Audience and Institution Practice Essay

Question: Assess the importance of marketing in the media area you have studied?

  

    In film, marketing contributes towards the overall profit made by the movie. How the film is marketed during the production, distribution, and exhibition stages affects how large of an audience is reached. When more techniques and methods are used to interest people, the movie acquires a higher level of potential watchers who will benefit towards the box office rating. This ensures that the movie becomes more well-known and successful.

    Synergy is a technique that allows movies to advertise within their same parent company to reach larger audiences. By using synergy, subsidiaries can work together and market their movies. In the movie, Minions, released in 2015, synergy is used to promote it on different platforms. This movie was distributed by Universal Pictures, the major film studio unit of conglomerate, Comcast. Comcast took advantage of their subsidiary, NBC, and used this channel to spread awareness of the new movie on various different shows. Commercials including the minions were aired during The Voice, This is Us, and the Super Bowl. Not only was this an effective method of advertising the movie but, Comcast was able to target many different audiences rather than just one. This allowed them to expose people with various interests to the movie. Within the Universal Parks, a Minion 3-dimension ride was established to attract those who already watched the film and encourage others to start watching it. All in all, Minions made a total of approximately 1.16 billion dollars worldwide. Jurassic World, a movie produced by Universal Pictures as well, was advertised with a similar approach. A ride was made in Universal Studios after the release of the movie and NBC aired Jurassic Park movies as entertainment.

    However, marketing for movies also consists of cross promotion. Jurassic World would not have made almost 1.7 billion dollars worldwide if Comcast hadn’t worked with other companies. Merchandise was created through Frontier Developments videogames, Legos toy sets, Mike and Ike candies, and Dairy Queen Blizzards. These cross promotions were essential as they increased the visibility of the movie and provoked customers into wanting to watch it. Beauty and the Beast, a Walt Disney Pictures Production, used cross promotion as well to promote the movie on a variety of different platforms. Merchandise, like clothing and ornaments, were sold in many companies, including Target, Kohl’s, and Hot Topic. Tea brand, Twinings, promoted Beauty and the Beast on their herbal tea packaging. Morgan Taylor released multiple nail polish sets that were inspired by the film. Walt Disney Studios was able to target a specific audience, being women, who would be more inclined to watch a movie regarding fantasy and romance. By connecting with the audience, Disney was able to obtain better recognition for their new film. Overall, Beauty and the Beast made a total of almost 1.3 billion dollars worldwide. 

    Another marketing approach that movies take advantage of is cross media convergence. By promoting a movie on different media platforms, companies are ensuring that the movie is made public in the most possible ways. Cross media convergence appeals to people by showcasing movies on print, radio, music, and television. When all of these categories are used, the company is more likely to reach out to a wider range of people that have different interests and preferences. Black Panther, another film created by Walt Disney Pictures, published a variety of posters and magazines that intrigue viewers with graphics and sneak peaks. National Public Radio talked about how Black Panther was the first movie to be filmed in Saudi Arabia in thirty years. Furthermore, the movie’s soundtrack consisted of music by Kendrick Lamar and the Weeknd, two popular singers that brought attention to the film. The song choice entertained younger audiences and those interested in R&B and hip hop. Black Panther made approximately 1.3 billion dollars in the box office. 

    Ultimately, synergy, cross promotion, and cross media convergence are three major forms of marketing that a multitude of conglomerates use to increase the amount of viewers that the movie receives. It is important to market a film in order to attract a larger audience and wide spread the film. By increasing the amount of marketing, companies are also increasing the level of profit that their film production branch makes.