Through a partnership with Kellogg USA, Walt Disney Pictures is hoping an integrated campaign will draw attention from the breakfast table to the Web — and ultimately, to the silver screen, for the upcoming debut of “Atlantis: The Lost Empire.”
Disney is aiming to market the animated film, which will be released in June, through an effort that features promotion on Kellogg’s breakfast cereals. It’s a strategy that Disney is wagering will nab the interest of kids and parents in one fell swoop.
To heighten excitement for the film, the on-box promotions are designed to drive traffic to a site created by Disney Online for the film. The site’s URL will appear on the side of specially marked cereal boxes, as will a secret word written in “Atlantean.”
Decoding the word at the movie site gives users access to a movie-related online game, “Treasure Quest.”
The movie site also will encourage users to send electronic postcards encoded in the Atlantean (recipients must visit the site to decode the messages) and will host other games as well.
The strategy of a nontraditional, integrated promotion is similar to campaigns launched by other big-name Hollywood studios. Warner Bros. Pictures, for one, is promoting the upcoming release of “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” with a guerilla-style marketing effort that involves Web surfers in a search to solve a mystery related to the film.
Similarly, with its tie-in to discovery, decoding and deciphering, the “Atlantis” campaign hopes to immerse fans in the subject matter of the film, which follows a cartographer’s efforts at discovering the mysteries of Atlantis.
“We worked with Kellogg to create a site that gets the entire family involved in and excited about Atlantis — from sending Atlantean-coded electronic postcards, to playing games and puzzle-solving,” said Ken Goldstein, executive vice president and managing director at Disney Online. “It’s a natural fit — both brands play a significant role in bringing fun to kids and their parents.”
Through the arrangement between Walt Disney Pictures and Kellogg, co-branded banner ads promoting the film will appear throughout Disney.com and on Kellogg’s site. The cereal producer also receives signage throughout the Atlantis publicity site.
“Our partnership with Disney and its blockbuster Atlantean adventure experience is an important extension of our ongoing commitment to bring value to our consumers,” said Kevin Smith, senior vice president of marketing services at Kellogg.