1. Cinderella
When a film is being marketed producers purposely put a lot of effort into drawing their
target audience to their film through the use of multiple forms of media that appeal to
them. For example trailers, posters, social media pages etc. All of these will be tailored
primarily to draw in the mass of their target audience. So if the film is a romantic comedy
but they want to draw in females as their primary audience in the trailer the aspect of
romance will have a heavier hand than the comedy. The reason producers target
different audiences is because of wanting to optimize sales and try and make
the most money possible or it could be because there is a gap in the market
so they aim for a more
niche audience.
Cinderella is a film that is being
marketed at the moment
because it is set for release on
March 27th 2015. The story of
"Cinderella" follows the fortunes
of young Ella whose merchant
father remarries following the
tragic death of her mother.
Keen to support her loving
father, Ella welcomes her new
stepmother Lady Tremaine and
her daughters Anastasia and
Drizella into the family home.
But when Ella's father suddenly
and unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new
family. Finally relegated to nothing more than a servant girl covered in ashes, and spitefully
renamed Cinderella since she used to work in the cinders, Ella could easily begin to lose
hope. Yet, despite the cruelty inflicted upon her, Ella is determined to honor her mother's
dying words and to "have courage and be kind." She will not give in to despair nor despise
those who abuse her. And then there is the dashing stranger she meets in the woods.
Unaware that he is really a prince, not merely an employee at the palace, Ella finally feels
she has met a kindred soul. It appears as if her fortunes may be about to change when the
palace sends out an open invitation for all maidens to attend a ball, raising Ella's hopes of
once again encountering the charming "Kit." Alas, her stepmother forbids her to attend and
callously rips apart her dress. But as in all good fairy tales, help is at hand as a kindly
beggar woman steps forward and, armed with a pumpkin and a few mice, changes
Cinderella's life forever.
Cinderella is a family romantic adventure film set to release on 13 March 2015 and is being
directed Kenneth Branagh and the two executive producers are Tim Lewis and Barry H.
Waldman. The film is being distributed by Disney. Disney provided a $95 million dollar
2. budget for this movie which is $55 million dollars less than the budget for Frozen. This may
show confidence in this movie.
Cinderella’s has had a fairly large marketing campaign before
it’s release The Mouse House dropped a teaser trailer last May,
followed by a second one in November. The studio also pulled
out all the stops to market Cinderella as a big event, with
midnight-themed stunts on ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and a
Times Square takeover. Character photographs were revealed by
Annie Leibovitz were unveiled in Vogue. They also had
marketing partnerships which included MAC Cosmetics,
JCPenney, Kohls, HSN, and Saks Fifth Avenue, the latter of
which included a shoe collaboration with high-end designers like
Jimmy Choo. Harrods had window displays that were fully
decked with Cinderella and Disney princess high-fashion scenes.
In addition, Cinderella counted digital partnerships with Tumblr,
Twitter, Maker, Fandango, Instabrand, and WeHeartIt, among
others. Cinderella‘s social media footprint recently was spurred
by 83M YouTube views, 52% of them over the last two weeks,
driven by the Frozen Fever trailer teaser that’s showing prior to
Cinderella. Not only is this cross-promotion driving YouTube
views. Cinderella‘s Facebook counts 13.7M likes. Furthermore Lily James (Cinderella) official
Instagram has been chronicling her international premiere tour of Cinderella in Berlin,
Moscow and Toronto, not to mention touting her princess fashion.
In termsof the producer’smethodsof marketing,the traditional fairytale motifsare explored.
Whenlookingatthe trailerand posterof “Cinderella”,immediatelythe characterisationof each
character isextremelyidentifiable.Forinstance,the innocent“Cinderella”,evil stepmotheretc.In
doingso,the genre is immediatelyestablished,yetthe producerisconstantlyaware of whatwill be
deemedasattractive andengagingforthe audience,predominantlyfemalewhohave grownupwith
Disney’sclassics.Emediaalsocontributestothis,withthe focusconstantlybeingonthe Disneyand
the iconicimageryof her shoe anddress.Perhapsthe producerdoesthistoestablisharelationship
withthe target audience,withthemimmediatelyunderstandingthe plot,yetcaninferasense of
realismandbetterqualityviewingwillbe inplace,due tothe moderndaybroadcast medium.We
can see throughthis,that the producerusesanchorage,withthe glassslipperandiconicblue dress
beingbroadcaston nearlyall platforms.Thisisthenaccompaniedby,“Disney’sCinderella”,
portrayingevenmore securelythe alreadyestablishedfilmisbeingrecreated.Intermsof an
audience viewing,thisintriguesandoveremphasizesthe tale,makingitpurelyfocusedonthe most
iconicand memorable factorsfromthe original plot.Thus,the audience are unable tonotbe
intrigued,asthe targetaudience wouldbe interestedinthismodernisedviewing,makingtheir
anticipationheightened,meetingthe producer’s goal.
