Marketing A Film

• When a new film is made, it has to be advertised like any other new product, to let people know it exists and to encourage them to go to the cinema to see it

• The advertising of a film is known as film promotion or film marketing and the people who are responsible for this are the distribution company

• This is because they distribute (give out) the films to the cinemas and distribute the promotional material around the country

Marketing A Film

• The way in which a film is promoted can have a huge effect on whether or not it is successful

• Why is it important that films are marketed properly?

• Films are expensive to make and if the public do not buy tickets at the box office to see the film, a lot of money will be lost

Types of Marketing

• What types of marketing are used to promote films today?

• TV Trailer• Chat shows• Posters• Newspaper ads• Magazine ads• Magazine interviews• Give-aways• Tickets promotions• Online – virals, social media• Music• Branding

Marketing A Film

• What films have you seen recently?

• What made you want to go and see them?

• Make a list of all the factors that influenced you and put them in order of priority

• Make a list of all the different ways in which you might hear about a film

• Put these in order as to which give you the most information

• Now re-order them to show which are the ones that make you really want to see a film

• What does this say about the way you personally make choices about your film viewing?

• How does this compare with your friends

Cinemas!

• What cinemas are there in your local area?

• Are there any differences between them?

• How do you find out details of what films are showing and when?

TASK: Visit the websites for several cinemas

• How do the websites reflect the different nature of the organisations?

Planning A Marketing Campaign

• When the distributors agree to market a new film, they will watch it several months before it is released into the cinema and plan a marketing campaign

• This includes deciding what should go into the posters, trailers, websites and other material that will market the film

Big Budgets…

• Modern campaigns have three acts: a year or more before the film debuts, you introduce it with ninety-second teaser trailers and viral Internet “leaks” of gossip or early footage, in preparation for the main trailer, which appears four months before the release; five weeks before the film opens, you start saturating with a “flight” of thirty-second TV spots; and, at the end, you remind with fifteen-second spots, newspaper ads, and billboards.

Big Budgets…

• Studios typically spend about ten million dollars on the “basics” (cutting trailers and designing posters, conducting market research, flying the film’s talent to the junket and the première, and the première itself) and thirty million on the media buy

• Between seventy and eighty per cent of that is spent on television advertising (enough so that viewers should see the ads an average of fifteen times), eight or nine per cent on Internet ads, and the remainder on newspaper and outdoor advertising

• The hope is that a potential viewer will be prodded just enough to make him decide to see what all the fuss is about

Independents…

• Independent filmmakers don’t have the luxury of the publicity divisions employed by studios

• Yet smart filmmaker know that a film’s marketing is crucial to its success or failure—and doing it well requires an enormous amount of time and effort

• So, they tap the passion, wherewithal, determination, and moxie that drives them to make films in the first place to create posters, generate buzz, start an online viral campaign, and do whatever else is necessary to get their work in front of audiences

TASK!

• Think of an innovative way to promote an independent film with a limited budget

• Think of the marketing tools you will use

• What platforms are available

• What different types of media will be useful (and cheep)

• Consider the three marketing strategies we have just looked at…

Things Consider

• Who will be the most likely to want to see this film?

• Anyone may decide they want to see the film but there are some cinema- goers who are more likely to want to see it than others

• These people are called the target audience and the marketing will aim to make the film look attractive to these people

• Many films are aimed at ages between 15 – 24, because statistics tell us that this is the group that visits the cinema most often

• Pick a trailer, any trailer… think of the target audience and how the trailer has targeted its audience

Genres

• Films can often be put into types such as comedy, horror, science fiction, and family films etc

• Why is it important that films are categorised into genres?

• The marketing will show the audience that have seen this type of film before and if they enjoyed it they will, most likely, come to see this one

USPs

• Although a film may be similar to one we have already seen, each film has something different about it, something unique

• This may be the star or the director, or it could be something about the story or where it is set

• It may even involve the style of the film. This is known as the Unique Selling Point of the film (USP for short)

• Find a film with a USP – How is this shown in the trailer?

Audience Research

• Task: Read the article…

• The British Industry:• The audience for film is at the heart of this Review. We

want public policy to be used to maximise audience access to films of every kind throughout the UK. And we recognise that the key to industrial and cultural success of film rests on the ability to connect films with audiences – at the cinema, and on every conceivable digital device ranging from internet-enabled televisions and DVD players to tablet computers and smartphones