So I told you how badly ‘The Hottie & The Nottie’ did at the box-office. What a drag. But I also told you the film wasn’t nearly as bad as the critics made it out to be. Paris Envy, I guess.
But now it’s my job to figure out how to market the DVD here stateside. Generally you start with your forecast of how many units you want to sell. Then you multiply those units by the SRP, or Suggested Retail Price. This give you your Gross Profit. Then you take 15% of the Gross to come up with your marketing budget - reserving another 5% for what’s called MDF (or in-store) promotions, etc.
So if your forecasted sales are 100,000 units, and your SRP is $19.95, you can expect to Gross close to 2 mil. Taking 15% of that would give you a $300,000 marketing budget. That’s the general formula. And it sounds like a lot (and it is) - but relative to the major studios this is a relative drop in the bucket (or especially companies like Proctor + Gamble - which spends tens of millions selling soap).
Now, let’s just say the Marketing Gods would have my soul if I gave you actual numbers as it related to this DVD. But we expect to do well - so we have to spend well. And smartly.
So what to do?
As most good marketers do, we struggled with the ways to spend our budget. We knew we needed a strong online component, so we focused on a mix of traditional banners with a strong Word of Mouth and blog campaign. This constitutes about 30% of our campaign. We then decided to forego print entirely, in favor for print promotions. Paris is so hot with so many mags, as long as we gave away good swag (like signed posters), we knew we’d get coverage. And we have. Then we pointed some similar resources at radio promotions - and again: By giving away simple swag like posters and Hottie & Nottie make-over kits, we’re getting ample radio coverage announcing the release and release date (May 6th, a shameful plug). But there was one more thing:
TV or not TV?
Usually, I’m against spending so much on what I percieve to be so little. TV is a broad approach to a broad market - and though it works great for Budweiser or SpiderMan 2, it’s not the most efficient way to spend a buck, generally speaking (but there are exceptions). In this case though, Paris is such a strong personality, we decided to pick the network she would appeal to most - and do a blitz on MTV for two weeks. A simple 15 Second spot. This came in at about 50% of our budget. Look for it.
The jury is still out of course on how any of this will work. Hey, if I knew which 50% of my marketing was effective, I’d be a genius. But we’re covering a few bases and working to spread awareness.
But we all know it’s about more than spreading awareness. It is about creating a conversation. That’s where we’ll discuss blog marketing - and online initiatives in general. Because there are places where this works, and places where you just end up getting flamed.
And people love to flame Paris. So buyer beware.
Out.