Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S10E13 - Red Carpet Marketing: The Business of Award Shows

Episode Date: April 1, 2021

This week, we look at televised award shows and how they are very effective marketing for movies, Broadway plays and recording artists. We’ll explore whether Oscar nominations sell more tickets than Oscar wins, how Grammys can make a career and how the Tony awards can rescue a play overnight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan. You just have to love storytelling. Subscribe now and don't miss a single beat. In case nobody's told you, weight loss goes beyond the old just eat less and move more narrative. And that's where Felix comes in. Felix is redefining weight loss for Canadians with a smarter, more personalized approach to help you crush your health goals this year.

Losing weight is about more than diet and exercise. It can also be about our genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix connects you with online licensed healthcare practitioners who understand that everybody is different and can pair your healthy lifestyle with the right support to reach your goals. Start your visit today at Felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X.ca. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era,

dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your push. Find your power.

Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. This is an apostrophe podcast production. You're so king in it. You're going to love it You're not you when you're hungry You're a good influence of Terry O in the world. One of the most amusing is the Golden Raspberry Awards. Known to most as the Razzies, they were created by advertising copywriter John Wilson and friend Mo Murphy.

The Razzies are a celebration of the worst films of the year. It all started in 1980 when Wilson hosted a potluck Oscar party for Friends. After the award ceremony ended, it was still early in Los Angeles. So, Wilson set up a cardboard podium in his living room, put a foam ball on the end of a broom for a microphone, and asked his guests to suggest random awards. The funniest ones were for the year's most terrible movies. The next year, Wilson and Murphy issued a press release

listing the worst movies of the year, and it was picked up by a few newspapers. By the fourth year, CNN and three of the major wire services were covering the amateur awards ceremony. The Razzies are now voted on by 750 international members, comprising of film critics, members of the film industry, and frequent filmgoers. There are even a few celebrities who vote, but their names are kept secret. Wilson also figured something else out. He couldn't compete with the Oscars on Oscar night, but when he released their list the night before the awards, the worldwide press, who were all in town looking for something to do, would cover it.

The Razzies ceremony is now held in a 300-seat theater in Los Angeles. The statuette is a golf ball-sized raspberry spray-painted gold. Street value? $4.97. In 2005, Halle Berry, who had won an Oscar three years earlier, was given a Razzie for Worst Performance in the film Catwoman.

Much to the surprise of the Razzie's crowd, Berry showed up to accept the Razzie in person and did a parody of her Oscar speech with Oscar in hand. The crowd loved her. Sandra Bullock showed up to collect her Razzie for worst performance in the movie All About Steve. She even brought gifts for everyone in the audience. We brought everyone in the audience tonight a DVD of All About Steve.

The next night, Bullock won an Oscar for The Blind Side and Dwayne the Rock Johnson took his Razzie in stride too. I'm also excited because I was just informed that I too am bringing home the gold tonight. No not an Oscar maybe one day but a Razzie. Razzie are the annual awards given out to Hollywood's worst movies and I have officially won one for Baywatch. Of course, not all actors have a sense of humor. Sylvester Stallone holds the record for being nominated for 30 Razzies and winning 10. He reportedly left a voicemail for Wilson and Murphy asking why they were picking on him.

There is also the Barry L. Bumstead Award. This special razzie is given to the movie that has underperformed to a historic degree. Think of it as the polar opposite of the Cecil B. DeMille Award. When I asked Mo Murphy where the formal-sounding name Barry L. Bumstead came from, she said it just came to her in a dream. In 2016, the Barry L. Bumstead Award was given to the film United Passions, starring Sam Neill. It had the distinction of having a $30 million budget and a total of $918 in ticket sales. The Razzies only focus on big-budget, big-name movies

because they have no excuse for being as bad as they are. As John Wilson says, the Razzies aren't cruel. They exist to just ask, why? But sometimes there is an unexpected upside to winning a Razzie. The universally panned movie Showgirls was re-released by the studio

who promoted it on posters as, quote, winner of an unprecedented seven Razzies! And one of the writers of Catwoman said the Razzies actually boosted its DVD sales. Good or bad, award shows mean business. In the world of marketing, award shows generate business. From the Oscars to the Grammys to the Tonys, award shows not only celebrate creativity,

they are giant commercials. Winning an Academy Award can add millions of dollars to the bottom line. A Grammy win can make a career, and a Tony can actually save a play from closing overnight. Even automotive trophies sell a lot of cars. Because there's no business like awards business. When I was one of the lead ad writers on the Nissan account back in the late 80s, I remember that we started getting unusual assignments. We were asked to write ads that highlighted certain awards

Nissan was receiving. These citations had a grand-sounding name, yet I had never heard of them before, even though I had been writing automotive ads for brands like BMW and Volkswagen for years. They were called the J.D. Power Awards.

