The Wall Street Journal writes about the disappointing summer movie season and its tight relationship with network-television advertising which appears to be no longer able to deliver results in promoting new films. It would be too simplistic to blame TV ads for movies' failures. The problem is not (only) with the medium, but also with the target audience: Hollywood is eventually discovering consumers are changing, they spend more time online and/or playing videogames, they don't watch much TV and they don't like the idea each movie is always promoted like a huge marketing event. Studios should rather rely on Internet marketing, which can be especially effective in reaching a pre-existing audience. For example, the WSJ points out the online campaign for Batman Begins was successful also because it unveiled the movie trailer online about a year in advance, using a variety of corporate and fan sites.

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