‘Skyscraper’ Misses Box Office Predictions; Hopes To Rebound With Chinese Audiences

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Skyscraper made a dramatic leap into the box office this past weekend but landed far short of industry predictions despite a big star (Dwayne Johnson), global appeal and earnest marketing efforts.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s latest vehicle debuted at number three at the box office, earning an estimated $25.4 million domestically. Last week, analysts predicted Skyscraper would bring in upwards of $40 million and compete with Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 3. The latter debuted at number one with an estimated $44.1 million.

Universal launched a number of marketing campaigns to hype Johnson’s action thriller that included a Facebook Live event in which daredevil Alain “The Human Spider” Robert scaled the side of a real skyscraper in Hong Kong.

The studio banked a lot of money on Johnson’s box office draw and active social media presence. In addition, Universal spent an estimated $15 million in TV ads for Skyscraper across 36 networks like Fox and Telemundo. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees in life, and much less in the box office—but Universal might have been able to avoid such a disappointing release.

“While Universal launched a great marketing campaign, sometimes there are just too many other factors working against a film,” Karie Bible, box office analyst and film historian at Exhibitor Relations, told AList. “Skyscraper might have benefited from a different release date during a far less crowded time on the calendar.”

Skyscraper was not as family-friendly as Johnson’s more recent films, Bible noted, causing it to miss out on audiences who opted for Hotel Transylvania 3 and Ant-Man and the Wasp instead.

Genre aside, audiences can get “star fatigue” when an actor—even a popular one—releases projects too close together.

“[Johnson] starred in three films in 2017: The Fate of the Furious ($226 mil), Baywatch ($58 mil) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($404.5 mil),” said Bible. “His previous film Rampage ($99.1 mil) opened exactly three months before Skyscraper. This is in addition to his strong social media presence and his starring role on the HBO series Ballers.”

Skyscraper was developed with Chinese market appeal in mind, centering the action in the country and basing its titular location on Hong Kong’s 1067-meter-tall building “The Pearl.” The film opens in China, where Johnson’s films traditionally perform well, on July 20.

On Brand: Fullscreen’s Maureen Polo On The Relevance Of Influencer Marketing

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Engaging with a young generation is neither simple nor easy, but it helps to have the right data to inform the creation of content that truly speaks to audiences.

“What they care about is seeing stories about themselves,” Maureen Polo, SVP of Fullscreen Brand Studio, explained to AList. “They want to feel that they’re relevant, that they’re spoken to and that they’re part of the conversation.”

Fullscreen is focusing its efforts to produce content for Gen Z and beyond. That includes original entertainment, influencer marketing, branded entertainment and social content marketing. “There’s a misnomer that the younger generation doesn’t want to engage with content for more than 30 seconds,” said Polo. “We’re actually seeing that at the height of some of our video content, they’re super engaged 14 minutes in.”

While Generation Z is largely (if not entirely) consuming media from their phones and mobile, leading marketers to emphasize digital platforms, not all influencers are looking to remain exclusive to those channels.

Polo explained that “[creators] want distribution everywhere.” They want the credibility that traditional platforms such as magazines and billboards offer, and enjoy being written about by credible journalists that they respect. Sophisticated influencers are thinking about multiplatform futures and formats where their voices are relevant, ranging from OTT and beyond.

Fullscreen is at the intersection between creators, brands and consumers, Polo says, and the company leverages its unique position by educating brands about how audiences behave across platforms. Specifically, it relays how young audiences react to creative content and what motivates them to engage and interact. She notes that the line between creators and consumers can often blur.

While brands must educate themselves technology must also adapt so that more impactful content can be produced at a faster rate, with results that can be measured more meaningfully. But Polo also warns that, even with all the technology and data at their disposal, companies shouldn’t underestimate the value of human creativity.

To underscore this Fullscreen makes a point of putting together teams that match those with high creative intuition with data scientists and strategists to benefit from both worlds. Using data from its direct-to-consumer content, the company is able to inform brands and produce original entertainment, particularly through live events.

