The Oscar Files Part 1

Being that it is officially Oscar season, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the marketing campaigns for each of the 5 best picture nominees. I'd like to get a sense of how marketing an Oscar nominee differs from that of a more commercial film, and how those strategies might be improved in order to increase the film's mass market appeal.

I'll begin by taking a look at arguably the most buzzed about (and highest grossing) film of the nominees, Juno. To date, Juno has grossed nearly $90 million domestically, almost double that of No Country For Old Men, the second highest grossing nominee. But still, Juno's box office take pales in comparison to other commercial films like National Treasure: Book of Secrets or Alvin and the Chipmunks, both near the $200 million mark. Why is it that a film with near universal acclaim fails to resonate as much in the box office as it does with the critics?


Juno's marketing campaign could be compared to Cloverfield's in that both films used a viral, word-of-mouth approach. Beyond that, I think the comparisons are weak.

Juno uses all the standard promotion tools for a film with a limited budget. A website, facebook and myspace pages, blogs, and a few television/online ads. Juno even got down to the nitty gritty with a fun guerilla marketing campaign where street teams attend various film festivals dressed as Paulie Bleeker, one of the films main characters and handed out boxes of orange tic tacs, Bleeker's favorite snack. For a complete breakdown of Juno's campaign, check out this post @ MMM, and this post at The Rabbi Report.

While the standard promotion tools are good and great, what ultimately sells Juno to audiences is what I like to call its charm appeal. Juno is without a doubt one of the most charming and witty films of the year. You can't help but feel all warm inside by the time the credits start rolling. I think this encourages movie goers to tell friends and family about the film, and what convinces them to see it. It's much harder to convince someone to see a depressing downer like Atonement then it is to see an uplifting charmer like Juno. And once that ball gets rolling, it's hard to stop.