CREATIVITY IN MOTION… PICTURES, THAT IS…
By Pierce Roberts Brilliant Results | May 2005 9
WAY BEFORE THE LIGHTS, camera or action ever start, Hollywood execs spend a lot of time and money thinking about, and working on how to create interest in their big dollar investments a.k.a. “the next blockbuster.” Literally hundreds of millions of dollars ride on how the media reacts to the pre-release marketing efforts. Hundreds of millions more depend on how theatre owners respond. Then there are the DVD and video retailers, and of course… at the end of the day, it all depends on what you and I think. But before the next flick ever hits the silver screen, there’s a machine at work - a complex machine that can contain as much drama as the movie itself. This machine is made up of many cogs including creativity, promotion, passion, energy, excitement, copy writing, graphic design, manufacturing, distribution and of course timely execution.
In our global quest to bring you face time with the people who make up the machine, we found this month’s cover girl, simply known as Doreen – or as we have so lovingly nicknamed her The Queen of the Machine! Doreen Sullivan is the president of Post No Bills, Inc., a merchandising, marketing and product development creative agency who specializes in promotions for Hollywood studios. She is a seasoned, fiery, competitive, perfectionist, creative-genius who personifies all that the direct marketing and promotional merchandise industry can and should be.
There’s a great saying in the world of promotional products that says; “When you use this stuff the right way, there is no better, more effective advertising dollar a company can spend. However when used incorrectly, it’s a complete and total waste of money.”
Now, while Doreen and her dream team at Post No Bills are certainly not the only players in the game, it’s pretty safe to say they are kind of like the New York Yankees of the Hollywood promotion world. Some of Hollywood’s best ideas have come out of this think tank that is oddly enough based in Columbia South Carolina. But don’t let the location fool you – check out this list of little movies you may have heard of in which the Post No Bills team created the buzz: Shark Tale, Shrek, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Antz, Atlantis, Small Soldiers, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Fargo, Meet Joe Black, Back to the Future, American Beauty, The Bourne Supremacy, Mission: Impossible, Tomorrow Never Dies, Thomas Crown Affair, Bull Durham, Legally Blonde, Road Trip and American Pie… Just to name a “few”.
So as usual, it is our goal again this month to drill down into one industry (this month its the movie industry) to show all businesses in all industries what the leaders in that area are doing. We do this with the hope that you, our readers can get some good ideas about what works when developing campaigns for your company.
BR: Tell our readers a little about who Doreen Sullivan is.
DS: Well… would it be a bad thing to start by admitting I am a high school drop out? Yep, it’s true. I actually quit school to work with my father on constructing sets for Hollywood movies. While it sounded glamorous, the brutal truth is I was not really prepared for the tasks to which I was assigned as a member of my father’s crew. The word nepotism seemed to have escaped his vocabulary when I was routinely assigned to tasks such as pulling weeds from a hillside to make it more “photogenic” for the impending shoot. I recall I could have easily quit, but I said to myself “I will become the best damn weed-puller of all time.” Apparently, my dogged attitude and my pursuit of excellence struck a chord with the head of the crew and he began to entrust me with increasingly more important tasks. Eventually, I started driving the equipment from site to site.
After having worked on the road for a number of years (while building invaluable networking contacts in show business) I decided to wise up and go back to school. I ultimately graduated from UCLA’s Theater school in 1986.
BR: Tell our readers about Post No Bills as a company.
DS: I’d be honored! In 1987, I moved to New York City and started Post No Bills, Inc. with only $5,000 in seed money. The company was created to specialize in merchandising, marketing and product development. From ‘87 to ’91 we primarily focused on the music industry. The first client we bagged was RCA and the first sound track we promoted was for the movie Dirty Dancing. Our little company grew to a point where we were working with all the major record labels and became “the source” for promoting developing artists. Post No Bills has worked with a diversity of musicians from Miles Davis to Melissa Etheridge to a list that reads like the “Who’s Who of Contemporary Music”. Try U2, Bruce Hornsby, Buster Poindexter, Natalie Cole, Will Smith, Britney Spears, R. Kelly, the Back Street Boys and Avril Lavigne as artists on a professional resume. During those years in NYC, our work in the music industry caught the attention of corporate America and we began to do work for such prestigious firms as Phillip Morris and Merrill Lynch.
