Producers of The Mechanic, an action thriller starring Jason Statham as a hit man, needed a unique promo to stand out amid the din of movie madness bombarding the media and consumers today. They were thinking T-shirts, but the promotional supplier they worked with had a variation of that theme in mind.
THE PITCH: Running with the “weapons” theme, Brad White, vice president of sales for San Diego-based supplier AddVenture Products (asi/31940), worked with a distributor to produce a series of unique compressed T-shirts, says Angela Bankston, who heads up marketing for AddVenture and worked with White on the project.
Rather than giving traditional T-shirts to members of the press covering the movie, as well as to other potential moviegoers, Bankston and White had a more radical idea. They suggested that the movie’s marketers should have the shirts shrink-wrapped and compressed into the shape of guns, playing into the movie’s theme to make a bigger impact on T-shirt recipients.
To boost the film’s visibility, AddVenture also suggested adding a quick response (QR) code to the compressed tees, which, when scanned by a user’s smart phone, takes the user directly to the movie’s website and trailer. The technology, in conjunction with promotional items, and particularly apparel products, is an increasing trend, says Bankston – “something that’s going to be huge for 2011.”
The best part? QR codes are free for end-users, making them an ideal marketing tool to combine with product promotions.
THE OUTCOME: The movie was released this month, and the verdict is still out on what kind of box-office draw and revenue it will generate. But the initial promo helped to garner a wealth of media attention for the film’s release.
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