Tuesday 26 March 2013

Marketing Strategy

In response to the creative brief, the strategy will involve a through-the-line campaign which will attract 18-27 year old audience. The campaign will use traditional methods of advertising with elements of exclusive and interactive content, such as a premiere and merchandise.

Press Release


Fans of comedy will be happy to hear that Relativity Media are teaming up with Peter Farrelly to produce Movie 43. Stars set to appear in this gross-out comedy are Richard Gere, Emma Stone, Kate Winslet and Dennis Quaid. Farrelly, who has previously worked with his brother to produce comedies such as Me, Myself And Irene, There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal, has worked with multiple directors to produce this movie, including Steve Carr, James Duffy, James Gunn and Elizabeth Banks, who also starred in the movie herself.





The merchandise for the movie will be T-shirts and mugs. The T-shirts will have the same design but with a different characters face on the front so that fans will be able to choose the T-shirts with their favourite characters. The mugs will have different designs. Some will include the cast names, whereas others will include pictures of the characters. The clothing items will be sold in shops such as TopMan, New Look and Primark. The mugs will be sold online. There will also a vest that fans can buy which will be sold in the same places as the T-shirts. The prices for the items will be as follows:
T-shirt will be £7.99, vests will be £5.99 and mugs will be £9.99.


The premiere for the movie will be held at the Empire in Leicester Square. The invitation includes the time, which is 6:00pm. The certificate which is a 15, the running time which is 94 minutes and the date which is Saturday 12th May. The invitation also includes the warning that there is no audio allowed into the cinema.











The poster will be ideal for the target audience as it includes pictures of all the cast members as well as stills from the movie. There is also a QR code on the poster so that fans can get involved. The poster sticks to the colour scheme and will be used on bus stops and in magazines. The fans will be happy with this poster as it does not give too much away but it gives them enough to make them interested in watching the movie.











The billboard is to entice the viewers. It will be used in busy places such as London and shopping centres. It does not give too much of the film away but makes viewers interested by the use of the slogan 'The Most Shocking Movie You Will Ever See'. The images used are stills from the film which are quite jumbled together so it may confuse people and therefore intrigue them.






 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/WhatIsMovie43?fref=ts
Twitter: @WhatIsMovie43


List of the media the press release will be sent to:


  • The Sun
  • Jonathon Ross
  • Empire
  • Total Film

The aim of sending the press release to these places is to entice a wide audience through the use of how different each media place is. For example, Jonathon Ross is a TV presenter who has his own show, so therefore, members of the cast could go own for an interview and promote the film. The Sun is a newspaper and will therefore include the posters as well as information about the movie.
The press release will specifically be sent to Empire and Total Film as they will allow a double page spread of interviews and reviews as it would appeal to a broader audience, unlike, for example, an animated film which will only appeal to a niche audience.








Merchandise

Here are two examples of the T-shirt design for Movie 43. As you can see, I've included the title and slogan as well as sticking with the colour scheme. I've also decided that each T-shirt will have a different face of each member of the cast. Here, I have used Emma Stone and Halle Berry as examples, this is where all the cast's pictures will be. The T-shirts will be sold in regular clothing stores such as New Look, TopMan and Primark and will cost, at most, around £7.99.









Here is the vest design for Movie 43. As you can see, I've stuck to the original colour scheme as well as using all the cast members names. I also included the title and slogan the same as the T-shirt, just so people know that they are part of the same film. The vests will be sold in the same shops as the T-shirts and will cost, at most, around £5.99.











Above is the design for the mug for Movie 43. The design may change as well as the colour. For example, some mugs may include pictures of the cast as well as the names and some may just include the pictures. The mugs will be sold online on the Movie 43 merchandise website. The mugs will cost, at most, around £9.99.


