In early 1991 I moved to South Carolina to start a family and live a more laid back life style. I was absolutely sure that none of the businesses I had worked so hard to develop would follow me, but fortunately I was wrong. Our great clients hung in there, and we began to attract local corporate clients as well, including Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Michelin and the Red Cross.
1993 was a year of important change. Paramount Pictures sought out Post No Bills to promote their upcoming movie Milk Money. This project is one of the profiles highlighted in this article, but it’s important to note that Milk Money was the beginning of great projects to come. Since that time we have worked on literally hundreds of blockbuster movies including; First Wives Club, Indecent Proposal, Antz, Small Soldiers, Peacemaker, American Beauty, Almost Famous, Shrek, Chicken Run and Shark Tale.
Today DreamWorks and other Hollywood power brokers regularly count on Post No Bills to support their success. Our client list continues to be a “who’s who” in Hollywood including; DreamWorks, MGM (now Sony), TBS, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., Columbia/Tristar, Twentieth Century Fox, Time Warner Cable, Cartoon Network, TNT, MTV and many others.
It is important to note that while we have a definite core competency in the entertainment industry, our corporate accounts also continue to grow and develop with clients like Bridgestone, Dewar’s, BellSouth, Colonial Life, Wachovia, United Way and Nations Bank.
At this point I just consider myself to be unbelievably fortunate for being able to be on this amazing ride I am experiencing.
BR: Where did the name “Post No Bills” come from?
DS: I have been told one of my God given talents is seeing things more uniquely than other people. Many of us see the same things all the time. Most of us just walk on by. Some people take notice, but don’t take action. Some of us see opportunity and act upon our vision. This was the case with naming the company. I was standing in New York City looking around and kept seeing those spray painted signs that read “Post No Bills”. I figured “what the hell”… Just imagine all this free advertising if I actually decided to make that the name of my company?! The rest was history…
BR: Tell us about some of the awards you have received?
DS: The truth is we have accumulated numerous awards for our creative work and the results it has generated, however I am most proud of our Hollywood Key Art Award (which is like the Grammy’s or Emmy’s for the marketing industry). Our Collector’s Edition Elvis guitar packaging (which contained seventeen lost Elvis of the promotion and build interest to a peak. The simplest form of a sequential mailing is a puzzle, where you send one piece per week (or whatever time increment), and when the recipient receives the last piece they will then understand the complete story, or obtain the complete offer. A more complex version of this is something like the Shark Tale or Chicken Run promotions we did, which you can read more about in the project profiles part of this interview. Stimulate the Senses. That little element that is 3D and interactive can make a huge difference in how the product is received. Does it talk to you, does it light up, does it have a unique feel, is it scented or is it edible… and of course the marketing strategy team needs to determine how does the “sense” element tie into the overall theme of the campaign.
Make Them Feel Special. When the recipient is made to feel special the promotion is always better received because it connected at an emotional level. You can make someone feel special by personalizing the item(s) with their name. You can make it a “limited edition” or “collectors” item. Or you can incorporate a special offer that is only available to those who were personally selected to be receiving the promotion.
BR: How do you source your products and determine “what’s hip”?
DS: I probably spend more money than anyone else in this field on research. We are constantly researching new products, suppliers, packaging options, etc., and we have a full time person that does nothing but manage that information. I personally study color trends, new fabrics and new fashion trends. I have friends in retail who will show and tell what’s coming. And I subscribe to more fashion, entertainment and trade magazines than one person should be allowed. To develop cutting edge solutions you have to have a good grasp of what’s going on at the cutting edge.
BR: What do you see as the future of direct marketing?
DS: As a society we are all completely and totally overwhelmed with people trying to get our attention. There is so much research now that supports the growing trend of one-to-one (i.e. direct) marketing over a “mass” approach. I think there is no doubt that direct marketing will continue to grow in popularity amongst corporate marketers. The real question is what form those efforts will take. The logical answer would seem to be integrated strategies that tie the kind of work our company does today with technology. For example, using text messaging and e-mail marketing to reach a specific demographic / target audience, then getting them to take action in order to receive special gifts or exclusive offers. Those should be exciting concepts for marketers everywhere!
BR: What does the perfect client look like?
DS: Again, I consider myself very fortunate to be servicing the industries we service. It’s fun, creative and rewarding. I truly enjoy all the work we do and am grateful for the clients we have. One of the best examples I can give you though is DreamWorks. Let’s just put it this way… You have people whose approach is “what can you do for me”, then you have people like my clients at DreamWorks who say “what can I do for you to help you help me?” These are very different styles I’m sure you get my drift.
