Exam Question: B1 Industry & Audience {June 2014}
B1: Discuss the marketing strategies used by your selected industry.
In the film industry, a range of marketing strategies can be used to promote different media texts through the use of cross platform marketing. Methods include trailers and posters. I am going to discuss my three media texts Skyfall (2012) directed by Sam Mendes, Weekend (2011) directed by Andrew Haigh and Kingsman (2014) directed by Matthew Vaughn use these three strategies of marketing effectively.
The action/drama film Skyfall which was produced by Barbara Brocolli has gained just over four million Facebook likes and just over 300,000 instagram followers. This is beneficial for the 007 Franchise as a large social media audience on two popular, well-known social media platforms can contribute to the promotion of trailers. For example, the trailer for Skyfall now has 25 million views on youtube of present. In comparison to Diamonds are Forever (1971) which only has just over 195,000 views. This goes to show that the impact that social media has upon sharing information and media in the past and present is heavy and significant and can created a difference in terms of attraction from the audience. This is similar for Kingsman as its' trailer has also reached figures in the millions (just over 6 million), in addition to this, on their website, the audience is welcomed to take part in an interactive trailer where they can complete missions. This differs majorly from Weekend as they do not have an interactive trailer let alone a website or social media platforms, but only over 250,000 views on their youtube trailer. This brings me back to my point of how social media can have a large impact on audience consumption of these texts.
The second marketing strategy that I am going to discuss is posters. In my opinion, iconography is significant as it represents the franchise or product, it also indicates recognition. On the Skyfall (2012) poster, the audience immediately see the '007' logo in gold on a white background and again but enlarged and in black above Daniel Craig, not only does this stand out but it alerts the audience that it a new film which is part of the James Bond Franchise and is attractive to past audiences of previous 007 films such as Quantum of Solace (2008). Star power is shown here as Daniel Craig is an actor who has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy and has won over ten awards. This is similar to Kingsman (2014) as the logo appear to be gold but on a black background. Star power on the poster is significant as it can attract fans of the actors/actresses. Samuel L. Jackson is an example of star power as he has appeared in over 100 films, 'The Incredibles' (2004) being one of his most successful ones as it has won two oscars and 'Snakes on a Plane' (2006) where he won a Bambi award in 2006. The impact of star power can contribute to this strategy of marketing as it can draw in new audiences (fans of favoured actors and actresses).
This differs for Weekend (produced by Tristan Goligher) as this was Andrew's first directed film. He then went on to direct '45 Years' (2015) which was also produced by Tristan Goligher. The effect of star power on this film is not as effective as Tom Cullen and Chris New are not well-known, popular actors. However fans of 'Downtown Abbey' (2010) may be interested to see how he performs in film. In comparison with Chris New who acted as Glen in the film, Weekend was his first film. However, in my opinion I believe that this film debut for Chris will give him a boost into the world of film as he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2011 London Film Festival. This is because awards offer recognition for the work that actors and actresses do.
To conclude, I believe these marketing strategies have a strong impact in terms of how audiences receive and respond to them. For example, I believe star power can make a difference in how popular a film becomes, Skyfall is successful in this as Daniel Craig has acted as James Bond in previous films from the franchise and other films including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).
This differs for Weekend (produced by Tristan Goligher) as this was Andrew's first directed film. He then went on to direct '45 Years' (2015) which was also produced by Tristan Goligher. The effect of star power on this film is not as effective as Tom Cullen and Chris New are not well-known, popular actors. However fans of 'Downtown Abbey' (2010) may be interested to see how he performs in film. In comparison with Chris New who acted as Glen in the film, Weekend was his first film. However, in my opinion I believe that this film debut for Chris will give him a boost into the world of film as he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2011 London Film Festival. This is because awards offer recognition for the work that actors and actresses do.
To conclude, I believe these marketing strategies have a strong impact in terms of how audiences receive and respond to them. For example, I believe star power can make a difference in how popular a film becomes, Skyfall is successful in this as Daniel Craig has acted as James Bond in previous films from the franchise and other films including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).
This is really good - I like the fact you included the number of views for the trailers, and even compared Skyfall to an older James Bond film. You have also included your own opinion and added contextual background about the actors. However I think some of the information in your conclusion should've been mentioned in previous paragraphs.
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