The Oscar Files Part 2

We'll continue our look at the marketing efforts of Oscar nominated films with No Country For Old Men, the new film from the Coen brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski)

To date, the Oscar nominated film has grossed nearly $50 million in the domestic box office. This continues the trend for critically acclaimed films that do poorly at the box office.

While No Country For Old Men runs short on box office dollars, it does not run short on critical acclaim. This is an important element to any campaign for an Oscar contending film, and a technique that No Country uses often, particularly on the film's
website.

From a movie marketing standpoint, No Country doesn't do a whole lot that is out of the ordinary. The campaign features teaser posters, regular one-sheets , and a very professional and slick website. The site has film stills, cast and filmmaker info, and some external links to news about the film. The two elements that set the website apart, however, are the exclusive podcasts, and the option to download the script, free of charge. (As someone who used to read a lot of scripts, this is a rare occurrence for a recent feature film.)

No Country only dabbles in viral marketing. There's this great redband trailer, different from the standard trailers in that it's a lot more violent. Offering a trailer that can't be seen in the standard venues is a great way to drive traffic to the website and ultimately drum up interest in the film.

Here's the redband trailer - be warned, it is violent.



Here's the regular greenband trailer, for comparison.



No Country also created this coin toss facebook application. Considering the app only has 10 current active users, I don't think it could be considered successful.

Ultimately, the marketing effort for No Country was a good one, but it didn't go far enough to generate the kind of mainstream buzz needed to create a box office smash. No Country should have spent more time on the viral marketing, which would be reinforced by the TV ads and website.

For a differing opinion - and a great summary of the campaign, head over to this post at the always reliable Movie Marketing Madness.