B1. Discuss the marketing strategies used by your selected industry. Refer to your three main texts.

Marketing strategies are an important tool used across all media industries as they help to ensure that the targeted audience build their knowledge about the text prior to its release, in order to increase their viewing/purchase of it. When taking a more focused look, the texts within the film industry in particular all follow the film promotion process. This is known as the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. It therefore, includes factors such as; press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising, franchising, media and interviews with the key people involved with the making of the film, like actors and directors. Within this short essay, I will be exploring and discussing the different marketing strategies and how they are used in my three chosen texts:

·      ‘Skyfall’ (2012)

·      ‘Kingsman; The secret service’ (2014)

·      ‘Pride’ (2014)

First of all, Celebrity branding is a very commonly used form of advertising campaign or marketing strategy, which involves celebrities their social status or their fame to help promote the film. A trace of this technique can be identified to have been used in ‘Skyfall’, with Daniel Craig playing the main character in the film; James Bond. As a result, the audience who are already familiar with the actor due to his previous successful roles in ‘Casino Royale’ (also from the James Bond series) and other film like; ‘The girl with the dragon tattoo’ and ‘Infamous’ as well as his fans, will straight away be attracted to watch the next text he will be starring in, as they will expect the film to be of a high standard and with good acts preformed.

Similarly, ‘Kingsman; the secret service’ also follows the same marketing trick as one of the main roles in the movie is played by Colin Firth, a Golden Globe Award winner for his role in ‘The King’s Speech’ (2010). This as a result, means that fans of the actor as well as, people who have previously seen films with him in them will be more attracted to see ‘Kingsman’ due to the knowledge of his acting skills.

Films are also marketed through various posters and billboards which, can be found around cinemas, high streets as well as, on buses. ‘Skyfall’ was marketed traditionally through posters on various Billboards around the Centre of London, on billboards in tube stations and posters on buses. Additionally, there were even complete trains covered with Skyfall ads. Following, the movies further success, it is not also known to have become the first film to lend its name to a train in the UK, after the East Coast train was unveiled on Platform 007 at London King’s Cross Station, meaning that the movie as well as, all other James Bond movies will continue to be advertised even after the main marketing strategies have ended. ‘Kingsman’ however, took a completely different approach to the marketing of the film and instead of relying on billboards, 20th Century Fox has launched an interactive movie trailer to promote its latest film Kingsman: The Secret Service, created to let users navigate through a series of gamified challenges to explore the film.

Using this type of marketing, means that the audience can get much more creative with it, leading them into becoming an active audience before they have even seen the movie. As a result this helps to encourage them to see the film itself to find out how the storyline of the film correlates with the events they decided upon in the ‘game’.

The independent film ‘Pride’ however, comes into contrast once again. The film was promoted on a much smaller, which some may even consider a ‘more budget’ scale, as it was completed through trailers which were advertised on social media and YouTube. This was done as advertising this way is better for independent studios because it is more cost effective; it would cost a lot less for the company to promote their film by posting trailers on the internet, as opposed to paying for TV advertisements. Furthermore, the film was also promoted in newspapers and magazines through the reviews. These would have influenced others to go watch the films and would attract audiences. This can be good publicity for the film and can spread either a good or bad reputation.