Marketing "The Blind Side"

If you've been following movie revenues, you know that the Twilight franchise, with current offering New Moon, has been a huge success. But, what's making Hollywood sit up and take notice is the fact that The Blind Side, in only its third weekend at the box office, has bypassed New Moon. The Blind Side, the movie about Baltimore Ravens linebacker Michael Oher, grossed $20.4 million this past weekend to New Moon's $15.7 million.

In a story on AdAge.com today, the success of The Blind Side is being credited to the faith-based strategy being employed to promote the movie. Grace Hill Media, a firm with a database of 155,000 ministry professionals and over one million consumers, reached out to the Christian community knowing that The Blind Side featured religious themes with an uplifting story about Oher's struggles as a homeless teen.

Warner Brothers and partner Alcon Entertainment are to be credited with devising this strategy--by targeting movie-goers who might not be turned on by the content of likely blockbuster New Moon, and then hiring Grace Hill to lead the effort. With Grace Hill's help, more than 20,000 churches in the U.S. have downloaded clips about the film's real-life story of Oher and his adoptive mother, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), and her family. Grace Hill figures that, with an average congregation size of 400, they've achieved 8 million exposures to potential movie-goers.

The movie has also succeeded in appealing to both males and females. Bullock's movies have historically been more female centric but The Blind Side has appeal to both genders given the sports theme coupled with the real-life story of adopted son and mother.

Let's give a shout-out today to The Blind Side and the effective, targeted marketing which has turned this into a surprise blockbuster.