BR: Summary
Sullivan attributes her success to a simple set of ingredients; one part initiative, two parts energy, three parts passion, and four parts attention to detail. Its usually a little thing that makes the difference. Often times the detail components don’t add a lot of cost but they do add tremendous impact. At the end of the day its all about getting noticed. No matter how good your product or service is, if no one knows about it no one will be buying it. As “The Queen” would say, “Building their buzz builds their brands, which builds their bottom line! Every special promotion needs that intangible “cool factor” some way for your product to jump out and connect with the consumer over and above all of the clutter.”
As a special part of this unique interview, the next few pages will outline 10 Post No Bills promotions that were highly visible and highly successful. Check them out, and enjoy the unique insight. We hope they enable you to see what is possible and inspire you to stand out from the clutter when developing your marketing strategies.
10 TOP HOLLYWOOD Project Profiles
#1 MILK MONEY
This is where it all started for Post No Bills in the Movie industry. Back in 1993 Paramount called after seeing some of the work they had done in the music industry. They sent the script. It was a romantic comedy that would star Melanie Griffith and Ed Harris. The story is about a 12 year-old and his two buddies who save up their milk money and head into the city in search of a woman who will show them her private parts. After Griffith (a hooker) agrees to do so, a series of events occur in which the kids decide she would make a great step mom, so they proceed to play matchmaker for the 12-year-old’s dad.
In Hollywood at that point in time it was all about putting the movies key art (a.k.a. the movie poster art) on T-shirts. “I recall the studio wanted to have a T shirt produced to send out to the media as a pre-release gift, but they didn’t want to just do another T-shirt,” said Sullivan. So the PNB team determined that pack aging could be the key, and off they went to the Coburg dairy, an actual local working dairy farm. They convinced the factory to stop bottling production for an evening to produce authentic Milk Money milk containers that would have the T-shirts rolled up inside. “This was our first run at a true understanding just how important the packaging was,” said Sullivan. “We realized it gave us four big panels to print copy about the movie and the promotion. We also included about $0.35 worth of change in every package to tie into the name of the movie, but more importantly to tie in the ‘senses’. Recipients could hear the money jingling inside this sealed milk carton, which peaked their curiosity to open it up.” The entire promotion came in around $10 per recipient
#2 SHREK
To date, this has been one of PNB’s most identifiable promotions – The Shrek hand-held mirror. It is a solid pewter, light up, talking mirror that was developed to promote the first Shrek movie. DreamWorks requested we create a hand held talking mirror. “The challenge was they needed them quickly, so there was not enough time to have them manufactured overseas,” said Sullivan. “With our experience in product design and manufacturing we had it created in several components. The pewter was made in Rhode Island, the voice chip made in Hong Kong and the light was imported from China. Our fulfillment center then literally hand assembled and manufactured all of these elements in our warehouse. We even brought in special labor that knew electronics. The result is an absolute showstopper piece - one of those amazing products that you can look back on with great pride. When the recipient looked in the mirror the light would come on and a Shrek audio chip would say, “Mirror mirror on the wall –what summer movie will beat them all – Shrek – opening in theatres, May 2001”.
The original order was for only 2,500 pieces to be sent to the media in the U.S.. The response was so big that DreamWorks had 5,000 more produced to distribute to the International Press.
Interesting Facts:
• Did you know… Chris Farley was originally cast as Shrek and even recorded the dialogue. However, after his death, the role was given to fellow Saturday Night Live performer, Mike Myers.
• Jim Lange, the original host of the Dating Game, as well as Jimmy Fallon recorded the voice of the magic mirror. However, no one could top Chris Miller, a storyboard artist, whose voice was in the temp track.
• In Yiddish, Shrek means monster (from the German for terror or fright)
#3 SHARK TALE
Here at Brilliant Results, this is probably our favorite example of a creative sequential promotion (which is probably why it’s featured on our cover!). Whenever you have a layered or more complicated marketing message, sequential promotions allow the company several opportunities to “spoon feed” the information to the target audience. In this case, you have the biggest all-star cast ever to do an animated feature. Once the studio determined that to be one of the strong selling features, the PNB dream team went to work. The end result was this molded plastic carrying case shaped like the Lenny the shark character in the movie. When you open the case the inside reveals a set from the movie. Then each month the target audience (the media) would receive a figurine of a different character that was designed to be placed in the mini-movie-set case. “Once again, the packaging gave us six panels of space to explain the character and promote the upcoming launch,” said Sullivan. “This enabled us to take 12 months to introduce each element and character instead of trying to cram it all in their heads at one time. In addition, it built 12 months worth of suspense towards the opening, and in perfect S3 fashion it made the recipients feel very special to have received the limited edition, collectors set.”
