The Next President of Malawai FINAL

THE NEXT President OF MALAWI

Marketing plan

Entertainment Marketing PlanBy Emily BlumhardtPRA - 419December 6, 2017

phase 1

Executive summaryMovie information- Positioning statement- Anticipated rating- Genre- SynposisTarget audiencesMarketing opportunitiesMarketing obstaclesBig Idea

OverviewTarget film festivalsFestival kitFestival marketing- PR tactics- Advertising executions- Guerilla marketing stunts

phase 2

phase 3

phase 4

OverviewScreeningsTarget distributorsResearchPublic Relations

OverviewRelease strategy- Release pattern- Competitive environmentCreative strategyExecutionsMedia strategyPublicity strategyPromotion strategyInternet marketing

Table of contents

OVERVIEW

FILM FESTIVAL STRATEGY

B2B & DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

CONSUMER STRATEGY

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PHASE ONEoverview

executive summary

The Next President of Malawi follows the story of Helen Singh, a Malawian woman who is running for president in 2019. Faced with a political system that has been accused of rigging elections and in a male dominated sphere, she is fighting against all odds to be the change her country truly needs.

This documentary highlights the corruption that plagues the country of Malawi. Helen Singh isn’t simply a politician, she is the voice of the people. Like the sun on the Malawian flag, she is rising up to give her people hope for better days. She is the new agent for change that her home country has been waiting for.

This marketing plan features extensive consumer, festival, and distribution strategies. Our dig-ital, out of home, print, and televison executions will keep the film at the top of mind for con-sumers while paired with a variety of partnerships to maintain media coverage. Utilizing cre-ative advertising executions coupled with guerrilla marketing stunts and publicity efforts, we will reach our target audiences to ensure a successful opening weekend.

- Emily Blumhardt

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synopsisThe Next President of Malawi tells the story of Helen Singh, a woman dedicated to generate change in a broken country. After her failed cam-paign for presidency in 2014 and being subject to fraudulent election processes, she has returned to the political arena and is determined to win in the 2019 election.

Movie informationpositioning statementHelen Singh is competing against all odds as she runs for the presidency of Malawi. Her story entails her struggles as a woman participating a corrupt political climate and her decade long mission to create change.

anticipated ratingPG - 13

genreDocumentary

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Helen sees herself as the voice of the people and aims to break the cycle of corruption within the Malawian government. As a wom-an who is half Indian, she is running against 11 Malawian males this election cycle. Bu she is determined to continue her crusade to build up the country that she calls home.

FANS OF DOCUMENTARIES

STUDENTS

As an informative film, the content will attract politically inclined students nationwide. More specifically, we will target students at liberal arts colleges as well as schools that are held known for their political science and gov-ernment related programs. These students already have a stronger interest in social issues and the younger generation has a larger online presence for promoting change within their world.

This audience is ideal for generating interest because of their pre-dis-posed interest in this niche genre of film. Documentaries do not have the same marketing appeal compared to a large scale Hollywood film and the type of content being presented is informative first. The most active viewers then of this film will be the genre enthusiasts.

tertiary

primary

target audiences

secondary

The goal of this documentary is to raise awareness of the corruption that is occurring within the Malawian government. Hopefully, this presentation of information will inspire its viewers to take action. The most effective audience in that case would be politicians who have the ability to generate change. We will target an audience who’s position is already to promote change and engage in ameliorating political injustices.

POLITICIANS/GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

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Documentaries are a niche genre of film which is helpful for our marketing efforts because there are already movie goers within our target audiences who are avid fans of informative films.

The reaction this film will generate not only will highlight its quality, but also spark discussions about the subject matter. There are multiple opportunities to diverge our marketing efforts, focusing on the film as well as the social issues within it.

The subject of the film has the potential to gain press as it promotes awareness of political corruption. Instead of just partnering with entertainment outlets, we also can partner and communicate with a variety of NGO’s, politicians, lobbyists, and news outlets to discuss the content of the film.

MARKETING opportunities

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fan base

plot

partnerships

female subjectBecause this movie is centered around a woman, it adds another marketable element. Aside from focusing on political corruption, we can highlight the strong African fe-male lead - a character that has been missing from Hollywood in the recent past.

marketing obstacles

Because documentaries tend to be released on streaming services following their festi-val screenings, this effects our strategies for marketing compared to a wide release film.

