In order to promote the film, different techniques are used to increase the target audience. Trailers are used before films in the cinema to alert customers, promoting the cinema and the film. Trailers are also used on TV as adverts and placed at times and on channels that apply to their specific target audience. Posters are also used to increase awareness in hotspots of human activity, i.e. bus stops, where constant flows of people see the poster and also when waiting for a bus can look at the poster in further detail. magazines are another good way of advertising as unlike posters, they are are 'hard copy print' and will remain in consumer view for a long period of time. Web-links and pop-ups are another good way of advertising as on the internet you can monitor how many people see the product and who maintain watching it too, which enables the distributor to know whether or not that marketing technique is working or not. plus it's easy and can be promoted further on social networking sites. Press releases are another good way of advertising as the media do the work for you and becomes a good topic for people to talk about. Following on, chat shows and interviews are also a brilliant way of advertising as they are a free way of getting your film out there, to a a large audience that already watches the TV show for example. Merchandise is another marketing technique that I'd suggest as a next level of promotion. For example this would only really work for young target audiences, as adults wouldn't buy a McDonald's happy meal for the toy, whereas they would for their child. The rule for marketing is that half of the production cost is how much you spend on advertising (on average).
Marketing differs depending on different audiences. As previously said, age related audiences apply substantially; like the McDonald's toys for example. You have to market differently to age as most children/adolescents use social networking sites so a film age rated 12 would be appropriately marketed on the internet for example as a promotion on Twitter or Facebook. The marketing technique used may be different depending on whether its a niche or mainstream audience you're targeting too. Let's say that the mainstream audience can be marketed via television ads, all day long- whereas, a horror film that isn't every bodies taste may only be played on certain channels at specific times for example, it wouldn't be appropriate on ITV at 5 O'clock in the evening. However, it would be put to better use on Film4 when special 'Fright Fest' nights are on every week, to target a much more interested audience.
Audience research is extremely valuable because it puts the audience at the heart of what you do. It also challenges the developer, and gives the developer a deeper insight into what makes the audience value the institution. The greater the understanding of audience needs, then the greater you can raise your expectations of the product, as it also en-powers the audience. It also helps the developer find it's most attracted target audience as well, and measures the impact on the market. When you measure the impact you can then ask whether money has been well spent, and whether it's increased profits. This will lead to long term strategic decisions.
Recent campaigns include the film 'Divergent'. This is currently number 2 in the charts at the moment, and I've even seen it on TV adverts. The actress Kate Winslet being present makes me want to go and watch the film, as she is a renowned actress that has been in many good films. This is a good marketing technique. she may cost more money than a less proved actress but she'll bring in a larger target audience. the film has also been given a rating by the audience as 7.6/10 and this makes me believe it's a good film once again.
'Noah' on the other hand is number 1 in the charts, however I've not seen any advertising whatsoever. Is this due to the fact that it's just a good film and spread through word of mouth? Or maybe I'm not the films target audience, and henceforth seen it's marketing techniques used.
'Mr. Peabody & Sherman', is a children's film that I've seen been advertised through television and merchandise, this has even attracted my brother and sister via toys alone (and they've gone to the effort of viewing the film just from the production of cheap toys).
'Need for Speed 14', if I dare say so, has slightly played on the tragic death of Paul Walker. They've kind of used it as a way of promoting the new film as a way of saying goodbye to him. As if using the news to promote the film. Also, the adverts just promote the action rather than storyline as they know the loyal consumers will already be 'on-board' so they've targeted the "action hungry" audience.
I've noticed '300: Rise of an Empire' being advertised absolutely everywhere. This may be due to the fact that this is the sequel and the original is one of my all time favourites, hence why I've been more attracted to the ad campaign compared to the mainstream audience. It's used the original to promote the sequel and push the film as being more action packed and uses revenge as a source of power, motivating the audience. I saw this film on Twitter, Facebook, banners, and TV adverts. I'm still yet to go and see the film though. It's already made over $100 million. This shows the wide amount of marketing techniques used were put to good use.
Below I have annotated my Poster, Magazine and Trailer, and compared them to real horror products showing their effectiveness.
or if annotations don't work: http://youtu.be/EuVvzN8jc7I