#4 CHICKEN RUN
Another incredible S3 campaign! When you want your message to be top of mind, you want something that will sit on their desk for a long time. The ultra-creative Chicken Run promotion did exactly that! The Chicken Run promo is actually what hatched (pun intended) the idea for the Shark Tale piece. The concept included sending each recipient an actual egg carton that was custom printed with the movie logo (note to self… wonder if it was the same poor dairy farmer who allowed the PNB team to do milk cartons a dozen years earlier was the lucky guy who got to do custom egg cartons). Each month the recipients received a ceramic egg that adorned an image of one of the characters. Each individual egg showed up in box that was stamped “Fresh From Tweedy’s Farm, and was decorated with the films key art, and let me tell you… sending delicate ceramic eggs around the country one at a time is no small feat! At the end of the 12- month campaign, the recipient had a full set of the finest quality ceramic eggs that depicted the entire cast in a full egg carton. I can promise you that egg carton and its contents are still gracing the offices of some of the most powerful media moguls in the world today!
Side note: During the course of this campaign DreamWorks received a frantic call from Mel Gibson saying that someone had stolen one of the eggs out of his office and wanted to know if there was any way possible to get him a replacement. Since it was Mel… they obliged.
#5 EURO TRIP
OK, this one is a bit of a challenge to write, and is not intended for readers under the age of 18. The question; What do you do when the studio kicks out a movie about a bunch on young guys who take a summer trip to Europe with the single goal of having wild sex in every country? Alright, so perhaps the movie was described in a more “P.C.” way by reviewer Roland Zwick when he said “Euro Trip is a cheeky little sex farce that is far more endearing and amusing than it has any real right to be.” Think of this as basically “International Pie,” with four high school grads spending their final summer before college on a wild ride through Europe.
PNB’s mission, should they chose to accept it… promote this movie! Cover all the bases, and cover all the…well… you know where this is going…
The approach? Why 100,000 custom condoms of course! Given the circumstances, the custom packaging had incredible creative copy featuring tags like; • When in Paris, protect your oui, oui
• When in Italy, sleeve your salami
• When in Berlin, don’t let your weiner get schnitzeled
• When in London bag your banger
These uniquely packaged “love gloves” were distributed with postcards from all of the European hot spots. The post cards announced the release date and had other clever copies as well. The distribution approach was equally as creative using “street teams'' to give away the promotional packages at concerts, colleges, bars, etc. all throughout the country
#6. THE LOST VIDEOS
As Doreen Sullivan mentioned in the interview, this award-winning project is one she is quite proud of, and she should be. It won the Hollywood Key Art Award (which is like the Grammy’s or Emmy’s for the Hollywood marketing industry) actually beating out Disney’s Cinderella Packaging and the Star Wars Trilogy packaging. This life-size collector’s edition Elvis guitar case was the packaging for eighteen lost Elvis videos. Other unique features included a hidden pocket with never before seen photos of Elvis, and a folder made of crushed velvet from inside the case containing literature explaining the package and its contents. “MGM home video came to us wanting creative packaging,” said Sullivan. “We just tried to help them rise above the clutter.”
As is typical with PNB projects, no attention to detail was overlooked. Sullivan actually went to a real guitar case manufacturer to have them customize this product. Everything from the crushed velvet interior, to the brass closures and even the road decals on the case were all custom and authentic.
The piece was designed to create a package set that would not only generate a lot of media buzz to help promote sales, but to be a one of a kind collector’s item for the ultimate Elvis Fan. Each unit was consecutively numbered as only 5,000 were produced. The piece retailed for $350, and sold out. It can be difficult to put a specific dollar ROI to the intangible “cool” factor, but whenever you go there the result always seems to be powerful.
#7 ALMOST FAMOUS
As simple as it may appear on the surface, the design and copy on this project are absolutely brilliant! If you know anything about rock stars, fans and groupies in the 1970’s you’d know that a backstage pass was the ultimate accomplishment. The only thing better would be a key to the hotel room where the band was staying and the after party was likely going down. Hence, the beautiful simplicity of an “old-school” hotel key chain printed with the name of the movie and a tag line from PNB reading simply; Better than a backstage pass. We produced 30,000 of these that were used all summer long as elements of radio and theatre promotions and contests where the key could open a door to free tickets, backstage access at upcoming concerts, etc.
