When it comes to marketing a film, the game may have changed after this past summer's release of The Simpsons Movie. Bringing Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa and Maggie to the big screen, along with the rest of the deranged denizens of Springfield, was always going to be a very, very big deal. But Fox, along with its quiver of creative partners, surpassed even the wildest of marketing expectations. Between Burger King's online "Simpsonizer," JetBlue being named the "Official Airline of Springfield" and, of course, the transformation of 7-Eleven franchises into Kwik-E-Marts, the amount of enthusiastic public approval and participation Fox received was staggering. Twentieth Century Fox executive vice-president, global partnerships Lisa Licht says the success of the overall campaign came from a combination of great ideas, bold collaborations and a commitment to creative thinking. "You've got to strike a chord," says Licht. "And that might sound so trite but it's really understanding what your brand or product is. I don't consider most movies a brand. The Simpsons is a brand; X-Men is a brand; A Night At The Museum is a movie. But either way it's about understanding what your product is and finding a clever, memorable way for people to experience it." While a majority of the general public knows who the Simpsons are, Licht says that fact itself presented some unique challenges. "How can you experience The Simpsons brand that's tried so many different things, in a way you never had before?" she says. "We came up with ideas that were sort of pie-in-the-sky?if partners would execute, great, if they weren't willing to reach for the sky with us, then we moved on." Everyone involved in the Kwik-E-Mart/7-Eleven mash-up, including Simpsons writers Matt Groening and James Brooks, was excited, but no one anticipated just how receptive the convenience store chain would be to the idea. "I believe the key to anything you do is to have passion for it and that will catch on with other people," says Licht. "So our passion for this passed on to [Tracy Locke, 7-Eleven's agency, which was responsible for executing the campaign] who passed it on to 7-Eleven. In fact, they said to 7-Eleven, 'If this doesn't work, fire us as your agency.' That's pretty fabulous."
