Coming Soon to a Mall or Electronics Store Near You: Movie Previews!

Many months before the film “Batman” was released last year, Warner Bros. executives discovered something rather astounding: Some moviegoers were attending films specifically to view the “Batman” previews that were screened before them.

These previews, known as “trailers” in the industry, are one of the few forms of advertising that many people say they actually enjoy. Because trailers are increasingly capturing the public’s interest, they are now becoming the cornerstone for new, unconventional marketing methods used by almost all of the major film studios.

Most people know Circuit City as the nation’s biggest home electronics chain. Last week it also became one of the nation’s largest promoters of film trailers. Under a paid advertising agreement, short previews of upcoming movies--ranging from Paramount’s “Godfather, Part III” to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s next film for Universal, “Kindergarten Cop”--are being screened on the hundreds of TV sets at each of the 164 Circuit City stores nationwide.

Meanwhile, special electronic kiosks at shopping malls will soon not only screen movie previews to shoppers but will also sell advance tickets.

Such innovations join a few that have been around longer. For several years, some amusement parks have screened movie previews on TV sets for viewing by people waiting in lines for rides.

“The cost of marketing pictures has gotten totally out of hand,” said Adam Fields, president of Preview Tech, the Los Angeles film marketing firm that arranged the trailer screenings with Circuit City. Fields also produced the film “Great Balls of Fire.”

“With film marketing costs nearly matching production costs,” he said, “you have to be willing to try something new.”

For the film studios, the competition to bring people into the theaters has never been more fierce. The top eight movie studios alone will spend about $1.5 billion this year to market their movies--about $8 million to advertise each of their films. The typical film, by comparison, cost about $23.5 million to produce in 1989.

All that advertising chases a huge prize. In 1989, Americans spent more than $5 billion at the film box office, while revenue for video sales and rentals exceeded $9 billion, according to industry figures.

Although revenue is increasing due to higher ticket costs, the actually number of people attending movies has been declining for years. The studios hope they can lure more moviegoers by enticing them with film previews in places they aren’t used to seeing them.

“The movie industry seems to be among the first to try anything new,” said Vito Mandato, who oversees the entertainment division at the Los Angeles office of the agency BBDO Worldwide. “They need to use every possible opportunity to find people who might want to buy a ticket to a movie.”

Thus, the Circuit City arrangement.

“Ultimately, if this is a success, it should help stimulate sales of our products,” said Richard L. Sharp, president of Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City, which is showing trailers for films from Warner Bros., as well as Universal and Paramount.

For the privilege, each studio pays $3,000 to $5,000 per trailer per month. That money is divided between Circuit City and Preview Tech.

“The only downside,” said Sharp, “would be if people start filling up our parking lots just to come in our stores to watch the trailers.”

Two summers ago, Six Flags Magic Mountain began showing film previews--and other short clips--on TV sets to visitors waiting to get into park attractions. Since that time, the number of customer complaints about long lines are down “significantly,” said Courtney Simmons, a park spokeswoman.

The company that placed the monitors at the Valencia amusement park is Prime Time Video. It has hundreds of monitors in five of the theme parks owned by Six Flags Corp. Advertisers pay about $50 each time one of their spots runs. A recent survey of park customers found that a number of them want to see even more movie trailers on the monitors.

They may soon get their wish--not at amusement parks, but at the local shopping mall.

In February, high-tech electronic kiosks will appear in a number of highly trafficked Los Angeles area malls. On each, six screens will show film previews.

“What better product sample can you get?” asked William Harvey, whose Woodstock, N.Y., firm, New Electronic Media Service Inc., has received commitments from three major studios to supply trailers.

The company is still working out the details, but Harvey hopes that shoppers eventually will be able to select and watch previews for any films they wish. Consumers who like what they see in the trailers would be able to punch their ZIP codes into the interactive machines and find out which theaters near them were showing the films. Shoppers would also be able to slip their credit cards into the machine and walk off with advance tickets.

“It could eliminate waiting in line for movie tickets,” said Harvey. The major theater chains will underwrite the costs of the kiosks. The ultimate goal: increase ticket sales 1% and decrease burgeoning film marketing costs by up to 10%.

Studio marketing chiefs are generally delighted with expanded viewing of film previews. “Trailers are the best form of promotion for our movies,” explains Si Kornblit, executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Universal Pictures.

Honda Puts $10 Million More in Corporate Ads

American Honda has quietly handed another $10 million in new corporate advertising to its Los Angeles agency, Rubin Postaer & Associates.

The agency--which relies on Honda for the majority of its billings--now handles about $125 million annually in Honda business. Agency executives declined to comment on the additional business.

The corporate print campaign, which broke last week, attempts to portray Honda as a company that is contributing to America. The first ad shows a picture of a car dashboard with the steering wheel on the right hand side. The headline asks, “What’s right with this picture?” The car is built by Honda in America for export overseas.

Recently, Toyota also began an ad campaign trying to portray itself as a company that cares about American citizens.

Little Firm Gets Bigger With Hotel Contracts

Chalk up yet another new business win for Larsen Colby Korlek. The tiny but fast-growing Los Angeles agency seems to be lining up new clients faster than just about anyone in town.

Last week, it won the estimated $1-million account for three different Four Seasons hotels: Santa Barbara, Beverly Hills and Newport Beach. The business formerly was handled by Santa Monica-based Suissa & Associates.

The agency--a division of the New York firm Levine, Huntley, Schmidt & Beaver--has added six new clients and about $10 million in new billings this year. During that time, it has more than doubled its annual billings to about $20 million.

Four Seasons is the first hotel account that the agency has handled. The corporate advertising for Four Seasons Hotels is handled by the New York agency Ammirati & Puris.

Rick Colby, president of the 6-year-old firm, declined to discuss his agency’s creative strategy. But he promised it would be different. After all, said Colby, “How many pictures of people in bathing suits lying around by pools can you take?”

Enough to Make You Disney . . . Er, Dizzy

It seems Disney can sell just about anything. There are theme parks, TV shows and movies with the Disney name. There are even Disney retail stores. Now there’s Disney, the magazine.

Disney Adventures, a TV Guide-sized magazine geared for kids 7 to 14, publishes its first issue this month. The monthly publication, published by Burbank-based Walt Disney Publications, not only features adventure tales with Disney characters, but also newsy stories of interest to kids on travel, music and fashion. The magazine, which will mostly be sold at supermarket checkout stands for $1.95, will have an initial circulation of 350,000.

Many big-name advertisers are in the premiere issue, including Mars Inc., Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats and Sea World. Full-page color ads cost $7,000.

Are consumers getting weary of too many Disney-related products? Apparently not. In Italy, a similar Disney magazine sells over 700,000 copies each week.

“This is not intrusive. People can decide if they want to pick it up or not,” said Randy Achee, publisher of the magazine. “Most people have a pretty positive opinion of Disney.”