How to Market the Incredible Hulk???

[antsiou]

Hey,

as all of you folks can read here and there, the Hype is growing bigger for the MArvel Movies....

Iron Man shares most of the spotlights for now (in accordance to the filming which has started earlier and finished now)
but the Incredible Hulk is not far behind...

not far, not far, well it's a matter of perspective...
As the hype and buzz is going strong with Favreau on Iron Man (myspace page + group, teaser ironworks website, design revelaed, cast official pictures, etc etc)
there's not much for us to see beside a possible "official teaser poster"

So what are the marketing Boys up to?
I know it's quite early in the process, but yet, Robert Sanchez at IESB
(click here for the full article) expresses some fear that I would share...

What Has Happened to Universal?
Written by Robert Sanchez
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Universal has one of the worst marketing and publicity departments in the entire industry quickly followed by The Weinstein’s but lets talk about Universal today.
[...........]
It’s sad actually that this studio was the one that “Monsters Built” back in the day, but in the last decade has delivered some of the worst pictures and mishandled its good ones but all to the same result, Universal is the laughing stock of Hollywood.
The next 12 to 18 months are going to be a challenge for the troubled studio, they have a few large “genre” films in the pipeline including Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Wanted, Mummy 3, The Birds, The Wolf Man and some how convinced Marvel to let them distribute The Incredible Hulk after their horrible handling of the first film. I am sure blackmail was involved there somewhere.....[............]Advice to our friends who are producing Hellboy 2 and the Incredible Hulk with Universal, Mike Richardson, Lawrence Gordon, Señor Guillermo del Toro, Kevin Feige and Avi Arad, please take control of the marketing and publicity of these film as soon as possible before all your work and efforts go down the drain and in the case of Marvel, your money. I don’t expect you to take my word for it, simply look at their track record, it speaks for itself.

I've always kinda blame the under-performance of the Hulk (ang lee) due to wrong marketing decision...
people weren't expecting what they got....
some self reference now

From this thread

06-20-2007, 02:34 PM #128
antsiou

2 hours of brainless action doesn't really fits my standards for "good time""good movie"
The HULK as I always said, was totally mis-marketed.
More than the flaws of the movie itself, it's the management of expectations that hit the movie so much...IMO
Sell the Hulk as what it is, a take on the duality of man, and you get plenty for your money

So what do you guys think?

Should Marvel manage the advertising themselves???
Do you think UNiversal can do the green goliath justice and market him properly?
What about making a special deal with Fox, most of their movies sucks (pun intended) but they sure know how to market one ???

 

[blind_fury]

Do what Zach Snyder did.

Capture the imaginations of the general public with a mind-blowing trailer and oversaturate the internet with clever advertising and viral marketing campaigns.

and yes Marvel should handle a good chunk of the advertising themselves.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

I agree. The movie was marketed as something it wasn't. People will see something even if it wasn't what they wanted as long as you're honest.

Bana and Connelly not having chemistry didn't help

I have been racking my brains about this honestly. It's a sequel that doesn't look like a sequel. How the hell do you market that? The reviewers are going to call it a sequel so people will know. You're best bet is just to embrace it and honestly have the actors say so in the interviews. "We are moving away from the psychological aspect to the action aspect of the character." Just bite the bullet and hope for a BB type of good WOM. It will have a small opening weekend.

I still believe 300 only succeeded because it looked like nothing on screen before it. Better historical epics, with better star power, have failed miserably.

 

[Sava]

not like the first one, they really f**ked up the first movie, i hope Marvel can control the trailers and all that stuff

 

[antsiou]

here's the Trailer


Easy to find why it has let down so many people....
For 2 minutes we get a short of all the Bangs of the movie....
and they also say (approx 1.51")
"Don't just Get even...................... Get MAD....................and unleashed the Hero within.........."


Well Hulk escaping a bunker, destroying San francisco, weren't much Heroic feats....

ok he saved Betty from the dogs...


My point,
the trailer was nothing like the movie, or anyway, gives a false view of what the movie really was...

We need some Honesty as well as making people Expect things....

 

[TheComicbookKid]

I just don't know. FF2's performance should give Marvel an indication of what to expect from the Hulk.

 

[antsiou]

I just don't know. FF2's performance should give Marvel an indication of what to expect from the Hulk.

Yep, that was one of the High point of FF2, the marketing team at Fox did a hell of a job to promote the movie....

