Disney XD’s marketing campaign for its Nov. 27 original movie Skyrunners is literally out of this world.
The kids-oriented network has teamed with Google to give users visiting the Google/Skyrunners website the chance to watch online an unidentified flying object land right in front of their homes. In association with the Google Maps feature, Disney XD is providing users who type in their address on the site a short animated video in which the crash of an alien spacecraft is superimposed on a Google Maps photo of their block.
The movie, which stars Aaron Stone lead Kelly Blatz as a teen trying to save his brother who has been kidnapped by aliens bent on taking over the world, is Disney XD’s first foray into the original movie arena. As a result the network is pulling out all of the stops to make sure it reaches its computer game and animation-savvy target audience of 6 to 12 year-old boys.
Disney actually began the campaign for the film this past summer at the annual Comic-Con in San Diego. During the convention Disney created a UFO crash landing site on the sidewalk outside the convention center.
That was followed by the development of short-form content created for various digital platforms that featured witness testimonials of people who had UFO sightings. The video also included a “press conference” from one of the main characters in the movie addressing the sightings.
Disney XD is hoping its Google-enhanced online application is hip enough for boys to utilize.
The network is also hoping the application will help make the Skyrunners movie cool enough for hyper-active young men to tune into.
