

The problem is that most big-budget movies are sold to the widest possible audiences. Advertisements are placed on all television networks, newspapers, and magazines. Oliver Stone’s 2004 epic, ‘Alexander’, for example, cost $155 million and about $60 million to market but grossed only $167 million worldwide.

Under such circumstances, most studios are likely to have thrown away twice as much money that they otherwise would have. Unfortunately, they make movies even more expensive by attaching huge marketing budgets. There is always a chance that the marketing campaign will be just as bad if not more than the movie itself. Most producers today try to mitigate some of this risk by promoting expensive movies. Movie marketers must therefore resort to highly creative means in order to attract the attention of the public.įilmmaking is a risky business by nature. Each film is its standalone product with its own potential market segment. The trickiest part of movie marketing is that every movie is different. The challenge is even greater for independently produced films that, unlike many studio blockbusters, are generally unheard of until and after they are released. As a result, movie producers and marketers must create an entire experience – one that drives the desire to see a film whose ephemeral value – or lack thereof – is known only after being watched.įilm marketers essentially, therefore, must deliver to the right crowd, in the most appropriate manner and in a short period of time, both a product that is both commercially viable and the result of a historical, social and national context, while positioning themselves in relation to the competitors. People may need to go to the movies from time to time to have fun or to forget their worries, but the average cinema goer rarely ever seeks out a particular movie to watch. Let's look at some of the shortcoming of traditional film promotion strategies:Ĭinema is a complex cultural industry and the challenge facing film marketers is rather tricky. These campaigns have extensively implemented advancements in immersive technologies like virtual reality & augmented reality.īut, why did the need for such campaigns arise on the first place? In the past two years, we have witnessed a rise of innovative movie marketing campaigns that are different from the conventional marketing strategies used by the studios. Now, we are witnessing a new era of entertainment marketing where studios are experimenting with latest technologies to offer a unique experience to movie buffs. With the growth of the internet, digital advertising has grown to occupy a prominent space in the arsenal of production studios. Initially, the only mediums of advertising were TV, Radio, & Print. However, the methdos of film promotions have continued to evolve with advancement in technology. A decade later, most prominent Hollywood studios spent a whopping $3.6 billion on average just to advertise their films. In the early 2000s, most members of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) spent an average of $50 million to produce a film, and about $30 million to market it. As production costs began to rise, marketing became a core feature of the movie business, and has been that way since. The film industry which was developed during the 1910s and 1920s, also used marketing to sell their films to as many people as possible. As a result, the art of marketing, which consists of creating advertisements that encourage people to buy specific products was developed. With the advent of the modern consumer society, the ability to sell mass-produced items became integral to businesses in the 21st century.
