SONY PICTURES

Denzel Washington and The Equalizer

Celebrity Brand Assessment and Market Positioning Proposal

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SITUATION

In the Fall of 2014, Sony Pictures will be releasing The Equalizer. The Equalizer is an update of the late 80s TV show about a “justice for hire” who quits his job as a CIA type agent to help people who need him. The movie stars Denzel Washington, who can almost guarantee a 20 million dollar opening – but on occasion can open to double that. In the past 5 years his movies have ranged from a high of Safe House (February, 2012), which opened over 40 million; to a low of Unstoppable (November 2010), which opened to 22 million. He has been starring in successful movies for 30 years and has starred in 4 movies that have grossed more than 100 million dollars. His past two movies have grossed more in the US than abroad at about 2 to 1. Sony has asked this research to delve into the Denzel Washington brand – what makes it tick, and what about the actor can ensure the broadest appeal and maximum opening.

The Equalizer TV series began in 1985 and ran for 4 seasons. It made a star out of Edward Woodward, the white haired actor who played the vigilante, Robert McCall. Officially, McCall was a private investigator who advertised his services in the newspaper, “Have a problem? Call The Equalizer.”

However, re-boots of TV franchises have proven tricky – some quite successful (21 Jump Street, Mission Impossible, SWAT), others middling hits (The A-Team, Starsky and Hutch) and others flops (Miami Vice, Mod Squad, Dark Shadows, I Spy).

This new take – seems to be taking the serious tone of the show (unlike spoof like re-dos of 21 Jump Street, Starsky and Hutch) and backs up Washington with some strong, cross generational female actors – Melissa Leo and Chloe Grace Moretz. The problem to solve is to uncover what equity and power there is in The Equalizer franchise and how to maximize it for modern audiences.

We will also look at how the two “brands” (Washington and The Equalizer) interact. We will also gather info on the re-teaming of Denzel and director Antoine Fuqua (last working together on Training Day – winning Washington an Oscar).

Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) is pleased to present this proposal to conduct a research program to help assess the current imagery and overall appeal of Denzel Washington, the current health and essence The Equalizer brand, and how best to position the upcoming film. As you are well aware, PSB has conducted over a 100 script-based positioning and brand evaluation studies including such properties as Hunger Games, Paranormal Activity, Prometheus, Resident Evil, Grown Ups, and many others.

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In managing franchises and brands, PSB focuses on four key areas:

This formula for managing key franchises allows us to focus on what makes each brand tick, its strengths and weaknesses, and what it means to consumers on different levels. An assessment of brand health focuses on five key areas that help quantify a brand’s popularity (Knowledge and Esteem) and its power as a purchase driver (Differentiation, Relevance and Heat).

Optional Qualitative Explorative Denzel Groups

In this optional qualitative phase, we would recommend conducting 4 focus groups (African-Americans 17-34, African-Americans 35+, Non-AAs 17-34, and Non-AAs 35+).

These groups would allow us to probe deeply of into moviegoers’ perceptions of Denzel Washington and his films:

What are moviegoer attitudes towards Denzel? What does his brand stand for? How does he compare to other movie stars?

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Locations

• Local or another major city (i.e. Chicago)

4 Groups –• AAs 13-29 (N=8)• AAs 30-59• Non AAs 13-29• Non AAs 30-59

Which movies of his have they seen recently? Which did they skip and why? What do they like most about Denzel movies? What are their expectations? Do they have any negative perceptions about Denzel? Are they growing tired of Denzel in certain roles? Why? What are their thoughts towards The Equalizer based on title/star and concepts? What do they like most and least? How does Denzel fit in this role?

A Quantitative Deep Dive into Denzel

Following the focus groups, we propose a large-scale quantitative study that would delve into Denzel Washington the actor, as well as the iconic roles he has played over the past few years. Our look would look at the following key questions:

Who is Denzel’s audience? Separating out and analysing core, secondary and tertiary?

Are there lapsed fans or win backs? Are there those who are indifferent now, but winnable?

What are the Denzel Washington movies that have been most liked? Are they the same overall and by key demo and audience segment? Are there consistent characteristics of these films?

What are the Denzel movies that were least liked? Does this differ overall and by subgroup? Are there consistent traits of these movies?

What are their expectations of a Denzel Washington movie? Are some more important than others?

What are their expectations of a Denzel Washington character? Are some characteristics more important than others?

How does Denzel Washington compare to other popular male actors? Comparing him to Robert Downey Jr, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L Jackson, etc.