While documentaries tend to attract a loyal fan base, we miss out on a large part of the population that contributes to the profit of the film industry. We will strategically target smaller demographics and professions to ensure success, but will need a higher rate of

success among out audiences to ensure constant buzz.

When people go to the movies, they turn to fiction for escapism and don’t want to face the harsh realities of the world for entertainment. This movie doesn’t have the ro-

mance, action, or comedy that films with high marketability usually have.

streaming

seriousness

niche audiences

no castBecause this is an educational film, we lack a well known cast within Hollywood to

promote during our marketing efforts. The character the movie surrounds is un-known in terms of the national media, so our executions will also need to focus on

promoting her as well as the film.

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Helen Singh isn’t simply a politician, she is the voice of the people. She is striving to end the corruption that makes up the Malawian government and organizes the election process. Like the sun on the Malawian flag, she is ris-ing to give her people hope for better days. She is the new agent for change that her home country has been waiting for.

The new agent for change

BIG IDEA

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PHASE twofilm festival strategy

Film festivals are the primary form of distribution for documentaries, which is why we are going to target multiple festivals ranging from regional to international arenas. The Next President of Malawi has the potential to spark discussion and shed light on a powerful subject. To match this film’s content, the festival strategy has been strate-gically curated to appeal to relevant festivals which focus on documentaries. We will also leverage the social and political aspect of the film to appeal to niche festivals. Through these screenings, the film will be exposed to distributors and potentially, signed to a distributor.

The goal of this strategy is to not only gain press momentum through awards and word of mouth, but also to implement guerrilla marketing tactics. These marketing efforts will allow consumers to gain knowledge into the subject of this film and gener-ate awareness. Because it is a documentary, our executions will educate the public on the corruption that is occurring within the political sphere of Malawi.

overview

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target festivals

International Documentary Film Festival AmsterdamLocation: Amsterdam, ND (abbr.?)Festival Date: November 16-27, 2017Submission deadline: August 1, 2017Entry fee: €40

The IDFA is the world’s largest international documentary festival and is a fantastic place to interact with filmmakers on a global scale. The objective of the IDFA is to promote creative documentaries and present them to as many people as possible. During its eleven-day run, it screens more than 200 documentaries and attracts over 120,000 visitors. Awards range from student short films to full length documentaries, so the variety in submissions is endless.

Sheffield Doc FestLocation: Sheffield, UKFestival Date: June 9-14, 2017Submission deadline: February 7, 2017Entry fee: £35

Sheffield is quickly becoming the UK’s rival to IDFA, complete with market pitch sessions and lots of opportunities to connect with European commissioning editors. It’s reputation is growing quickly as an important place to premiere and screen nonfiction work. There are a variety of awards for niche subjects which is perfect for The Next President of Malawi.

International

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target festivals

Sundance Film FestivalLocation: Park City, UTFestival Date: January 19-29, 2017Submission deadline: August 29, 2016Entry fee: $85

Sundance is unique because it presents a documentary slate as equal to its narrative films. Getting accepted at Sundance automatically means that you have access to buyers and nation-al press attention that far surpasses any other fest. Awards from Sundance are excellent for press due to its notoriety among the mass public. Once again, because of its massive lineup among the documentary genre, there are ample opportunities to get noticed.

TriBeCa Film FestivalLocation: New York, NYFestival Date: April 19-30, 2017Submission deadline: November 23, 2016Entry fee: $75

TriBeCa is a comparativley newer festival, but it has huge drawing in of an estimated three million people each year. There is a smaller documentary category but it does offer an award for “best new documentary filmmaker” which is a perfect fit for our film since this is their debut in the business. Like Sundance, it is also well known nationwide so if accepted, it will provide a big publicity platform for marketing efforts going forward.

national

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target festivals

Palm Springs International Film FestivalLocation: Palm Springs, CAFestival Date: January 2-16, 2017Submission deadline: October 22, 2016Entry fee: $25

