Advertising for the film

The first part of the hit film "The Hunger Games" reached almost 200,000 visitors in Swiss cinemas, making it one of the most successful movies of 2012. In November 2013, the second film adaptation of the world-famous book trilogy will be released in Swiss cinemas. Following the successful collaboration on the launch of the first part, Paterson-Entertainment has once again been awarded the mandate for overall support and thus conception and implementation of all marketing and communication measures. Paterson-Entertainment offers comprehensive services around the topic of film and cinema.

The agency, which operates in Seefeld, Zurich, was founded in 2012 by Matthias Keller. The former Marketing Director at the Swiss branch of The Walt Disney Company acts as Managing Director. Eveline Fischer is responsible for the marketing project management. The Paterson-Entertainment team is firmly anchored in the Swiss film landscape thanks to its many years of experience in the industry. After starting her career as a PR assistant at a leading Zurich PR agency, Eveline Fischer also worked as a publicity manager at The Walt Disney Company for around eight years before the federally certified PR specialist became a communications planner at Messe Schweiz for Züspa and Swiss-Moto. Most recently, Fischer was a marketing specialist at Teleclub AG.

Matthias Keller first decided to train as a restaurateur and then became head of junior marketing at the professional association Gastro Suisse. This was later followed by marketing studies at Vancouver University in Canada. Keller entered the world of media as a product manager in publishing at Tamedia before moving to Disney in 1998.

After about twelve years of action for Disney and Sony productions, as well as numerous Swiss films distributed by The Walt Disney Studios (formerly Buena Vista International), Matthias Keller decided to take a creative sabbatical in 2010. However, he didn't want to simply travel the world. "As a tireless doer, I used the time to volunteer for several months in South Africa's Amakhala Reserve. In this nature reserve, endangered wild animals such as rhinos, elephants and giraffes are bred and preserved, thus restoring the ecological balance of the region," Keller says of his adventure. The name of the small village in the reserve is Paterson. The name Paterson-Entertainment thus evokes that time when the agency concept was maturing. "The vastness and remoteness of the wilderness were ideal for me to allow new ideas to take root." Today, Paterson-Entertainment's company logo features an elephant, "because its characteristics match those of the agency: consistency, reliability and honesty."

Cinematic start

A few months after starting the agency, Matthias Keller and Eveline Fischer already counted film distributors, cinemas, film producers, large companies and public organizations among their clients. "We have the know-how in marketing and communication with a profound industry background. This combination sets us apart and is unique in the Swiss market," Keller says. Paterson-Entertainment's core competence lies in the areas of marketing, promotion and events. The activities are not limited to the cinema market, but also include ideas for TV productions and home entertainment products. The marketing possibilities around the topic of film are practically limitless. "Their respective projects are just as diverse as their clients and their needs," explains Eveline Fischer. For example, Paterson-Entertainment organized internal info events for Werbe Weischer's Swiss sales team.

At these "Film Academies," the cinema marketer's sales professionals are informed about the latest cinema and film trends. In addition, Paterson-Entertainment, in cooperation with Werbe Weischer, reliably forecasts demographics and expected attendance for movie releases in Switzerland using its valid database. A completely different focus was placed on the cooperation with Radio Energy. For the launch of the new VW Beetle Cabriolet (AMAG, Automobilund Motoren AG), highly professional drive-in cinemas were set up at six locations from Geneva to Zurich. Radio Energy, as the overall promoter, commissioned Paterson-Entertainment with the film selection, the coordination with the film distributor and the entire technical implementation of the drive-in cinemas. For its client Swisscom, Paterson- Entertainment in turn organized various previews in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. This job includes the coordination between client, cinema group, film distributor, decorator and caterer.

Action off the screen too

For the launch of "Skyfall", the Corso cinema in Zurich was transformed into a "House of Bond" for 14 days. In cooperation with Kitag Kinound Theater AG and Weinkellereien Aarau, the exclusive importer of Bollinger, the film promoters also opened five "SKYFALL-BOLLINGERBars " in four cities in German-speaking Switzerland. Paterson-Entertainment developed the concept and was responsible for planning and implementation. The bars were successfully operated for 36 days - in Zurich even for 75 days. Numerous events were also organized for Heineken around the last Bond film with the involvement of official Bond partners.

In November 2012, Conforama opened its first Swiss decoration boutique, Confo DÉCO, in Zurich. The assignment to Paterson-Entertainment was to raise their profile with a cinema campaign. The central point of the implementation was the Cine-Ticket of the Zurich Kitag cinemas (printout of a second cinema ticket) with a special discount voucher for Confo DÉCO. These vouchers were given during two weeks in May 2013 to all tickets of the cinema hits "The Great Gatsby" and "Hangover III". Based on the existing advertising subjects, Paterson-Entertainment developed a supporting cinema campaign, which consisted of a cine-motion cinema spot, advertisement, web banner, ad screens in the cinema foyer and F200 and F12 street posters.

The new battle plan for "Hunger Games

The film "Hunger Games" grossed over 400 million dollars in the USA last year. This makes Suzanne Collins' book trilogy one of the biggest hits since "Harry Potter" and the "Twilight" saga. The second part, which is now to follow, is expected to surpass this success. In Switzerland, "The Hunger Games - Catching Fire" will be released on November 21. Paterson-Entertainment has already adapted the artwork for Switzerland in all three national languages. The core target group for the advertising is teenagers aged 12 to 19, 60 percent of whom are female. The extended target group is 20 to 40.

Since a large proportion of these target groups will go to the movies "at least twice" six months before the film's release, the experts at Paterson- Entertainment scheduled three phases for the placement of advertising in theaters. The first trailers and posters were already seen from May with the theatrical release of "Iron Man 3". "Focus on multiplex cinemas," recommends Keller. A second phase followed with the summer blockbusters. The final spurt with mega-banners on the cinema facades is on the agenda from October until the theatrical release. In the media strategy, TV will be the main medium. The spots will run for ten days before the film's release on all major stations and on online TV. A large number of online platforms focusing on the target group as well as cinema websites were booked early for the film's release. During the launch week, mobile apps, tablets, selected F200 billboards, and ads in weekly and commuter newspapers complement the media campaign. Of course, a few "cool product promotions" cannot be revealed yet. What is certain is that there will be in-store promotions in various bookstores in close cooperation with the book publisher. The marketing of the soundtrack in cooperation with Universal Music also plays an important role, since songs by Pink and Coldplay represent two globally successful artists.

300 000 visitors are expected

"Premiere tickets are an exclusive competition prize and guarantee a broad media presence," Matthias Keller knows. Once again, a large number of the coveted tickets for the world and European premiere could be secured for the second part. It will still take a few months until the film will start its expected triumphal procession from Los Angeles to London and finally to Switzerland. Enough time for director Francis Lawrence's "The Hunger Games - Catching Fire" to become the must-see film of the season for the target audience of at least 300,000.

Andreas Panzeri