Methods of promotion
- 2. Another method of promotion revolves around getting your film into main stream media. A popular way of doing this for major blockbuster films would be to attend a film festival. Popular film festivals known all over the world include Cannes, Sundance and Toronto. Obtaining these film festivals and screening your film allows journalists to give an immediate opinion of what they thought of your film, either giving it a good review or destroying its reputation . Although some people may see this as a risk, it can be a great way to get the name of your film known. Smaller film festivals can be easily attended to by smaller budget films hoping to give their film some attention also.
- 3. Film websites have become more and more popular among major blockbuster films as they are a great way to gain an interest from an online audience. Websites often found easily amongst generic search engines such as Google or Bing. Film websites are amongst the top destination for fans to find information about the film, watch the trailer, watch behind the scenes footage, download wall papers and eventually purchase the DVD when it is available for purchase. Film websites also can be used to obtain revenue by putting ads on the website, making them a lot cheaper to run. This also means that films websites would be a viable option for independent films with smaller budgets.
- 4. Synergy is a popular technique used by many large conglomerate film companies as a method of promotion. Synergy involves one product promoting another product. An example of synergy in a major blockbuster would be The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby contains a soundtrack containing popular music artists such as Beyonce, Lana del ray and Jay Z. As the target audience for The Great Gatsby are more then likely to be familiar with these artists, pre releasing some songs which the audience could listen to created publicity for the film, working as a method to persuade the audience to watch the film.
- 5. Another promotional technique mainly used by larger film companies would be billboards. Billboards have been a popular method of promotion for a large period of time due to the sheer amount of footfall they can obtain. Having a film add on a billboard in a area with high amounts of footfall (for example, a city centre) could inform a large number of people about your film. Common issues with billboards are that they can be expensive to rent out for a large period of time, as well as also being subjected to vandalism. Another issue I find with this method of promotion is that it is very hard to pinpoint your target audience, as high areas of footfall have a mix of different people from different demographics