Selling 'Narnia'
Disney Is Targeting Many Niche Audiences,
Taking Grass-Roots Marketing to a New Level
By MERISSA MARR
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 25, 2005; Page B1
At the Camp David Gonzalez juvenile detention center in Calabasas, Calif., last week, a class of teenagers enacted a mock trial of Edmund, a character in the new movie version of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." A heated debate ensued, tackling such topics as whether the young boy betrayed his family in the fantasy tale.
The trial was part of a program of "Narnia" activities the Los Angeles County Probation Department put together for its juvenile centers as a tie-in to the movie. In addition to reading the book, exercises included making crumpets in cooking class and recreating the movie sets in construction class. The grand finale: seeing the movie after it comes out on Dec. 9.
Such projects have been central to a campaign that is taking grass-roots marketing of movies to a new level. Walt Disney Co. and its "Narnia" partner, Walden Media, have reached out to a panoply of special-interest groups, from the Coast Guard Youth Academy to Ronald McDonald House, wooing them with invitations to glitzy presentations on the studio lot and lavishing them with posters, snow globes and other promotional gear.
Last year, "The Passion of the Christ" gave Hollywood a taste of how lucrative it can be to capture a single niche audience when Mel Gibson went church to church to win over Christians. Now Disney is taking that model and applying it to multiple niches -- hoping that it will add up to one gigantic whole.
"We're not going after any audience we haven't gone after before," says Oren Aviv, Disney's head of movie marketing. "The difference is that this is the first project [where] we've gone after all of them at the same time."
The sprawling effort comes as Hollywood's traditional blowout marketing tools have started to lose steam. Hollywood has long relied on a fail-safe formula to sell its movies: throw millions of dollars into mass TV campaigns to blitz as wide an audience as possible. "Narnia" isn't going to stint on advertising. But as the networks lose viewers to cable TV, videogames and other rivals, that approach is losing its clout.
When Walden and Disney first sat down to plot their marketing strategy for the effects-heavy $150 million movie, they pulled a variety of themes from the storyline to build their campaign around. These included the World War II historical backdrop, the religious references of the characters, the fantasy element of the story and such themes as loyalty, courage, good-versus-evil and the importance of family.
The plan started with schools. Before they even got to work on a script, Walden's top executives were attending conferences to canvass teachers and librarians about how they might use the story for educational purposes. The movie producers' goal: to get kids to read C.S. Lewis's book and then go with their classmates to see the movie.
Walden, which is backed by financier Philip Anschutz, and Disney say they have sent out "Narnia" materials to every elementary and middle school in America. That includes posters, educational guides and more than 90,000 copies of the novel. The guides include suggested lesson plans for teachers on topics ranging from the Blitz to the art of writing music lyrics.
"Teachers have even been using the book to teach about the aftermath of Katrina." says Michael Flaherty, the co-founder and president of Walden, which highlights education as part of its mission as a movie company. He adds that schools in Britain and other English-speaking territories have also been targeted.
Next was libraries. Disney and Walden have replaced worn copies of the novel in 200 locations. They also encouraged librarians to hold their own "Narnia" events and provided elaborate displays in the shape of a wardrobe. For instance, the Fayetteville, Ark., public library, recently hosted a Narnia day, urging readers to drop by in costume and offering educational guides to both teachers and home-school parents.
Walden and Disney worked closely with Harper Collins, the book's publisher, on the campaign. The publisher is printing 19 new versions of the novel to coincide with the movie, including activity books with glitter pens and magnets, and a classic edition featuring images from the movie. (Since "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was first published in 1950, the series has sold more than 95 million copies.)
One of the biggest challenges was how to deal with the Christian fan base. With its strong religious overtones and the Christlike character Aslan, Christians were an obvious niche for "Narnia." The dilemma was how to lure Christians without turning off moviegoers who have no interest in the religious symbolism of the tale. At the same time, Disney couldn't afford to upset the powerful Christian fan base.
In the end, Disney played it safe. Echoing the "Passion" campaign, it signed up consultants to target churches and went on a campaign to convince Christians that it had produced a faithful adaptation. Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis's stepson and a co-producer of the movie, was particularly active on the Christian circuit, giving readings around the country.
