Promotional Strategies
Promotional strategies are put in place by film producers to generate hype and excitement before a film’s release. Promotional strategies can be put in place from the film’s pre-production stages to shortly after the film. Promotional strategies include: preview screenings, film posters, film trailers, online/viral marketing, festivals/awards, newspapers/magazines, film premiers, documentaries and synergy.
Preview Screenings
Preview screenings are used shortly before almost all films. A preview screening is when a group of people are given tickets to watch a film prior to release, in the hope that they will tell their friends and family about the film, thus making them want to watch it and verify their friends/family’s opinions on the film.
Posters
Film posters are one of the first ways of promoting a film, as it was cheap and didn’t requiring extensive equipment. Film posters are designed to give potential customers a hint at the narrative and plot of the film. As you can see below, the “In Time” poster tells us that the narrative involves crime and the plot includes characters portrayed by Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried trying to escape capture.
Film posters are now a big merchandising opportunity for the film to bring in extra income and are sold separately in stores, such as, HMV and Zavvi.
Trailers
Film trailers are used to promote almost every film as they offer the biggest impact on the audience before a film is released, without giving too much information away. Often used to expand the information given by the film poster, a film trailer will present a clearer idea of the narrative and more details about the plot of the film. Key quotes in the film are often used in the trailer to tell people the narrative of the film or the main subject of the film. In the trailer to “Hot Tub Time Machine” the key quote is mentioned one minute and twenty-one seconds in. The quote is “Must be some kinda hot tub time machine”. This quote sets up the entire narrative to the film. The trailer to the film “Hot Tub Time Machine” is below.
Online/Viral
Since the arrival of social networking sites (i.e. Facebook) and Video sharing sites (i.e. YouTube, Metacafe, etc.), the use of online publicity has grown larger and large. The trailer to the film “Hot Tub Time Machine” above was found on YouTube and film distributors all create Facebook pages for the films they are distributing. The screenshot below shows the Facebook page of the film “Rio” urging people to like the page for a chance to win 50 Blu-Ray films and a new Blu-Ray player. By getting people to like the page, the film gets more attention across the Facebook website.
Newspapers and Magazines
Film magazines such as “Empire” and “Total Film” are supported hugely by the need for a film producer to promote their film from within the publishing sector. Film magazines are often in agreements with film producers to grant their journalists access behind the scenes of the making of a film as it is being made to generate hype about the film, while it is still in the production stage, ensuring that their is an audience for the film before release. The film producers may warn the journalist that if they write a bad report on the film, the journalist will not be allowed behind the scenes of any of the film producer’s other films, allowing a rival film magazine take exclusive access to behind the scenes of the producer’s future films.
Film Festivals and Awards
Film producers often enter their film into film festivals and apply for awards, because festivals and awards offer promotional support to the film by telling the potential customer how greatly the film has been praised. They are commonly used to market the film on DVD and Blu-Ray. The DVD cover to “The Hurt Locker”, below, is an example of awards being used to promote the DVD to a film as it reads “WINNER 6 OSCARS” and “WINNER 6 BAFTAS”. This tells the potential customer that the film is very critically acclaimed.
Film Premier
Film premiers are used to promote blockbuster movies because they generate hype immediately before a film’s release. The press are usually allowed to interview the stars of the film before they enter the screening, so that the film is promoted via the press on television, in newspapers and magazines and across the internet. The outfits the stars wear are often glamourous and, in some cases, controversial, to make sure the film is promoted in gossip magazines.
“Making of” and “Behind the Scenes” Documentaries
Producers often make documentaries showing behind the scenes of the film and the making of the film to be shown publicly before the release of the film to encourage interest. The famous “Harry Potter” film series broadcasted a “Making of” documentary, before the release of every film in the series, titled “Behind the Magic” and broadcasted on free-to-air television.
Synergy
Synergy is used as a cheap, but effective, form of marketing. The pioneers of synergy were Disney, who granted dozens of companies the right to use the Mickey Mouse character in their products and ads.
The film “Rio” used synergy widely to promote the release of the film. The film’s synergy products include McDonald’s toys, an Angry Birds Smartphone game, packs of Oreo cookies with a “Rio” promotion. For a limited time, McDonalds gave away “Rio” toys with their happy meals. Rovio partnered with 20th Century Fox to create the “Angry Birds Rio” Smartphone game. For a limited time, Oreo cookies released packs that included stickers for an album. By completing an album, consumers could win cinema tickets and snack bars. Some other stickers were included in packs of Oreo’s, which gave the consumer prizes. The prizes included a trip to Rio de Janeiro, “Rio” backpack, cinema pass for a year and 3D glasses.
Conclusion
My View on Publicity and Marketing
My view on publicity is that a film would not succeed without it and social networks will continue to expand the ways in which films can be marketed on them.
I see that every aspect of publicity and marketing must go through a film producer’s mind for their film to be successful. The producer must also keep in mind how the audience will see the publicity and if they are going to actually see the film.
Also, the producer must be aware of the current film market and the trends that are appearing in the film market, before the film is created and released.
No comments:
Post a Comment