The Painted Veil targets TV viewers with relevant information

I absolutely love to go to the movies. I've been known to see a dozen in a week. Recently, during the week between Christmas and New Years, I managed to see only six, but what can I say? I had other things on my plate to do too.

One of the best movies I saw was The Painted Veil, an independent film staring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. Shot in China, it is the most beautiful cinematography I've seen in ages. The story is captivating and the casting spot on.

But what intrigues me even more about this great movie is the way it was promoted. Warner Independent Pictures initally boughtTV commercial spots in 18 markets (on cable). Rather than ending each with the typical, "Now playing at a theater near you" or "Now playing at selected theaters," the spots told viewers exactly which theater to go to in their city. In Atlanta, for instance, viewers are told to go to the Landmark's Midtown Art Cinema.

What a great concept: tell consumers what they need to know without making them work for it! It also helped to create a sense of urgency to see the film. Seeing that the movie was playing in only one theater - one known for indies - made me want to rush out to see it before it disappeared. I didn't know if if would ever make the screens in the suburbs.

As it turns out, The Painted Veil will roll out to another 73 markets next week and at that time Warner will run broader national TV campaigns. But this initial targeted campaign was a stroke of genius that speaks once again to how consumers want information that is relevant to them.

By the way, kudos to SpotRunner, an LA-based ad ageny that created the specific tags and handled the execution in each market. Don't be surprised if you see more movies go down this path.

Now if only someone can figure out how to get rid of those annoying commercials that play in front of the movie trailers that play in front of the actual movie you're there to see...

Comments

[john]

i live in atlanta. what cable channel did you find the painted veil on. i see it is also playing at lefont sandy springs this week.

i agree w/you about the film to such an extent i went back to see it twice & may go again. i particularly thought watts was great, as did the local ajc critic.

[Marilynn Mobley]

Hi John,

Thanks for your comment. It really is a great movie, isn't it? I'm sure I'll go see it again. I'm one of those people who will see a movie multiple times if I really like it!

I honestly don't remember what channel the commercial appeared on. I do a lot of channel flipping (usually to find shows like "Flip That House").

Appreciate the heads up that it's now at LeFont too. I hope it gets wide distribution. It's too good to stay in art houses only.

(If I remember where I saw the ad or if I see it again, I'll post it.)

[Podbaby]

Kudos also to MovieMovieMovie.com a TV ad agency that produces ad trailers for studios, distributors and indies - for free. That's probably cheaper than spotrunner.