PHD Perspectives: Why Merchandising Trumps Storytelling, and How Marketers Can Adapt - Dennis Camlek - MediaBizBloggers

DreamWorks is reportedly in discussions with Mattel about developing a feature film of the 3D ViewMaster toy those clunky oldschool devices that allowed kids to look at 3D images via inserted cardboard discs Some of us are old enough to remember them you probably tossed them away by the time you were thirteen or at the very least sold them to a collector at a family garage sale the same collectors who are now selling quotThrillerquot ViewMaster discs on eBay trying to capitalize on the Michael Jackson resurgenceThis marks yet another wouldbe popcorn movie based on a popular toy line other recent exercises being quotTransformers Revenge of the Fallenquot and next month39s quotGI Joe The Rise of Cobraquot Perhaps a feature film about The Hamburglar will be next These quotinterpretationsquot beg the question of what exactly is happening at our local moviehouses besides the fact that movies seem to require colons in their titles witness quotXMen Origins Wolverinequot Sitting through the preshow the other day I saw a traileramp160that I couldn39t even remotely try and explain the plot of amp8211 it was quicklyedited convoluted schlock that made me want a few Excedrin Then there was Rob Zombie39s quotHalloween IIquot a sequel to his remake from a few years ago Let39s say that one more timeamp8230a sequel to a remakeAs I drank my fountain drink it dawned on me that we have arrived at a rather troubling time in the entertainment world the wrong end of an obvious creative drought It39s as if the studios are cranking out movies made for those aimless zombies from Romero39s brilliant quotDawn of the Deadquot the ones who when shot bled that purplish ooze that never really looked like blood Where Romero was in on the joke this summer is nothing but a joyless Renaissance of big budget wouldbe blockbusters that never really delivered the goods quotTerminator Salvationquot quotAngels ampamp Demonsquot quotLand of the Lostquot The aforementioned quotWolverinequot All bigticket studio tent poles that vanished before you fetched your free refill and ExcedrinWhat does this say about the current consumer39s willingness to tolerate a fast food approach to moviemaking Box office grosses indicate that people will still show up opening weekend but when reading between the lines you39ll agree that while an Extra Value Meal tastes mighty delicious at the time you feel bloated tired and guilty afterwards vowing to not go back anytime soon Why have we seen so many quotsure thingsquot fail to connect this summer while cheapie comedies like quotThe Hangoverquot and quotThe Proposalquot continue to loiter at the multiplexWell for one thing it could be that merchandising and film development are becoming dangerously interchangeable seemingly at the expense of quality storytelling Screenwriters are buckled up in the back seat as action figures sit behind the wheel We39re choking on an onslaught of toybased movies with a rumored quotMonopolyquot feature on the horizon which certainly doesn39t sound like an awardworthy tale of ruthless hotel moguls troubled excons and secondplace beauty pageantwinners You get the sense that action figure sales are forecasted before a screenwriter even types a single word It39s commerce fueling art fueling commerce all over again and consumers seem to be blowing the whistleConsumer tastes evolve We as marketers need to understand this and it can be very time consuming to try and stay one step ahead of the curve yet we can39t assume the tried and true formula will always work no matter what the research and focus groups might suggest While we all still crave good oldfashioned escapism harried sequels and needless adaptations are starting to feel very five minutes ago Will next year39s quotIron Man 2quot conjure up the same magic that the original surprised us with It39s doubtful Have we not learned anything from the dreadful quotBatman and Robinquot Going back to the well time and time again has proved to be a risky enterpriseFilm studios and even exhibitors are in a tough spot They of course need consumers to remain confident about the product and they39re even rolling out titles in 3D to help deliver a fresh experience in the theater No doubt that the ViewMaster filmmakers have this in mind But we39re in a consumercentric age of YouTube Netflix and VOD where we devour content how and when we want usually on the cheap When you factor in unemployment and rising ticketconcession costs all of a sudden creativity really means something and you can39t shell out more of the same and expect strong returns Don39t underestimate today39s consumers amp8211 they are savvy enough to know when they are being sold a faulty bill of goodsPerhaps we39ll witness a reprioritization of storytelling The last two Best Picture winners quotSlumdog Millionairequot and quotNo Country for Old Menquot were both small budget affairs and while they certainly didn39t put up the numbers of a quotTransformersquot they gave moviegoers an intelligent riveting experience that didn39t sell out the art form I doubt the Coen Bros imagined a kidfriendly Anton Chigurh plastic coin to accompany a 6piece Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal although they certainly maintain the warped sense of humor to do soDennis Camlek SVP Group Account Director PHD Media an Omnicom company You can follow PHD39s Twitter feed at httptwittercomPHDisSmartMediaRead all Dennis39 MediaBizBlogger commentaries at PHD Perspectives MediaBizBloggerEd Martin39s full live coverage from the Television Critics Association tour is available exclusively to corporate subscribers of the Jack Myers Media Business Report For more information visit wwwmyersreportcom

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PHD Perspectives: Why Merchandising Trumps Storytelling, and How Marketers Can Adapt - Dennis Camlek - MediaBizBloggers

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PHD Perspectives: Why Merchandising Trumps Storytelling, and How Marketers Can Adapt - Dennis Camlek - MediaBizBloggers

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