Palm Springs Film Festival is a smaller festival in southern California, but is still one of the best festivals in the state. They award documentaries as well as offer an audience favorite award to films. The festival holds its own against larger, more well known ones by highlighting films on an international scale. This is also great for The Next President of Malawi due to the location of the movie.

regional

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Los Angeles Film FestivalLocation: Los Angeles, CAFestival Date: June 14-22, 2017Submission deadline: November 18, 2016Entry fee: $25

The Los Angeles Film Festival is not only a great film festival, but also offers one of the high-est competition prize of any festival - $50K for the winning filmmaker - and a decent amount of attention from LA-based press and national buyers. The festival has created a community and has managed to differentiate itself from LA’s other huge film festival, AFI Fest. It’s loca-tion is also a huge plus, being only an hour north of Orange County.

festival kit

Emily blumhardt

The next president of Malawi

Marketing Coordinator

Phone: (214) 546 - 1851Email: [email protected]

The next president Of Malawi

The New Agent for Change


STUDIO NAME PICTURES PRESENTS A PRODUCERS A FILM BY SCRIPT WRITER ACTOR ONE ACTOR TWO “MOVIE TITLE” MUSIC BY THE MUSICIAN COSTUME DESIGNER DESIGNER NAME EDITED BY

EDITORS NAME PRODUCTION DESIGN DESIGNERS NAME

July 21, 2017

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the next president of Malawi

Pitch letter Press Release Cast and Crew Bios One-Sheet Photography Branded DVD Case Cover Folder Business card

photography


Dodge College of Film & Media ArtsChapman UniversityOrange, CADecember 4, 2016

To Whoever it May Concern,

The team from The Next President of Malawi formally invites you to a special screening of our documentary on January 26, 2017. The film follows the inspiring story of Helen Singh, a politician who is running for the Malawian presidency in 2019. Faced with a political system that has been accused of rigging elections in a male dominated sphere, she is fighting against all odds to be the change her country truly needs.

The Next President of Malawi highlights the corruption that plagues the country of Malawi. Helen Singh isn’t simply a politician, she is the voice of the people. Like the sun on the Malawian flag, she is rising up to give her people hope for better days. She is the new agent for change that her home country has been waiting for.

The complete crew from the movie will also be present at the screening and a ques-tion and answer panel will take place upon the end of the movie. They will discuss the film making process, how the documentary genre has changed over the last years, and international filming.

We hope you can join us, if there are any questions or concerns, please contact me via email at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Emily Blumhardt

Emily BlumhardtMarketing [email protected](214) 546-1851



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ORANGE, Calif. - The Next President of Malawi, a documentary that follows the inspiring story of Helen Singh, has been selected to be featured in the Sundance Film Festival this winter. Singh is a Malawian politician who is running for president in the 2019 election cycle. Faced with a political system that has been accused of rigging elections in a male dominated sphere, she is fighting against all odds to be the change her country truly needs.


The complete crew from the movie will also be present at the screening and they will be holding a question and answer panel at a separate screening earlier in the month. They will discuss the film making process, how the documentary genre has changed over the last years, and international filming.

For more information, please contact Emily Blumhardt at (214) 546 - 1851 or by email at [email protected]


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pitch letter press release

Helen Singh is not a new name in politics. This is a woman who has contested for a parliamentary seat twice. Now, Singh has launched her own party, the United Independence Party (UIP), with her as president. She says she has relied on her faith in God to make it where she is today in terms of her successful business and other areas.

According to Nation’s [Center for Research] Munthali, Singh “musters an emotional appeal that should make other candidates pause. [Her platform is to] strengthen targeted agriculture research in universities; diversify crop production to get rid of mo-no-cropping; establish vocational centers in every district and village polytechnics; and remove the quota system ‘so that the stu-dents go to university by merit, not by districts they come from.’”