Monday 25 March 2013

Marketing Plan

Product Definition
The product I have chosen is Movie 43. Movie 43 is an American Gross-Out Comedy film co-directed and produced by Peter Farrelly. The movie includes fourteen different storylines done by different directors. Some of these include; Elizabeth Banks, James Duffy, Steve Carr, Brett Ratner and James Gunn. The film stars one of the biggest ensemble casts in film history. Some of the actors include; Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, Emma Stone, Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Anna Faris, Dennis Quaid and Hugh Jackman. Relativity Media are the production company who helped make the film possible. This company also produced the likes of House At The End Of The Street (2012), Hop (2011) and Dear John (2010). The film was due to be released on january 25th, however I've decided to release it on the 17th May to help my marketing campaign. The film has a 15 certificate and some of the taglines include: 'Comedy. Exposed.' and 'The Biggest Cast Ever Assembled For The Most Outrageous Comedy Ever Made.' All the segments of the film include different titles, these are: The Pitch, The Catch, Homeschooled, The Proposition, Veronica, iBabe, Superhero Speed Dating, Machine Kids, Middleschool Date, Tampax, Happy Birthday, Truth Or Dare, Victory's Glory and Beezel.

Situation Analysis
The strengths of this product are that there has never been anything like it before. The movie has a very large cast which helps attract certain audiences. For example, if someone was a Richard Gere fan, they may watch the film because he is starring in it. This would be the same for all the other members of the cast. Also, the production company for the film, Relativity Media, has worked on some successful movies, this may draw the public in as they have seen the movies that Relativity Media have produced and therefore will go see this one. Another strength for this film is the Farrelly brothers. Peter Farrelly is the co-director and producer and has previously worked with his older brother, Bobby to direct comedies such as There's Something About Mary, Say It Isn't So and Me, Myself And Irene. Fans of the Farrelly brothers humour are therefore likely to go see Movie 43 because of the laughs that will be expected.


The weaknesses of this product are that there has not been enough advertisement to promote the movie. For instance, the trailers do not give too much away and this can be a bad thing as well as a good thing. If the public haven't heard anything about the film they are less likely to go see it. People tend to see something that they can relate to or something that looks good. The problem with Movie 43 is that no one really knows anything about it. Another weakness is critics were already writing articles about how bad the film will be because of how the trailer makes it out to be. The object that will draw the public in is the dirty humour that Farrelly has to offer. However, people still think that this will not make them want to get up and buy a ticket to see the film. Phil Contrino of BoxOffice.com said: 'Raunch for raunch's sake is not going to be as successful in the YouTube age. If people want to be shocked, they can just stay at home and choose from plenty of free videos. When they go to the movies, they want a good story or cool special effects.'
Usually a film that is suspected to have a low budget tends to be forgotten quickly and is not popular with film lovers. This is one of Movie 43's weaknesses as so many people are predicting that it will be a waste of time.

The main opportunity for this product is the merchandise that can be sold. T-shirts, mugs, key rings etc. can be just some of the items that can be sold. Because there are so many members in the cast, there could be T-shirts that include a different face or name on a different coloured shirt. This would again be because the purchaser would be a fan of whoever is on the shirt. Another opportunity could be a website. The 2011 movie New Year's Eve has a website that allows the fans to view videos, the gallery and special features of the film. This would be good for Movie 43 as New Year's Eve also had a large cast. I think the use of a computer game on the website would be good for Movie 43. For example, the public could log on and have to go through each storyline from the film and then decide who or what is missing from the scene.

The biggest threat for this movie would be the fact that everyone thinks it's going to be unsuccessful. This is a threat because the more people hear that the film is expected to be bad, the more they won't go and see it. Apart from this, the threats for Movie 43 will be the same as any other film. It will be the movies that are due out around the same time. Also, a threat for the advertising for Movie 43 will be the advertising space. If there are more anticipated films coming out, magazines and newspapers are more likely to feature the posters for these films instead. It will be hard for the company to have to pay for the space when the magazines will not accept placing Movie 43's poster in them.



