How Important Is Marketing to a Film’s Success Essay Example

few details to create anticipation, by including one picture and a tagline for example. A main poster, with further details, is released to coincide with the release date.

This is intended to be the main advert for the film, giving away more details than the teaser to encourage people beyond the key fan base of that type of film. A 3rd poster is released shortly after the film’s release, with comments from critics to encourage people who were previously not convinced and people who rely on positive criticism to decide whether to see a film. Publicity is an essentially free method of marketing a film. This involves media reviews; interviews with key people involved with the film, particularly the starring actors; PR stunts to generate media attention etc.

Although this is essentially free, costs such as expenses for actors and perhaps even deals with the media companies to put the film in the spotlight have to be taken into account. When people read a good review or see an interview with a star, they may discuss this with other people, which will result in large amounts of people going to see the film. When many people see a film, they will spread their opinions on it, and if these opinions are generally positive, the film will achieve good ‘word of mouth’. These days, the internet has made it possible that word of mouth can spread globally and quickly.

Even a bad review can generate attention. As they say ‘any publicity is good publicity’. The PR team behind the film will often create situations, often involving the film stars, that will attract media attention, thus generating public interest. Another

medium used for promotion is merchandise such as toys and t-shirts. Promotional deals are also used to generate hype about a film. Competitions aimed at the key demographic are one type of deal. For example, a children’s film may have a competition with a free toy of a character from the film available.

The ‘unique selling point of a film’ is something that promoters must flaunt to the public. The ‘unique selling point’, or USP for short, is what is advertised as being particularly special about a film, and what separates it from other films of the same genre. Without a strong USP, films are unlikely to ever become regarded as ‘classic’. Examples of strong USPs from recent films would be the high quality 3D, that started a trend of 3D films, in Avatar (2009); and the more sensitive, human portrayal of a controversial and strong-willed political leader in The Iron Lady (2011).

The benefits of good promotion are clear. Poor promotion can cost a film huge amounts of success. A lack of advertising and publicity will obviously reduce the amount of people who will hear of the film, but even films given a sufficient budget for marketing can still flop if the marketing is poor. The film’s genre, key demographic audience, and unique selling points must be taken into account when trying to promote it. If a film is mis-sold, it may do badly, even if it is a good artistically.

A film can be mis-sold if the promoters choose the wrong USPs to flaunt, if marketing is not aimed at key demographic audience of the genre, and if the film is promoted as though it were

a different genre to the genre it actually is. Another aspect to be taken into consideration is how attractive the film will be in different countries at different times. Films are a form of escapism, so films about issues that are heavily discussed in the media tend not achieve huge commercial success, as they are ‘too real’ for people to enjoy. The Iraq war s a current example, with films about the war tending not to do well due to the near constant news coverage, especially in countries involved with the war. A notable example of both a film being mis-sold and not being a form of escapism, from the item, is The Green Zone (2010), which is about the war in Iraq. Although the film achieved success from critics reviews, the film did not make a profit. As well as being about a topic that is considered to have too much current media attention to be enjoyable in fiction, it was advertised as an action film, similar to the ‘Bourne’ films. In reality, it is a more serious film.