Sean Singh Ahluwalia is a second year international law student at the Dale E. Fowler School of Law at Chapman University. He did his undergraduate studies at University California Davis where he achieved elected leadership roles in campus organizations and in student greek life organizations. His passion helped bridge cultural communities on campus and bring awareness to ethnic discrimination. His passion for documentary film making is culturally motivated and stems from a desire to educate communities on the Sikh Diaspora taking place over the past century, where person’s of Sikh faith have been forced to leave their homeland of Punjab, India to communities across the globe. Sean’s goal is to continue to be an active member of the SikhLens Film Festival at Chapman University to locate and produce further inspirational accounts Sikh person’s in the global community.

cast and crew bios

helen singh

sean ahluwalia - producer

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While most of us only dream of flying over Istanbul, walking across volcanoes in Hawaii, and being in the epicenter of the tsunami that hit Indonesia, Jeff Swimmer can only smile and say, “Somewhere down the road I got really lucky, being able to pursue my childhood dream of traveling.” Working with brand networks such as NBS, CNN, National Geographic and the Discovery Chan-nel, Jeff has seen it all.

During the production of several documentary projects, Jeff discovered an interest in teaching and now oversees the International Documentary program at Dodge, where he encourages students to pursue exactly what they want. “There is only so much you can learn in the classroom, but to go overseas and work with an international program improves the learning curve of students in ways that they can’t even imagine. The overall transformation is amazing.”

Fugate began her film career in the Thai film industry, directing English-speaking actors in Thai films, before moving back to the U.S. to work as French director Barbet Schroder’s assistant on Single White Female. Fugate went on to become Senior Vice Presi-dent of Creative Affairs at Pacific Rim Productions, where she produced Natural Causes for HBO.

Tiring of life as a movie executive, she started her own independent production company, Cafe Sisters Productions, and went on to produce and direct award-winning documentaries such as The Southern Sex, Mother Love, Tobacco Blues, and The Girl Next Door. Her most recent project, Grief Becomes Me, is currently screening at festivals and museums.

jeff swimmer - executive producer

christina fugate - executive producer

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festival marketing

We will create a cohesive social media presence between Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These accounts will be updated regularly and contain relevant infor-mation about upcoming screenings and awards received as well as informational posts about the country of Malawi, similar to the post shown here. Short teasers of the movie will be posted periodicaly throughout the festival season to generate public interest.

During the more prominent festivals, to gain attention from industry profession-als and audience members, we will also utilize Snapchat to publish a geo-filter and a national brand story that will show a “day in the life” of a Malawain citizen.

SOCIAL MEDIA

PR tactics

media pitches & Press releasesWe will aggressively target related media outlets with pitches about potential stories to be published. We will work different angles ranging from discussing the evolving industry of documentary filmmaking, Malawian political corrup-tion, the socio-economic challenges that the country is facing today, and how Helen Singh is Malawi’s new agent for change.

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We will create an official film website that will serve as the centerpiece for the film marketing strategy. On the website will feature all information regarding the movie, upcoming executions, festival updates, and a stream of all social media posts. There will also be an area where visitors can download our festi-val kit as well as related press materials. There will be a marketing contact area where industry profes-sionals can reach out with any questions, partnership proposals, or business inquiries.

The second part of this website will serve as an informational section about Malawi and through infor-graphics and interactive simulations, will engage visitors to learn more about the subject on the film.

Lastly, there will be a biography section that will discuss all the filmmakers and the subject of the film, Helen Singh. The website will be carefully designed to match the aesthetic of our social media posts to generate a unified brand throughout the festival season and leading up to the distribution of the film.

official website

advertising executions

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Outside of the theaters and venues the movie will be screened at, we will set up voting booths where attendees can go in privately to “cast their vote.” Upon entering, they will be prompted to ask a series of belief centered questions that pertain to Helen Singh’s platform. Each question will be associated with a fact about life in Malawi and then for reference, compared to life in the United States (economic statistics, political cor-ruption rates, civil liberties, etc.) At the end of the questions, there will be a quick sum-marization of the current candidates that are running for president of Malawi and end with Helen is the only option to produce real change.

voting booths

guerilla marketing stunts

vr simulationsAt the major film festivals, we will set up a virtual reality booth where patrons can immerse themselves into what a day looks and feels like as a Malawian citizen. They will be able to choose the age and gender they would like to experience and will be able to witness what housing, meals, work, and education looks like corresponding to the chosen demographics. The goal of this execution is to bring the realities of life in Malawi to the international stage. To the right is an example of VR that was executed by the New York Times, highlighting the realities of international war which will be similar to what ours would embody as well as po-tential citizens to follow.

festival marketing

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PHASE threeb2b & distribution

strategy

In the digital age, documentary distribution has been thriving by utilizing online plat-forms. Streaming services serve as the new movie theater for educational films and allow a movie to build off the press it gained from the festival circuit. We will combine marketing tactics with strategically placed screening events following the festival sea-son that will ultimately lead up to the wide release on online platforms such as Netflix, HBOGo, and Hulu. These distributors were chosen based on their dominance in the online streaming industry and their diverse film portfolio.

