Just as Wes Anderson’s films are not exactly standard cinematic fare, the marketing strategies for his latest film Grand Budapest Hotel are out of the ordinary. “Budapest allows you to immerse yourself in a completely different world,” Fox Searchlight’s Nancy Utley tells Variety, describing five elements of the market plan.
The movie features a collection on eBay, a partnership driven by actor Waris Ahluwalia, with items including bow ties, moustache wax, and promotional items from the film – and some are already selling out. Fox Searchlight also created eight videos showing how to create baked goods inspried by the film, and these are going viral. Another hit has been a large-scale model of the hotel, which is being sent from theaters from Hollywood to Berlin.
The marketing has been helped by the success of Anderson’s film Moonrise Kingdom, which has attracted a significantly younger audience. And Grand Budapest Hotel has been well reviewed, with a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Game marketers might do well to try variants of some of these strategies, which would translate well to the complex, visual and engaging worlds created for many games.
Source: Variety
