Marketing, Motion Picture and Magic!

There is a certain sense of enhanced pleasure in witnessing a story that isn’t one of your own, and a sense of relatability to ones that resonate. Stories, of any form, finds an audience for itself. Art imitates Life, and Life imitates Art.

Storytelling as an art form has been evolving since inception. From wall paintings, to black and white cinema, to the emergence of colour, and now it being a full-blown industry and business. Even though it is an extremely creative field, these carnivorous times have led businessmen down to a path to ensure maximum bums on seats and eyes on screens.

What does one do to enhance the cinematic experience without compromising creativity? The marketing of a film should be about expanding the theatre going experience, to build curiosity and intrigue without cheating the audience.

Following is a list of some marketing gimmicks used by marketeers:

I. The First Glimpse:

The first visuals the audience sees of your work is extremely important. While the trailer ensures the ticket sold, the ‘First look’ is a tool to build curiosity. This is usually released months before even the first official poster is out. Following are few examples where this tool was used correctly –

I. The Poster:

The poster of the film or tv show is the visual slammed on every billboard, shared on social media and used in press junkets. Though the ‘First look’ doesn’t have to be immensely connected to the story, the poster does. It is key for the poster to go hand in hand with the story and atmosphere of this film. Following are some creative posters –

Some ensemble movies release additional posters called the Character posters, giving justice to every character in the film. They often symbolize individual character arcs, and for movie geeks, it is an opportunity to find Easter eggs. Following are few examples –

III. The Trailer:

Majority of the audience decides whether or not they will be spending money to watch a movie after viewing the trailer. It is key in the decision-making process. It is imperative to build intrigue and excitement without giving too much away.

IV. The Stunt:

Many movies and tv shows go the extra mile and perform publicity stunts. This engages the audience to enhance the believability quotient and also to literally expand the experience of the movie/show. It cashes on immediate word of mouth advertising.

Promotions and marketing today include many more tools like Press Junkets, going to talk shows, music releases, dancing in colleges, etc. A perfect blend of these would enable the makers to ensure enough buzz for their release.

While, using marketing techniques can be useful to a certain extent, the fate of the movie/tv show lies in its content. And, that’s the exact reason why the marketing gimmicks should go hand in hand with the content itself. Doing extensive promotions while sounding like a broken record, repeating the same few lines every interview, can only get you so far. It needs to be innovative, creative and clever. If the movie has the magic, so would its campaigns.

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Jai Gupta is a curious, creative marketing student trying to decipher the world of cinema, movies and shows. Trying to make good use of his keen interest in the art of filmmaking, he started an Instragram Blog @the.screen.addict - The celebration of cinema and filmmaking. Your one stop shop for film reviews, analysis, scene breakdowns and much more.

A film appreciation page by an addict, for an addict. Lets get high on cinema together!