James R | On 07, Jul 2014

The LEGO Movie is released today for digital download – and blinkbox is offering 50 per cent off LEGOLAND tickets to anyone who buys it.

Tesco is no stranger to promotions to support its digital video releases – and with good reason. The VOD market is divided into two segments: subscription VOD and transactional VOD. For subscription services, the aim is tempt people to part with their money on a regular basis. For pay-per-view services, though, people must be willing to spend money on separate occasions.

Once you’re subscribed to a VOD service, the chances are you will keep paying. Pay-per-view is more like a high street, with several shopfronts all competing for attention. And Tesco is a veteran at that game.

Indeed, Tesco’s retail empire means that it is able to tie together its digital media platform with its stores – something that gives it an advantage over its (many) competitors. While subscription services offer so many months free, Tesco could feasibly offer anything they like, from clothes to a box of eggs. Last month, it introduced a deal to get a free pizza with every download of Game of Thrones Season 4 – and, of course, a ton of Clubcard points. And when people buy a DVD in-store (and connect their Clubcard to blinkbox), they now get a digital copy too.

For The LEGO Movie, it is only apt that they should run a promotion: the entire film is a feat of blending product placement with creativity. Now, Tesco has gone on step up from Game of Thrones and pizza to – inevitably – LEGOLAND.

Customers who buy and download the movie (it will be available to rent when the DVD is released on Monday 21st July) will get 50 per cent off tickets to LEGOLAND Windsor Resort (up to 4 Adult & 4 Children’s tickets), as well as 500 Clubcard points, which can be transferred into vouchers to spend with Tesco online, in-store or on fuel.

Directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street), The LEGO Movie follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure, who is mistakenly identified as The Special, the most extraordinary person in the world and the key to defeating the evil, commercialised tyranny of President Business.

In this scenario, there is little doubt that Tesco is President Business – but has the retailer already assembled its own key to winning the VOD battle?

 

The LEGO Movie is available to download from iTunes and blinkbox (£9.99 in SD/£13.99 in HD).

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