Lionsgate and Starbucks get educated
INDIE FILM GUIDE: Brews marketing campaign for Akeelah
By Cindy Spielvogel -- Video Business, 6/26/2006
JUNE 28 | Despite urns full of promotion from co-producer Starbucks, Lionsgate’s spring release of Akeelah and the Bee grossed just $17.1 million in theaters. Yet some parts of the marketing strategy being brewed for the DVD will be similar to the theatrical campaign.
Essay contests will help get the word out about Akeelah and the Bee.
Box-office gross is a relative thing, suggests Anne Parducci, executive VP of family entertainment and marketing for Lionsgate. Perhaps the film did outperform what it normally would have done without promotion in the nationwide coffee establishments. Without Starbucks, would the film have grossed even less? Or would it have grossed more if it had been marketed differently? “I don’t think we can ever know,” Parducci says.
What Parducci does know is that Starbucks’ participation resulted in a “classy presentation” for the film, and coffee stores also will draw attention to the film’s release on DVD. DVD boxes and promotional material in thousands of Starbucks stores “will be more impactful than the theatrical release” in creating awareness for the title, she says. “Some people go to Starbucks every single day. It will create huge awareness for the DVD.”
Akeelah and the Bee will be available on DVD in Starbucks and other retail outlets on the same day, Aug. 29 (prebook Aug. 2; $28.98), supported by signage and circulars. The timing positions the DVD as a back-to-school release, which Parducci notes is fitting considering the spelling bee subject matter.
The theatrical release was supported by various education and spelling-related promotions, and that theme will continue with the DVD marketing.
For the movie’s disc launch, Starbucks, Lionsgate and America Scores are offering a writing contest for children ages 8 to 12. America Scores is an organization that promotes literacy in urban neighborhoods. The contest will build on the movie’s “Changing the World One Word at a Time” theme. Kids will be asked to write an essay that answers the question, “What would you do to change the world?” for a chance to win an educational savings bond.
And to further build on the educational theme from the theatrical promotion, prizes from contests that accompanied the theatrical run will be awarded just before the DVD release, with the hope of creating more awareness.
Last May, a promotion from theater operator AMC Entertainment and Lionsgate offered a free ticket to teachers to see Akeelah and the Bee in an AMC theater. Additionally, Lionsgate ran a “Bee the Change in Your Community” essay contest in conjunction with Youth Services America, and the winner of the contest’s $1,000 grant will be announced around the time of the DVD release.
In another promotion, “Bee Supportive of Your School,” schools competed to win a $100,000 grand prize for the school that submitted the most ticket stubs from the theatrical release. The winning school also will be announced around the time of the DVD release.
The DVD marketing campaign will include print, TV, radio and Web outreach in addition to the essay contest.
Whether or not the additional Starbucks marketing gives the DVD a jolt in sales, if nothing else, the campaign should nurture a budding writer.
