How a Monster-Sized Marketing Campaign was Built for China’s ‘Great Wall’ (EXCLUSIVE)。
独家：如何建立对中国影片《长城》的大型的市场营销。
Variety 5 December 2016/
Variety 2016年12月5日
“The Great Wall” presents a whole series of firsts. It is the first movie made in English by ZhangYimou, China’s master of the big spectacle. Costing some $150 million it is possibly the biggest-budget Chinese film of all time. It is certainly the biggest Hollywood-Chinese co-production to data and is Matt Damon’s first Asian movie.
《长城》献上了一系列的第一：它是中国的大片导演张艺谋制作的第一部英语影片；耗资1.5亿美元，它很可能是中国影史上预算最高的影片；它是截至目前最大的好莱坞和中国合作的影片，也是马特达蒙在亚洲出演的第一部影片。
Additionally, it is the first picture to emerge from Legendary East, the Chinese wing of Thomas Tull’s – now Wanda-owned — Legendary Entertainment production powerhouse.
此外，它是东方传奇—原Thomas Tull--现万达拥有的--传奇影业制片延伸到中国的羽翼—出品的第一部影片。
All that is another way of saying there is a lot at stake. And it is why the movie’s upcoming release in China is being delivered to market with an unprecedented marketing and promotional campaign.
这同时也说明了这部电影有很多的利害攸关。那也是为什么这部影片的即将上映正在以史无前例的市场营销投放向市场的原因。
“It is a new kind of film,” says producer Peter Loehr, and CEO of Legendary East. The action-fantasy-adventure movie has major elements of Western blockbuster cinema, yet is 20% in Chinese and is directed by Zhang, whose film credits include epic “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers. His track record mounting massive live events includes the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games, and the recent G20 Summit Conference in Hangzhou.
“它是一种新的电影，”制片人兼传奇东方的CEO，Peter Loehr，说道。这部动作魔幻冒险片有着主要的西方电影的轰动元素，又有20%的汉语，而且是张艺谋执导。他的颇负盛名的影片包括史诗片《英雄》和《十面埋伏》。他的过往成就还包括2008年奥运会的开闭幕式和最近杭州G20峰会的大型现场演出。
“This film is absolutely what I’ve spent 25 years of my career building up to,” says Beijing-based Loehr, who was previously a Chinese indie producer and later the China head of talent agency CAA.
“这部影片绝对是我花了25年的职业生涯而慢慢构建起来的，”基地在北京的Loehr说。他曾是一个独立制片人，后来成为艺人机构CAA的中国区总裁。
Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, believes that the film can change the course of Chinese movies in international markets as well. “At Universal we are huge believers in a bright future for Chinese Cinema, fueled by the impressive recent growth of the Chinese theatrical marketplace. Our participation in ‘The Great Wall’ is very exciting to us. The combination of a tentpole scale Chinese-themed picture, the vision of the renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou, the star power of Matt Damon and the enormous cast of talented Chinese actors make it the ideal vehicle to introduce Chinese creative product to the global audience,” Shell told Variety by email.
Jeff Shell，环球电影娱乐集团的主席，相信这部电影也能改变中国电影在国际市场上的发展路径。“在环球，我们深信中国院线业的光明前景，这个前景由于最近中国的剧院的市场份额的增长而得以强化。参与制作《长城》对我们来说是令人兴奋的。中国题材，著名制片人张艺谋的视野，马特达蒙的明星影响力和一群有天赋的中国演员的强大的卡司都使得这部影片成为把中国的创意产品介绍给全球观众的理想的手段。”Shell在email里告诉Variety。
The film originated with a high concept idea – that the Great Wall of China only needed to be that size if it was built to keep out something far nastier than mere humans – from Legendary founder, Tull.
这部影片的构思来自于一个高度概念化的想法--如果长城是被建来抵御比人类更凶恶的东西，那么它必须要有那个规模，传奇影业创始人Tull说。
“It is not that I actually saw it from a plane. Rather when I was a little boy I heard that the only man-made object you could see from space was The Great Wall of China. Whether it is true or not, I could not conceive of the feat of engineering and ingenuity to build it. And I’ve been fascinated with it my whole life,” Tull says.
他说，“不是说我真的在飞机上看到了长城，而是在我还是一个孩子时就听说能从太空里唯一看到的人造的建筑是中国的长城。无论此言是实是虚，我都无法想象建造它的工程和精巧的壮观。今生至此我都一直为之着迷。”
The film was shot in mid-2015 and Zhang has spent more than a year in post-production. The China release date of Dec. 16 puts it squarely at the height of peak season cinemagoing in the Middle Kingdom. It releases in North America on Feb. 17 next year with outings in international territories between those dates.
这部电影拍摄于2015年中期，张艺谋花了一年多做后期制作。在中国12月16日的上映日期也把这部影片直接放到了这个中央大国的观影高峰期的最高峰。它将于明年2月17日登陆北美，其间会在一些别的国家做放映。
The lengthy post-production period gave plenty of time to cut visual material for promotion. Online marketing is much more important to film releases in China than in Western markets where posters and TV ads may dominate. Producers delivered more than 60 pieces of bespoke video for online consumption, in addition to a conventional trailer, a teaser trailer and three music videos. The trailers have played ahead of nearly every significant local and Hollywood film in Chinese theaters since Oct. 1.
