Los Angeles, Sunset Boulevard.
This is the city's star street, home to various commercial facilities, a must-visit for anyone traveling to Los Angeles, with a huge daily flow of people.
As the new week arrived, Eric Park next to Sunset Boulevard was bustling with crowds, a large number of people gathered, taking photos and exclaiming in amazement.
In the center of the crowd, a silver-white robot over two meters tall stood tall, it was Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons.
This robot was meticulously crafted by the MGM prop department, with various mechanisms built-in, though it couldn't move.
But through remote control, Megatron's hands and feet could make small movements,
Coupled with professional voice actors hidden in the dark speaking, the effect was certainly far from the Universal Studios version of later generations.
However, for this era, it was already beyond people's imagination.
"Foolish humans, I come from the planet Cybertron, thirty billion light-years from Earth. You may call me Lord Megatron."
"My Allspark has been stolen by a despicable thief, and now I must find a pair of glasses, with the coordinates of the Allspark engraved on the lenses."
In a mechanical voice, Megatron's eyes suddenly emitted blue light.
Some people immediately screamed and retreated, unsure if they were deliberately cooperating or genuinely scared.
After all, the latter was not absolutely impossible, as happy education really did produce many idiots.
The blue light was naturally not a weapon, but a holographic projection built into Megatron's head.
Through its eyes, the camera projected a pair of glasses into the air, which were Sam's glasses from the movie.
And on the lenses, a website was clearly displayed. It was a transformers promotional website specially built by MGM. They went all out, giving everyone a sense of participation.
"You tiny bugs, remember this website, and leave a message on the website after finding clues."
"Every person who leaves a message, I will consider a servant bowing to the Decepticons. When I conquer Earth, I will spare your insignificant lives!"
Two mechanical arms waved, and amidst the domineering words, Megatron appeared incredibly impressive.
A young man stepped out and asked, "Megatron, I'm a fan of transformers. Can I take a photo with you?"
Megatron waved his hand, saying with a hint of disdain, "No, humans are inferior carbon-based life forms. There is a natural chasm between you and a superior mechanical life form like me. You are not worthy of a photo with me."
The young man was a little disappointed, momentarily unsure whether to approach or not, as he had never seen such a large, moving robot before, and the unknown was mixed with fear.
Seeing this, his girlfriend stepped forward to help, "Mr. Megatron, I have already noted down the website and will definitely help you search for the glasses. Can we take a photo now?"
Megatron nodded slightly, "Alright, seeing as you are so sensible, I will allow you to approach within one meter of me."
After the young man finished taking his photo, a snot-nosed little boy jumped out and shouted, "Mr. Megatron, I also want to take a photo with you, can I?"
"Hmm, come here, but don't wipe snot on my skin, it will rust."
Hahahaha
The onlookers burst into laughter.
"Also, you must take your medicine and get your shots, only then will your cold get better, understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
After a few questions and answers, everyone realized that this was just movie promotion. Such a unique promotional method was indeed very eye-catching.
Not long after, reporters who received the news rushed over, capturing the lively scene with their cameras.
"Megatron, I hate the Decepticons. I am a fan of Optimus Prime."
"Hmph! Then you should go to Boston, that damned red truck landed in that city."
"Megatron, how many times has Starscream betrayed you?"
"Countless times."
"Then why don't you get rid of him, and let him rejoin the Decepticons again and again?"
"Because the manufacturer wants to sell toys, and there's nothing I can do!"
Hahahaha
Two more young people approached, bowing to Megatron.
"Lord Megatron, we are willing to be your loyal servants."
"Hmph hmph! Very good, then do you know the Decepticon motto?"
"Of course, we do."
"Shout it out loud, and let these ignorant humans see."
One of the young men raised his arm and started, "Decepticons!"
The other one next to him shouted loudly, "Retreat!"
After shouting, the two immediately bolted, and the onlookers burst into laughter.
Megatron shook his head, somewhat speechless, and after a while, he managed to blurt out, "Very good, loud and spirited!"
