<\/p>\n
Ahead of the debut of Winning Time<\/em>\u2019s debut season in 2022, stars of the HBO series made sure there was no missing it. John C. Reilly, who plays former Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss in the show, made appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert <\/em>and Good Morning America<\/em>, while Quincy Isaiah showed up everywhere from GQ to The Tamron Hall Show<\/em>, part of a promotional blitz to get viewers tuned in.<\/p>\n It looked a little different this summer for the series\u2019 sophomore season. The ongoing writers\u2019 strike meant there were no late-night shows for cast members to appear on\u2014not that they could have, anyway, due to the actors\u2019 strike that began in July. Cast interviews that did run in places like GMA,<\/em>\u00a0E!, and Variety <\/em>all contained disclaimers indicating that conversations were conducted ahead of the work stoppage.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a familiar tune across Hollywood. The ongoing writers\u2019 and actors\u2019 strikes, which prohibit marketing work for struck companies, have temporarily erased the celebrity power of promotion ahead of the fall TV season, awards season, and a bustling fall movie release schedule. As Paramount CEO Bob Bakish recently acknowledged, \u201cstrikes do present some marketing challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n With no end to the strikes in sight, some marketing departments are relying on influencers, experiential events, and even word-of-mouth to help fill the gap. But those routes have their own complications, experts told Marketing Brew, and there are risks that any kind of promotion could inadvertently bring attention not to the programming itself, but to workers\u2019 demands.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of questions going around in marketing departments right now about how you launch a big show without it becoming entirely wrapped up in the labor dispute,\u201d Fred Black, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, told us.<\/p>\n Press junkets and premieres aren\u2019t the only things that get TV shows watched and movie tickets sold, but they\u2019re an important element of the Hollywood marketing mix, Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, explained. Studios already know what happens when star power is subtracted from the equation: In the case of new film releases, a dearth of celebrity promotion could cost around 10%\u201315% of total box office revenues, according to one estimate.<\/p>\n Consider the case of this summer\u2019s superhero film The Flash, <\/em>whose star Ezra Miller remained largely out of the spotlight in the lead-up to its premiere following a host of controversies and legal troubles. Warner Bros. reportedly spent big on alternative marketing efforts\u2014and the film was still a historic box-office bomb.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen any part of that cog in the wheel or that gear is missing, it definitely slows things down,\u201d Dergarabedian said.<\/p>\n To help grease the wheels, studios may opt to buy ads\u2014but that can be costlier than ginning up press or getting eyeballs from a well-timed Instagram post from a lead actor. Without stars promoting their work, \u201cyou\u2019re having to pay a lot more to get that cultural imprint [and] those marketing impressions,\u201d Dergarabedian said.<\/p>\n Instead, there\u2019s an opportunity for influencers to step in to help get new shows and movies off the ground. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of wannabe MrBeasts who are [thinking] this will be their opportunity to get on TV and reach millions of people,\u201d Dave Morgan, CEO of the TV ad platform Simulmedia, said.<\/p>\n Since the strikes began, creator management platform Grin has seen an increase in the amount of traffic in and out of its platform as studios and streamers increase their budgets on influencer and creator content, Ali Fazal, Grin\u2019s VP of marketing, said. That only stands to intensify as fall releases ramp up, he said.<\/p>\n The email newsletter guaranteed to bring you the latest stories shaping the marketing and advertising world, like only the Brew can.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cA lot of the studios are scrambling to make sure they have promotion plans in place for all the new shows premiering in the fall, so I think we\u2019re only going to see an increase in [influencer marketing] in the months to come,\u201d Fazal said.<\/p>\n Influencer partnerships can work for everything from blockbusters to independent projects, he said, noting that efforts with creators can be seen as more organic, like a history-focused creator promoting an upcoming title that covers a similar subject matter.<\/p>\n Some streamers are shipping out promotional press boxes as a way to cut through the noise. For Hulu\u2019s comedy series Only Murders in the Building<\/em>, the Disney-owned streamer worked with star Selena Gomez\u2019s beauty brand Rare Beauty to ship makeup in Only Murders <\/em>packaging to influencers. Disney-owned FX also seems to be taking a similar route, sending promo boxes for shows like Justified: City Primeval <\/em>to influencers, who have posted TikTok videos promoting the boxes and the show.<\/p>\n But not every creator is interested in, or even can, ink promotional deals with studios and streamers. Krishna Subramanian, co-founder and CEO of influencer marketing platform Captiv8, told us the majority of influencers it works with aren\u2019t making those types of deals with studios and streamers.<\/p>\n Some influencers are SAG-AFTRA members as a result of previous work, even if they are not full-time actors, Subramanian said, while others are eyeing the strike rule that says working with struck companies could bar them from future union admittance. Comedian Darcy Michael reportedly turned down a $25,000 network deal in the days leading up to the strike, and TikToker Deanna Giulietti also reportedly turned down $28,000 to promote Only Murders<\/em> because of her acting aspirations.<\/p>\n \u201cInfluencers really want to preserve their future career trajectory,\u201d Subramanian said.<\/p>\n Mary Elizabeth Kelly, a SAG member with more than 1.1 million TikTok followers, said that prior to the strike, around one-third of her online brand deals came from studios and streamers like Paramount+ and HBO, but that since the strikes began, those deals have slowed.<\/p>\n Kelly worked with Hulu in April to promote Only Murders in the Building<\/em>, but she said that to her knowledge, no streamer had reached out to her agent since the strikes started. Instead, she said she\u2019s been working with other companies and relying on other forms of income, like commercial residuals.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m getting fewer offers in general, because [the strike] does take them completely out of the running in terms of brand offers,\u201d Kelly said, noting that it can be hard to tell which lost opportunities are due to the strike or due to strategic or budgetary changes. Despite the slowdown, she is committed to the strike.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be willing to go on for as long as we can [and] protect our jobs and the industry in general and our place in it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n With celebrities and some influencers out of the running, what\u2019s a studio to do? Some are hoping they can get attention from tapping into their fandom.<\/p>\nNo-show<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Looking for influence<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n
Look, over here<\/strong><\/h2>\n