “little kids.” The hope was to create an object of desire, even a cultural phenomenon. “Today’s youth need a constant online connection for pleasure, stimulation and escape,” said Rose. So OMD’s campaign set out to infiltrate urban culture and connect with the digital “tribe” by breaking through their sensory filters. 

In the early phases of the campaign, the agency deployed “PSP girls” at velvet rope events; these young women wore the device on their waists to enable attendees (mostly young men) to try out the new platform. The PSP was integrated into a "South Park" episode, as well as into HBO’s hit comedy "Entourage." Spotlights were created on AtomFilms to highlight the PSP’s ability to play movies. In keeping with the interactive maxims, consumers can also upload their own photos, showing PSPs in use around the world. 

As a result of the marketing campaign, over half a million PSPs were sold in the United States in the first two days. Sony has delayed its European launch of the PSP all the way to September, in part due to heavy demand in Japan and the United States. Most movie studios have committed to releasing movie titles for the new UMD format that the PSP requires. According to Rose, the average age of a PSP customer is 26 years: the kiddy perception appears to have been shattered.

Case Study #2: Carat uses online to promote tune-in

According to Greg Smith, EVP at Carat Interactive, you can reach 31 million adults (age 35 to 64) with a one-day home page placement on Yahoo! and MSN for about $750,000. By contrast you spend well over $4 million on a Super Bowl commercial to reach 44 million adults in the same age range. Carat’s TV clients include CBS, MTV, UPN and Lifetime. They decided to use online homepage placements as a medium to drive tune-in to TV shows, such as “Veronica Mars.”

Showing that search can also be leveraged to drive tune-in, Carat bought relevant but non-commercial terms to promote “CSI: New York.” For a TV show, clicks are not as important as impressions, so keywords like “forensic,” “autopsy” and “crime scene” prove to be an effective way to get the message out. On eBay, CBS decide to create auction opportunities, such as a chance to be a corpse on the show. This created millions of impressions at no charge and involved the eBay audience in a manner consistent with the site’s own rituals.

Gunjan Bagla runs Amritt, an advisory service that enables media, entertainment and advertising companies to use global resources. In addition to iMedia Connection he also writes for Variety and CIO Magazine.