Promoting A Major Motion Picture

I had the pleasure of meeting with Peter Cuneo, former CEO and current Vice Chairman of Marvel Entertainment, Inc., during his recent visit to Rochester, NY. Mr. Cuneo was the keynote speaker at the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association's Marketer of the Year Awards ceremony. I spearheaded the PR efforts for the event.

Mr. Cuneo shared how the strategic marketing of characters as celebrity brands helped lead the way for Marvel's success with super heroes like Spider Man, X-Men, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk.

The Internet has brought significant change to the entertainment industry particularly how major motion pictures are marketed. Web 2.0 has made it easier for companies like Marvel to reach their targeted audiences through social media sites like MySpace and YouTube.

Movie trailers are no longer just for movie theaters to play before the featured presentation. Entertainment companies like Marvel are placing their movie trailers in the online space, and have been hugely successful by doing so.

The trailer for "The Incredible Hulk," an action-packed classic of one of the most popular superheroes of all time, was released online on April 30th for a June 13th movie launch. The Hulk is currently the single most watched trailer in history as it has been viewed online by over 14 million people, according to Mr. Cuneo. This was one of the few marketing and PR initiatives that the company has in place for the Hulk until late May. Iron Man is currently capturing the media's and market's attention.

You can view The Incredible Hulk movie trailer right here. Join the 14 million plus people that have watched it.

One last interesting tidbit that Mr. Cuneo shared is that Marvel spends almost as much money in promoting the release of the DVD as it does for the actual release of the film in theaters.