Referencingthe posterinfurtherdetail,the imageryisextremelysymbolicof Disney’spreviousfairy-
tale,withthe attractive protagonistbeingshowcasedinaneerie ordisturbedsetting,whichthey
needrescuingfrom.The producerimpliesnochange hasbeenmade here,arguablybecause of the
fearthe symbolicimage ismuchmore effective thanacompletelynew representationof the
3. character. The background,cloudyandunpleasant,givesthe assumptionof dangerimmediately.Itis
these subtletiesthatbringthe audience indirectview towhattheycan expect,withthe producer
wantingtokeepDisney’ssymbolism,despitethe realistictwist.Tosecure thisknowledgehowever,
audience profilingwill have hadtobe carriedout,allowingthe producertofullyunderstandthe
audience’s expectationsandwants.Yet,withthisbeingaremake of analreadypublicizedfilm,the
producerwill understandthe audience will be Disneyfans,sokeepingtotraditional routesisvital.
Avengers
WithinFilmproduction,the importance of the audience is
crucial.Withseveral differentgenresbeingavailable toview,
an obviousdifference inpersonal preference isimmediately
established.Thus,eachproducermusttake intoconsideration
whatwill be engagingandentertainingfortheirtarget
audience.The importance of thisiscrucial,aswithoutresearch
intowhat will be successful,the filmcanbe advertisedinthe
completelyacompletelywrongmanner,withthe audience he
producerwantedtointrigue,notengagingwiththe textthey
are viewing.Thus,avastamountof researchis neededinorder
for the producerto fullyunderstandtheirlikesandinterests,
securingthe ideathatthe filmwill be successful,asitwill
target andentice the rightviewingaudience.Moreover,the
audience alsoaddstothe advertisingelement,withsocial
mediabecomingadominantfactorintohow the filmisseen
and published,thusproducersrelyontheirtargetaudience to
spreadnewsaboutthe upcomingfilmina positive andexciting
manner.
The synopsisneededtoreflectthe genre,andtoallow the audience tobe excitedtogosee the
upcomingrelease.Thus,thisdescriptionwasgiven;WhenTonyStarktriestojumpstarta dormant
peacekeepingprogram,thingsgoawryandEarth's MightiestHeroes,includingIronMan,Captain
America,Thor,The Incredible Hulk,BlackWidow andHawkeye,are puttothe ultimate testasthe
fate of the planethangsinthe balance.Asthe villainousUltronemerges,itisuptoThe Avengersto
stophim fromenactinghisterrible plans,andsoonuneasyalliancesandunexpectedactionpave the
wayfor a global adventure.Through this,asense of anticipation,excitementandaction-themed
language iscreatedto showto the targetaudience,the filmissettobe an incredible success.
Withthe chosenfilmIwishtofocuson, beingthe upcoming,“Avengers:Age of Ultron”,the target
audience ispredominantlyyoungmaleswithinthe c1audience demographic,interestedinthe
superherofanominum.Itisvital thatthe Director,“JossWhedon”,representedthe actionadventure
genre accurately.The produceranddirectorwere givenabudgetof $250,000,000, allowingthemto
engage the audience massively,withadvertisingcampaigns,postersandtrailersbeingreleased
several timesthroughoutpreviousyearsbeforethe release date of 23rd April 2015. All of these
aimedtoshowthe followonfilmfrom“Avengers”was goingtobe justas successful and
entertainingasthe last.Withthe audience’sexpectationsalreadybeingsethigh,withthe last
4. “Avengers”beingone of the mostsuccessful filmsintermsof viewingratingsandprofitsmade,it
was expectedthatthe producerswouldmarketthe nextfilmmassivelytosatisfyexpectations.
As a result,aseriesof posters,trailers,web
pageson social mediaandfansiteswere
releasedandcreatedtospreadnewsand
currentinformationabout“Avengers:Age of
Ultron”.When lookingatthe obviousways
of advertising- trailersandposters - , the
producer’s anticipationforthe successof
the franchise isclearlyevident.Notonly
have several trailersbeingreleased,teaser
trailerswere producedtoquestionthe
audience’s expectations,withthemnotyet
beingfullyable tounderstandthe majority
of the plotor understandhowthe
characters will actor portray the plot.