Polo predicts that micro and niche communities will continue to grow and evolve with more opportunities for interest groups and those affiliated with them to publish compelling content. At the same time, she believes that influencer marketing will remain one of the most effective ways to reach young audiences in the foreseeable future, as these creators continue to maintain a deep understanding of their audiences.

Netflix Is Going To Release 47 Comedy Specials In One Day

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Originally published at VideoInk.

As if the plan to release over 80 original projects this year wasn’t enough, Netflix is gearing up to debut 47 comedy specials—in one day.

The 30-minute specials will include content from comedians around the world and will tape at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal later this month, as well as São Paolo, Mexico City, Mumbai, Berlin, and Amsterdam. The specials will be filmed in several different languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Dutch, German and English.

“Few things are better than discovering a new comedian you love,” said Lisa Nishimura, vice president of original documentary and comedy at Netflix. “With this event, we’re creating a true comedy festival experience for our members where they can scour the globe from home to find some of the freshest voices in comedy.”

Netflix has been going into overdrive with the production of original content. The Economist projected last month that the streaming giant will spend $12-13 billion on its programming this year—a considerably more than the $8 billion it planned to spend as of October 2017. It is also significantly greater than what other legacy studios are spending. For example, HBO spent $2.5 billion on content in 2017, and CBS spent $4 billion.

Netflix plans to use its budget to produce 87 original projects this year. While the streamer is known for its hits like Stranger Things, House of Cards and GLOW, there is concern that an overabundance of original content in such a short amount of time will devalue some of the films and TV series on the platform because they will get lost in the mix.

Click here to check out the list of comedians that will be featured on the streaming service’s stand-up comedy event series.

On Brand: Paramount Network’s Niels Schuurmans Discusses Strategy

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Adapting a century-old brand for an evolving audience requires more than putting content on the internet and hoping people like it. When Viacom debuted Paramount Network in January, it was up to the brand’s marketing team to create an emotional connection.

For Niels Schuurmans, Paramount Network’s chief marketing and creative officer, being handed a 105-year-old brand to care for was a big responsibility.

“I’ve said to my team a bunch of times, we just can’t fuck it up,” Schuurmans laughed, speaking with AListDaily during Cannes Lions.

So far they haven’t. Paramount Network’s original show Yellowstone starring Kevin Costner attracted more than five million live viewers when it debuted June 20, making it the most-watched scripted drama series on ad-supported cable since 2016.

Schuurmans said that the goal for him and his team is to be inspired by the premium nature of cinematic experiences and translate that for other platforms.

“The best way to think about it is [that] we’re taking this amazing classic brand and expanding it,” he said. “This is the brand that brought you The Godfather, Saturday Night Fever, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, etc. Now [we’re] taking this amazing 105-year-old cinematic brand and expanding it into new platforms like television and digital. The challenging piece of [Paramount Network] is ensuring that we live up to the expectations of this high-quality brand.”

Paramount Network is a different endeavor than Viacom is used to. The company specializes in niche programming, each with its own distinct audience—Nickelodeon is for kids, BET is for African Americans, Spike is for men, etc.

Schuurman said that these brands continue to resonate emotionally with audiences because they are brand-first. While there are hit shows on each network, each network is its own unique brand first and foremost.

In contrast, Paramount Network broadcasts original content across different demographics and genres. This creates a challenge for Schuurman and his team to create equally strong emotional bonds with audiences.

“Paramount can be just a word on a remote or a screen and then you can have a bunch of shows, but I think the goal of creating a really great brand is that it means something, it has value and it resonates with you,” he said. “I want the brand to mean something. Any great brand has to strike an emotional chord for it to mean something and for you to want it.”

‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ Marketing Yields Big Box Office For Tiny Heroes

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Ant-Man and the Wasp opened at the top of the box office with $75.8 million domestically, making it the tenth time this year a film based on a Marvel character has taken the number one spot. It is also Marvel’s twentieth top box office opening in a row.

Marvel tapped into a number of current trends to push its latest venture that spanned TV, sports, social media and of course, other films from Disney and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

“Ant-Man had a clever marketing campaign, great reviews and also benefited from Avengers: Infinity War, which grossed $674.8 million domestic,” Karie Bible, box office analyst and film historian at Exhibitor Relations, told AList.

Ahead of the film’s release, Marvel invited fans to create short films inspired by Ant-Man and the Wasp. Creators responded with films that used the idea of size and forced perspective with imaginative results.

For the July 4 holiday, size became the perfect segue into a tiny cooking video.

“The trailer played theatrically before Deadpool 2 and a more family-focused trailer ran before The Incredibles 2,” noted Bible. “The movie had promotional partnerships with Hyundai, Dell, Synchrony and Sprint. It was also advertised on ESPN, the World Cup, WWE, The Bachelorette and more.”

Including The Wasp as a prominent character might have helped attract a more diverse audience that consisted of 45 percent female movie-goers, according to CinemaScore. In addition, Bible said, 58 percent of ticket holders were over the age of 25.

“The film was aimed at multiple demographics,” Bible observed. “Marketing and publicity play a major role in a film’s success, but those efforts can only do so much. Audiences will either respond or they won’t. In this case, the film delivered the goods.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp is the 20th film in the MCU and it may be the smallest but it still managed to outperform its predecessor. Ant-Man opened in 2015 at $57.2 million domestic.

FXX Announces ‘It’s Always Sunny’ Mobile Game Ahead Of New Season

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It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is getting a mobile tie-in game, FXX announced on Tuesday. The game, It’s Always Sunny: The Gang Goes Mobile will follow the misadventures of Mac, Dennis, Charlie, Dee and Frank just in time for the show’s season 13 premiere.

The new game will feature “The Gang,” as they help Frank hide dirty money through a number of schemes. Specific gameplay features were not available at press time but according to the press release, players will be able to “tap and unlock their way to more schemes and collect fan-favorite characters,” implying an “idle” style game similar to Office Space: Idle Profits. At this time, there is no word as to whether the game will tie into season 13 events.

A source familiar with the matter told AList that The Gang Goes Mobile is being developed by Eastside Games, the studio behind idle game Trailer Park Boys: Greasy Money—another clue as to the gameplay style.

This isn’t the first time FXX has invited fans into the Gang’s dysfunctional world. Last February, the company released a VR experience called “Project Badass” in which the user becomes the subject of Mac and Charlie’s latest stunt video. As always, it goes badly.

The Gang Goes Mobile is being released later this year for Android and iOS by FoxNext, the newly-created in-house game development division of 20th Century Fox and Fox Television. The focus of the studio, Amir Rahimi, vice president and general manager told AList, is to “build games that we can legitimately have over 100 million people play.”

Games developed by FoxNext have thus far been limited to its own intellectual properties such as The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Family Guy: Quest for Stuff.

“We look at the [Fox] IPs and choose them based on what we love the most and think will most naturally translate into a compelling mobile game experience,” Rahimi said in a 2017 interview with AList.

VR and mobile games have become a more popular way of marketing TV shows. In March, HBO released a VR experience called Inside the Hacker Hostel alongside Season 5 of Silicon Valley. Over the last several years, AMC and its partners have developed several mobile tie-ins to The Walking Dead, including an AR game called The Walking Dead Encounter.

World Cup’s Female Fan Base Growing Fast, Nielsen Study Advises Marketers

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A recent study from Nielsen shows that advertisers shouldn’t discount female audiences. Traditionally, soccer fandom has been male-dominated and male-centric, partly due to a history of excluding women women from attending a game or playing the sport. Saudi Arabia, for example, allowed women to attend soccer games for the first time this year.