Same can be said for Ghost Rider.....

And yet the movie weren't great (ff2 very enjoyable, GR just enough not to be plain bad)....

If now we get a great movie+ great marketing.... Bingo

 

[EmeraldBeast]

Yep, that was one of the High point of FF2, the marketing team at Fox did a hell of a job to promote the movie....

Same can be said for Ghost Rider.....

And yet the movie weren't great (ff2 very enjoyable, GR just enough not to be plain bad)....

If now we get a great movie+ great marketing.... Bingo

Look at how the transformers is being handled. Besides the tv spots, the trailers are well edited and revealed just enough to warrant an OMG response. To boot, this movie will rock the summer until thanksgiving. Lets hope Marvel sees all of this and takes more control of marketing their own product/character/franchise.

 

[Obi-Ron]

here's the Trailer

What a great trailer. Certainly makes the movie look more exciting than it eventually turned out.

They should have included them all on the DVD!

 

[antsiou]

I think, they need to get the "INCREDIBLE" part of the title, totally right...
INCREDIBLE FEATS
INCREDIBLE DESIGN
INCREDIBLE TEASER
INCREDIBLE ACTION
INCREDIBLE WOW factor....

But how turning this out?

Any ideas welcome, maybe somebody from the Marketing Dept will read us and use some of the ideas (and take the credit for it, but it's fine if it helps the movie t

 

[antsiou]

How about creating the "rampage" through advertising??

I like that done for the 1st one, even though that wsa more like a one off

 

[Ahura Mazda]

If it is an action flick then the trailer will have no problems portraying it as one. If it is not, the trailers will be portaying it as an action flick and the marketing may be a miss. At the end of the day, nothing is being done currently and the public is quite unaware of this movie being made. All we can hope as we get closer more is done and excitement is created. The first test will be to see whether we get a teaser anytime soon.

 

[antsiou]

If it is an action flick then the trailer will have no problems portraying it as one. If it is not, the trailers will be portaying it as an action flick and the marketing may be a miss. At the end of the day, nothing is being done currently and the public is quite unaware of this movie being made. All we can hope as we get closer more is done and excitement is created. The first test will be to see whether we get a teaser anytime soon.

True i can't wait for the teaser (and trailer a bit later of course)...
I really liked the teaser for The Hulk (bathroom scene) and not so much the trailer..
Actually it's wrong, i liked it, but it gives a false idea of what the film really was...

Anyway, I hope they'll show from the trailer/teaser what the movie will be, and that marketing around that will be creative...

I'm sure there's plenty of us out there ready to throw their Mental ideas for the movie to rock

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

The trailer had nothing to do with the first movie's failure at the boxoffice. Believe it or not most people disliked the movie and told their friends not to bother. The huge drops followed, unlike Superman Hulk isn't popular enough to get over a lame film and have decent legs and gross a still low 200mil. To sum it up Hulk not popular enough to blow, Hulk's legs were gonna suffer big time if it blew and suffer Hulk's legs did.

The second movie is going to bomb because so many people didn't like the first one. Hell TombRaider had some pretty decent legs and the second one dropped off huge because people didn't like the movie, you just couldn't keep them from seeing it because it was a TombRaider movie. If your sequel drops 50% or over your franchise is screwed. I predict that to happen to the Hulk sequel.

 

[Sava]

The trailer had nothing to do with the first movie's failure at the boxoffice. Believe it or not most people disliked the movie and told their friends not to bother. The huge drops followed, unlike Superman Hulk isn't popular enough to get over a lame film and have decent legs and gross a still low 200mil. To sum it up Hulk not popular enough to blow, Hulk's legs were gonna suffer big time if it blew and suffer Hulk's legs did.

The second movie is going to bomb because so many people didn't like the first one. Hell TombRaider had some pretty decent legs and the second one dropped off huge because people didn't like the movie, you just couldn't keep them from seeing it because it was a TombRaider movie. If your sequel drops 50% or over your franchise is screwed. I predict that to happen to the Hulk sequel.

I SEE SPIDEY...always looking on the bright side of things

 

[Golgo-13]

My ONLY fear with this movie is that they make it TTTOOOOOO kiddy friendly.

 

[YJ1]

If your sequel drops 50% or over your franchise is screwed. I predict that to happen to the Hulk sequel.

That happens to just about every action franchise nowadays.

