OPERATION SIGNAL BOOST 2007 by TDBrown

FIREFLY AND SERENITY GUERILLA MARKETING

OPERATION SIGNAL BOOST 2007

POSTED BY: TDBROWN
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 23:21
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Monday, May 28, 2007 6:33 AM

2007 looks like a Banner year for the Serenifly ‘verse, and the Whedonverse in general.

This is a year filled with both Highs and Lows:

Serenity Blueprints; New Comics ( Buffy Season 8, Angel, Astonishing X-Men, and our own Serenity Trilogy “Better Days”); A Big Damn Collector’s Edition; “Can’t Stop The Serenity” Charity Screenings; THREE different convention Venues featuring Serenity and Firefly this coming November/December, Browncoats Marching at DragonCon and so much more.

Wow. Very Shiny.

We’ve had our share of disappointments as well. But it’s the JOY that is Serenifly that we should remember and celebrate. With that in mind, the Slightly Irregular Browncoats Crew would like to kick off this year’s Serenity Summer Celebration with a new

Serenity Awareness Campaign:

“OPERATION SIGNAL BOOST”

This Project is intended to be a Summer long campaign, with the goal of increasing awareness of the Serenity Collector’s Edition that will be released August 21st, plus a campaign to increase awareness and attendance of Can’t Stop The Serenity Screenings, which will be occuring June 23rd, at locations throughout the US and world wide. The activities that follow and the suggested dates for when to do them are precisely that: Suggestions for how to help spread the good word. As is usually the case with “Slightly Irregular Browncoat” Projects, it is up to each of us as individuals to decide which of these activities are feasible for us to do, and when. These are guidelines and suggestions, nothing more. However, having said that, it would be very Shiny if certain e-mail events were to occur “en masse”, as it were, to garner more attention. It’s ultimately up to you!

Phase One: Collector’s Edition Preorders and Can’t Stop The Serenity

Starting Now, and commencing through the Summer, we would like to suggest that folks preorder the Serenity Collector’s Edition through either Universal’s Site
http://universal.archway.com/basket/Basket?sku=61101072&client=UNIVERS
E http://universal.archway.com/basket/Basket...client=UNIVERSE
or at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com . The idea is to get Universal’s attention, and let them see that interest in the CE is strong. We highly recommend that you contact your friends and suggest it to them, as well as your Local Browncoat Group, MySpace or LiveJournal friends, In other words, get the word out to everyone you know, any way you can.

Can’t Stop The Serenity is one of the noblest causes to come out of the entire Browncoat Movement. We salute the Organizers for their incredible successes last year with the World- wide Serenity Now/Equality Now Screenings. To help them be even more Successful This year, The Slightly Irregulars would like to encourage everyone that is able to attend a Screening on June 23rd to please do so, and encourage your friends, local BC Group, etc., to do likewise. If you don’t live near where a screening will be held, or can’t attend, please consider purchasing a poster or Tee-Shirt from them. Any assistance will be appreciated. You can get more information at http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/index.html

Phase Two: Guerilla Marketing of the Collector’s Edition

Retailer’s throughout the country Should be carrying the BDCE in their Inventories, starting on the Release Date of August 21st. Here are some suggestions to help make sure they do, and to get the Public’s Attention as well.

First, here are some ideas for contacting Retailers:

1) Go to the source. The next time you’re in a store that carries DVDs, ask the salesclerk if they’re going to carry the Collector’s Edition. At the very least, you’ll have given the information about the CE to someone. They might call the Service Desk to inquire, or you might suggest that they do. That’s at least Two people that will be thinking of the CE. Get the idea? Here’s an example... In Bloomington, Indiana, The Target Store, WalMart Super Center and Border’s Bookstore have all been approached in this fashion. The response of the Sales Staff at all three has been very enthusiastic.

Now, here’s how to turn that awareness up a notch, to the Corporate Level:

2) Corporate Awareness: Below are the websites for several National Retailers. Do a search of their Inventories and see if they are going to be carrying the Collector’s Edition. If they’re not, then contact them via e-mail and ask them if they will, or openly request that they do so. If they Are going to be stocking the Collector’s edition in their Stores, Thank Them via e-mail

www.walmart.com

http://www.target.com/gp/homepage.html

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

www.borders.com

http://www.bestbuy.com/]http://www.bestbuy.com/

www.booksamillion.com

If you can think of other retailers in your area, don’t hesitate to both contact them, and let others know how to contact them as well. The more people that do this, the more Retailers are liable to stock the Collector’s Edition on their shelves this August.

