Horror Of Horrors

Twiblight on my Life (Rimshot Optional)

Confession: I hate Twilight.  I hate everything about it – the books, the movies, the neverending hype.  To be fair, I haven’t bothered to read any of the five books in author Stephenie Meyer’s wildly popular literary saga, and I’ve only seen the films (Twilight and its recently released sequel, New Moon, for those counting at home) under considerable duress, so I’m hardly qualified to pass judgment on those fans who venture outside in their Team Edward t-shirts.  (Yes, you; I know you’re out there.  I’ve seen you wandering the mall with my own two eyes.)

Luckily, armchair critics near and far have dedicated themselves to the cause and done what I would not, diving into the novels, enduring a combined 251 (yes, I said 251) minutes of film, and chalking up the series’ astounding success to factors as obvious as actor Rob Pattinson’s devastating good looks (those eyes! that hair!) and as creative as the collective desire of women to sleep with gay men.  (Well, it is Esquire, after all.)

Twilight and the Kids These Days …

With all due respect, I just don’t care.  I don’t care about our heroine Bella’s choice between a moody centenarian vampire in a thick coat of pancake makeup from some day-after-Halloween clearance bin and a perpetually shirtless werewolf with an unexplained penchant for denim cutoffs.  (Of the many, many problems I have with Meyer’s character development, this sartorial preference might be the most troubling.)  I don’t care if a minor character’s hairstyle is sufficiently gamine in the eyes of Twilight’s pickiest devotees.  I don’t care if the films’ surly-looking stars are getting married, having children, or showering daily.  What I do care about is the total and complete media blitz staged by Twilight/New Moon distributor Summit Entertainment and how it allowed the film to take over my November.  (It’s about priorities, friends.)

Unsurprisingly, much of New Moon’s promotional campaign was waged in the tried-and-true fashion we’ve come to expect from today’s cinematic juggernauts.  New Moon TV trailers during every commercial break?  Check.  Official Myspace profile, Facebook page, and Twitter account?  Check.  Interactive gaming tie-ins?  Check.  Licensed product merchandise?  Check, check, check.  (Those Team Edward shirts have to come from somewhere, you know.)  Time-honored union of junk food and junk programming?  Check, courtesy of Burger King.

But New Moon’s marketing team didn’t stop there.  In an effort to reach a target audience that seems more wired with each passing day, the film’s promoters partnered with AT&T and 2ergo to launch a website with downloadable New Moon content, including wallpapers, ringtones, soundtrack selections, and games.  What’s more, AT&T and popular t(w)een retailer Hot Topic joined forces to promote a mobile-driven contest to send one AT&T customer to Italy, a location central to New Moon’s narrative.  (Yes, I hate myself for knowing that; thanks for asking.)

All that marketing?  Fine by me.  It was fun, it was well-targeted, and it was largely avoidable.  I did not see the world premiere of the New Moon trailer that launched a thousand screams because I did not watch the MTV Movie Awards during which it aired.  I did not find myself face-to-face with a lifesize Rob Pattinson cut-out because I did not venture into those stores selling cardboard Edward Cullens.  I was not trampled by a stampede of preteen girls because I did not show up at Hot Topic shop for a promotional appearance by said cutout’s human counterpart.  I’m too old for MTV awards shows, too old for Hot Topic, and by the transitive property of Twihard mania, too old for underage vampires who sparkle in the sunlight.  I’d aged out of the Twilight/New Moon target audience before it even existed.

Of Volvo Cars and Twilight Moms …

The Horror Continues

And yet I hadn’t!  Auto manufacturer Volvo chose to capitalize on the highly conspicuous inclusion of their vehicles in both films by launching its own New Moon-themed website as part of a social media-driven (pun unabashedly intended) contest to win a featured car, tickets to the movie’s Los Angeles premiere, and a visit with various actors.

If you think this all sounds rather familiar, you’d be correct.  Though the contest prizes and specifics may have differed, both AT&T/Hot Topic and Volvo sponsored online sweepstakes marketed toward New Moon’s mobile-focused fans.  The obvious difference is that AT&T teamed up with a teen-oriented retailer with a demonstrated ability to market inexpensive Twilight merchandise, while Volvo’s introduction to the Twilight crowd came through some free product placement in the original film.  Given that the majority of Hot Topic’s clientele cannot drive, let alone shell out thirty-odd thousand dollars for a new vehicle, there is little doubt who Summit and Volvo were targeting – something brand consultant Lucian James acknowledged in a recent AdWeek piece:

Presumably with Twilight being a tween girl franchise, they [were] hoping that the message might be picked up by moms to use the Volvo to take their adolescent little vampires to soccer practice.