Disney stresses that targeting Christians is only a 5% slice of the broader grassroots campaign it is mounting. Indeed, its efforts in the Christian community appear in part aimed at confining the religious debate, rather than fanning it.
Among other niche groups in the movie companies' sights: Hispanic audiences, whom Disney thinks will relate strongly to the theme of family loyalty. To get them, it has pitched groups like the Spanish-speaking child-care agency Para Los Niños. Another target: military groups and the military itself, playing off family anxieties when a father goes off to war.
For those and many other special interest groups, the filmmakers have given sneak peaks of the movie and discussed behind-the-scenes tales in presentations on the Disney lot and around the country. At one recent presentation, Disney hosted groups that included the American Legion; the Boy and Girl Scouts; the YMCA and Operation Read.
Disney isn't leaving anything to chance. It's backing up its grassroots campaign with other efforts, such as recruiting a slew of promotional partners who will bring in marketing efforts that Disney values at around $150 million. It is also targeting kids and families at malls with elaborate exhibits that include clips from the movie and recreated scenes that sprinkle visitors with fake snow.
"Disney is spending a lot of money marketing this movie," says Mr. Gresham. "The movie will appeal to anyone between four and 104."
Disney has a lot riding on the marketing plan: "Narnia" is one of four movies (the others are "Chicken Little," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "Cars") that the studio is betting on to recover from a disastrous fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 1 with a $313 million loss.
The grassroots approach does present challenges. To succeed, Disney must keep a happy balance between each of the constituent groups. If, for instance, it puts too much emphasis on the Christian effort, it could end up alienating others.
But if it gets this one right, there's always the promise of more movies down the line. After all, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is just one of seven books in a series that Walden has the rights to adapt. Walden says it originally had an 18-year franchise plan in mind. "This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the world of Narnia," says Deborah Kovacs, Walden Media's vice president for publishing.
Write to Merissa Marr at merissa.marr@wsj.com
Disney Is Targeting Many Niche Audiences,
Taking Grass-Roots Marketing to a New Level
By MERISSA MARR
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 25, 2005; Page B1
At the Camp David Gonzalez juvenile detention center in Calabasas, Calif., last week, a class of teenagers enacted a mock trial of Edmund, a character in the new movie version of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." A heated debate ensued, tackling such topics as whether the young boy betrayed his family in the fantasy tale.
The trial was part of a program of "Narnia" activities the Los Angeles County Probation Department put together for its juvenile centers as a tie-in to the movie. In addition to reading the book, exercises included making crumpets in cooking class and recreating the movie sets in construction class. The grand finale: seeing the movie after it comes out on Dec. 9.
Such projects have been central to a campaign that is taking grass-roots marketing of movies to a new level. Walt Disney Co. and its "Narnia" partner, Walden Media, have reached out to a panoply of special-interest groups, from the Coast Guard Youth Academy to Ronald McDonald House, wooing them with invitations to glitzy presentations on the studio lot and lavishing them with posters, snow globes and other promotional gear.
Last year, "The Passion of the Christ" gave Hollywood a taste of how lucrative it can be to capture a single niche audience when Mel Gibson went church to church to win over Christians. Now Disney is taking that model and applying it to multiple niches -- hoping that it will add up to one gigantic whole.
"We're not going after any audience we haven't gone after before," says Oren Aviv, Disney's head of movie marketing. "The difference is that this is the first project [where] we've gone after all of them at the same time."
The sprawling effort comes as Hollywood's traditional blowout marketing tools have started to lose steam. Hollywood has long relied on a fail-safe formula to sell its movies: throw millions of dollars into mass TV campaigns to blitz as wide an audience as possible. "Narnia" isn't going to stint on advertising. But as the networks lose viewers to cable TV, videogames and other rivals, that approach is losing its clout.
When Walden and Disney first sat down to plot their marketing strategy for the effects-heavy $150 million movie, they pulled a variety of themes from the storyline to build their campaign around. These included the World War II historical backdrop, the religious references of the characters, the fantasy element of the story and such themes as loyalty, courage, good-versus-evil and the importance of family.