Secondly, there’s the Personal Touch to get Public Attention:

1) Online Banners. Use Banners supporting the CE, CSTS, and Serenity in general in your online posts. We have a Lot of creative people in our midst, and I’m sure lots of you will be doing this. Please check the Slighty Irregular Browncoats Forum http://www.serenitymovie.org/browncoats/forums/index.php?showforum=41 , as we have some available to download, with designs courtesy of ifox, from the skiffy Board. Thanks, ifox!

2) Hard Copy Fliers and how to use them: 11th Hour’s Guerilla Marketing Page http://the11thhour.home.att.net/ is an invaluable resource for GM posters and fliers. They also make dandy Tee-Shirts too! The Cover Art for the Collector’s Edition is available on a lot of websites, and it makes a great flyer, all by itself. The Banners that will be available soon can also be printed out and used as fliers. Now... where do you put them? The answer is, simple enough, wherever You think they will do the most good! Bulletin Boards, Libraries, in DVD retailer’s shelves, under “S”... whatever you think will be most effective without being a major source of annoyance

-or Littering !

we have a copy of the CE dvd cover, with the release date attached, at our site for folks to copy.

Phase Three: The Sci/Fi Channel

There is an ongoing campaign to get the Sci/Fi Channel to show a Marathon of the Entire Firefly Series, or at least some of it. This phase is an extension of that, and a concentration of this effort, in that we want everyone to e-mail them on a Specific Date: July 16th.

We would like every able-bodied Browncoat to e-mail feedback@scifi.com on this date, and ask that Sci/Fi show a Marathon of Firefly, in conjunction with Any Advertising Campaign by Universal Studios. Showing the Series is the ultimate way of Advertising the Film, and will increase awareness of the Collector’s Edition tenfold. We need to remind them of that.

Phase Four: The Big Damn Thank Yous

On August 19th, we would like folks to send thank you cards, letters and postcards to Universal Studios, thanking them for releasing the Collector’s Edition. Please, Do Not ask for a Sequel! It is far more polite to show our enthusiasm than it is to nag. So, let’s give them Sales Figures that will raise their eyebrows, and raise their interest by simply saying “Thanks”.

On August 21st, the Release Date for the CE, please send Universal an E-mail of Thanks. Also, we’d like to encourage Every Website that celebrates Joss Whedon and the Firefly/Serenity ‘verse to post a “Thank You, Joss” Thread on that day, thanking Joss personally for Firefly, Serenity, The Comic Trilogies, and the Collector’s Edition.

Snail Mail Address:

Universal Pictures
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

Attn: Donna Langley

OR

Attn: Jon Gordon

Or both.

E-mail address:
http://www.universalstudios.com/homepage/html/contact_us/

Send them to "Production, Hollywood CA"

Well, That’s it: An entire Summer’s worth of things to do to support our Big Damn Movie and
Our Big Damn Heroes.

Thank You, everyone, for doing the Impossible!

"Might have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one." -Mal

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Monday, May 28, 2007 7:56 AM

DARKFLY

great, I'll get to making some banners in my brand new Photoshop CS3 which I'll post here soon, & I'll print some flier's out to post around my town though I live in England so I'll just post Serenity fliers since the Collector's Edition ain't been announced in England yet.

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check out my MYSPACE at... http://www.myspace.com/darkfly7

Darkfly Auer on Second Life(Online Game)

Want pics, vids, ringtones,ect releated to Serenity and Firefly
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=26986

Software is like sex, it's better when it's free ! & so are eBooks, Music, & Films so visit www.ztforums.com, Zero Tolerance Forum

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Monday, May 28, 2007 9:42 AM

YINYANG

You were busy trying to get yourself lit on fire. It happens.

I looked at the (shiny!) banners from ifox, but they probably won't do so well on resizing. So, I made this simple little CSTS banner for a few sites I go to, and anyone is free to use it:

It came out a little weird when I uploaded it to Photobucket, but it'll do. And, I'll probably make one for the Collector's Edition, too, so that I can switch it out with this first one after June 24. Just need to find a good picture...

Edit: Found one.

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"If I were a Nazi, someone would defend my constitutional right to hate Jews. If I were a Klansman, someone would defend my rights to hate blacks. It's a funny place, this world. Hate has rights. Love has none." - Jeff, Murphy's Boy

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Monday, May 28, 2007 9:45 AM