Look at this. Click on it and look at it full size. Look at that visual vomit. It’s amazing that “The Artist” is a visually clean, beautiful movie, but the marketing arm for this movie made this monstrosity. Just way too much text, too many little messages being delivered instead of one large message. This is a perfect example of why users simply don’t pay any attention to advertising. When someone arrives at a site looking like this, visual filters go on, and the search for the actual content begins.
What would have worked? I would suggest photos of the ensemble cast one one side and their credits on the other. If that was done, the 300×350 and the leaderboard ad would be OK.
This wrap for CBS’ The Good Wife is near perfect. Subtle colors, great layout, the ads complement the background. Only one fatal flaw. The photo of Julianna Margulies is blown up & pixelated. No excuse for that. Look at her full size.
What we have here is interesting. We have two different wraps for Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, but neither wrap works particularly well. The bold blue of the wrap on Rotten Tomatoes is the better design, but the color is so loud that users tune out.
The darker wrap above on Cinema Blend is aesthetically superior, but it’s disjointed and the branding is lost. Double mediocrity.
You must click on the above image to experience the vertigo this site wrap induces. The unfortunate background behind Gary Oldman is intense enough, but when you compound it by 4, it’s overkill.
So, Madonna has been announced to play the Super Bowl. The Madonna machine continues to impress me with their efficiency.
A few weeks ago, the new Madonna single “leaked”. It’s a coincidence how her singles “leak”, no? Many outlets pulled it, but you can still find it if you look. General reaction to it in the online celebrity bubble was “OMG! So awesome!” What?? No. No it’s not. It’s pretty crappy. It’s a catchy, goofy trendy song that will play great at the Super Bowl. It’s not an age appropriate song for her. Not intelligent. BUT. That’s not the goal, is it?
The goals are: impress at Super Bowl. Cater to the audience that will buy the Material Girl clothing line for Juniors at Macy’s (and their parents). Create buzz for new record and tour.
It’s a series of firsts for Madonna. This is the first Madonna record that is not on Warner Brothers records. It’s the first delivery in her $120 million, ten year deal with Live Nation. The cash grab isn’t in records anymore. Although she will receive a $17 million advance for each record she delivers (she’s contracted for three), the real cherry is the touring cash. In 2009 Madonna demanded $475 for floor tickets, and $45 for t shirts. It’s likely that will be the case this time out, economy be damned.
It’s also the first project in a Post-Gaga world. Where Gaga schools all in social media, social media is not really the Madonna brand, and you can tell. Madonna does have a Facebook page but no Twitter account. She only occasionally tweets via her manager, Guy Oseary. Up until recently, her official fanclub was $100 a year. Now it’s closed (in preparation for the LN new groups & terms). It makes sense. If you want to see Madonna, you pay. You pay huge. Even her rehearsals before a concert are closed- you must buy a ticket to see her, even rehearsing.
Watch this cringe-worthy video announcing a new contest for the clothing line:
Good grief, that was painful.
Unless it’s for a brand, and she’s contractually obligated, don’t expect Madonna to change her approach.
Wait- didn’t she do a social contest where dancers could compete for a spot on the tour? It was sponsored by Smirnoff, right? Right. The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, including the exclusive dance competition with Madonna, was the first component of a multi-faceted agreement between Madonna and her partner Live Nation and Diageo, the parent company of The Smirnoff Co. She’s a machine. I wish I had the business know-how to execute some sick deals.
You better believe that overpriced tickets for her new tour will go on sale the Monday after the Super Bowl. I’m jealous.
THIS is how to do a wrap correctly. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” American film opens on Christmas, and this is part of their campaign. The Wallpaper is a dark non-repeating, non vomit-inducing choice that does not take away from the actual content on the site. The 300×250 box plays video, and The Push down banner only remains expanded for a short time. The user has to expand it manually to watch the entire trailer (below.) Hooray Sony Pictures! (Man. I never thought I’d type THAT sentence!)
OK. Let’s talk about this. This is a lot of “Breaking Dawn”. We have The large background images, the push down video, and the 300×250 video box. Add to that the actual content of the site is a preview of “Breaking Dawn”, and you’ve got overload. Not tragic, just… a step on the overkill side. And this isn’t even full size! Click on the image above to experience the full impact.
Mashable has an excellent info graph on the Stop Online Piracy Act bill currently in congress. This bill- sponsored by such corporate and lobbying groups like the Motion Picture Association of America- would put some pretty serious and scary restrictions on websites deemed.. well, that’s not clear. Deemed to carry copyrighted material? Sure. That’s what the bill was, on paper, intended to do. But then things get gray with fair-use and the like… It’s one step closer to censorship.
