Walt Disney: The Worst Campaign Ever

Credits & Description:

Client: Disney
Product: Mass Media Corporation
Entrant: Havas Sports & Entertainment Madrid, Spain
Title: The Worst Campaign Ever
Product/Service: Mass Media Corporation
Media Agency: Havas Media Group Madrid, Spain
Entrant Company: Havas Sports & Entertainment Madrid, Spain
Media Agency 2: Havas Sports & Entertainment Madrid, Spain
Chief Creative Officer: Jose Antonio Nogales (HSE)
Creative Director/Writter: Gonzalo Tellez (HSE)
Creative Director: Antonio Simón (HSE)
Art Director: Cristina Valle (HSE)
Writters: Natalia Parra (HSE)
Art Director: Elena Vela (HSE)
Account Director: Elsa Sanchez (HSE)
Client Service Director: Ruth García (HSE)
Account Director: Ana Moraleja (HSE)
Junior Account Executive: Macarena Couso (HSE)
Producer: Adrián Chinchilla (HSE)
Producer: Sonsoles Torres (HSE)
Producer: Mónica Crespo (HSE)
Producer: Jaime Lozano (HSE)
Web Programmer: David San Blas (HSE)
Head Of Theatrical Marketing Iberia: Marta Kowalska (The Walt Disney Company)
Marketing Department: Lucia Rodriguez Sanchez (The Walt Disney Company)
Marketing Department: Alejandro Vazquez Carus (The Walt Disney Company)
Marketing Department: Alejandra Gonzalez Ducall (The Walt Disney Company)
Brief Explanation
In order to allow people to identify with the core message, we took the film’s plot and used it as the main idea in the campaign. We purposely created the most disastrous outdoor campaign.
The OOH experiential strategy added the fundamental final touch to the 360º campaign by materializing Alexander’s bad luck in the imperfections of the billboards set up, forming in the process, a memorable and emotional connection between the person and the movie.
Results and Effectiveness
This movie is a mid-to-low-budget production and as such, Disney was not expecting high returns from the box office. The notoriety generated by the integrated campaign resulted in the movie becoming the most viewed film in its category during the first month it was released (November 2014). It totally exceeded the client’s expectations as it surpassed the Walt Disney Company’s initial objectives by 13%.
* ( Source : Rentrak 2014) .
Creative Execution
The creative idea was entirely based Alexander’s bad day, on his jinxed luck, his incapacity to do anything right. ‘’Bad day’’ was the key concept behind the implementation of the idea on each of the different channels selected. In each case, we purposely botched execution, for example, trailers where presented upside down, with unusual angles, audio did not match the image on the screen, TV ads where overlapped with different programs, online banners where poorly made and full of mistakes, and finally, our key media channel launch, print and outdoor advertising was purposely botched, upside down, non-aligned and sometimes ripped.
Insights, Strategy and the Idea
Our target audience consists of families, specifically parents and young teens (12-14 years old) that feel passion and loyalty towards Mickey Mouse and his creator, Walt Disney. An audience that expects not just be entertained and amazed, but also to feel special, in short, an emotionally connected audience.
Media planning determined that the best channels to communicate were those where the consumer (parents and young teens) naturally touched the brand/product simultaneously, provoking an immediate demand from the kids (let’s go and watch this!). At first TV, radio, online, Cinemas and then OOH.