Throughout the festival and screening process leading up to its digital premiere, we will implement public relations executions to maintain a constant buzz surrounding the film and combat the marketing obstacles that are paired with an online distribution. We will keep the film in people’s top of mind to ensure viewer turnout on the premiere day.

overview

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ScreeningsWill begin private screenings nationwide in 10 major cities in the US that have a high population of our target audiences - documentary lovers, politicians, and students. Theses screenings will lead up to its digital premiere and also be strategically scheduled to run on the same time frame as our festival submissions to keep the film top of mind with the consumers.

The will also utilize public relations efforts with media pitches and constant press releases about screenings to local media outlets

Los Angeles, CASeattle, WAChicago, ILNew York, NYWashington D.C.Boston, MADenver, COAustin, TXPortland, orSan Francisco, ca

Target distributors

Netflix is an American multinational entertainment company special-izing in streaming and online distribution of film and television. The company has 86 million subscribers worldwide with 47 million in the United States. They have a large collection of documentaries on de-mand making it a perfect fit for our genre.

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Hulu is an American subscription video on demand service primar-ily oriented towards television series, carrying current and past ep-isodes of series from its owners’ respective television networks and other content partners, but also feature movies and documentaries.

Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Time Warner Cable. Programming fea-tured on the network and their streaming platform “HBO Go” consists of movies, television shows, and documentaries. The network is the longest continuously operating pay television service (basic or premi-um) in the United States.

Since we are premiering online, we will target the three largest online streaming services and digital distribution companies:

Research

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We will conduct focus groups which will include participants form our target au-diences. These groups will discuss impressions of the film as well their reception to our marketing materials including our trailers. These sessions will provide the marketing team with qualitative research.

focus groups

exit surveysThese will be executed during our strategically chosen screenings. We will ask audience about their opinions on the film upon its conclusion. This will help us determine if parts of the movie need to be edited, and positive results will help us partner with a distributor.

surveysNationwide surveys will be sent out to our target audiences to discover their opin-ions on documentaries, how they are marketed, and their viewing habits. These surveys will provide the marketing team with quantitative research and better in-form us on how to market to viewers.

Public relations

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We will issue media pitches and press releases to a variety of platforms to highlight our preview screenings and invite film critics to any events. Our goal is to be mentioned in the media as much as possible to gain traction as we visit cities nationwide and generate larger audienes. We will also pitch our film-makers as experts in the field and offer one on one interviews and commen-tary on the film industry as a whole.

MEDIA OUTREACH

social media updatesSocial media platforms will be used to provide up to date information on upcoming screenings, publicity stunts, or advertisement releases. This phase is important to provide as much information as possible for the public to ensure a distributor is located. We will use engagement tactics to gain a following base and make sure to stay in the know with what other industry professionals are doing online.

PHASE fourConsumer strategy

Our consumer strategy will be a blend of advertising and public relations ac-tivities to educate the public about the film and generate interest. As a docu-mentary, we will not only market the film, but the subject it surrounds. We will highlight press gained from our festival strategy and build upon that through trailers, intensive internet marketing, and out of home executions. We will also implement a heavy digital strategy due to our online release. We want to target consumers who are already online and use a streaming service. Our creative efforts will encourage interaction between our consumers and generate inter-est in our film ensuring a successful premiere.

