Godzilla (2014) and zilla (1998) the battle for marketing!

what she said. Furthermore, The '98 affair did have some clever marketing, like signs saying "his foot is as long as this bus" and "his head is bigger than this billboard".

Godzilla 1998 totally wins if you're comparing their marketing campaigns. 

Godzilla 2014's marketing budget is only around 100 mil, which is about the same dollar amount as Godzilla 1998.....BEFORE INFLATION...and Godzilla 2014's marketing is way more reserved. They are marketing way less than either Spiderman or X-men.

Granted, for Godzilla 2014, they have been SMART about their marketing, and it has been good marketing.

But if you're being objective, Godzilla 1998 had WAY more marketing, and more effective marketing. It was present and saturating (if not more so) than the Amazing Spiderman 2's marketing today. They had billboards everywhere, all kinds of tv spots playing frequently, they did a New Years Eve promo similar to the Amazing SpiderMan's, they started it earlier, and had way more merchandise. 

Consider this, Godzilla 1998's marketing is the MAIN REASON why Godzilla 1998 did so financially well. We all know it wasn't word of mouth that made the movie profitable. The marketing is also part of why people were so frustrated with that movie when it came out, was because the marketing had gotten people hyped and their hopes up.

So yeah, Godzilla 2014 looks like it's going to be a better movie. But Godzilla 1998 wins hands down on the marketing, no questions asked. If Godzilla 2014 gets a lot of positive reception, then perhaps they can afford a bigger marketing budget for a sequel maybe, but for now, it's just not anywhere near to the level of the marketing in the 1998 film. 

It's quiet funny to even ask this question, as most people on this forum are way too young to remember the 98 film marketing, Some weren't even born.

I was a child myself, However I do remember vividly that Godzilla 98 had one of the biggest marketing campaigns ever, Godzilla 2014 marketing is nowhere near that big.

@JohnSmith:

Hey I'm 57, have been a Godzilla fan for 50 years and I worked

The marketing of Godzilla 1998 was extensive, but actually not that good.  The slogan: "Size DOES Matter" made it obvious that they weren't going to take the movie seriously.  Also, the TV ads were lighthearted.  The best thing they did was to emphasize that Godzilla 98 was made by the same people who made 'Independence Day", which was a mega hit with amazing special effects. 

The marketing campaign for Godzilla 2014 is more sophisticated.  The first thig they did was to introduce Cranston, which they knew would lend credibility to the project.  They also showed Godzilla and let us here his roar, so we would know this Godzilla was not the same fake that we had seen in '98.  They are really hoping for a great wave of word-of-mouth.  They will need it because The X-Men movie is premiering the following week.  I believe when it is all said and done, Godzilla 2014 will make $800 million to $1 billion dollars, worldwide.

I agree with some of the above comments. I remember the 1998 Zilla marketing and while it was more than the American Godzilla's, I'd say the American Godzilla's has a far better commercials/marketing than the American Zilla version.

The American Zilla movie---1998

Budget: $130 million

Box Office: $379,014,294

The American Godzilla movie---2014

Budget: $160 million

Box Office: *Tilt* (pinball term)

Always be mindful that if a production budget is $100 million, The marketing and distribution cost will be about $100 million. Then remember the studios must share the profits with the theatres.  So a $100 million dollar production budget will have to make about $250 million before the studio breaks even.  So Godzilla 1998 at a cost of $130 million, probably did not make money for the studios, at the theatres (although the sell of video rights, cables rights and television rights eventually  allowed it to make money when it was all said and done).

It's hard to compare the two because Internet is very different than what it was in 1998.  Most of the marketing I've seen of Godzilla 2014 was on the Internet and it was me looking for it. I'm yet to see a TV spot on TV, Or any Billboards around the city I live in, London. In London we usually have promo posters on the sides of buses, I've seen spider-man posters but no Godzilla posters yet, Though I'm sure will see one soon.

Fact of the matter is that back in 98, Godzilla posters, merchandise and Tv spots were everywhere  all the time, Similar to spider-man and star wars prequels marketing.