For the release of New Moon, it launched a website that offered fans the chance to attend the premiere, meet the cast and win the car.Īccording to Volvo project manager Oliver Engling, the connection with the character in the books means that Volvo’s participation is ‘credible and logical’, and this seems to have had an impact. When sales of the S30 rose following the first movie, Volvo developed a TV and digital strategy for the XC60 based on the franchise. The Swedish marque’s association with Twilight was lent authenticity by Meyer, who had the character drive a Volvo S30 in her books. It positioned its XC60 model as the preferred car of vampire heart-throb Edward, played by Robert Pattinson. Kirkpatrick’s hope was that, if Summit injected enough action into Eclipse, it might become a breakout hit with young men as well.Īs with most major movie franchises, there are two main ways for brands to get involved in the Twilight phenomenon - through direct partnerships with Summit or by hooking up with cinema adsales agencies such as DCM, which manages screen advertising inventory for 64% of the UK market.Ī good example of the former is Volvo’s product-placement deal.

However, it was only after the $37mn film had clocked up $700mn in box office and DVD revenues that the media and marketing industries started paying attention.īy the time New Moon, the second of five planned films, was released in November 2009, brands had recognised Twilight’s potential as an exceptional platform for reaching 12- to 24-year-old female consumers, as well as their mothers.

Summit executives, including worldwide marketing president Nancy Kirkpatrick were optimistic, having seen plenty of fan love for lead characters Bella and Edward at bookstores, conventions and online. In 2008, when Summit was filming the first Twilight, the modestly budgeted production did not arouse much interest from brands or the showbiz press, despite the popularity of Meyer’s books. Yet, it wasn’t always obvious that this tale of vampire passion, based on Stephanie Meyer’s novels, would be the biggest youth movie sensation since Harry Potter.

You do not have to be a marketing visionary to see why brands such as Volvo and Burger King want to piggy-back Summit Entertainment’s multibillion-dollar film series Twilight, the third instalment of which has just been released.

Twilight 2008 films in series