Terminator Salvation

In the integrated marketing for Terminator Salvation, the challenge was to market the 4th film in the 20-year franchise as breathtakingly new. To capture the same feeling audiences felt when they first saw the Terminator. In this case, the driving force was innovation. Print, AV, digital - no one across the board wanted to do work that felt like it had been done before.

Our head creatives for Print did not want to just throw a giant Terminator on a poster and call it a day.  We wanted something different. Something to create buzz.  A map of Los Angeles. That was it. To show what happened to the city of angels as the "End" began.   Through the devastation of war, Los Angeles would transform from city into skull. And you needed to see the transformation.  Instead of static image, a motion poster was the best means to convey this image.  A motion poster meant cross-integration. Our print designers and creative directors worked with our digital designers and developers.  The motion poster was launched to a variety of formats: from giant, outdoor LED billboards to hand-held iPhones. When the animated poster hit the street it was ubiquitous.

For the theatrical trailer, our AV team wanted to surpass convention as well.  Instead of a traditional score, what if we used an industrial rock song to show the devastation of the post-apocalypse? Our unorthodox choice was Nine Inch Nails' "The Day The Whole World Went Away." Even the song title itself was thematically inline with our concept. It gave the trailer the dark, impactful tone that was needed.

When released, buzz about our campaign spread across entertainment magazines, websites, as well as blogs and user-forums. The Terminator 4 motion poster, print campaign, and theatrical trailer had the creative power to capture the imaginations of the public, converting anticipation to box office success.