BLOCKBUSTER GETS INTO TITANIC CRAZE
By Adnews Staff
Toronto-based Blockbuster Canada is celebrating the release of the hit movie Titanic on video. The movie will be available in Blockbuster outlets beginning at midnight on Sept. 1. The video retailer will keep all of its stores open until 1 a.m. that day so consumers can pick up their copy of the Titanic. Some outlets will be open until 2 a.m. Purchasers of the video will receive a Titanic 11" X 17" poster. Consumers who rent the movie throughout September will receive a poster as well. In addition, Blockbuster will guarantee that the movie will be in stock for rentals. If all the copies are rented, customers will receive the rental for free when the movie becomes available. Blockbuster is supporting its Titanic promotions using point-of-sale materials, print ads in its monthly in-store publications, direct mail and radio ads. Blockbuster handled the print portion of its ad account in-house, while Bensimon Byrne DMB&B of Toronto created the radio ads and did the media buy. Blockbuster has pre-sold 100,000 copies of the Titanic. The video rental retailer operates 325 stores across Canada. It is a division of Viacom Entertainment Canada Inc.