The John Carter movie may be seven months away, but Disney is doing some really smart things to build awareness now.

Over on Huffington Post, this piece of “sponsor generated content” looks at “14 Incredible Fictional Worlds You’d Most Want to Visit.” It’s smart for two main reasons: (1) The content is structured exactly like so many other similar chunks of content on HuffPo, and (2) The content isn’t a screaming-loud irritation like they’ve done so often in the recent past. Indeed, Barsoom is just one of the 14 fictional worlds noted, so we’re looking at more of a soft-sell approach here.

Of course, the page has a coupla ads for the movie — which link to the John Carter Facebook page, which includes a countdown to opening weekend and a trailer. But again, the ads are nestled in the page content, not screaming at the page viewer. The overall effect is one of integration, not interruption. Beneath that trailer, by the way: Links to content that may not be directly relevant to selling a ticket to the John Carter movie, but that would possibly be of interest to someone who is also interested in John Carter. More smart soft sell.

I also love the fact that they lead with one of Frank Frazetta’s legendary paintings, though here’s a memo to either Disney or the HuffPo editor that posted this: It’s Edgar Rice Burroughs, not Edgar Riche Burroughs. You wanna fix that, please? Sheesh.

Takeaway for marketers: Take a look at the HuffPo link. It’s a great example of online advertorial content.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 at 6:39 pm and is filed under Internet Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways, Social Media.