Throughthe technique,wordof mouthwas
initialisedimmediately,withestablishedfans
of the genre spreadingtheirideologies,expectationsandtheoriesof whatwill happenwitheach
character and to the “Marvel Cinematicuniverse”asa whole.Thus,fanpagesandsocial media
pagesfollowed,suchasthe facebookand“http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-avengers”where
newimagesandvideoshave beenuploadingshowingclipse andpreviewsof whatisto be
anticipatedwith itsrelease.Withall of the technological advertisingmethods,andmediadebates
revolvingif the printplatformisbecomingathingof the past, perhapsthe amountof newspapers
and magazinesrevolvingthe filmwasunexpectedwiththe targetaudience being youngmales.
Stereotypically,we caninferthe targetaudience demographicisinterestedin technology;therefore
perhapsthese formsof advertisingwere lesssuccessful.Yet,several newspaperreportsrevolving,
“Marvel’snewAvengersfilmissettobreak records” andmagazine interviewswiththe cast.Notonly
doesthisconcrete eachplatformforthe producerstouse in termsof advertising,italsospreadsthe
newfilmrelease topeople outside of the targetaudience,withthe hope theywill alsowishto view
the film.Thus,throughthe marketingtechniquesusedbythe producers,the targetaudience is
anticipated,butitisalsowidenedtoothermembersof the publicwhodonotcategoricallyfitinto
the expectedaudience demographicforthe film.
Analysinginmore detail,the trailerfor“Avengers:Age of Ultron”(https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=JAUoeqvedMo) manytechniqueswere usedbythe producerstotargetthe audience.A mix
betweenthe obvious,charactersandsetting,andthe ambiguity,theplotandnarrative are
showcased.Withthe trailerrevealingsome hintstowardsthe plot,thisimmediatelyattractsthe
audience,withsymbolismbeingusedseveral times.Forinstance,“Thor’sHammer”and“Captain
America’sshield”createsshardreferencesbetweenthe audience membersandthe filmfranchise,
withintermstargets the audience further.Ialsoanalysedone of the postersthatwasreleased
(http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/201/e/
b/the_avengers__age_of_ultron_poster_by_krallbaki-d7ri875.jpg) whichused“A New EraBegins”.
5. In doingso,anchorage iscreated,withthe audience beingable tosee the iconiccharacters,yetthe
adjective “new”evidencesthiswill be unique andafreshrepresentationof the characters,witha
differentplotandvillains.Thisisalsoshowcasedbythe imagery,witheachleadcharacterlooking
directlyintothe shot,thisdrawsthe audience intothe image,makingthemmore involvedwithinthe
poster.Furthermore,thisenablesthe filmtobe marketedsuccessfully,asthe targetaudience can
see throughthe trailerandposterwhat theycan hope to view.Tomake sure thiswassuccessful,the
producermustfirstestablishwhohis/hertargetaudience will be.Particularlywith“Avengers”,the
producermustcreate an audience profile,establishingwhatinterestsandlikestheirtargetaudience
wouldhave,tomake sure theywill markettheirfilminthe mostsuccessful waypossible.However,
withthe “Avengers”filmsbeingpartof “Marvel”,several filmsare alreadyproducedwith similar
target audiences.Therefore,the producerscanmake reference tootherfilmswithinMarvel,and
thuscan identifythe targetaudience throughotherfilmsandwhoviewedthempreviously.
GetHard Exit Poll
I produced and handed out an exit poll after seeing a new high budget comedy film ‘Get
Hard’ starring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. I then collated the results and made graphs to
represent the answers here is a few examples of the feedback I got from the audience.
As you can see from the above there is a quite clear majority on how people found out
about the film. The main answers being the trailer and word of mouth. This reflects on the
buzz being created around the film as a result of the marketing campaign.
How did you hear about the film?
Word of mouth
Cinema Trailer
Magazine/ Newspapers
Online Video/ Reviews
Social Networks
Radio
Television
News
6. This question proved that star theory had a positive impact on the success of the film
because the equal top answer for wanting to watch the filmwas it starring Will Ferrell/
Kevin Hart. The other equal highest answer was the trailers made people want to watch the
film further proving the success of the trailer makers and the marketing campaign.
What made you want to watch the film?
Reviews
Stars Will Ferrell/ Kevin Hart
The director
The trailer
Magazine/ Newspapers
The Genre
Cinema Previews
Did the film live up to
your expectations?
Yes
No
Would you recommend
the film?
Yes
No
As you can see to the left the response to
the actual filmwas negative. The mass
majority on both questions said the film
did not live up to their expectations and
they would not recommend the film.
Even though the filmwas disappointing
to the audience, this shows how effective
a marketing campaign, a good trailer and
a bit of hype can do for a relatively bad
film. These 3 aspects alone made a pretty
bad film a lot of money.