“We’ve worked so hard to build our creative services. A corporate buyer can go to an outside designer, but they usually don’t understand the intricacies and limitations of the merchandise and the imprinting processes so there can be a disconnect. They can create amazing art, but it’s no good if it can’t be used on the product. That’s the true meaning of being a one-stop shop.”
Inside fact: The roles of Russell Hammond and Penny Lane were originally set to go to Brad Pitt and Sarah Polley. Polley dropped out to work on her own project, and was replaced by Kate Hudson, who writer / director Cameron Crowe felt was more of a “free spirit.” Pitt, for whom Crowe had written the part of the “guitarist with mystique”, worked with Crowe for months before finally admitting, according to Crowe, “I just don’t get it enough to do it.”
#8 THE RING 2
This was a recent national launch to promote the new “Ring 2” movie. It included over 300,000 pieces of a cool little cell phone charm. Not only was the word “ring” a good tie to a cell phone, but also this was part of an integrated campaign that is in part the future of direct marketing - “Text 2 Win” promotions and on-line activity drivers.
The charms (attached to post cards) cost under $0.40 each and were distributed at college campuses and other places where the right demographic gathered for three months prior to the movie’s release. That put about 1/3 of a million “hang around reminders” on people’s phones. The powerful part however drove the recipients to the movie’s website where they could enter to win prizes ranging from free movie passes to promotional merchandise. This enabled the client to get in direct contact with the consumer, and according to Ad Week magazine, one of the major movements in advertising and marketing is getting directly to your consumers PDA or cell phone. In addition, it gave the studio a database of consumers to reach through their cell phones.
“This promotion is a good example of how technology is starting to tie-in,” said Sullivan. “It’s also cool to see corporate America picking up on Hollywood Glamour and techno style marketing like this. In today’s market place, Hollywood and corporate advertisers are looking to market one-to-one. Text 2 Win is one of many new ways that enables marketers to get personal and get direct.”
#9 THE BOURNE SUPREMACY
The fingerprint kit concept was derived from the defining twist in this thriller where Matt Damon’s character is framed for murder after his fingerprint is stolen.
“The goal here was authenticity,” said Sullivan. “We could have gotten a cheesy faux kit, but we went right to the FBI to learn what they actually use, and that’s what we got for the studio. Our objective was to generate pre-buzz press for the DVD release. Fortunately, in this case since the movie was already out we were able to see it rather than just read the script. This gave us better insight on the true defining moment that our media and DVD retailers would relate to.”
Our company has made a huge commitment to product research. I believe we have more resources than anyone in this industry. I have spent 18 years collecting information on resources for everything from feathers to remote control toys. Well-organized access to this information enables us to act quickly. In fact, when we pitched this particular idea to Universal Home Video we went in with it already mocked up.
#10 WALLACE & GROMIT
Last, but definitely not least – Wallace & Gromit. Let us begin with the basics Nick Park of Aardman: British clay animator extraordinaire and all-around brilliant chap. Wallace: The “Master”. A kindhearted but hapless inventor known for gently hair brained ideas. Gromit: The “Mind”. A long-suffering but intrepid dog whose facial expressions say it all. If you’re not already familiar with this hilarious duo, you will soon be thanks in part to efforts from PNB.
This cult classic is making its way to the big screen in October of this year and as they have done several times in the past, DreamWorks has turned to Post No Bills to start the buzz. “This project is really all about branding and creating awareness,” said Sullivan. One of the things I love about DreamWorks is their incredible vision to see the next big thing before it happens. Their objective was to connect this movie to the eminent dog craze that was about ready to happen this year. They launched the WandG brand of products for people and their pets at the Westminster Dog Show (which DreamWorks sponsored). They had a special green room setup for celebs and their dogs where they were treated to custom-made WandG apparel, belts, collars, etc.
“We are still in development for this line,” said Sullivan. However what’s been created so far is available for any one to purchase online at www.WandG.com, which PNB developed for DreamWorks. “All of this activity has created inquiries about custom, special order needs for celebs and their pets. We look at our clients in a broad scope. We take care of big needs and little needs too. Whatever it takes for the good of the end goal.”