Overview

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The Next President of Malawi will be released once the festivals it was entered in are completed. Our release date was chosen because it is a month after the last festival mentioned earlier concludes. This will give us time to ramp up our marketing execu-tions to solely focus on the release. The release date was chosen so close to the end of the festival season to capitalize on the press the movie will receive.

release strategy

Release date - July 21, 2017

Release patternThe release of this film will not be standard of a larger Hollywood movie. Instead of using wide or platform releases, we will be doing a digital premiere. The screenings that will be shown during the festival season will utilize a strategically targeted lim-ited release focusing on ten cities in the US.

competitive environmentAs of today’s date, there is no direct competition to The Next President of Malawi. There are no major documentaries that have announced their release dates during that month or our opening weekend.

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Creative strategy

The Next President of Malawi is a film about a passionate woman who is fighting for change in the country she calls home. Helen Singh is a fighter, an advocate, and a politician who wants to see the corruption that plagues Malawi come to an end. She is the voice of the people and will stop at nothing until they are heard. This film brings to light a topic that is rarely discussed on an interna-tional level much less in Malawi itself. The Next President of Malawi begs audiences to advocate for this dire need of change and raise awareness about the injustices that are occurring.

tagline:

She is the new agent for change - Singh 2019

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These advertisements will feature a variation of statistics surrounding the corruption of the Malawian government and the dichotomy between the income of the poor and government officials. They will run in political and news related magazines, regional newspapers, and on news websites.

ExecutionsPrint ads

The trailer will be 2:30 minutes in length and articulate the story behind The Next President of Malawi. It will articulate the corruption that is occurring in Malawi and how Helen Singh is the new agent for change.

Digital trailer

The spot will be run on television channels and online platforms that intersect with the interests of our target audiences. It will be a brief overview of what the documentary is about and mention it’s digital release date.

30 second spot

One sheetOur movie poster will be hung in a variety of locations to attract attention. Because we aren’t premiering in a movie theater, we loose an advertising venue so we will promote the poster in other locations.

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We will create one sheets to be shown on billboards, bus shelters, and in subway stations. These will be located in major cities across the US and will be executed in timing with our preview screenings.

out of home


STUDIO NAME PICTURES PRESENTS A PRODUCERS A FILM BY SCRIPT WRITER ACTOR ONE ACTOR TWO “MOVIE TITLE” MUSIC BY THE MUSICIAN COSTUME DESIGNER DESIGNER NAME EDITED BY

EDITORS NAME PRODUCTION DESIGN DESIGNERS NAME

July 21, 2017


STUDIO NAME PICTURES PRESENTS A PRODUCERS A FILM BY SCRIPT WRITER ACTOR ONE ACTOR TWO “MOVIE TITLE” MUSIC BY THE MUSICIAN COSTUME DESIGNER DESIGNER NAME EDITED BY EDITORS NAME

PRODUCTION DESIGN DESIGNERS NAME

July 21, 2017

one sheet/out of home


July 21, 2017

billboard

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Media buys will be located in the cities that have scheduled screenings before its digital premiere. These buys will be placed in outlets that publish content related to the subject of the film and also has a high viewing of our target audience.

Media overview

We are going to target news networks and television shows that classified as dramas. We want to reach consumers who are politically inclined and also place our ads in relevant areas.

Television

Since this film is being distributed digitally, we will place digital advertisements on a variety of news websites and across social media to generate awareness with consumers who already live on the internet.

Internet

We will place advertisements in major newspapers and magazines nationwide as well as their respective websites. The majority of these media buys will be in magazines, but newspapers will help reach older audiences who still read print versions.

Print

We will place bus shelter and subway advertisements in cities that have a high usage of public transportation. We will also create bus wraps in New York and Los Angeles.

Outdoor

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media plan

30%

TelevisionFOXABCCNNNBCFXHBO

OutdoorBus sheltersSubway postersBus wraps

DigitalYoutube trailerInstagram promoted postsFacebook promoted postsNY Times OnlineBuzzfeedHuffington Post

PrintNY TimesLA TimesWashington PostUSA TodayCollege newspapers at large universities

40%

10%

20%

We will conduct research throughout our advertising efforts to determine the suc-cess rate of our plan and to also alter any aspect that isn’t resonating. It will also give us information about what parts of the movie are the most effective in generating interest which will help us create our trailers.

