Disney Music Group VP of Marketing Rob Souriall on the ‘Frozen’ Soundtrack’s Success
Disney Music Group predicts that the Frozen soundtrack will sell another 1.2 million units in the U.S. between now and September. In order to create buzz for the soundtrack’s first single, “Let It
Go,” which was originally performed by Broadway star Idina Menzel, Rob’s
team had singer Demi Lovato record a different version
of the song that was released as a single before the soundtrack came
out. “Musically, Demi’s song was done a little more mainstream,” said
Rob. “It was something pop radio might be a little more open to, and
with her built in fan base, we knew we’d have a big publicity and social
play. It helped us roll out an asset before the film opened.”There are currently 60,000 user-generated-content videos related to “Let It Go” on YouTube, which has accounted for more than 600 million streams.
Since Disney is now claiming their compositions and master recordings
on YouTube “that means that any time somebody decides to sing a cover
version of our song, or they shoot a video and use our track or master
recording, it goes into a massive database, gets flagged on the back
end of YouTube, and if that user sells advertising around the video at
all, we now get a larger share of that revenue,” said Rob.
How Disney Turned ‘Frozen’ Into a Cash Cow
Binyamin Appelbaum
The
Patriot Center at George Mason University, half an hour west of
Washington, is a popular place to watch concerts, college athletics,
professional wrestling and other events that command the attention of
the adult world. But no event in the 29-year history of the arena has
attracted as many people or earned as much money as last month’s
performances of “Disney on Ice Presents ‘Frozen.’ ” For six days, waves
of little blue-and-white Princess Elsas — and quite a few costumed
parents — sang the movie’s hit song, “Let It Go,” at the top of their
lungs, enjoyed $15 snow cones, posed for $25 pictures with cardboard
cutouts and waved plastic sticks, which had miraculously become $28
magic wands.
Behold
the bewitching power of branding. In the year since Disney’s latest
princess movie, “Frozen,” opened last November, Elsa and her sister,
Anna, have rapidly become two of the world’s most successful product
endorsers. Disney said earlier this month that it had already sold three
million “Frozen” dresses in North America, which, as it happens, is
roughly the number of 4-year-old girls in North America. In January,
“Frozen” wedding dresses go on sale for $1,200. Next summer, “Adventures
by Disney” is offering tours of Norwegian sites that inspired the
film’s animators at prices starting north of $5,000. The company is also
rolling out “Frozen"-branded “apples and grapes, juice, yogurt,
bandages and a complete oral-care line.” Disney estimates that “Frozen”
brought in more than $1 billion in retail revenue over the last year.
The chief executive, Robert A. Iger, told CNBC that he expected holiday
sales to be “very, very hot.”
The
creators of “Frozen,” Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, told me that they
set out to create characters young girls would recognize. “I love
Cinderella,” Lee says. “Am I anything like her? No. I grew up and became
someone more independent.” Elsa and Anna, she says, “are princesses
because they’ve got the weight of a kingdom on their shoulders, not as
the solution to a happy ending.”
They
realized they had succeeded, and then some, soon after the movie was
released, when they went to see it like ordinary people. Lee found
herself in a New York theater, where many audience members already knew
the words. Then she started to hear people singing on the street. A year
later, they haven’t stopped. Does she ever get tired of hearing “Let It
Go”? No. Not really. Not yet. “When I’m old, it will be the only thing
left in my brain,” she says.
Brands
are said to be in decline. Studies show that customers are less loyal
to companies, quicker to try something new. Products increasingly rise
and fall on their own merits. “Brand names have become less important as
proxies for quality,” says Itamar Simonson, a professor at Stanford
University. He argues that consumers now get better information about
products from the Internet. But Disney, perhaps more than any other
large company, appears to be impervious to the trend. It helps that the
company is not selling products based on the quality of craftsmanship,
but based on the quality of its stories. Disney also specializes in
selling affordable luxuries. An Elsa dress is considerably more
expensive than an ordinary dress, like a cup of Starbucks coffee costs
more than an ordinary cup of coffee. But it is not that
expensive. Every item of the dozens of “Frozen” products at the Disney
store cost less than $100. More important, though, to Disney’s success
is that many of its best customers are still learning how to read and
don’t care what things cost. It’s not as if toddlers check out Amazon
reviews.