Part of the reason why Marvel got the rights back to Hulk early was the deal they cut with Universal to distribute. If not, Hulk would be part of the Paramount package. Marvel will handle the marketing ideas.

The first Hulk did most things wrong, including producing a poorly paced film in the first place. Showing an extra cartoonish Hulk ahead of schedule attached to the Superbowl was mistake one. "Angry Shrek" as he was called turned a lot of people off. A dull and plodding movie with poor word of mouth did the rest. Still, even having done most everything wrong, Hulk made decent to good money. Imagine them doing things right with better CGI? Transformers is one dumb film but they sure got a lot of crazy CGI out of a $150 million budget. Great cast, great character and advanced CGI means it's all up to Marvel to connect the dots and deliver the goods. I'm VERY confident that they will.

 

[antsiou]

That happens to just about every action franchise nowadays.

Part of the reason why Marvel got the rights back to Hulk early was the deal they cut with Universal to distribute. If not, Hulk would be part of the Paramount package. Marvel will handle the marketing ideas.

The first Hulk did most things wrong, including producing a poorly paced film in the first place. Showing an extra cartoonish Hulk ahead of schedule attached to the Superbowl was mistake one. "Angry Shrek" as he was called turned a lot of people off. A dull and plodding movie with poor word of mouth did the rest. Still, even having done most everything wrong, Hulk made decent to good money. Imagine them doing things right with better CGI? Transformers is one dumb film but they sure got a lot of crazy CGI out of a $150 million budget. Great cast, great character and advanced CGI means it's all up to Marvel to connect the dots and deliver the goods. I'm VERY confident that they will.

I would had "GREAT STORY" too.
If you want the Hulk to survive as a film, it needs to be a good movie, a good Story...

 

[TheComicbookKid]

Look at how the transformers is being handled. Besides the tv spots, the trailers are well edited and revealed just enough to warrant an OMG response. To boot, this movie will rock the summer until thanksgiving. Lets hope Marvel sees all of this and takes more control of marketing their own product/character/franchise.

Yeah, but the Hulk has lost the OMG response because people have seen it.

 

[YJ1]

I would had "GREAT STORY" too.
If you want the Hulk to survive as a film, it needs to be a good movie, a good Story...

So true. That's what I meant by it's up to Marvel now. The story is the crucial thing. They have EVERYTHING else going for them. FF had the same advantage and managed to falter. Marvel being fully in charge gives me confidence. Fox execs never understood the FF characters. Marvel is a different story altogether.

 

[antsiou]

Well I hope that too..
but we have to remember that it's "with Iron Man" the 1st Marvel Studio own production, and as every first things, mistakes will happens...

I'm just trying to keep my expectations not too high, so I'll enjoy even more the "SMASH" i'll get

And it's in their best interest if they want to get the big bucks out of their characters...

And I want some kick ass marketing too

 

[antsiou]

I want more of this coming around for the incredible hulk....
some Real size marketing stuff showing how "bigger than life" hulk is

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

That happens to just about every action franchise nowadays.

Part of the reason why Marvel got the rights back to Hulk early was the deal they cut with Universal to distribute. If not, Hulk would be part of the Paramount package. Marvel will handle the marketing ideas.

The first Hulk did most things wrong, including producing a poorly paced film in the first place. Showing an extra cartoonish Hulk ahead of schedule attached to the Superbowl was mistake one. "Angry Shrek" as he was called turned a lot of people off. A dull and plodding movie with poor word of mouth did the rest. Still, even having done most everything wrong, Hulk made decent to good money. Imagine them doing things right with better CGI? Transformers is one dumb film but they sure got a lot of crazy CGI out of a $150 million budget. Great cast, great character and advanced CGI means it's all up to Marvel to connect the dots and deliver the goods. I'm VERY confident that they will.

Uh not true, Despite Pirates 3, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek 3's so-called disappointing boxoffice the 3rd movies have not dropped 50% from their second films. Pirates and Shrek will end with a 25 to 29% drop from their second ones and Spidey 3 with about a 9% one. So you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Yeah, but the Hulk has lost the OMG response because people have seen it.

True. Thats why I feel universal blew it so much, people have already seen him on screen he doesn't have that advantage anymore.

 

[Golgo-13]

I want more of this coming around for the incredible hulk....
some Real size marketing stuff showing how "bigger than life" hulk is

Anytime i see pics of Angs Hulk it makes me weep.