Competitive Environment
Movie 43 is going to be released on the 17th May 2013. The competition will be other films that are coming out around this time. The two biggest competitors for Movie 43 are Star Trek Into Darkness and The Hangover: Part Three. These films are both sequels and therefore already have a fanbase. The 2009 Star Trek movie made $257,704,099 after it was only estimated to achieve $140,000,000. Therefore, the sequel is likely to be just as successful, especially because Star Trek is a franchise that began in 1966 and has been remade and created differently a number of times since then. Star Trek Into Darkness has the same cast as the 2009 movie and therefore will draw the fans back in as they see the same stars play their favourite characters. The estimated budget for Star Trek Into Darkness is $185,000,000, which is an extra $45,000,000 than the first movie.
The Hangover made $277,313,371 after it was only estimated to achieve $35,000,000. The Hangover: Part Two made $254,455,986 after it was only estimated to achieve $80,000,000. So, both the hangover movies have made more than they were estimated which makes the third movie a huge competitor to Movie 43, as Movie 43 is estimated to achieve $6,000,000.
The Hangover: Part Three is estimated to make $100,000,000 so this is a huge threat because of how popular the movies already are. Because Movie 43 is coming out at the same time as these other films, it will need as much advertising as it can possibly get in hopes that people will want to see it. For instance, the billboards need to be bigger and better than the Star Trek and The Hangover billboards.

Star Trek Billboard Advertisement












The Hangover: Part Two Billboard Advertisement













Above, are the advertisements that were used for the last Star Trek and The Hangover movies. The Star Trek billboard does not really give much away but it doesn't really have to because of how popular the Star Trek franchise is. The Hangover: Part Two billboard includes all the characters so the public know that the same actors will be used in the film and also lets people know the genre of the film even if they haven't seen the first one. It shows that the film will include humour as the characters are laid out a certain way and are made to show that the film will be a comedy. The billboard advertisement for Movie 43 needs to be similar to The Hangover: Part Two billboard as it needs to include who is in the movie to draw the public in, it also has to include a funny still from the film so that people will want to take a photo of it and show their friends. It also needs to let people know that it is a comedy film in some way so that they are not just looking at a billboard that doesn't make any sense to them.


The posters are another thing that needs to stand out for Movie 43. This is because it needs to give the public a chance to decide what they think of the film, not just based on the trailers.
The Star Trek poster on the left is very simple, it shows the characters and gives the audience a feel of how all the Star Trek franchise is. But again, the poster for this movie did not need to be too complicated as the franchise already has fans and as soon as they see that there is another Star Trek, they will want to see it anyway. The good thing about this poster is it sticks with how Star Trek is meant to be and it doesn't try to change into it's own film.






As well as making similar posters to the billboard, The Hangover: Part Two posters included seperate posters of each of the characters to give us a feel of what these characters are like and how they are going to be in the movie. The posters are all synergetic which lets the viewers know that they are all part of the same film even without the title.
The posters also include different taglines at the top which draws the audience in as it lets them know what this film will be about. It will be hard to make similar posters for Movie 43 because of how many people are in the cast. However, using the faces of the cast on the poster will be a good way of attracting the public and will get the posters and billboards noticed.






Because both the competitors of Movie 43 are such popular movies, the only way to attract the public and get them to see the film would be to use interesting advertisements to persuade them. The posters and billboards need to be interesting and eye catching. They also need to be placed in busy places such as London and in popular magazines.




Target Market/Market Research Data
 Movie 43 is an age 15 certificate. Therefore, anyone from this age and above can go see the film. I think the main audience for the film will be aged 15-25. Although, teenagers will be the main viewers of the film, I think adults will also enjoy the movie as it has adult humour. Movie 43 relates to both males and females.
The Journal states: 'The film's raunchy humour appeals directly to a young audience, who find this sort of comedy appealing.' So, the only problem with the movie is that younger children cannot watch it as they're not old enough and adults may find the humour too childish and disgusting.
The Journal goes on to say: 'This leaves adult audiences isolated by the fact that they won't enjoy or even appreciate the humour the film offers.'
However, I think the advertising for the film could help bring different ages together to enjoy the movie. For example, teenagers are most likely to buy the merchandise for the film, these could be T-shirts that have a rude line from the film, as they are more likely to buy new clothes or items to show their friends. Billboards and posters are likely to be seen everywhere, especially if they are in busy places, therefore they are seen by people going to work or shopping. The website can be for everyone as websites often become popular through word-of-mouth. A teenager could discover the website and then tell their friends and family, who tell their friends and so on.
Although the film relates to both genders, the audience will be predominently male, as they tend to find dirty humour more appealing than females. However, this doesn't mean to say that there will not be female fans of the film. Bridesmaids (2011) was a very successful film with both gender audiences as it involves some slightly offensive acts performed by women. Movie 43 is the same. There are crude and offensive scenes between male and female members of the cast. So, the film can be relatable to men and women.
The film will be preferred by teenagers, although other audiences may enjoy the film, teenagers will understand the humour and relate to the younger actors who they see in their favourite films already. Therefore, Movie 43's main target audience is teenagers.




