Spidey slings far-reaching web

(c) RCR Wireless News

Film’s success highlights importance of broad promotional channels

“Spider-Man 3” hit box-office gold as it broke the U.S. and global opening weekend box office records upon release the first weekend of May. While much of the film industry sees the success as a welcome respite, and perhaps turnaround, from the steady decline in moviegoers, none were more pleased with the result than Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

The film and TV giant has been pushing its marketing to multiple screens as of late and believes it’s starting to see the fruits of its new-found labors. The third instalment in the Spider-Man series brought in a staggering $382 million in worldwide ticket sales during its opening weekend, which means more than four out of every five moviegoers saw the film upon release on more than 13,000 screens. It shattered the previous opening weekend box-office record by almost $130 million.

Prior to the film’s release, Andy Bishop, VP of mobile entertainment at Sony Pictures, highlighted some of the studio’s efforts in mobile advertising at the Mobile Content Partnership Summit in Los Angeles.

“You really need to take advantage of all the screens available to you,” Bishop said. The company has been speeding up its pursuit of partnerships with carriers, distributors, broadcasters and other players in the industry as it eyes the new opportunities presented by the mobile environment.

Three-screen challenges

Yet still, challenges permeate the studios best intentions as many advertisers are not set up to work on three-screen promotion, Bishop said. In its efforts on mobile, Sony focuses on creating content that works well for the unique opportunities in each market, but doesn’t necessarily differentiate its offering between carriers in those markets.

Through that approach, Sony is finding significant traction and interest among Latinos, like many others in the industry, Bishop said. So in Latin America, where 3G networks are scarce, Sony is creating shorter-form clips that work better under those conditions.

Carriers remain key

As Sony and the industry as a whole pursue ad-supported models to help offset the costs of distributing content to multiple platforms, the walled garden enforced by carriers continues to halt them in their tracks. “I think the carriers are still very much an important part of the process,” Bishop said, emphasizing the importance of partnering with carriers as they push promotional content to subscribers. “We still are very reliant on the mobile operator as a way to contact the subscriber and let them know.”

The ad-supported model eventually will change subscribers’ perceptions of what they can expect for free, Bishop said. “On the Internet, everyone expects everything to be free; if it’s not free nobody wants it,” he said, adding that carriers have gotten their subscribers accustomed to paying for content.

It puts studios, like Sony, on a fence as they try to balance free and pay-for promotional content. With “Spider-Man 3,” the studio offered previews of special behind-the-scenes footage, fan updates and user-generated content for the mobile phone. It also heavily marketed a mobile game and provided wallpapers for a fee.