As
a result, Disney is in the midst of a golden age of profitability.
Disney characters have been endorsing products since 1929, when Walt
Disney put Mickey Mouse on a writing tablet. But licensing, which began
as a sideline, has become the main event. In most years, Disney makes
more money from selling branded movie merchandise than from the actual
movies. “We create products that extend the storytelling — the emotional
connection that the consumer has when they’re seeing the film carries
on in the three-dimensional world,” says Josh Silverman, the executive
vice president for global licensing. A recent favorite, he says, is the
Olaf snow-cone maker. Modeled after the slapstick snowman who provides
the comic relief in “Frozen,” it emits frosty treats from a somewhat
disturbing hole in Olaf’s belly.
The
popularity of “Frozen” is also buoyed by the expanding toy market for
girls. Princesses may seem like a permanent feature of the toyscape, but
they were less common before the 1990s. “The idea that pink princess
fantasy dream dolls have always been a part of girlhood is false,” says
Elizabeth Sweet, a lecturer at the University of California, Davis, who
studies the cultural history of toys. Sweet has found that the
popularity of gender-neutral toys reached a peak in the mid-1970s. Since
then, toy makers have embraced the market-doubling effect of pushing
certain toys to boys and other toys to girls. Sweet says the level of
gender segregation has never been higher. A typical big-box store might
have four aisles of blue toys and four aisles of pink toys with an aisle
of yellow toys in between. “Separate but equal,” she says. Legos, for
example, evolved from simple packs of building blocks into play sets
mostly sold to boys, often with brand tie-ins. In 2012, the company
introduced Lego Friends, which are basically Legos for girls.
Disney
really began to focus on princesses in 2000, after a new executive went
to see a “Disney on Ice” show and was struck by how many of the girls
in the audience were wearing homemade princess costumes. “They weren’t
even Disney products,” the executive, Andy Mooney, told the writer Peggy
Orenstein for her book about the rise of princesses, “Cinderella Ate My
Daughter.” The Disney Princess line now makes about $4 billion a year,
on par with the earning power of Mickey Mouse himself. (The “Frozen”
girls are not, as yet, official members of the Princess ensemble.)
This
market has similarities with, of all things, the pharmaceutical
industry. Drugs are marketed to patients, who tend to trust brand names
over generics, and are paid for by insurance companies, under their
contractual obligations. This has an inflationary effect on drug prices,
leading to those eye-popping numbers that send the uninsured fleeing
U.S. drugstores to try their luck in Tijuana. Similarly, toys and the
like are marketed to children and purchased by parents. People who would
never buy a $15 snow cone for themselves will buy one, gladly or
grudgingly, for each of their children.
After all, who wants to say no to their princess?
Disney’s ‘Frozen’ is sending tourists packing for Norway
Travel Weekly Michelle Baran 06.07.14
VisitNorway partnered with Disney in October, in advance of the film’s
November release, to introduce a global marketing campaign to raise
awareness about the destination, on which the fictional kingdom of
Arendelle featured in the film was based.
