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True, The Hurt Locker was one of the most critically acclaimed films of last year. But it did face Oscar competition from much bigger films, and it originally opened in June, several months before most Oscar contenders did, meaning it may not have been as top of mind come voting season. To its benefit however, the film was rolled out across the country all the way through Oscar season, and by never being shown in more than 500 theaters at a time, marketing could be more targeted, says Nancy Kirkpatrick, president of worldwide marketing for Summit. The campaign was primarily public relations driven, with a heavy emphasis on the film’s glowing reviews, to allow word of mouth to steadily grow as the film played in more and more theaters. But from an Oscar marketing standpoint, Summit didn’t get aggressive until late last year, says Cynthia Swartz, co-head of the entertainment marketing division at New York and Los Angeles-based public relations firm 42West, which helped Summit with the Hurt Locker campaign.

“They did not send [DVD screeners] to Academy members until December, and people kept saying, ‘Where are they? Summit is not spending any money.’ But Summit felt that was the best time to send the DVDs. … They are willing to not worry too much about what the competition might be saying. They know what needs to be done and stick to their guns.”

Backed by months of buzz and an Academy-targeted campaign unleashed at just the right time (complete with those seemingly last minute screener shipments), The Hurt Locker went on to receive nine Academy Award nominations—just after the film had become available for home viewing in mid-January. (Thanks to all the accolades and Oscar buzz, the film has been a bigger hit at home, selling 1.1 million DVDs and 400,000 Blu-ray disc. It has been rented 8 million times and purchased via pay-per-view and video-on-demand services about 3 million times, according to the company.) Following the nominations, Kirkpatrick says the public relations strategy was to pit The Hurt Locker against the big-budget blockbuster Avatar to create a David vs. Goliath story in the press. (Also creating drama and helping fuel buzz was the fact that Locker was directed by Avatar director James Cameron’s ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow.) In the end, David won at the Oscars.

To read how marketing helped transform Twilight into a hot movie franchise, read the next edition of Marketing News Exclusives. You can access the article, and subscribe to the e-newsletter, by clicking here beginning July 1st. And American Marketing Association members, be on the lookout for an article submitted by Kirkpatrick, who offers a peek at her marketing dashboard, in the July 30th edition of Marketing News. The article will be made available at MarketingPower.com/MarketingNews next month.