Film marketing

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In an effort to recoup the high costs of the production of a film, and to secure a profit for its investors, a movie studio must promote it. Film studios invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize target audience attendance of the released film early in the release cycle. Many promotional techniques, both traditional and modern, serve this end.

Pre-release

• Television and radio

• Paid trailers on television, radio.
• Product placement: paid active or passive insertion (as on-set posters, an action figures) of film brand in drama or sitcom shows, or as passing mentions in dialogue. 20th Century Fox commissioned an I, Robot (film)-themed motorcycle, featured on two episodes (2:17, 2:18) of American Chopper^[1]. The film Memoirs of a Geisha was placed throughout an episode of the T.V. show Medium.^[2]
• Extended placement: full episodes of television talkshows (Oprah), entertainment news programs(ET), or network news programs20/20, devoted to compensated exposure of the film, stars, clips, director, etc.
• Production and paid broadcast of behind-the-scenes documentary-style shows.
• Advance trailers, longer previews, or behind-the-scenes footage on rental videos and DVDs.

• Internet

• Creation of standalone studio-sponsored per-film websites such as "example-the-movie.com".
• Viral marketing: free distribution of trailers on movie-oriented websites and video user-generated-content websites, and rapid dissemination of links to this content by email and blogs. Includes alleged leakage of supposed "rushes" and "early trailers" of film scenes.^{[citation needed]}

• In Print

• Paid advertisements 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 tie ins:

• Paid co-branding (Eragon in American Chopper-two episodes), or co-advertising (BMW and James Bond films^[3]) of a product with the film.
• Promotional giveaways: branded drink cups, toys, or food combinations, at fast food chains.

• Promotional tour - Film actors, directors, and producers appear for television, radio, and print media interviews, sometimes showing a clip from the film or an outtake. Interviews are conducted in person or remotely. During film production, these can take place on set. After film release, key personnel make appearances in major market cities, or participate remotely via "satellite" or telephone.
• In Theater

• Slide shows - stills, trivia, and trivia games from the film, shown between movie showtimes.
• Trailers and Behind-the-scenes shorts, shown prior to the main attraction

• In lobbies and video rental outlets

• Standups (freestanding paperboard life-size images of figures from the film)
• Posters

As of the year 2000, the film industry spent around $2 billion yearly in movie marketing.

It has been claimed that high ticket sales during an opening weekend can be attained by good marketing, regardless of the quality of a movie, as there is insufficient time for word-of-mouth, rumor and published reviews to inform viewers of the true quality^{[citation needed]}.

When a film will likely receive negative critical reviews, the studio may not hold press screenings, relying instead on a combination of good marketing, word of mouth, and prior knowledge of the target market. When a film is likely to be rejected by its audience, the studio may forge ahead with a stepped-up ad campaign, in an attempt to recoup some of its losses. This practice is disliked by theater owners and moviegoers alike.

Controversial practices

• Movie Junket - a by-invitation event where members of the media see an exclusive preview of a film, and meet with and interview its stars and other key personnel. The invitation-only nature of the event carries with it the implication that a positive review is expected. It is a common (and controversial) practice for motion picture studios or distributors to provide free travel, entertainment and hospitality for the invitees. Authors then face the conflicting expectations of their audience and the studio. Some writers address this by declaring when a review is the result of a junket. Others make a point to pay for their own travel and expenses. Some, accustomed to the studio-financed trips, have written so many positive reviews that they have been branded within the critical community as quote whores.^[4]. The 2001 film America's Sweethearts is centered around a movie junket.

• Planting

• (Alleged)Piecemeal planting: entries in electronic media: blog comments, Internet chatrooms, newsgroups, calls to radio shows.^{[citation needed]}
• (Alleged)Wholesale planting (see astroturfing): creating bogus fan websites to foster the impression of a favourable "grassroots" fan response^{[citation needed]}.

• Fake Critic - Sony marketers invented a fake critic purportedly employed by a real newspaper, then attached positive "blurbs" by this critic to Sony's A Knight's Tale, The Animal and Vertical Limit.^[5]

External links

• Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Limit What Films We Can See, excerpt Chicago Reader. Jonathan Rosenbaum, 2002.
• Hollywood Bitchslap CriticWatch Article series, with analysis of quote whorage, film criticism and press junkets.
• The Weekly Blurb A satirical parody featuring a shameless movie "quote whore" named Mal Valour.

References

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