Universal Pictures the Secret Life of Pets

OOH Case Study Universal Pictures: The Secret Life of Pets Problem How does a new franchise break through the clutter of the saturated summer of movies and make its own film stand out? Solution Craft a large-scale Times Square domination that creates chat- ter and ultimately drives consumers to the box office. Background While well-known brands have months (sometimes years) to develop their brand and gain a fan base, theatrical releases have merely weeks to drive millions to the box office and be- come a success. In a crowded theatrical landscape, our challenge was to differentiate The Secret Life of Pets from other releases during the season. Additionally, the team wanted to establish the film as a pop culture movement and the launch pad for a new animated feature. The Secret Life of Pets is the first new franchise from Illumination Entertainment after the huge successes of Despicable Me and Minions. With this in mind, the bar was set extremely high and the team not only had to exceed client and filmmaker expectations, but also internally challenge itself to find a way to bring this film and these char- acters to life in a new way that would create an impact in the marketplace. Another additional challenge was that Summer 2016 included other existing animated franchises such as Disney’s: Finding Dory, Sony Pictures: Angry Birds, and 20th Century Fox’s: Ice Age. All of these films have large existing fan bases, so the team had to break through the clutter. Objective The client and filmmakers wanted an activation that would garner attention for being the “largest” or “never-been-done- before” execution exclusive of the traditional OOH formats that would provide frequency and awareness of the film. Strategy Universal has permanent OOH media units that are allocated throughout the year to all of their films – two of which dominate a large block just outside of Times Square, creating a large impact with New York residents and visitors, alike. Secret Life of Pets has a large character cast of multiple fuzzy, lovable pets, so, it seemed an organic concept to connect the animals’ looks and artwork pieces with a large domination around Times Square to create buzz. The Times Square domination was done at such a large, never been done before scale that it became almost a living, breathing part of the city. The social media, press and consumer attention exceeded far beyond expectations. Initially starting on a local level and within the industry, the momentum continued to build as more consumers, media outlets and industry press continued Outdoor Advertising Association of America to talk about and cover the larger than life pets. The coverage hit a high note when the domination was featured on a Today Show segment – garnering an audience of over 4 million viewers. The team strategically planned the Times Square domination to kick off the campaign and align with other media blitzes starting on Memorial Day weekend 2016. The remainder of the OOH formats blanketed the market with large frequency formats and hand-selected bulletins to help turn the buzz into awareness. All of this resulted in a suc- cessful opening weekend, exceeding opening weekend box office goals and opening in 1st place for the weekend. Plan Details Markets: LA, NY, SF, CHI Flight Dates: May 2016 - July 2016 OOH Formats Used: Wallscapes, Spectaculars, Bulletins, Transit Shelters, Premiere Panels, Bus Kings, Subway 2 – sheets, Urban Panels, Taxi Tops, Mall Panels (digital & static), 2-sheet Phone Kiosks, Double Deckers, Wrapped Buses, Bus Benches Target Audience: People 3+ Budget: The overall media plan had a budget of about $35MM +. Typically OOH gets allocated about 6% of that budget. As with most animated films, the OOH was playing such a large role in supporting the opening of this film, that Universal Pictures increased the OOH budget to upwards of 12%. Results The never-before-done execution and overall campaign was conceived, planned and executed by the team as an answer to the film makers interest in breaking through the clutter of the saturated summer of movies, while also introducing the lovable char- acters of Pets, and most importantly, forming emotional bonds with consumers, thus not only creating fans of the film, but also Pets’ brand ambassadors. The groundwork for the overwhelming response from consumers, social media, industry and national press was created when the team purposefully launched the Times Square domination first, and early on before all other media. Other media was then launched in multiple markets to enhance the initial displays and continue on the theme of introducing the amazing film charac- ters. Final results were amazing - 1st place opening weekend status as well as exceeding opening weekend box office goals and earning $104.3MM domestically added to the success. Testimonials “It is the biggest presence ever in Times Square” - Chris Meledandri (CEO of Illumination Entertainment) “Everyone is buzzing about the Pets domination in Times Square” – creative lead at Universal Pictures Additional Information A clip to the video of the domination being featured on The Today Show: https://twitter.com/KineticUSA/status/750819584182259712 Received press coverage from Daily DOOH: http://goo.gl/pKbr0X Download video files here:https://we.tl/YIw3uy8N5c Outdoor Advertising Association of America .

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