How Disney Will Make 'Frozen' a Billion-Dollar Franchise
Daniel Kline The Motley Fool 14.05.14
Every Time You Sang Along To 'Frozen,' You Capitulated To Disney’s Carefully Orchestrated Marketing Plans
Even if you’ve not actually seen Disney’s Frozen at the cinema, you’ve no doubt heard about it somewhere online. Between the official Disney promos, the YouTube video of a dad and daughter singing along in the car to "Let it Go" (13 million views), or the outrageously cute nurse and teeny girl hospital patient belting out “Love Is An Open Door” — it’s inescapable. And that was exactly Disney’s plan. Of all the official online movie ads uploaded by the six big studios
this year, almost half (44.2%) of the views went Disney’s way, according to a new report from Unruly. All of Disney’s 10 most-viewed videos (including videos that were paid for and those that weren’t) were related to Frozen. Disney/"Frozen"They won't be sending any cease-and-desist letters. And
unlike most of the other big movie promos between September 2013 and
September 2014, Disney's online content push actually peaked after
the film’s premiere. People weren’t just searching for the trailer,
they were looking for clips of the movie — which Disney duly served —
generating millions of organic views and spawning off thousands of
related user-generated videos.
Notably, those user videos have not been taken off YouTube at
Disney's request, even though YouTube has a robust system for spiking
copyright infringing content. We don't know whether Disney deliberately
turned a blind eye to other people publishing Frozen song videos, but we
can say those videos actually helped Disney's marketing of the movie —
free advertising, in other words. The top-shared Frozen videos were clips of the film launched on
YouTube after the movie opened. In fact, the official trailer did not
even rank in the top 10 shared videos of the 12 month period studied. Why is this important? Unruly says that almost a third (31%) of moviegoers who watch a movie
promo (presumably whether that’s paid-for, organic, or a fan version
not even made by the studio itself) would purchase a ticket to watch the
film, and 28% they’d rent it. The movie, which had a $150 million production budget, has grossed $1.2 billion at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo.
The Unruly study doesn’t provide the exact link between those who saw
Frozen videos and those who then went on to see the movie at the cinema,
but it’s clear that the huge buzz Frozen has amassed online has built
enough intrigue for people to dig into their pockets and watch the real
thing for themselves. What the study also demonstrates to film studios is that their
strongest “trailers” probably aren’t their trailers, which goes against
most of the received wisdom from decades of marketing their biggest
hits. And they can also learn from this study that if a movie has the
equivalent of a music video in it — Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire” video for
the new Hobbit movie has more than 34 million YouTube views — all the
better. The two main reasons why people share a video is the strength of the
emotional response it elicits and social motivations like shared
passions, being part of the zeitgeist and opinion seeking. Expect more
studios to get a lot smarter — and a lot more incessant — about the way
they advertise their movies online going forward.
Here’s the most watched official Disney Frozen video on YouTube:
What Marketers Should Learn From Disney's 'Frozen'
Scott Davis Forbes
As I watched Frozen’s success continue to snowball over the past six weeks– winning a Golden Globe on Sunday, landing a rare A+ rating from CinemaScore and surpassing The Lion King to become the highest grossing Disney-produced animated film of all time– I couldn’t help but think about the lessons marketers should be learning from the film’s unbelievable success. Sure, it’s a great story, and Disney has once again found a way to
surpass expectations by creating enduring characters and songs that rule
the box office and album charts, as well as merchandising and
promotional charts. But masterful marketing is playing a huge role in
this impressive feat: What can marketers learn from Frozen’s success? Focus on winning disproportionate share with your core target segment. As great brands know, if you really nail it with the segments you are
trying to win with, there is a decent chance you will get a halo effect
with adjacent segments. Disney has stuck with female protagonists
accompanied by great storytelling and songs that belong on Broadway and,
in turn, continue to capture young girls’ and their parents’ hearts and
money, time and time again. Mine customer insights to inform where marketing risks make sense. Disney learned in a good way from Tangled and Brave,
which by all accounts were huge smashes at over $200 million U.S. each,
that if you totally leave out boys, you will cut your audience
potential, fracture families and potentially miss out on a much bigger
piece of the pie. The initial marketing for Frozen showed Snow
Man Olaf-focused trailers with humorous dialog and no songs, emphasizing
its appeal as an animated comedy with “boy humor.” These trailers were
followed by previews that included action and adventure. In October, we
saw the full plot line, multiple male and female characters, action,
song and humor. It wasn’t until the film was released to such
widespread love and overwhelming word-of-mouth promotion that audiences
learned it was a story dominated by the relationship of two sisters.
