Today we are going to explore the efforts that Disney Pixar has been using to promote their upcoming film "Monsters University". This prequel to the first installment in this franchise "Monsters Inc." has been highly anticipated due to the monstrous success of the first movie. Even though the promotional items and advertising has been minimal in these past few months in main stream media Disney has been working on many non-traditional items that have been causing a bit of a stir.
First let's travel to a place that is familiar to many of my fellow classmates and friends, the all mighty university website. Check out how Disney has put a fun spin on the classic university website to promote this upcoming film. For a group of people that were raised when the first movie was released the appeal of this site makes us laugh as we venture around the site remembering how much fun we had watching the first installment. This interactive site gives people the freedom to spend their time as they chose. I found myself roaming in the campus life section for quiet a while because of my background in Greek Life here at Ohio State. Disney has created a totally immersive environment that has branched out into every facet of what a university website would need to attract potential students.
To build on this immersive content they also put together videos to accompany the website that do not even mention the film itself.
Check them out!
I think that this website gives a fresh new look to what an advertisement can be in the film industry. Instead of just showing a few clips from the film on a website that also may have merchandise section, Disney created a world of its own for people to engage with. By giving people a variety of ways to connect with their upcoming film we will see many people using social media to bring friends and followers to the website. This gives Disney a chance to make this a viral piece of media once they accompany a traditional advertising campaign. As the film industry moves forward I think we will continue to see an attempt to build this community-like setting around movies because of the power it holds.
This was one of my favorite marketing campaigns ever! I love the Monsters U website, and it definitely got me excited to see the movie. I particularly like how, just like you said, this is being released just as our generation is beginning their collegiate experience. Similarly to the timing of the release of "Toy Story 3", it ties back really nicely and engages our generation through nostalgia while also winning over younger viewers for the first time.
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