The plan started with schools. Before they even got to work on a script, Walden's top executives were attending conferences to canvass teachers and librarians about how they might use the story for educational purposes. The movie producers' goal: to get kids to read C.S. Lewis's book and then go with their classmates to see the movie.
Walden, which is backed by financier Philip Anschutz, and Disney say they have sent out "Narnia" materials to every elementary and middle school in America. That includes posters, educational guides and more than 90,000 copies of the novel. The guides include suggested lesson plans for teachers on topics ranging from the Blitz to the art of writing music lyrics.
"Teachers have even been using the book to teach about the aftermath of Katrina." says Michael Flaherty, the co-founder and president of Walden, which highlights education as part of its mission as a movie company. He adds that schools in Britain and other English-speaking territories have also been targeted.
Next was libraries. Disney and Walden have replaced worn copies of the novel in 200 locations. They also encouraged librarians to hold their own "Narnia" events and provided elaborate displays in the shape of a wardrobe. For instance, the Fayetteville, Ark., public library, recently hosted a Narnia day, urging readers to drop by in costume and offering educational guides to both teachers and home-school parents.
Walden and Disney worked closely with Harper Collins, the book's publisher, on the campaign. The publisher is printing 19 new versions of the novel to coincide with the movie, including activity books with glitter pens and magnets, and a classic edition featuring images from the movie. (Since "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was first published in 1950, the series has sold more than 95 million copies.)
One of the biggest challenges was how to deal with the Christian fan base. With its strong religious overtones and the Christlike character Aslan, Christians were an obvious niche for "Narnia." The dilemma was how to lure Christians without turning off moviegoers who have no interest in the religious symbolism of the tale. At the same time, Disney couldn't afford to upset the powerful Christian fan base.
In the end, Disney played it safe. Echoing the "Passion" campaign, it signed up consultants to target churches and went on a campaign to convince Christians that it had produced a faithful adaptation. Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis's stepson and a co-producer of the movie, was particularly active on the Christian circuit, giving readings around the country.
Disney stresses that targeting Christians is only a 5% slice of the broader grassroots campaign it is mounting. Indeed, its efforts in the Christian community appear in part aimed at confining the religious debate, rather than fanning it.
Among other niche groups in the movie companies' sights: Hispanic audiences, whom Disney thinks will relate strongly to the theme of family loyalty. To get them, it has pitched groups like the Spanish-speaking child-care agency Para Los Niños. Another target: military groups and the military itself, playing off family anxieties when a father goes off to war.
For those and many other special interest groups, the filmmakers have given sneak peaks of the movie and discussed behind-the-scenes tales in presentations on the Disney lot and around the country. At one recent presentation, Disney hosted groups that included the American Legion; the Boy and Girl Scouts; the YMCA and Operation Read.
Disney isn't leaving anything to chance. It's backing up its grassroots campaign with other efforts, such as recruiting a slew of promotional partners who will bring in marketing efforts that Disney values at around $150 million. It is also targeting kids and families at malls with elaborate exhibits that include clips from the movie and recreated scenes that sprinkle visitors with fake snow.
"Disney is spending a lot of money marketing this movie," says Mr. Gresham. "The movie will appeal to anyone between four and 104."
Disney has a lot riding on the marketing plan: "Narnia" is one of four movies (the others are "Chicken Little," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "Cars") that the studio is betting on to recover from a disastrous fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 1 with a $313 million loss.
The grassroots approach does present challenges. To succeed, Disney must keep a happy balance between each of the constituent groups. If, for instance, it puts too much emphasis on the Christian effort, it could end up alienating others.
But if it gets this one right, there's always the promise of more movies down the line. After all, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is just one of seven books in a series that Walden has the rights to adapt. Walden says it originally had an 18-year franchise plan in mind. "This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the world of Narnia," says Deborah Kovacs, Walden Media's vice president for publishing.
Write to Merissa Marr at merissa.marr@wsj.com