The slow reveal plan worked; stats show that 43% of audience members are
male. When possible, seek opportunities to expand your category
frame of reference to bolster the brand and get to adjacent segments of
the market. Last week, Frozen knocked Beyoncé out of the No. 1 spot
on the Billboard 200 album-sales chart, only the fourth animated film
soundtrack in the chart’s 58-year history to do so. The movie is helping
to bolster the soundtrack and vice-versa. Add in Demi Lovato’s version
of the big number “Let It Go” and Idina Menzel’s Wicked credentials and
you are going to drive album sales, iTunes views and moviegoers. Get an
A+ on CinemaScore, 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and throw in Josh Gad from Book Of Mormon as Olaf, and you have a recipe for appealing beyond young girls to other demographics and usage occasions. Don’t rest on your brand laurels. Extend your
product’s life-cycle to drive new awareness and create additional
buying/revenue opportunities. Disney’s Bob Iger has already announced
plans to create a Broadway play based on Frozen similar to The Lion King. Frozen on Ice is not far behind, and Frozen’s
DVD launch in March will most likely set all sorts of records. When
your brand has the equity and staying power of a brand like Frozen, you should ride it out as long as you can.
The Advertising Outlet
Katie Brockman
After the movie was released Disney continued to make smart marketing
decisions by seizing every opportunity. I’m sure it’s easy to bask in
the success of a blockbuster film and sit back to enjoy the accolades
and broken records. But instead, Disney created a sing-along version to
extend theater life, announced an upcoming Broadway musical based on the
film, and pounced on the opportunity for Idina Menzel to sing at the
Oscars (of course we all have to give John Travolta credit for even more
publicity). Sometimes such an aggressive marketing campaign can
backfire (like when you see the same commercial three thousand times a
day and start to despise it), but when a company knows their audience
and realizes that Frozen fans will never get sick of it, it’s a smart move.
Another aspect of this movie that I’ve never seen with any other film
is that it’s still in theaters (in my town, anyway) despite also being
available on DVD/Blu-ray/iTunes. This seems completely counterintuitive,
because all logic says that people won’t pay to see it in the theater
when they can download it from home. Again, though, this is a case of
Disney knowing its audience. I know people who have seen it over ten
times in the theater, not thinking twice about the cost. And Disney
knows there are these types of fans who will keep buying tickets, so why
stop showing it?
Under 'pages' create a page with feedback / advice for yourself about how to succeed in your TV drama analysis. Write down the key points of guidance from my recent marking on the disability exam extract.
UK film has had remarkable critical and commercial success in recent
years with films as diverse as 12 Years a Slave and Skyfall. Our great
directors are frequently courted by Hollywood, and Hollywood regularly
visits these shores to make films like Gravity and the new Star Wars
films. Why do audiences, both at home and abroad, enjoy British films?
How do UK filmmakers appeal to these audiences?
This Study Day will examine these issues and relate it to case studies
of two independent film companies – Vertigo and Warp Films. These two
companies are producing and distributing films that are commercially
successful but which also retain a uniquely British flavour - and a
willingness to tackle themes and content that Hollywood usually avoids.
In the afternoon there will be a film screening and a Q&A with the
film-makers giving students and teachers a chance to ask questions about
the state of UK cinema and how it will develop in the future. This
event is particularly useful for OCR AS Media students for the
‘Audiences and Institutions’ exam unit.
Led by Matthew Hall, Head of Film and Media Studies, Seven Kings High School; author of the BFI’s Teaching Men and Film
Use the time to complete blog posts on Research and Planning.
Remember that level 4 marks are awarded only if you show creative and appropriate use of new technology, so aim to use Visme, Animoto, Calameo, Emaze, Bubbl.us, YuDu, Trello as well as Slideshare and the old favourites.
Want to start filming? There is nothing to stop you:
