Marketing: Introduction

When marketing a new film, the most important thing for the
studio to bear in mind is who will they attract them to see it.

In creating their marketing campaign they need to think

about what the unique selling point of the film is – what
makes it different to other films that are out there in the
marketplace?

They also need to think about who their target audience is for
the film – which part of the cinema –going public might most
want to see the film.
 Marketing: Film Marketing

In looking at the marketing campaign of

“The Boat That Rocked” let’s start by
looking at what attracts you to a film.

What attracts you to a film?

List 5 things that make you go see a film.

How similar are your answers?
Here is a list of some of the key things in a film
that make you want to see it.

1. The trailer
2. What my friends say about it
3. Who is in the film?
4. The Director of the film
5. The critics’ reviews
6. What type of film it is
7. The poster
8. Is it like other films I have enjoyed
9. The film’s story
Look at posters from a variety of films. There
are lots of examples on the Empire and the
Internet Movie Poster Awards websites.

How do these posters relate to the idea you

had about what attracts you to a film? What
aspects of each film are stressed in the poster?
A film distribution company will know what
attracts people to films and so they will tailor
their marketing campaigns to appeal to what
audiences want.
They will need to communicate information
about a film to what audiences want. They will
need to communicate information about a film
to audiences in a way that will make them not
only aware of the film but also in a way that will
make them want to see it.
 Film Marketing

Read the synopsis of “The Boat

That Rocked”

What do you think the target

audience might be for this film?

What aspects of the story might

you want to stress in a
marketing campaign for the
film?
 Marketing: Posters

The importance of the poster

campaign in marketing a film

Analyse and evaluate the teaser

poster campaign for the “Boat That
Rocked”. It contains the following
teaser posters....
A poster has to try and capture in a still image the excitement
and promise of the moving images that you will see at the
cinema. The poster for a film has to give you as much
information about a film as it can in one short “look” at it.

At the beginning of a film campaign the distribution company

will produce what is called a “teaser” campaign – one or
more posters which will make you aware of the film is coming
without giving too much away. More information will be
given in the main campaign, which will appear closer to the
release of the film.
The Teaser Quad poster is the first
full poster that the film’s distributor
has released. Look at this carefully. Marketing: Posters
Task:
Describe in detail what you see on
the poster.

How important are the colours used

in the poster for getting across an
idea of the film?

Why do you think that for the first

full poster the distributers have
chosen to include the boat itself in
the poster?

Can you identify any iconic or music

references in this poster?
The distributor has also produced two sets of individual character posters as part of their teaser
poster campaign.
Task: Look at the individual character posters and consider the following:
What information do these posters give you?
What ideas about the content of the film do they give?
What key aspects of the film do they stress?
How important do you think colour is on each poster? Why have different colours for each poster?
Each poster has a strap line – giving us some information about the character or else the film
itself. How do these strap lines relate to the voiceover you have watched?
 Task 3:
Why do you think the distributor chose to use close-up shots of the four
characters?

What information are you given on these posters which you are not given on
the “walking banner” posters?

Why do you think that

three of the characters
are wearing red
sunglasses?

How do you think that

these posters work with
the “walking banner”?

Why do you think that

the distributor chose to
have two sets of teaser
posters?
As the opening of the film approaches, the distributor develops the
final poster campaign for the film. This often gives more
information about the film than the teaser campaign.

Task:
In what ways does it
develop the ideas from
the teaser campaign?

What additional
information does it give?

How does this affect your

understanding of the film?

From the images on the

poster are you able to
make any comments
about the characters in
the film?
Plenary:
Students discuss