Budget
Movie 43 was estimated to achieve $6,000,000 which is not much at all, considering what some movies have made. 
This would include all the advertising for the film as well. For example, posters, billboard, merchandise,  the press release and the premiere. This estimated budget is extremely low for the movie, especially because of how large the cast is. The premiere should have lots of stars as well as family and friends so it should be crowded and therefore cost more money. There are many opportunities for advertising because of how many different scenarios are in the movie, therefore they should have a higher estimated budget. Relativity Media have made many successful films and are producing Movie 43, so it would seem that the movie should have a higher budget because of how successful Relativity Media are. 



Action Plan
The message of this campaign to the audience is to promote a new and upcoming comedy. I plan on creating a through-the-line marketing campaign, including posters that will be displayed on bus stops and in magazines, as well as a premiere which will be held in the busy and popular Empire, in Leicester Square. I will use techniques that I have learnt from similar movies as well as the existing posters to create the concept of my own marketing campaign. I want to create a billboard that catches the eyeof the viewer so they will want to share it with their friends on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. An invitation will be made for the premiere which will be held a week before the film's release. I will also design the merchandise for Movie 43. I have chosen to use T-shirts and mugs for my merchandise. Therefore, I will look at existing merchandise for other movies and see where they are sold and how much they are worth. A press release will be sent out to certain types of media to help promote the film as well as interest the public. I will use a media plan to decide when each marketing tool will be released and also to help organise the marketing campaign.

 The poster that I have made as part of my marketing campaign also has a QR code. My poster will be used on bus stops in busy places such as Commercial Road, Cosham, Fareham etc. It will be placed in busy spots because more people need to notice the film so that they would want to go and see the movie. The poster can be placed in magazines such as OK!, Now and Closer as this would entice more of an audience. As you can see, I made my poster very similar to the New Year's Eve poster as I thought that it looked effective and was a good way of drawing people in. Most of the cast members are included on the poster as well as names because I think people will see an actor/actress that they like and then perhaps decide to watch the movie. I've also included stills from the movie itself to give people an idea of what the movie is about as the title doesn't really give much away. I included the QR code which will draw a different range of audiences in as I've decided that if they scan the QR code on their phones, they can see exclusive clips from the film.

The billboard advertisement that I have decided to create for Movie 43 is created in a certain way as I think that it gives viewers a chance to see that the movie is quite random and funny. It is also something that the public would not have seen before on a billboard so it will make them want to use word of mouth to tell people about it. Also, it may make them want to stop and take a photo so that they can upload it to Facebook/Twitter and show all their friends and family. I decided to use the slogan 'The Most Shocking Movie You Will Ever See' as I think this gives the public the will to go and see the movie, just to see how shocking it really is. I decided to use the stills I did from the movie because I thought that they didn't give too much away but they were quite intriguing and are able to draw the public in as they don't know what to expect in the film from these images. My billboard will be included in places such as Commercial Road and popular places such as Leicester Square in London. This is because I would like to get the film noticed by as many people as possible and the way to do that is to include the billboard ad in popular places.

I have decided to present the Movie 43 premiere in Empire, Leicester Square, London. A premiere will get the press interested as they then have an event they can attend to take pictures of the celebrities as well as write their reviews of the movie. It gives them a chance to include more in magazines and newspapers, mostly because of how many stars are in the film.

I created designs for a T-shirt, vest top and mug for my merchandise. I used certain designs as they went well with the colour scheme that I have been using in all my designs. The T-shirts and vests are going to be sold in clothing shops such as New Look, TopMan and Primark. I decided that the T-shirts will be around £7.99 and the vests at around £5.99. The mugs will be sold on the Movie 43 merchandise website and will cost around £9.99. The designs for the mugs and the clothes will change as I have decided that I may use different characters on each item or even just the names of the cast members. 

