Assess the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied.
Marketing in the area of film is extremely important. It is used to help promote the film and bring attention to it, in hopes of it making money in the box office and having a large audience. Marketing in film is done in three large ways: through cross media, merchandizing, and cross promotion.
Cross promotion is often used in marketing films. For the film ‘Fast and Furious 7’, the film was cross promoted by teaming up with the phone company OPPO. OPPO hosted events to promote the film and in return, the brand OPPO appears on some posters for the film. This way, both of these things (OPPO and Furious 7) benefit from using the other’s platform to gain exposure. Cross promotion also occurred with the movie ‘Ugly Dolls’. According to an article by Cinematic Slant, the film teamed up with many brands such as The Ad Council, Cold Stone Creamery, Hardees/Carl’s Jr., and Pinkberry. They did things such as adding two character-themed recipes to the menu of Cold stone. Unfortunately, according to Cartoon Brew, ‘Ugly Dolls’ was a flop, but this still serves as a good example. ‘Ugly Dolls’ partnered with numerous brands/companies in an attempt to gain exposure and advertise the film. This is an example where cross promotion may not have served as successful, but it is still important and can be very useful.
Merchandizing is another marketing tactic used in marketing films. For the movie ‘Black Panther’, merchandizing was quickly utilized by the use of online shops. The film used Disney, Marvel, Amazon, and more in order to sell their products. Clothes were introduced as well as products that appealed to consumers of all ages. By introducing things such as toys and games for kids and shoes and clothes for adults, interest and speculation from the public increased. Another film that used merchandise as marketing was ‘Jurassic World’. Lots of merchandise was created both before and after the film was released. Many Lego sets were created as well as DVD’s, Video games, and an app. Toys were created, and even candy was distributed. By creating merch in different categories that could be made by different companies, both ‘Jurassic World’ and ‘Black Panther’ opened up more opportunities for exposure. By creating merch that appealed to different audiences, they increased the chance of the films having a large audience.
Cross media convergence is the third thing used to market films. The film ‘Spiderman Homecoming’ came out with a soundtrack. This soundtrack included the voices of popular artists such as MGMT. By cross promoting to another area of media (music in this case), the film expanded its opportunity and the possibility of having a large audience. People who avidly listen to music will be able to see this and it will spark their interest in the film and cause them to want to watch it, especially if they enjoy the soundtrack. Another film that utilized cross media convergence was ‘Beauty and the Beast’. This live-action used a large amount of cross media convergence. A soundtrack was released as well and special iMessage stickers were created to send to people. Exclusive Twitter stickers were added to photos, the original cartoon film was aired more often on TV, and Cosmopolitan kept people updated by writing articles on the film. This was a lot of cross media convergence was used which aided the film in becoming a blockbuster. This is an example of cross media convergence that was very diverse, which is a smart marketing technique.
Overall, marketing in the area of film is very important and has been proven effective in many cases. By using things such as cross promotion, merchandizing, and cross media convergence, films and their production companies are able to spread the word about their movies. They do this in hopes that their film will become a blockbuster with a large audience when it hits the big screen. Taking from these cases, can infer that the more exposure films get, the more likely they are to be successful overall.
