INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH NUMBER 10 'MARKETING'

Advertising companies and PR agencies get involved similarly like those if a new brand of ‘deodorant’ became available. Companies like these use marketing channels available to them to sell the film; they are experts at doing so. The marketing channels are divided up into two categories: ‘above the line’ and ‘below the line’. The one that includes trailers, TV spots, poster campaigns are ‘above the line’, this is the most sufficient way to get directly to the audience. However ‘below the line’ is more subtle, things like publicity and press coverage are involved which can be valuable to the films as they can help to promote it and start word of mouth more efficiently that plain and simple advertising. Toys and games use product licensing which is very popular this is because it provides the film with publicity and also accounts for more revenue overall. The distributor will oversee any decisions made to help sell the film; they will commission and produce all the publicity and advertising for the film which will also include any materials used in the cinemas. There is a team of marketing specialists in the distribution company who publicly market the film. They will find a hook and make this the films unique selling point and will make it stand out above its rivals. They estimate how the film will perform and put a budget for how much it will inevitably cost. You have to understand what the audience want at all times to be successful. It is the marketing team’s responsibility to do as well as it possibly can to achieve the best of its potential, they must find specific audience which will match the film and find people who will enjoy it, and persuade them to actually go and see it and spend money on it. By having a significant marketing budget film distributors benefit greatly compared to other producers. Poor advertising is ineffective and damaging in the long run. If you advertise the film poorly then it could end up being made aware to the wrong set of people, a negative word of mouth can be generated which could inevitably destroy the films reputation before its even got started. UK and international journalists are seen as very influential ‘middle men’ on getting the film some publicity and getting it rolling. To present new opportunities for film distributors to market their product in more targeted and cost efficient ways they have more digital technology available.
If you are someone who only has a low production budget to make your film then you can use viral internet marketing to create an online obsession to film by setting up chat forums for people to comment on. Building a good relationship between distributors and exhibitors is crucial to the business especially to large multiplexes such as Hollywood studios. Exhibitors try to look for films which will bring in a large amount of people; they are depended on large blockbusters coming in to increase the revenue. Specialist staff is employed by cinemas to watch all the films and plan a schedule. The name given to these types of people are ‘programmers’, they make all the key decisions in the exhibition world. They will base their decision purely on what they assume the audience will want to see and then chose films appropriate to this. The next step is to make a deal with the exhibitors and the distributors and chose how many screens the film will be on and who gets paid what for it.