There's no avoiding Fox's 'Alcatraz' blitz

Fox held an Alcatraz premiere party on Alcatraz Island the other day. The show, that will originate from J.J. Abrams, bows tonight. Using the much material to make use of, Fox's marketing mavens couldn't help but devise a more elaborate marketing campaign to tubthump the completely new mystery-thriller "Alcatraz." The show mines the tales from the well-known federal prison found on the rocky island inside the San Francisco Bay Area Bay. "Alcatraz," which bows tonight getting a 2-hour opener, also provides hefty built-in marketing muscle: It comes down lower from J.J. Abrams, together with other "Lost" alums, particularly co-star Jorge Garcia, may also be involved. Fox has seeded promotions for your show on the internet, plus a high quality positioning inside the popular Zynga-distribbed Facebook game "Empires and Allies" (featuring prisons like a significant factor of the story). Another broadly seen viral vid remains the faux promo spot for any book about Alcatraz put together through the level of smoothness carried out by Garcia. "Besides J.J. obtain that built-in fanbase, but add additionally a great cast and hang up it somewhere referred to as Alcatraz. It's just something special to entrepreneurs," mentioned Joe Earley, Fox's prexy of marketing and communications. The piece p resistance in the launch ballyhoo was Wednesday's premiere party held inside the Rock itself -- full of the arrivals line snaking using the prison showers and site visitors eating spartan chow from metal plates. The majority of the 400 participants were fans who won tickets through local tv and radio promotions. Logistically, it absolutely was difficult to drag off, because everything must be ferried towards the area, and coordinators had only two several hours to prep following a prison, now operated just like a national park, closed to travelers. Earley credits the resolution from the net's creative services to have it accomplished for that sheer promo value since the event spurred a flurry of media attention. "It absolutely was useful being using Cell Block D watching people moments shot inside the cell block," Earley mentioned. "When it's dark and you're simply on Alcatraz island, no matter how jaded you may be (about premiere occasions), you understand it's a really awesome step to see.Inch Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com