Warner Bros 'defends' SG with 100 batmobiles

share on

twitter /
facebook /
linkedin /
- email
- telegram
- whatsapp
- wechat
- pinterest
- line
- snapchat
- reddit

Batmobiles are coming your way and it's time to suit up! Warner Bros has partnered with Moove Media, in collaboration with Havas Media, to launch 100 batmobiles across Singapore. The campaign, which runs until 15 March, aims to create awareness for the upcoming film The Batman, while taking on an innovative approach to the superhero's iconic batmobile.

Diane Chan, marketing director at Warner Bros Singapore, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it also has OOH placements at bus shelters. While Warner Bros declined to disclose the monetary value of the campaign, Chan said that The Batman is one of its biggest theatrical releases for the year and hence, have initiated a large-scale integrated campaign across Singapore and the region.

"The campaign includes OOH, but also considerable marketing spend and promotions on-air, online, radio and on TV," she added. Warner Bros is also using WarnerMedia’s owned and operated platforms, such as the Warner TV channel, HBO GO and DC social channels, to create even more noise around the entire Batman franchise.

Beyond the batmobiles, WarnerMedia has a large-scale fan-focused event in the works which is expected to be unveiled around the end of February, to mark the theatrical launch of The Batman in Singapore on 3 March.

Warner Bros is also the first to tap on Moove Media's latest taxi advertising format, which features a rooftop sticker for wider viewing angle. This will allow the placement to be viewed from double-decker buses, overhead bridges, high-rise commercial and residential buildings as well. Separately, Warner Bros retained Havas Media Singapore as its integrated media agency in December last year, following a closed-door pitch. This extends the relationship into its sixth year and beyond, with Havas Media Singapore helming the account since 2015.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, Warner Bros has partnered with Sunway Pyramid to launch The Batman Experience, which allows fans to immerse themselves inside the world of Gotham. Held from 25 February to 13 March, visitors can unlock riddles for a cup of Riddler-themed coffee, meet Batman cosplayers, participate in games and stand a chance to win a life-sized The Batman figure and limited movie merchandise. Additionally, Warner Bros will launch a three-day countdown to the release of the film in Malaysia, from 1 March, with a Batman laser projection in the sky to signal the film's arrival. The last session will be on 3 March at Kuala Lumpur.

Warner Bros is not the only one to have caught the public's attention with its marketing push for its films. Last year, Sony Pictures Singapore launched a Singapore-exclusive social media campaign to promote the film Venom: Let There Be Carnage. the clip showed Venom and Carnage taking over several well-known landmarks in Singapore, including the Helix Bridge, Pinnacle@Duxton, the dragon playground at Toa Payoh, and an ERP gantry.

At the same time, Sony Pictures India put a creative twist to its promotional campaign for Venom: Let There Be Carnage by tweeting a picture of a vending machine with the chocolate section emptied out, along with wrappers on the floor and the hashtag #ChocolatesMissing. The post caused a stir online as more reports of missing chocolates started flooding in. Brands including INOX, InstaMart, Sony India (Electronics), Sony Music South, and Mad Over Donuts took to Twitter to express concern for the missing chocolate. Soon, more brands jumped on the bandwagon and began posting pictures of empty chocolate shelves and bottles of chocolate sauces missing. The post saw over 20 brands come together to comment on and share Sony Picture's India's tweet.

Separately, Warner Bros. Entertainment and related entities (WB) was sued by long-time partner Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, co-producer of The Matrix Resurrections, for releasing the movie simultaneously on HBO Max and in theatres. Village Roadshow also alleged that WB pushed forward the release date of The Matrix Resurrections which was previously slated to be released in 2022. According to Village Roadshow then, this was so that the movie could be included with the slate of films that WB planned to release simultaneously on HBO Max and in theatres, "all while moving WB's wholly-owned films to 2022 so that they would not suffer the same decimating fate".

While WB cited the pandemic as part of its rationale for releasing The Matrix Resurrections on its streaming platform and in theatres, Village Roadshow said that other films, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, were released in late 2021 without a simultaneous streaming service release, and broke box office records. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Matrix Resurrections raked in only US$37 million domestically while Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was released around the same time, grossed nearly US$750 million.