Marketing and promotion of films

Marketing

When a film has finished being edited and the final piece has been to the makers of the film, the film company will have to market the film. They can do this through Posters on buses and in newspapers, on TV through adverts and a shortened Trailer (Also on YouTube) and the Final trailer in the Cinema. The way that a film is marketed can have an effect on whether the film is successful or if it is not successful. The films that are made cost a lot of money to make and market (Marketing price up to $1 million) and if people do not see the film at the cinema (Box Office), money will be lost for the film production company. Sometimes the can spend 50% more on marketing the film.

Promotion

A Promotion of a film takes many forms:

Print advertising (posters, leaflets, advertisement on TV or in the newspaper)

Trailers in cinemas or on TV

Internet sites ( Facebook, twitter)

Viral Videos

Merchandising ( Books, T-shirts, toys, soundtrack, video games ECT.)

Tours

Directors, actors and produces appear on Television interviews, on radio and in newspapers to promote the film. After the premiere of the film the key personnel visit major cities around the world or participate in video conferences or on telephone. The interviews that they do is to encourage journalists to publish stories about their “exclusive interviews” with the main cast.

Audience Research

Film distributors have seven different ways on what the audiences they would like to attract. This research could cost up to $1 million per film. These involve:

Positioning studies versus other films that will premiere at the same time.

Test screenings of finished or nearly finished films; this is the most well known.

Testing of audience response to advertising materials.

Tracking surveys of audience awareness of a film starting six weeks before premiere.

Exit surveys questioning film goers about their demographic makeup and effectiveness of marketing.

Title testing in an early stage.

Concept testing that would occur in development phase of a film before it is produced.