J.D. Power and Associates was a California-based market research firm that ranked the quality of automobiles. These rankings were determined by large surveys filled out by the actual owners of the vehicles, not by the car industry itself. Much to Detroit's dismay. James David Power earned his MBA from Wharton in the late 1950s. Dave, as he preferred to be called, went to work in the finance department of the Ford Motor Company.

After a few years, he moved on to the advertising department. While in advertising, he quickly realized advertising claims could be much more persuasive if backed with facts and data that came from actual car owners, instead of the forest of exclamation marks that came from the advertising department. But Dave also realized auto manufacturers weren't asking their customers the right questions, if they asked at all. So on April Fool's Day in 1968, Dave Power and his wife Julie started a market research firm at their kitchen table. They called it J.D. Power & Associates. Within a year, J.D. Power had convinced Toyota to buy its market research. In the 70s, the Wall Street Journal published a big story on Mazda based on data from one of the first J.D. Power surveys. That got a lot of attention. Then in 1979,

Chrysler ran a two-page ad in Businessweek magazine stating it was the highest-ranking domestic automaker, according to J.D. Power. The ad infuriated Chrysler's competitors. After the ad ran, a Ford executive cornered Dave Power and told him that if he continued to allow the Italian to use his data, he'd never do business with Ford again. The Italian the Ford executive was referring to was Chrysler president Lee Iacocca. Then in 1981, J.D. Power began conducting its two cornerstone surveys, the Initial Quality Study and the Vehicle Dependability Study.

The Initial Quality Study asked car owners what problems they've experienced in the first 90 days of ownership. The second survey asked car owners what problems they've had after they've owned the cars for three years. On January 2, 1984, Subaru became the first automaker to advertise its J.D. Power rankings in a Super Bowl commercial. That not only boosted Subaru's sales enormously, it made J.D. Power and Associates a brand in the eyes of the public. The very name J.D. Power was powerful and memorable. It almost felt invented. Soon, all major car companies, Ford included, paid very close attention to J.D. Power. In 1989, J.D. Power

began to hand out trophies to the very best-in-class vehicles, and those awards became highly coveted by automakers. First, they had a big impact on the choices car buyers made. Second, the rankings forced car manufacturers to pay

more attention to quality. And lastly, the awards became so desirable to carmakers, many employees had part of their compensation tied to winning. Eventually, the phrase ranked in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power became one of the most important advertising tools in the auto industry. As you no doubt have seen in the heavily advertised

Chevy commercials touting real people, not actors. So many. Yeah, Chevy's earned more 2016 J.D. Power awards for initial quality and dependability than any other brand. Things are blowing our minds. J.D. Power has strict guidelines for companies when quoting its awards and insists on vetting every claim before it can be used in ads. The firm makes its money by licensing its name each time a company wants to mention it in advertising and by selling its research findings to those companies. To date, more than 350,000 television commercials and over 2 billion

print ads have mentioned the J.D. Power Awards, turning the company into a household name. The idea of an independent research company representing the voice of the customer was a very lucrative marketing idea. Dave Power sold his company to McGraw-Hill in 2005 for around 400 million dollars. Eleven years later, McGraw-Hill sold J.D. Power for 1.1 billion, which just might rank it as one of the best performing investments in the research industry. The music industry has several high-profile award shows. Maybe the most prestigious is the Grammys.

