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INSTITUTIONS AND AUDIENCES  

FILM INDUSTRY

LESSON 18

MARKETING ii

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DATE: TODAY

TIME: 3.30PM

PLACE: ROOM 63

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RECAPRECAP

• What is the most important tool when marketing aFilm 4 film?

• What example of cross-media convergence didwe see in Film 4’s marketing last lesson?

• How did we see Film 4 using word of mouth in it’s

advertising last lesson?

• How does Film 4’s marketing differ to that of aHollywood film?

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TODAYTODAY

• Understand the role of cross media convergence in

contemporary film marketing.

• Understand the role new media technology plays infilm marketing.

• Understand the different ways in which Film 4 and

Hollywood use NMT in film marketing.

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WHERE CAN WE SEE THISWHERE CAN WE SEE THIS

TRAILER?TRAILER?

Hunger (Dir. Steve

McQueen, 2008)

-TV (Film 4, Channel 4)

-Cinema (would usually only be

attached to other independent

films)

-Film 4 productions website

-Official film website (

www.hungerthemovie.co.uk)

- www.youtube.com and other 

content sharing sites

-Countless fan or review sites

Which of these are examples of Which of these are examples of 

new media technology being usednew media technology being used

to market a film?to market a film?

Which of these are an example of Which of these are an example of cross-media convergence?cross-media convergence?

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FILM 4 AND NEW MEDIAFILM 4 AND NEW MEDIA

TECHNOLOGY?TECHNOLOGY?•You have 10 minutes to logonto two Film 4 films’websites.

You must:•Make a list of all themarketing features on thewebsite•Which site do you think is

most effective and why?•How could the website beused more effectively toengage the audience andgenerate word of mouth?

www.hungerthemovie.co.uk 

http://www.foxsearc

 

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www.hungerthemovie.co.uk 

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdog

 

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ADVANTAGES FOR FILM 4 OFADVANTAGES FOR FILM 4 OF

NMTNMT• Can target a wider audience (basically the whole world) through their 

website• Allows the audience to access more information about the film than a simple

trailer or poster would• Brings together whole marketing campaign in one location• Is far cheaper than traditional print or video based advertising

• Can link off of other Channel 4 owned outlets e.g. the official Film 4 site

DIFFICULTIES FOR FILM 4 OFDIFFICULTIES FOR FILM 4 OF

NMTNMT• Audience need to go looking for official website therefore mustalready have some awareness of the film.• Pop-up advertising or advertising hosted on another site is easily

ignored and can be as expensive as some print/video advertising• Requires audience to have internet• Difficult for indie films to stand out against sophisticated Hollywood

marketing campaign.

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HOLLYWOD AND NMT –HOLLYWOD AND NMT –

VIRAL MARKETINGVIRAL MARKETING•Viral marketing is a marketing strategy thatfacilitates and encourages people to pass along amarketing message voluntarily through new mediatechnology.

•Viral promotions may take the form of video clips,interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks,software, images, or even text messages.

http://www.launchingfilms.tv/marketing.php?videohttp://www.launchingfilms.tv/marketing.php?video

 Why would using these techniques help a film-Why would using these techniques help a film-maker generate fantastic word-of-mouth?maker generate fantastic word-of-mouth?

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ALTERNATIVE REALITY GAMEALTERNATIVE REALITY GAME

WHY SO SERIOUS? WHY SO SERIOUS? The most advanced type of viralmarketing is the AlternativeReality Game. An ARG is aninteractive narrative that usesthe real world as a platform,often involving multiple media

and game elements, to tell astory that may be affected byparticipants' ideas or actions.

In Spring 2007 Warner Bros launchedan ARG Why So Serious to helppromote the release of The Dark Knight the following summer.

Players had to follow a scavenger hunt,interacting with a variety of purposebuilt websites and finding clues to gainmore information about the film. Thosethat succesfully completed thescavenger hunt won free tickets to apreview screening of The Dark Knight .

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• ARGs are sometimes described as the first narrative art form native to the internet, because their storytelling relies on the two main activities conducted there: searching for information, and sharinginformation.

• Storytelling as archaeology . Instead of presenting a chronologically unified, coherent narrative, the designersscatter pieces of the story across the Internet and other media, allowing players to reassemble it, supplyconnective tissue and determine what it meant.

• Platformless narrative. The story was not bound to a single medium, but existed independently and usedwhatever media were available to make itself heard.

• Designing for a hive mind . While it might be possible to follow the game individually, the design was directed ata collective of players that shared information and solutions almost instantly, and incorporated individualspossessing almost every conceivable area of expertise. While the game might initially attract a small group of participants, as they came across new challenges, they would reach out and draw in others with the knowledgethey needed to overcome the obstacles.

•  A whisper is sometimes louder than a shout . Rather than openly promoting the game and trying to attractparticipation by "pushing" it toward potential players, the designers attempted to "pull" players to the story byengaging in over-the-top secrecy (e.g. Microsoft did not acknowledge any connection between the company or the movie and the game, the game did not acknowledge any connection to Microsoft or  A.I., the identities of thedesigners were a closely-guarded secret even from other Microsoft employees, etc.), having elements of thegame "warn" players away from them, and eschewing traditional marketing channels. Designers did notcommunicate about the game with players or press while it was in play.

• The "this is not a game" (TINAG) aesthetic . The game itself did not acknowledge that it was a game. It did nothave an acknowledged ruleset for players; as in real-life, they determined the "rules" either through trial and error or by setting their own boundaries. The narrative presented a fully-realized world: any phone number or emailaddress that was mentioned actually worked, and any website acknowledged actually existed. The game tookplace in real-time and was not replayable. Characters functioned like real people, not game pieces, respondedauthentically, and were controlled by real people, not by computer AI. Some events involved meetings or livephone calls between players and actors.

• Real life as a medium. The game used players' lives as a platform. Players were not required to build acharacter or role-play being someone other than themselves. They might unexpectedly overcome a challenge for the community simply because of the real-life knowledge and background they possessed. Participants wereconstantly on the lookout for clues embedded in everyday life.

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MARKETING DURINGMARKETING DURING

PRODUCTION USING NMT?PRODUCTION USING NMT?Nowadays many films marketduring production, sometimeseven before actual shootinghas begun.

This could take the formof video-diaries from theproduction company or 

teaser trailers, attachedto other films or accessible on sites likeyoutube.

How could this type of marketing allow the audience unparrelled influenceHow could this type of marketing allow the audience unparrelled influenceover the content of the film?over the content of the film?

http://www.spidermanmovieblog.com/archives/2007/05/michael_ 

 

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AUDIENCE IMPACTAUDIENCE IMPACT

• Generate far more word of mouth in the audiencewithout the use of expensive advertising

• Audience may not actually see any footage from filmduring a viral campaign, or may have to work hard toaccess it.

• Allows audience to interact with marketing campaign,creating even greater interest in the film

• Allows campaign to build slowly, carefully increasingawareness and audience anticipation of a new film

• Allows all advertising material for a film to be accessed inone place – at the audience’s convenience• Gives audience a previously unheard of opportunity to

influence the content of a film production.