The amusing reaction caused the laughter that had subsided to erupt again.
And Megatron was just one of many transformers; similar situations were unfolding in major cities around the world.
Times Square in New York, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Big Ben in London, Tokyo Tower, Red Square in Moscow, Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai
Anyone passing by would be drawn to the tall and imposing transformers.
This on-site interactive method is part of viral marketing.
Viral marketing, simply understood, is a method of utilizing all resources, fully mobilizing consumers' enthusiasm and relationship networks, to achieve rapid replication and dissemination of information.
"All resources" here means literally everything, including online and in reality, making marketing information visible everywhere consumers look.
Whether actively or passively, you have to accept it.
So, MGM also invested heavily in this promotion, giving it the treatment a blockbuster deserves. Eric directly approved 70 million US dollars for the budget, with more to be added if needed.
Including production costs, the total cost of a transformers movie from filming to release has exceeded 220 million US dollars.
Let alone in 2003, even in 2023, it would still be considered an A-list blockbuster production.
However, this money was not entirely spent in cash, as government tax refunds could be requested, and different regions also offered varying preferential terms.
After receiving the refunded money, the actual total cost was less than 150 million US dollars.
But when promoting externally, the slogan of a 220 million dollar cost naturally had to be put out there, as it sounds impressive and attracts audience interest.
So, don't believe it when many movie official promotions claim extremely high costs; anyone who believes it is a fool.
The figures released for promotion always contain moisture (water/exaggeration); after wringing them out, first cut off 30%, and those with more connections can save 50%.
For example, in later stages, Marvel often claimed a movie cost over 200 million US dollars, but it was all fake; it was never that high.
With reduced costs, the pressure to break even is much lower.
Unlike China, where a movie needs to earn 3 times its cost to break even, in Hollywood, 2 times or a little over 2 times is enough.
Coupled with Hollywood's comprehensive copyright protection and development system, as well as its extreme merchandise development capabilities.
Even if a movie loses over 100 million US dollars at the box office, it can usually break even within the five-year copyright golden period, and good ones can even make a profit.
And for critically acclaimed blockbusters like the lord of the rings, the matrix, and titanic, various copyright fees alone can generate over 100 million US dollars annually.
So, even if big companies appear to suffer huge losses on several blockbusters a year, under the protection of a series of systems, it's difficult for them to go bankrupt.
After the viral marketing campaign launched, movie theaters, stations, subways, shopping malls, supermarkets, restrooms, roadside billboards, electronic screens...
In reality, wherever you could see, you would inadvertently notice Autobots and Decepticons.
Some were large posters, stating "November 16th, Decepticons Attack Earth."
Others were simply Transformer head logos.
Hasbro also sprang into action, launching movie-themed toy pre-sales and collaborating with KFC, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola.
By purchasing, one had a chance to win movie tickets; whether one won or not was a matter of personal luck.
Various anime and cosplay conventions also began to feature transformers cosplayers.
Cosplay in Europe and America has always been known for its props, and it has generated considerable influence within the community.
In New York's Times Square, on the Nasdaq big screen, the second transformers trailer began to play on a loop.
In addition to numerous adrenaline-pumping robot fight scenes, it also featured battles between human armies and the Decepticons.
Various main battle aircraft, tanks, and warships appeared, and extreme explosions turned the entire city into a sea of fire and ruins.
At the end of the trailer, Megatron, transformed into a giant silver-white alien warplane, violently crashed into two closely spaced skyscrapers.
Undoubtedly, this shot alluded to the 9/11 incident, a scene the whole world would never forget.
Online, major portals, forums, and chat rooms gradually became dominated by related topics.
In addition to buying ad space and resources, MGM's main promotional strategy was still to hire a large number of internet trolls.
They even prepared the talking points for the trolls in advance, so that a few people entering a social group could quickly derail the topic.
Facebook was an even more important battleground for promotion; the goal of the middle school outreach program had already been achieved.