Unlike Summit’s promotional partnerships with Burger King, AT&T, and Hot Topic, the collaboration with Volvo incurred its fair share of skepticism.  Just ask AdFreak blogger Rebecca Cullers:

The rationale is that Volvo keeps you safe, and vampires keep you safe …. And how does Edward keep you safe? Well, he cares enough to drive a car meant for middle-aged women …. I wish Volvo (and agencies Euro RSCG 4D and Arnold) lots of luck in their attempt to convince moms to make major purchases based on the lust-crazed whims of their teenage daughters.

Despite the criticism, there are many who believe the strategy was an effective one because – not in spite of – its apparent focus on middle-aged mothers indulging their Robsessed (yes, it is a word) daughters for 120+ minutes.

Many a trend piece has been written on the emergence of the “Twilight mom“, but it wasn’t until Summit partnered with Volvo that New Moon’s marketers seemed to identify older women as a separate target audience unto itself rather than a group of “collateral” fans chauffeuring their preteen daughters to the theaters.  Less than one month removed from the film’s opening, it is still too soon to measure the success of Volvo’s “Twilight mom” gamble, but I have a hard time believing the company’s auto sales will spike on the basis of a couple forgettable road scenes.  Bullitt, this was not.

… and Dads?  Brothers?  Boyfriends?

Despite the New Moon team’s sudden interests in the olds, male fans of any age remained noticeably absent from Summit’s various promotions.  This did not escape director Chris Weitz, who made no secret of his desire to broaden the film’s fan base in an interview from last month:

You’ve got the werewolves coming in … and the effects are going to be great on that part of the movie. Also, there’s more fighting and that should appeal to the boys. There is also a male character, Jacob, who is inherently a more viable character for most boys because he’s like an ordinary guy …. [We] do hope to up the male demographic!

Weitz’s CGI-and-werewolf-fights moviemaking may make sense when it comes to attracting action-hungry “boys”, but what about rounding out the demographic pie chart and attracting that elusive 25+ male demographic?

It would seem Summit opted to fire on all televised cylinders and throw its remaining media dollars into some male-friendly sports programming (including that most sacred and inviolable of weekly rituals, Monday Night Football), virtually guaranteeing those ubiquitous TV trailers could be viewed on MTV and ESPN alike.  While I do not watch MTV and cannot speak for those viewers who’ve cultivated more interesting late-night social lives than I have, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what ESPN’s typical 11 PM audience looks like, and it isn’t this.

Summit may have been targeting a distinct contingent of extraordinarily patient (or extraordinarily guilty) dads, brothers, husbands, and/or boyfriends, or it may have gotten lazy and thrown some cash toward the last remaining demographic, strategy be damned.  Either way, it’s hard to believe any New Moon marketer was willing to bet on a MNF viewer turning off his (or her) TV after another Cleveland Browns loss to sit down and pound out the next chapter in his/her Twilight fanfiction saga.

A quick glance at the age-and-gender breakdown of New Moon’s IMDb ratings confirms the obvious.  Despite Weitz’s best attempts to ramp up his film’s masculine appeal and Summit’s decision to extend its TV advertising to decidedly male-friendly programming, it would seem teenage boys just aren’t that into epic vampire love stories.

The jury may still be out when it comes to Twilight moms, but it doesn’t look like Twilight males (regardless of age) will be joining in anytime soon.

New Moon Won the Weekend …

But will it win the year?

To the surprise of absolutely no one, New Moon scored big at the box office, pulling in more than $275 million in the U.S. alone in the month since it opened.  Given the outright fanaticism of the series’ devotees, it’s difficult to gauge the extent to which Summit’s extensive marketing campaign drove ticket (and merchandise) sales – and vice versa.

Furthermore, it’s debatable whether the  “blanket” nature of the promotional campaign (Hot Topic to Volvo to ESPN) proved to be a wise extension of the Twilight phenomenon to previously overlooked target audiences or a waste of marketing dollars on a largely uninterested demographic.

Perhaps the most telling evidence of the New Moon campaign’s success will come with Summit’s promotion of Eclipse, the third film in the series.  If the success of the first two films is any indication, the Twilight media domination should start back up again in time for the movie’s June 30th release date, meaning more ads, more posters, more glow-in-the-dark t-shirts, more sweepstakes, and more product tie-ins.  (Hey, if it worked for Volvo …)

And if synergistic promotions prove financially disappointing as ticket sales taper off and cultural obsessions ebb and flow?  At least we’ll know where to procure some discounted life-size RPattz Barbie dolls.

Popularity: 47% [?]