The show began in 1959 as the Gramophone Awards, which was eventually shortened to the Grammys. The first ceremony was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. 28 awards were given out that night. Interesting to note,

the Grammys began just as rock and roll was exploding. Elvis, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry were selling the most records, but the founders of the new National Academy of Recording

Arts and Sciences were older and feared this new rock music would drown out quality music. So, when the first nominations were announced, rock was nowhere to be found. Frank Sinatra, on the other hand, had 12 nominations,

but Record of the Year went to someone named Domenico Madugno for Volare. Other winners included Henry Mancini, Perry Como, and the Kingston Trio. The first Rock Award didn't happen until 1961

when Chubby Checker won for Let's Twist Again. In 1962, the best rock and roll recording went to a soft instrumental called Alley Cat by Danish pianist Bent Fabric. Not exactly a rockin' tune. By 1964, the Grammys were begrudgingly becoming a little more hip. Best New Artist went to a group from Liverpool you might have heard of.

In 1967, the Grammys threw that band a bigger bone with Album of the Year going to Sgt. Pepper. Today, the voting members of the Recording Academy are made up of recording artists, music engineers, producers and songwriters. And yes, you can vote for yourself. Like the J.D. Power Awards, the Grammys is a huge marketing vehicle. Arguably, no other award show has a more immediate benefit to its industry's bottom line than the Grammys,

because music can be purchased instantly. It's called the Grammy bump. At the 2019 Grammys, songs performed on the show collectively tallied a 480% increase in digital download sales. According to The Hollywood Reporter, sales of Kacey Musgraves' song Rainbow shot up 9,430%.

Brandi Carlile's The Joke spiked by 2,771%. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's Shallow surged 229% the very next day. Grammy wins can make a career. Back in 1990, Warner Brothers had dropped Bonnie Raitt from its label, and her career was in decline. Then, she won Album of the Year for Nick of Time. That win sent the record to number one, which was not only her first number one, but her first top 20 album.

Sales doubled, then the album went gold, then platinum, then double platinum two months later, eventually selling 5 million copies. That Grammy win transformed Raid from a veteran singer-guitarist into a perennial radio presence. In 2012, Adele's album of the year win for 21 saw a post-award sales bounce of 207%.

Sony record executives were reportedly shocked when the album sold 431,000 copies that week alone. A number most artists pray for in a lifetime. And it's not just winners who win. At the Grammy Awards in 2014, Stevie Wonder performed live that night, and his album Songs in the Key of Life jumped back onto the Billboard 200 chart, which is amazing considering the album was nearly 40 years old. Each year, over 21,000 submissions pour in for just 84 Grammy categories. It's easy to get buried. That's why artists and record labels are spending more and more every year

to try and sway the 12,000 eligible Grammy voters. Because a Grammy win is the best advertising campaign in the music business. And we'll be right back. In case nobody's told you, weight loss goes beyond the old just eat less and move more narrative. And that's where Felix comes in. Felix is redefining weight loss for Canadians with a smarter, more personalized approach to help you crush your health goals is here. Losing weight is about more than diet and exercise. It can also be about our genetics, hormones, metabolism. Felix connects you with online licensed healthcare practitioners who understand that

everybody is different and can pair your healthy lifestyle with the right support to reach your goals. Start your visit today at felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X dot C-A. Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program, they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. you're listening to season 10 of under the influence if you're enjoying this episode you might also like for your consideration the hollywood oscar campaigns the public

never sees season 4 episode 8 you'll find it in our archives wherever you download your pods. The Tony Awards rival the Grammys for immediate impact because a Tony win can single-handedly stop a play from closing on Broadway. The ceremony itself is one of the least viewed of all televised award shows. The reason is accessibility. The public can see most of the Oscar contenders by going to the local cinema and can easily check out the Emmy contenders at home

in their living rooms. But to see a Broadway play, you either have to live in New York or travel there. And show prices average about $122 per seat. As a result, the Tony Award show

has limited appeal. Yet, it is often the best-produced award show with spectacular numbers performed by the actors and singers from the plays themselves, so they have honed their performances. Unlike the Oscars,

where actors are often awkwardly thrown together on stage. The Tonys were first presented by the American Theatre Wing in 1947 as a tribute to director-producer Antoinette Perry. Perry was a gifted actress, but she was also one of the best directors to have ever worked on Broadway. She set such high standards that, after her death in 1946, her colleagues created the Antoinette

Perry Awards in her honor. Just as Antoinette was nicknamed Tony, so were the awards. The first Tony Awards ceremony was an intimate dinner dance held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and was broadcast nationally on radio. Then, in 1967, the Tonys moved to television

as a way of advertising Broadway. Just being nominated for a Tony brings attention to a play or musical. But winning is the holy grail. For example, in 2018, a production title, The Band's Visit, swept all the top categories, including Best Musical. Following the ceremony, the play took in $1.1 million in ticket sales in a single week. The 2019 Best Musical winner was Hadestown. It continued to sell out until it was shuttered due to the pandemic, averaging $1.2 million in tickets per week.