Market research

Tracking studiesWe will conduct tracking studies using surveys to determine the success of our mar-keting efforts. Because this film won’t be premiering in movie theaters, we will not be able to use traditional tracking studies. We will issue surveys bi-monthly using Survey Monkey to determine what our target audiences are saying (or not saying) about our film and where we can alter our executions. Our surveys will begin after the conclusion of the first festival the movie participates in and continue until its premiere.

Test screeningsTest screenings will continue during our consumer phase. The same structure from our distribution strategy will be used - the goal is to find concrete examples from the film that are or aren’t resonating with our audiences. This way, we can perfect the final version before its premiere date in July. We will conduct five screenings leading up to the summer in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.

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Publicity materialsPress kit - Film overview - Cast and crew bios - Movie information synopsis and positioning statement - Press clippings and partnerships - Photography, - Contact information - Social media accountsElectronic press kit distributed in PDFs or branded flash drive formatPress releases about ongoing events, accolades won, etc.Personal press invitations to private screeningsPitch letter

publicity strategyOur publicity strategy will focus on gaining media exposure for the film as well as the filmmakers. We will create stories for the press to publish and also create our own through experiential market-ing efforts. The goal of our publicity efforts is to get The Next President of Malawi into as many out-lets as possible to ensure buzz will be generated around the movie before its release.



To Whoever it May Concern,

The team from The Next President of Malawi formally invites you to our formal press junket taking place May 17, 2017. The film follows the inspiring story of Helen Singh, a politician who is running for president in 2019. Faced with a political system that has been accused of rigging elections and in a male dominated sphere, she is fighting against all odds to be the change her country truly needs.


The complete cast and crew from the movie be present at the press junket to par-ticipate in a question and answer panel . They will discuss the film making process, Helen Singh’s political platform, and the political climate in Malawi. We will also be handing out media kits for your disposal.

We hope you can join us, if there are any questions or concerns, please contact me via email ([email protected]).

Sincerely,

Emily Blumhardt


sample pitch letter

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publicity activities

PremiersOn the film’s release date, we will have our own premiere at a theater in Los An-geles. We will have multiple interactive events set up similar to our guerrilla mar-keting tactics for the festival season. The premier will invite film critics, documen-tary filmmakers, non-profit workers, and politicians. Similar to our festival tactics, we will bring back our VR experience and election ballot booths to engage the au-dience members in activities before and after the show.

Press JunketA press junket will be held with the cast and crew of the documentary including Helen Singh. It will serve as a dual purpose by promoting the movie and allowing Helen to discuss her political experience/challenges in Malawi. We will invite influential people from our target audiences as well as documentary filmmakers and critics. At the event, we will be handing out media kits com-plete with press releases, media clippings, key photography, business cards, advertising execu-tions, and behind the scenes interviews.

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stuntsTo gain media coverage, we will complete a series of guerrilla marketing stunts. First, we will do a college tour to prominent universities across the United States. We will visit ten schools, creating a lecture series complete with immersive add ons. At each school, we will have the crew of the film dis-cuss the Malawi as a country and the realities of government. There will also be VR set ups at each school to attract students.

Our second stunt will occur in the streets. Our marketing department will pose as politician cam-paigners and educate the public on Malawi. Our team will be handing out informational content and also promotional merchandise. We will also have a video crew recording our actions to eventual-ly post online as a promotional video.

publicity appearancesTo make our cast and crew known in the media, we will pitch sto-ries to local and national media outlets to gain publicity appear-ances in television, radio, and print interviews. We will reach every medium to ensure high viewership. Our angle will be to discuss Helen Singh’s campaign, the political climate in Malawi, the un-equal distribution of wealth due. In the more film and entertain-ment oriented outlets, we will discuss the film making process and upcoming promotional and marketing events.

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example Media outlets:- CNN- Huffington post- Today Show- Good morning america- ktla- sirius xm radio- nbc- fox- newsweek

PromotionAs a documentary, our partnerships and promotions were strategically selected to increase aware-ness of the movie. To reach our target audiences and stay true to the theme of the movie, we will be partnering with non-profit organizations and news outlets. Our non profit partnerships will allow us to build off the media presence they already possess and our news outlets will allow us to publicize any press quicker and at a lower cost. We will also partner with law and film schools to infiltrate their campuses for executions.

partnerships

Raising Malawi supports orphans and vulnerable children in Mala-wi through health, education and community support. Founded by Madonna, we can capitalize on its notoriety during our partnership and build off of their solid media presence during joint executions.

