The Academy Awards are changing things up a bit this year. Sort of. It's their advertisers that are doing the real moving and shaking. Stuart Elliott talks about how advertisers had been wary to invest because of the economy and low viewership of the awards program (36.9 million viewers is considered low) last year. Big names such as McDonalds and Bertolli foods/Unilever even skipped out on advertising during the Oscars last year. This year, things are considerably different.
Michael J. Boylson, chief marketing officer for J.C. Penney, who'll be running an advertisement featuring Cindy Crawford tomorrow night, claims that it's the public interest that's up this year, which makes this year that much more viable. With films as huge as Avatar, Up!, Inglourious Basterds and The Blind Side all up for big awards, the public will definitely be tuning in and be interested, making the public all the more available and willing to watch.
As a faithful Oscars viewer, what do I think?
Well, I think the uniform answer is, "it depends." As an Oscars viewer, I'm excited that it will be the most watched ceremony in a few years. I'm also excited to see the new things that happen; a good example being the Hyundai commercials. Hyundai's normal spokesperson, Jeff Bridges, won't be appearing in the ads during the Oscars because of a policy that prohibits nominees (he's up for an award with Crazy Heart,) from appearing in commercials during "their" segment of the show. Hyundai is scheduled to advertise seven times during the Academy Awards. Rumor has it, and this is one thing I'm excited for, Bridges will be replaced with several different celebrities. From an advertising student's standpoint? After sticking with the same spokesperson/narrator for so long, it'll be refreshing to hear the voices of such names as Kim Basinger, Martin Sheen, Richard Dreyfuss and Catherine Keener. Also, for the first time, movies are being advertised during the ceremony (due in part to sponsorships from CBS Films and Summit Entertainment,) which is also exciting from a marketing standpoint.
There are a few changes being made this year, which are suitable and very much anticipated. Some things are a little nerve-wracking (see spokesperson switching,) and others are exciting, such as movie previews and big awards. There isn't much that I'm not excited for tomorrow night, but I will confess, I'm definitely interested to see where the advertisements go.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
+ 006 - 03.06-10 - NEWS
IN RESPONSE TO: PLENTY OF ADS TO GO AROUND ON OSCAR NIGHT
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45 million viewers tuned into the Oscars this year, which is more than the past five years, so I think it was a good idea for advertisers to take a chance on this awards show. Aside from the fashion, I find the advertisements most intriguing. I don't ever really care who wins, because I didn't even see any of the nominated movies.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was excited about? the iPad commerical, which I totally bought into, and made me really want one! =( That's both bad and good! Overall, I thought the advertising (and the fashion) were great, and I was pleased with the outcome of the Oscars.