Facebook's registered users were approaching 40 million, with active users around 35 million, showing a very high retention rate.
This was mainly because, under Eric's guidance, there was a major update every month, and the version iteration speed was incredibly fast.
Especially at the end of September, the like function was just updated. Initially, Fitz's team expressed confusion and incomprehension about this feature.
They believed that the like function would distract users' attention, turning them into tools that only knew how to like, thereby weakening Facebook's sharing and social aspects.
However, at Eric's strong insistence, the feature was still launched.
And the facts proved that after the like function was launched, although users began to show a tendency to seek likes, their desire to share also became stronger.
In just one week, the average number of daily posts by users increased by 2, because more posts meant more likes.
The next step is a promotion plan targeting the working class. After engaging young people and children, attracting their parents will be considerably easier.
Beverly Hills, Cooper Family.
After dinner, Eric sat on the sofa watching the news.
On NBC, the male anchor looked at his script and said, "Betty, on my way to work today, I discovered something very interesting."
"When I passed Lincoln Street, I saw a large crowd. Driven by a reporter's instinct, I went closer."
"And then I saw a scene I will never forget: Bumblebee was standing in the middle, calling on humanity to jointly resist the Decepticon attack."
"OMG! My favorite childhood cartoon has come to life. Look, just like this."
As he spoke, the TV screen switched to live footage, showing Bumblebee interacting with the onlookers, his humorous and witty remarks often making everyone burst into laughter.
The screen switched back to the studio, and the female anchor said cheerfully, "That's so interesting! Is this a new promotional tactic from the mall? I'm going to take my son to see it."
The male anchor waved his hand and explained to her, "No, it's an Autobot named Bumblebee. Haven't you seen transformers?"
"No, I'm a girl." The female anchor shrugged.
"Well, then you absolutely must go see it. You'll fall in love with them."
"Oh my goodness, it's like my childhood dream has come true. This is truly a delightful day, the best day."
After watching for a while, Eric switched to other channels. Not only NBC was reporting, but many TV stations couldn't ignore this hot topic.
What he didn't know was that not only American TV stations couldn't ignore it, but even countries like the UK, France, Japan, China, and Russia couldn't ignore it either.
Living transformers, even if they were pseudo-living, still brought a tremendous sense of novelty to society; it was just so damn interesting.
The media's reporting also served as advertising for the movie, without costing a single penny.
With MGM's heavy investment, the overwhelming publicity continued for nearly a month.
The transformers in major cities had become veritable gathering places, much like popular internet check-in spots of later generations; not going to see them would feel like a disservice to oneself.
The most popular, naturally, was Megatron. His humorous chatter and the contrast with his ultimate villain personality earned him everyone's affection.
In mid-October, legally blonde 2 landed in theaters. With the success of the first film as a foundation, the second film garnered attention without even needing promotion.
MGM also held a premiere for it, while arranging for Gadot, Chris Evans, the British Trio, and others to make appearances, taking the opportunity to continue promoting transformers.
Half a month after its release, the film grossed 60 million US dollars in North America, with its overseas release just beginning.
This data was not as impressive as the first film, and its reputation also declined compared to the first, but it was definitely profitable.
However, when the producer and Reese Witherspoon signed the contract for the third film, she refused.
The reason was simple: she didn't want to continue exploiting the IP and hoped to let it settle for a few years, waiting until everyone was more fully prepared before filming again.
With the lead actress refusing to act, and without the soul of the character, a sequel would certainly be shelved.
However, MGM currently had too many profitable projects, and this one was not a big deal. Eric didn't even take it seriously.
happy death day has officially ended its run, with a final global box office of 152 million US dollars.
Although Gadot was a bit disappointed, she couldn't dwell on it; she was now fully immersed in promoting transformers.
Amidst the hustle and bustle, time entered November, and major companies began to exert their efforts.
the matrix 3, elf, master and commander: the far side of the world, kill bill, transformers.
The most intense box office battle of 2003 was about to begin.