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CNN is an American basic cable and satellite television channel. Described as a 24-hour global multi-platform network, we will utilize their diverse audience to implement news stories and part-nered informational videos.

UNICEF is a United Nations pro-gram that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in devel-oping countries. While they don’t have a large presence in Malawi, they are well known on an inter-national scale and will be helpful in partnered events.

By partnering with CNN, we will utilize their network to publicize the movie. We will use the cable network for free television spots as well as their website for digital banners and trailers. As one of the

largest news networks in the United States, this strategic media partnership will help us reach all of our target audiences in one execution.

We will also partner with the network to produce a short, one time premiere, informational video dis-cussing the political sphere in Malawi and its history with corruption. Helen Singh will be featured and

will also use short clips from the documentary. This will act as an intensive preview for consumers.

Media

Through our partnerships with non-profits, we will co-sponsor events and fundraisers that they execute

annually. Raising Malawi and UNICEF’s events throughout the calendar year will provide us with

the opportunity to be seen by government employ-ees, politicians, and active philanthropists who

would take an interest in The Next President of Ma-lawi. It will also provide Helen Singh with a platform

to discuss her beliefs and the reality that is the Ma-lawian government. Our joint activities and talent

involvement will be publicized through press releas-es and pitches that will be sent out via our marketing

team and from the NGO’s headquarters.

field activities & talent involvement

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internet marketingBecause our documentary is premiering on a digital streaming service, it is imperative we target consumers who already have an online presence. Our goal is to attract people who already have access to streaming services and are fluent in navigating the Internet. Our digital and social marketing tactics will create a cohesive social media presence and produce engag-ing content for our audiences. We will utilize Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, and our film website to maintain a constant stream of information.

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Online advertising & PublicityOur official website will include information about the film, cast and crew bios, trailers, and key photography. There will also be a press section that provides users with contact informa-tion and have a stream of press releases and media clippings that have been published re-garding the film.

Our digital trailers will be shown on our Youtube channel as well as all of our social media accounts. It will also be featured as an advertisement on related videos on Youtube.

We will also utilize geo targeting to best determine where our online advertise-ments and banners will be implemented. Based on consumer’s engagement and click through rates we can better specify where to focus our marketing executions.

Lastly, to create a cohesive online media plan, we will target online publica-tions where our advertisements run for publicity interviews and partnerships.

The goal of our social media strategy is to create a cohesive brand for The Next President of Malawi through our posts and curated content. Our posts will encourage interaction between the movie and consumers through a variety of call to actions. These will also help us measure the success of our posts based on consumer engagement time.

We will create verified accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube to give legit-imacy to our movie and also help us gain followers. Our social media accounts will also be tied into Helen’s social media presence as well as the whole crew of the movie. Every member of the film will interact with consumers to generate conversations while using the hashtags #thenewagentforchange #thenextpresident and #singh2019.

social marketing

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Facebook will post constant updates on the movie including awards won, upcoming execu-tions, media mentions, and trailer releases.

Instagram will have a stream of visual aspects from the film as well as photo documentation of our executions and marketing tactics.

Twitter will be our newsfeed for quick news developments, media mentions, and our major platform for consumer interaction.

Youtube will be the home for our official trailers both digital and television, publicity executions, and promo-tional documentations.

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Thank you to the cast and crew of The Next President of Malawi for making such an inspirational and moving film. Thank you also to Jim Fredrick for guiding me through this process the past semester. Without your help this would not have been possible and this project has given me invaluable knowl-edge about the film making process and the creative aspects of advertising.

The Next President of Malawi tells the inspiring story of Helen Singh who is fighting against all odds to provide change for her home country. We look to her for inspiration in our daily lives because she is the new agent for change.

conclusion

the next president of Malawi marketing plan fall 2016Emily blumhardt

The Next President of Malawai FINAL

Documents

Transcript of The Next President of Malawai FINAL