Franchise Health and Script-based positioning

In addition to the Denzel Analysis we would also suggest a quantitative look at the overall brand health of The Equalizer (with a competitive set) followed by a script based positioning study. Specifically, this phase of the research will address the following objectives:

Brand Health - Understand the current level of popularity and power for The Equalizer in general and relative to other action franchises both TV show based and new, such as Die Hard, Taken, Bourne, Mission Impossible, Shaft, Dirty

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Harry, Beverly Hills Cop, The Mod Squad, The Rockford Files, Magnum PI, Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, etc.

What is the level of awareness and knowledge of each brand, how relevant are they today, how unique and different are the brands from each other, and how interested are moviegoers in seeing a film based on each series?

From this section, we will create a visual power and popularity matrix that fits each brand to its location on the product life cycle to see which brands are still going strong, which are rising, and which are declining.

Brand Essence – Uncover what each brand stands for today and specifically what differentiates The Equalizer from its competitive set.

What are the top-of-mind impressions? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the brand? What does it mean to people? What associations do moviegoers have to the brand?

From this section, we will create a perceptual map that displays all of the brands relative to the attributes and other brands that they are most closely associated. This allows us to clearly understand how moviegoers perceive these action films.

Brand Elasticity – We will uncover the key pillars that are essential for both the overall genre, as well as this new film – and also how flexible is this long absent brand?

What direction do moviegoers want to see the brand go in? What are the essential elements that they need to see in the reboot?

Brand Segmentation – Identify and profile key audience segments for the action/drama genre and specifically for The Equalizer, including core/promoters, lapsed fans/ detractors, and swings/newbies.

Who are these moviegoers? How can we best reach them? What elements of action films are they most drawn to?

The Equalizer Positioning Evaluation:

We will then expose respondents to a written concept based on the script for The Equalizer that includes key storylines, characters, scenes, themes, and elements. This concept is meant to provide respondents with a comprehensive understanding of what the film will be like. While reading the concept, respondents will be able to highlight the words or phrases that most pique their interest. After reading the concept, we will answer the following:

Quantify interest and urgency in seeing the film and compare to norms

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Measure what respondents like and dislike about the film based on the concept using key adjectives and statements

Evaluate whether film is delivering on the core brand pillars, meeting fans’ expectations , while also appealing to any potential new audiences

Determine what specifically makes this film unique Uncover any potential holdbacks and identify solutions for overcoming these

issues

We will then present respondents with 9-12 differentiated story themes/positioning statements. Using PSB’s proprietary MaxDiff positioning methodology, we will determine which positioning themes present the greatest potential to market the film across key audience segments. From this, PSB will provide a creative roadmap with key strategic messaging and targeting insights to help in the creative development for trailers and TV ads.

REPORTING AND DELIVERABLES

PSB will provide a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation of results. The final presentation will include an analysis of the findings, as well as specific actionable recommendations. PSB will present key findings from the research to the SONY team.

QUALITATIVE COSTS

For the explorative focus groups we recommend 4 Groups -- AAs 17-34, AAs 35+, Non AAs 17-34, and AAs 35+ – for a total cost of $30,000, not including FocusVision and travel for our moderator plus one PSB employee.

QUANTITATIVE COSTS

Option #1: Denzel Washington Brand Study + Equalizer Heavy Includes: Full Denzel Washington Brand Study Equalizer brand evaluation Full positioning study including:

o A long Equalizer film concepto Full film drill downo Max Diff evaluation

Sample: 1200 General Moviegoers 17-54 including an oversample of 300 AAs as well as readable samples of Washington fans and Equalizer viewers.Cost: $45,000

Option #2: Denzel Washington Brand Study + Equalizer Medium Includes: Full Denzel Washington brand evaluation Equalizer brand evaluation Brief positioning study including:

o A long Equalizer film concept

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o Full film drill downo No Max Diff evaluation

Sample: 1000 General Moviegoers 17-54 including an oversample of 250 AAs as well as readable sub samples of Washington fans and Equalizer viewers.Cost: $40,000

Option #3: Denzel Washington Brand Study + Equalizer Light Includes: Full Denzel Washington brand evaluation Equalizer brand evaluation Brief positioning study including:

o A short Equalizer film concepto Basic film drill downo No Max Diff evaluation

Sample: 800 General Moviegoers 17-54 including an oversample of 200 AAs and a readable sample of Washington fans.Cost: $35,000

Survey costs are inclusive of all survey-design, questionnaire development, fieldwork, and data-tabulation and presentation. If base sizes, screeners, or quotas change, prices are subject to change. Upon receipt of the script and project sign-off, the project will be considered 25% complete should the project be cancelled at any time prior to launching fieldwork.

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