Techniques

In theaters

• Trailers are a mainstay of movie promotion, because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. They are displayed in theaters before movie showings. Generally they tell the story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes.
• Movie posters
• Slideshows – stills, trivia, and trivia games from the movie, shown between movie showtimes.
• Standees (freestanding paperboard life-size images of figures from the film)
• Cardboard 3D displays, sometimes producing sound ^[2]

Television and radio

• Hollywood movie distributors spend about $ 4 billion a year to buy paid advertising (30-second commercial TVs, newspaper ads, etc.) and more than that, they are all broadcast TV channels, which are the main vehicles for advertising movies to audiences. TV is effective because it is an audio-visual medium – like movie – and can deliver a vast audience quickly, which is crucial because movies typically do not linger in theaters more than 4-6 weeks, depending on Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition . ^{[ quote needed ]}
• Product placement: paid inclusion or active passive (as on-set posters and action figures ) of the film brand in drama or sitcom shows, or as passing references in dialogue. For example, 20th Century Fox commissioned I, Robot -themed motorcycle, featured on two episodes (2:17, 2:18) of American Chopper . ^[3] The film Memoirs of a Geisha was placed throughout the TV show Medium . ^[4]
• Extended placement: full episodes of television talks ( Oprah ), entertainment news programs ( ET ), or network news programs ( 20/20 ), dedicated to compensated exposure of the film, stars, clips, director, etc.
  • In addition, interviews with actors and directors who are filmed en masse at a local hotel and national entertainment reporters which are featured on local news shows, programs on cable networks, and series such as Byron Allen’s series of entertainment series like Entertainment Studios .
• Production and paid broadcast of behind-the-scenes documentary-style shows , the type of which are produced for HBO , Showtime , and Starz
• Advance trailers, long previews, or behind-the-scenes DVDs

Internet

• Virtual relation hyperlink marketing, a major search engine (like Yahoo’s main page) . Example: Bond, Transformers, etc …, are connected to scientific invention news stories about advanced weaponry or robotics discoveries, which quickly leads the reader to the pages of the latest 007 Megatron movie clip or art director’s fantastical ideas and designs, thus with a “bait and switch” story.
• Creation of standalone studio-sponsored movies such as “example-the-movie.com”.
• Online digital film screeners : These digital film screeners have the benefit of letting you send individual copies of your film or promo to the press, sales agents, distributors etc. Using them to your personal limited copies of your film to different recipients. Along with the security of individual experiences, you can see your movie and watch their viewing of the movie.
• Viral marketing : free distribution of trailers on video -oriented websites and video user-generated-content websites, and rapid dissemination of links to this content by email and blogs. This movie is supposed to be “rushes” and “early trailers” of movie scenes. ^[5] Sometimes, the efforts of the film are more successful, the Muppets which was preceded by several original film shorts on YouTube .
• Creation of Internet Marketing campaign using Paid Advertisement and Social Media Marketing

Print

• Paid advertisement in newspapers, magazines, and inserts in books.
• Cross-promotion of original book or novelization, including special printings, or new cover jackets (“Now a major motion picture.”)
• Comic special editions or special episodes

Merchandising

• Paid co-branding ( Eragon in American Chopper -two episodes), co-advertising gold ( Aston Martin and James Bond films) ^[6] of a product with the film
• Promotional giveaways: branded drink cups , toys , or food combinations at fast food chains

Promotional tours and interviews

Film actors, directors, and producers appear for television, cable, radio, print, and online media interviews , which can be conducted in person or remotely. During film production, these can take place on set . After the film’s premiere, key personnel make appearances in major market cities or participate remotely via satellite videoconference or telephone. The purpose of interviews is to encourage journalists to publish their “exclusive interviews” with the film’s stars, thus creating ” marketing buzz ” around the film and stimulating audience interest in watching the film.

When it comes to feature films picked up by a major film studio for international distribution, promotional tours are notoriously grueling. Key cast and crew are often contracted to several major cities around the world to promote the film and sit for dozens of interviews. In every interview they are supposed to stay “on message” by energetically expressing their enthusiasm for the film in a way that appears candid, fun, and fresh, even though it may be their fifth or sixth interview that day. They are expected to disclose just enough juicy “behind-the-scenes” information about the film making process or the filmmakers’ artistic vision to make each journalist feel like he or she got a nice scoop, while at the same time tactfully avoiding disclosure of anything truly negative or embarrassing.

Audience research

There are seven distinct types of research conducted by film distributors in domestic theatrical releases, according to “Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition.” Such audience research can cost $ 1 million per film, especially when scores of TV commercials are tested and re-tested. The bulk of research is done by major studios for the roughly 170 major releases they mount each year that are supported by tens of millions of advertising buys for each movie. Independent film distributors, which typically spend less than $ 10 million in media for film, do not have the budget or breadth of advertising materials to analyze, so they spend little or nothing on pre-release audience research. When hearing research is conducted for domestic theatrical release, it involves these areas:

• Positioning studies versus other movies that will premiere at the same time.
• Screenings of finished or nearly finished films; this is the most well known.
• Testing of advertising response to advertising materials.
• Tracking surveys of audience awareness of a movie starting six weeks before premiere.
• Exit surveys questioning film on their demographic makeup and effectiveness of marketing.
• Title testing in an early stage.
• Concept testing that would occur in the development phase of a movie before it is produced. ^[7]

Marketing can play a vital role in getting attention to a movie. Audience research is a strong factor in determining the ability of a film to sell in theaters, which is the ultimate film making their money. As part of a movie Marketing strategy , audience research comes into account as producers create promotional materials. These promotional materials continue to evolve and evolve as the film opens in theaters. ^[8]

See also

• Budgeting film
• Junket Whore

References