Question # 1
Marketing is extremely
important in the filming industry. This is because marketing is arguably the
only way to inform the public of an upcoming film. As a movie goer myself I can
say that the only way I have ever found out about an upcoming film was through
marketing for the film through advertisements such as previews in a movie
theater or through commercials on the television. Even if a movie generates an
audience without marketing, they will still have had a larger audience if they
had used marketing.
One of the most popular ways that filming companies
market their products is through social media. According to a case study on the
movie Avengers Endgame, Disney, one of the most well-known production companies
used marketing via Twitter to inform its customers on when new movies are going
to be released or are in the works. Considering the fact that Avengers Endgame
is the top grossing movie of all time it would be safe to assume that marketing
techniques such as social media marketing are a valuable tool in the filming
industry. When also looking at the fact that Disney and Universal, two of the
largest filming conglomerates, use social media on a daily basis it is obvious
that these techniques are important to them.
Next, we can look at Toy Story 3. According to an
article on Disney’s marketing strategies, several YouTube videos that were made
to advertise the movie Toy Story 3 generated “millions” of views. It is very
likely that a large amount of the people who saw these videos also decided to
go out and watch the film or at the very least tell other people about it. Here
it is clear to see how marketing played an important part in generated a larger
audience and more awareness for a film.
Moving away from technology marketing strategies,
synergy between the different subsidiary companies in a conglomerate can
generate more revenue for a movie. According to a case study about the
DreamWorks movie Kung Fu Panda, one way that Universal marketed the movie was
through the “Kung Fu Panda Ride” at Universal Studio Hollywood. I personally
remember going on this ride when I was little on a vacation to California and
wanting to see the movie afterwards. This is a good example of successful
marketing to kids through the use of synergy. While this fact alone doesn’t
prove that the film brought the movie a larger, it does show how more than one
major filming company uses marketing for their films.
Despite this evidence, some people might use the
argument that there are other important elements to the film industry that make
marketing insignificant. According to an article titled “Universal is Disney’s
Chief Rival Because it Isn’t trying to Be Disney” conglomerates like Universal
have found success in balancing “modern market demands.” This means that
focusing on an underdeveloped film genre can help studios optimize their
revenue. For their argument they might use a case study on the box office hit
movie, Hobbs and Shaw. Here Universal strays away from the superhero and
animated movie genre and goes for a gangster/action movie. While this movie is a good example of one way
to generate a larger audience for a film, it does not prove that marketing is
unimportant to the filming industry and is strategy would instead most likely
be implemented along with different marketing strategies.
After analyzing the benefits of marketing and looking
at examples of how marketing has been used in film I believe that without a
doubt marketing is essential to the film industry. Through social media, viral
marketing, and synergy filming companies have used marketing to generate
millions of dollars in revenue. Although the filming industry oligopoly is
changing and will continue to change, I think that it’s safe to say that marketing
will remain an essential part of the business.