However, the Nielsen study, which surveyed fans across 18 markets in 2017, found that 31 percent of women surveyed were interested in watching the most popular sport in the world. They also represent a younger audience, with women mostly around ranging from 18-24 in age, stating that they intended to watch the World Cup on TV, while most men who said the same were 35-44.

According to Nielsen’s findings, this year’s World Cup advertising campaigns have a 56 percent chance of reaching an 18-34-year-old female demographic. This is a significant increase from the previous World Cup in 2014, which reached about 38 percent of women.

Although the Men’s World Cup holds the greatest appeal for fans, with 70 percent of women stating that they found it “very appealing,” it isn’t the only event that has a growing audience. Nielsen found that 58 percent of females expressed great interest in the Women’s World Cup.

“Now is the time for advertisers to capitalize on fans’ attention and make sure they’re reaching female audiences effectively,” wrote Nielsen’s UK watch commercial director Barney Farmer.

Nielsen also warns advertisers to not disregard television as a key platform as they execute their digital and mobile plans, as only nine percent of the UK planned to watch this year’s World Cup on a mobile device or tablet.

Despite all this, according to Nielsen, ratings are down 42 percent in the US for the 2018 World Cup—primarily due to the US men’s national team not qualifying.

Pepsi’s Film Risk Pays Off; ‘Uncle Drew’ Holds Its Own At The Box Office

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Uncle Drew debuted at number four in the domestic box office, bringing in an estimated $15.5 million. This niche basketball comedy fared surprisingly well for a new franchise, earning nearly twice that of Warner Bros.’ star-studded Oceans 8 for the week.

There are a lot of firsts about Uncle Drew that made it a financial risk for studios to produce. For one, the character, portrayed by NBA Kyrie Irving was born out of an ad campaign for Pepsi Max in 2012. While many of Pepsi’s spots have gone viral, there is never a guarantee that enthusiasm will translate into movie tickets.

Secondly, most of the main characters in Uncle Drew are basketball stars—not movie stars—with the exception of Shaquille O’Neal who at the very least, has some on-set experience. Lastly, the upbeat comedy is a first for PepsiCo’s Creators League Studios.

“There’s no precedent,” Karie Bible, box office analyst and film historian at Exhibitor Relations, told AListDaily. “We can’t compare it to Pepsi’s last movie or the last Uncle Drew movie or the last film from Kyrie Irving.”

Marketing for the film was targeted to its core audience—basketball fans—and while campaigns were limited to NBA playoff games, trailers and a Snapchat filter, Bible felt it was more than appropriate for a film of this size.

“They really marketed it well,” she commented. “A lot of time marketing is blamed for whenever a movie doesn’t succeed. They did a good job marketing it digitally to sports fans. It obviously wasn’t a huge blockbuster but Uncle Drew‘s box office is decent for sure.”

Lionsgate and Pepsi have two other things on their side—the Fourth of July holiday and an “A” rating on Cinema Score.

“It should carry on and make money over the Fourth of July weekend,” said Bible. “Good for [Lionsgate] for taking a risk. You’ve gotta pin a medal on a studio for that these days. It doesn’t happen too often.”

Drake’s ‘Scorpion’ Album Massive Success Despite Complaints About Its Promotion

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Drake has long been crowned as the king of streaming music, with his newly released album Scorpion continuing his legacy of breaking global streaming records on major music services. The 25-track album had 170 million streams within 24 hours of launching on Apple Music, while Spotify proclaimed that the album being listened to 10 million times per hour at one point with 132 million streams occurring globally. Billboard reported that Scorpion totaled 435 million streams during its launch weekend, unseating Post Malone as the one-week streaming record holder with 431 million in three days.

But Drake didn’t rise to the top of the streaming charts based on his musical talents alone. The album launch was accompanied by a massive promotional blitz that was clearly successful but left some listeners crying “enough.”

