We’re less than two weeks away from The 87th Annual Academy Awards, recently re-branded as simply ‘The Oscars’ for promotional purposes. I’ve seen several, short ads with Neil Patrick Harris delivering one-liners…but that’s pretty much it. It’s time for The Academy to push full-steam-ahead with their marketing, or else they could be facing a situation they’ve feared for weeks: one of the lowest-rated telecasts in the history of the show. Apparently there’s a $5.5 million social media campaign underway, but who knows if that will have an effect, since much of the traditional Oscars audience isn’t on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc.
Here are my ideas for two strategies for the both TV commercials and online ads, to build-up buzz for the show:
#1) Promote the musical star power. Anna Kendrick and Jack Black were just added to a list that also includes Tim McGraw, John Legend, Common, Andy Samberg and Adam Levine. There’s a great crop of Best Song nominees this year. Use them to draw average viewers who love all the singing competition shows, as well as the Tonys and the Grammys.
#2) Push the battles. Everybody loves competition. “American Sniper” is only $50 million away from becoming the highest-grossing 2014 release, and Bradley Cooper’s performance has him in the Best Actor race. Standing in Cooper’s way are Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”) and Michael Keaton (“Birdman”). These two have split all of the major acting awards up to this point. Co-favorites and a fast-charging underdog – all the makings of a great race.
Best Picture honors will likely be up for grabs until the envelope opens, with a three-movie race between the extraordinary “Birdman”, the sentimental “Boyhood” and the Wild Card “Sniper”. And there’s a nice Best Director battle between “Boyhood” and “Birdman” as well.
The Academy should using these races to get the public excited about the show. Otherwise, in a year without major star-power, a big-time controversy or a fresh, exciting host, this could be remembered as the Oscars that nobody watched.