这么长的后期制作也留出了充裕的时间来剪辑用于推广的视频材料。对于影片的公映，网上推广在中国比起海报和电视广告占主导的西方市场更为重要。制片方发布了60多条网上订制的视频，一个搞笑的预告片和三条MV。这些预告片自从10月1日以来就在几乎每一部在中国院线中放映的重要的本土和好莱坞的影片前推出。
Marketing in China shifted up a further gear with a major event called the “Five Armies Press Conference” on Nov. 15. “The film’s marketing is stretched over a series of events, introducing the film’s worlds in pieces, so that people get to know the concept progressively,” says Loehr. The Five Armies event introduced the battle groups, their leaders and the actors who play them as well as the unique weapons required to fight the film’s monsters.
中国市场的推广随着一个被称为“五军记者招待会”的活动而渐入高潮。“这部电影的推广被延伸到一系列的活动，一点点地呈现影片的世界，以便观众能够渐进地了解它的内容，”Loehr说。五军活动介绍了战役中的队伍，他们的领军以及对抗影片中怪兽所需的独特的武器。
That has been followed by the release of the first and second singles from the soundtrack. This week (Dec. 6) sees a large glitzy press conference in Beijing with the full cast in attendance, followed by a one day junket for domestic Chinese press, and then another for South East Asian press who are being flown in.
活动后还发布了电影原声的第一和第二支单曲。本周，12月6日，将会在北京有一个全阵容出席的记者招待会，之后会有一个一天的国内媒体的游览，还会安排一天的游览接待蜂拥而至的东南亚媒体。
Along the way there will be further reveals about the creatures, their interaction with the human characters and the release of the final song. On Friday, the promotional action shifts to Shanghai for an event with more focus on the movie’s animation and proceeds going to the Great Wall Preservation Fund.
推广过程中还会曝光更多的怪兽，它们和人类角色的互动以及发布最后一首歌。周五，推广活动移师上海举行一个聚焦于影片的动画的活动，活动收入将捐给长城保护基金。
Screenings for Chinese press, friends-and-family and opinion leaders begin from Dec. 12. Public screenings begin from 7pm on Dec. 15, the evening before the official release date. Presentations will use an almost unprecedented combination of format including 2D, 3D, IMAX 2D and 3D, China Giant Screen, and 4DX, the Korean technology that sees supplementary content and screen extensions projected on a cinema’s side walls for a 270-degree effect.
媒体，亲友团和意见领袖放映会从12月12日开始，公开放映则从正式上映日期的前一晚，12月15日晚7点开始。放映形式将会使用一个前所未有的组合，包括2D，3D，IMAX 2D和3D，中国巨幕，以及4DX，一个能看到更多内容，银幕也扩至影院两侧墙以得到270度观影效果的韩国科技。
The film was conceived and greenlighted even before Wanda acquired Legendary in the deal that was announced in January this year. Its four financier and presenters are Legendary, Universal Pictures, China Film Group and Le Vision Pictures.
这部影片的构思和放行还在万达在今年一月宣布收购传奇的交易之前。它的四个投资方和出品方是传奇影业，环球影视，中影集团和乐视影业。
The range of resources that Wanda can bring to bear – China’s largest cinema chain, distribution, and two marketing companies — elevate the film’s launch into a national event. China Film and Wanda’s Wuzhou Distribution firm are the distributors of record, while Legendary and Le Vision (part of the Le Eco group) oversee marketing and promotion.
万达可以运用的资源的范围--中国最大的连锁影院，发行和两个广告公司--把这部影片的落地提升为全国性事件。中影和万达的五洲发行公司是唱片的发行方，而传奇和乐视（Le Eco集团的一部分）监督营销和推广。
“Where we might have had 8 people in a marketing meeting for ‘Pacific Rim’ or ‘Godzilla’ that expanded to 20 people on ‘Warcraft,’ including people from Wanda, Wanda Cinema Line and (social media giant) Tencent,” says Loehr. “Warcraft had a stellar opening and achieved a lifetime gross of $220 million, making it the third biggest film this year in China, a figure that dwarfed the $47.2 million it achieved in North America.
“原本可能只会有八个人参加的如《环太平洋》或《哥斯拉》的市场会到了《魔兽争霸》时扩至20人，包括来自万达，万达院线和社交媒体巨人腾讯的人员，”Loehr说。“《星际争霸》有一个很棒的开始而且最后取得了2.2亿美元的总票房，使它成为今年中国票房的第三名，这是一个令它在北美取得的4.72千万美元相形见拙的数字。”
“For ‘The Great Wall’ we’ve held marketing and strategy meetings every Saturday with up to 60 people in the room from Legendary, Le Vision, CFG, Wanda Cinema, Tencent, China Movie Marketing Group, Mtime, Wanda Malls and Wanda’s real estate development team,” says Loehr. Some 260 of Wanda’s malls are putting on “Wall” events. Mtime, the movie ticketing and marketing firm Wanda acquired this year, is putting on “Dare to Dream” and Zhang Yimou exhibitions in a further 56 malls and CMMG will promote an augmented reality video game.
“为推广《长城》我们每周六都和多达60个来自传奇，乐视，中影集团，万达院线，腾讯，中国电影营销集团，时光网，万达商城和万达地产开发团队的人员济济一堂召开营销和策略会。”Loehr说。万达已有大约260个商场张贴立面广告。万达今年收购的电影售票和营销公司时光网正在另外的56个商场上映“敢于梦想”和张艺谋展，而CMMG将推广一款增强现实电子游戏。
“If you are doing things that are formulaic, or that audiences feel they’ve seen before, it is going to be a hard sell,” says Tull. “The canvas and some of what Zhang accomplished is jaw-dropping.”
“如果你还在做着墨守成规的，或者令观众感觉他们以前见过的事，那么将很难卖出高的票房，”Tull 说。“这部电影的布景和张艺谋完成的一些东西是令人惊艳的。”
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