Hamilton, the smash hit musical, earned a record-setting 16 nominations and took home 11 Tonys. The two top Tonys are for Best Play and Best Musical. Productions nominated for these prizes are 60% less likely to close than those not nominated. Again, because ticket prices are high, theatre goers will tend to gravitate to plays nominated for the big awards to reduce their risk. But nominations are a double-edged sword, as earning many and leaving with none can severely harm a show in the eyes of ticket buyers.

But while many shows close after a Tony drought, there are exceptions. The musical Come From Away only won one Tony, but still did incredibly well. When it's all said and done, awards matter. Only one in four Broadway plays ever recoup their initial investment. And Tonys sell tickets. The first Academy Awards were handed out on May 16, 1929. The ceremony was attended by 270 people at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Academy president and host Douglas Fairbanks handed out all the statuettes in just five minutes.

The ceremony was broadcast on radio for decades until 1953 when it moved to television. Secrecy is strictly maintained to this day, ever since the Los Angeles Times broke an embargo in 1940 and published the winners hours before the ceremony. Now, Price Waterhouse Coopers guards those results with the fierceness of a special ops team. They're good at it. They've been doing it for over 80 years. Studies say Oscar-nominated films stay in theaters twice as long as other films. Unlike the Tonys, films that are nominated but don't win still get a bump in ticket sales.

A research firm analyzed Oscar data and found that a Best Picture nomination alone can boost ticket sales by an average of $20 million. A win can add an additional $15.8 million, which means a nomination can be worth more than a win. Of course, some films do just fine without any Oscar pixie dust. The Avengers took in $623 million in its first year

with just one Oscar nomination for visual effects. The Dark Knight Rises reaped $448 million with zero nominations. When an actor wins an Academy Award, their salary can skyrocket. When Hilary Swank won for Boys Don't Cry, she was only paid $3,000 for that role.

Her asking price soared to a million not long after. Smaller budget movies that are nominated or win enjoy an even bigger bounce. When the 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook landed eight nominations, the number of theaters screening the movie tripled. It made $236 million worldwide, or more than 11 times the $21 million cost to make it. And half its ticket sales were made in the six weeks between the nominations and the

Oscar ceremony. Twelve years a slave earned $17.5 million after nominations and an additional $6.5 million after it won Best Picture. But here's the fascinating part. The digital and DVD sales hit a year's worth of sales projections in just one week. Then there's The King's Speech. It earned $138 million in domestic box office sales after its 12 nominations and 4 wins, including Best Picture. Which was pretty good,

considering that was $100 million more than the studio projected. Award shows are marketing. But as a marketing idea, they're starting to get raspberries from TV audiences. Viewership for the Grammys fell by more than 50% this year, the lowest audience in its history. The Tony Awards hit its lowest ratings in five years. The Emmys dropped to an all-time low. The Golden Globes plunged 64%. And 23 million watched the 2020 Academy Awards, down from 43 million in 2014.

That wrinkle will have big implications. ABC pays the Academy $75 million a year for the rights to broadcast the Oscars and is contractually committed until 2028. That's going to be a tough check to write next year. And the six years after that. Maybe younger viewers are watching, just not on television. The VMAs, for example, saw its TV figures slump,

but its social and online video views were up 85%. A typical Oscars telecast can contain one hour of commercials. That may be driving viewers to streaming platforms, and none of these ratings include streaming. The J.D. Power Awards, on the other hand, don't rely on a televised ceremony, but their awareness relies on the repeated mentions in commercials that often air on those award shows. It's an intricate, symbiotic relationship. Award shows attract commercials, and award shows are commercials.

When you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrastream mobile recording studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound engineer, Keith Ullman. This episode was recorded in the Terrastream Mobile Recording Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Keith Oman. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Research, Patrick James Aslan. See you next week.

This program did not contain scenes with harsh language. Listener discretion was not advised. Never eat popcorn without a beverage. Offer only valid in Digby, Nova Scotia.