The press release was created to inform the public about Movie 43. It will basically be an article that explains the film and who directed it as well as who stars in it etc. 
It will interest the public as it will be placed in different types of media including; magazines, newspapers and even on the television. This gives the media a chance to use images, clips and interesting information about the movie that will get people talking, and therefore using word of mouth marketing. The media will be sent to The Sun, Jonathon Ross, Empire and Total Film. 
The aim of sending the press release to these places is to entice a wide audience through the use of how different each media place is. For example, Jonathon Ross is a TV presenter who has his own show, so therefore, members of the cast could go own for an interview and promote the film. The Sun is a newspaper and will therefore include the posters as well as information about the movie.
The press release will specifically be sent to Empire and Total Film as they will allow a double page spread of interviews and reviews as it would appeal to a broader audience, unlike, for example, an animated film which will only appeal to a niche audience.





Bibliography
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1333125/
http://www.relativitymediallc.com/Film.aspx
http://www.tribute.ca/people/the-farrelly-brothers/10905/
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/01/28/why-movie-fans-and-critics-eighty-sixed-movie-43/
http://newyearsevemovie.warnerbros.com/dvd/
https://www.google.co.uk/imghp?hl=en&tab=ii
http://www.film.com/movies/largest-movie-ensembles
http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0796366/
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=187927
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1119646/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1411697/?ref_=sr_2
http://mikeandrustys.com/the-hangover-part-iii-trailer-review/
http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/10119-movie-43


















Wednesday 20 March 2013

Movie 43 Premiere

http://www.premierescene.net/film-calendar.html

I have decided to present the Movie 43 premiere in Empire, Leicester Square, London. A premiere will get the press interested as they then have an event they can attend to take pictures of the celebrities as well as write their reviews of the movie. It gives them a chance to include more in magazines and newspapers, mostly because of how many stars are in the film.

This is because the Empire is big and will be able to fit all of the cast and crew members as well as other attendees.














This will be the background for outside the Empire. This is the red carpet where the cast and other celebrities will have their photo taken by the press for magazines, newspapers and the internet.






Often, movie premieres will have invitations sent out to perhaps the family and friends of the cast and crew members. They may look something like this:



































Here is the invitation that I created for Movie 43:




I have decided to create the ticket like this as the colours stick to the colour scheme of the movie. I didn't want to make the ticket stand out too much as the posters and billboards are very eye-catching already. Also, I thought that this ticket does not give too much away and will therefore make the audience more curious about what the film will be like. I made sure the writing was clear and easy to read as well as making sure that I include the warning at the bottom to make sure that nothing is brought into the cinema that could disrupt the film for anyone. I made sure the time of the feature was included as well the production company at the top of the invite.













My Billboard Ad

Here is the billboard advertisement that I have decided to create for Movie 43. I decided to create it like this as I think that it gives viewers a chance to see that the movie is quite random and funny. It is also something that the public would not have seen before on a billboard so it will make them want to use word of mouth to tell people about it. Also, it may make them want to stop and take a photo so that they can upload it to Facebook/Twitter and show all their friends and family. I decided to use the slogan 'The Most Shocking Movie You Will Ever See' as I think this gives the public the will to go and see the movie, just to see how shocking it really is. I decided to use the stills I did from the movie because I thought that they didn't give too much away but they were quite intriguing and are able to draw the public in as they don't know what to expect in the film from these images. My billboard will be included in places such as Commercial Road and popular places such as Leicester Square in London. This is because I would like to get the film noticed by as many people as possible and the way to do that is to include the billboard ad in popular places.


Thursday 14 March 2013

Movie 43 Poster







































Here is the poster that I have made as part of my marketing campaign along with the QR code. My poster will be used on bus stops in busy places such as Commercial Road, Cosham, Fareham etc. It will be placed in busy spots because more people need to notice the film so that they would want to go and see the movie. The poster can be placed in magazines such as OK!, Now and Closer as this would entice more of an audience. As you can see, I made my poster very similar to the New Year's Eve poster as I thought that it looked effective and was a good way of drawing people in. Most of the cast members are included on the poster as well as names because I think people will see an actor/actress that they like and then perhaps decide to watch the movie. I've also included stills from the movie itself to give people an idea of what the movie is about as the title doesn't really give much away. I included the QR code which will draw a different range of audiences in as I've decided that if they scan the QR code on their phones, they can see exclusive clips from the film.