The Canadian artist signed an exclusive deal with Apple Music in 2015, which gave Drake regular endorsements and promotions. In promoting the new album, Apple updated Siri with a long list of Drake’s nicknames, which are provided randomly to encourage users to ask the voice assistant about it multiple times. Additionally, Apple Music also released the “Make Your Drake” web app, which let users make their own personalized album art based on Scorpion’s cover.

On Friday, Spotify proclaimed on Twitter that Drake was the answer for every occasion, which was the lead-in for “ScorpionSZN,” the music streaming service’s first-ever global dedicated artist takeover. With this intensive promotional campaign, Spotify partnered with labels Republic, Cash Money and Young Money to feature the artist’s picture on its homepage and across dozens of playlists on the same day—even ones that don’t have any of Drake’s songs on them. Additionally, playlist headers had slogans such as “Have a happy FriDrake” and “Thank God it’s FriDrake.”

The heavy promotion almost undoubtedly helped push Scorpion rise to the top, and the RIAA has officially named Drake as its highest certified digital singles artist with 142 million singles to date. However, this kind of heavy push didn’t come with some consequences. Users who didn’t appreciate the takeover voiced their frustration and mocked the campaign on social media—drawing comparisons to when Apple angered users by placing a copy of U2’s Songs of Innocence in everyone’s library without permission.

Some premium Spotify users who paid for an ad-free experience saw the takeover as advertising and demanded refunds. Potential damage to Spotify’s reputation as a service that personalizes music according to individual tastes remains to be seen, as the campaign can be seen as pushing music that its users might not like, but the success of the promotion seems to outweigh any apparent outrage. Spotify’s Twitter account currently has several Drake-related posts with none issuing an apology.

Study Reveals How World Cup Ads Impact Behavior

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Digital experience management company Instart announced the results of its 2018 World Cup Ad Performance Study on Wednesday, which surveys over 1,000 adults living in the US and UK, comparing how fans from each country feel about the World Cup, how they’re watching it and how advertising impacted them. As it turns out, 60 percent of Americans watching the games, are doing so live, compared to 81 percent of Britons watching the games. Even though there were significantly more Brits watching live matches than Americans—with many on both sides of the pond streaming matches while at work and even in the bedroom—all audiences were impacted by advertising.

According to the study, 65 percent of surveyed Americans said that they were likely to be impacted commercials while only 52 percent of British fans said the same. World Cup ads drove about 28 percent of Americans to brand websites while others got a case of the munchies, with 23 percent reporting that the ads led them to buy fast food and 16 percent got thirsty for beer, but no specific brands are indicated. Additionally, 37 percent of Americans report watching at least 60 seconds of an ad when they appear on TV or online compared to 32 percent of Brits.

Also, perhaps unsurprisingly, when it comes driving consumer purchase behavior, David Beckham scores the highest. Instart found that 29 percent of surveyed soccer fans said that renowned soccer start would likely convince them to buy a product. By comparison, soccer celebrity Cristiano Ronaldo got 19 percent of the vote and Lionel Messi received 14 percent.

As for what ad characteristics attract the most attention during the World Cup, repetition wins at 60 percent, followed by creativity (25 percent) and sex appeal (23 percent). However, the study also warns that approximately 18 percent of Americans will tune out online ads after one online ad, while 25 percent stop paying attention after two. UK viewers reported less tolerance for online ads, with 31 percent stating that they tuned out after one and 21 percent saying two was their limit.

Although the 2026 World Cup will be hosted in the United States, many Americans aren’t holding out much hope that their team even qualify, much less win, within the next decade. However, US consumers do have their top picks for the 2026 World Cup sponsors, which are Amazon, Apple and Microsoft.

“.. we wanted to know what fans on both sides of the Atlantic were expecting from the World Cup,” said Instart CMO Daniel Druker in a statement. “World Cup fans made it clear that they appreciate and will engage with high-quality, targeted digital ads—and if you really want to get their attention, you’ll score big with David Beckham.”