12 Years a Slave used traditional marketing techniques like posters, trailers, and online reviews as well as new techniques on social media platforms. The film's marketing campaign utilized its star-studded cast including Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Benedict Cumberbatch to attract audiences. The campaign was highly effective, as the $17.1 million budget film went on to make $187.7 million at the global box office.

1. 12 Years A
Slave
Marketing

2. Fact$ ‘n Figure$
Budget: $17.1 million
Box Office: $187.7million
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Directed by: Steve McQueen
Screenplay: Chiwetel Ejiofor
USP’s: Adaptation of the 1855
novel

3. Traditional Marketing Techniques:
Posters
Many different versions of different posters were distributed in many
places.
For example, there was a dispute (in Italy) as some
posters released promoted the stars who were
white, and not the main actor (who was black).
“I've been following the press
for months and I can't wait to
watch it but REALLY? I don't
remember Brad Pitt being the
protagonist of the film or
having such a pivotal role in
the story to stay in the middle
of the poster”

4. Traditional Marketing Techniques:
Trailers
Trailer released on YouTube on 19th July 2013 (3 months before
the release of the film).
The trailer, uploaded by FoxSearchlight, has 4,211,439 views.
80% of YouTube users come from outside the U.S, so
this helped to spread the film to countries other than
the U.S.A
Other YouTube users then reviewed the trailer in
preparation for the film’s release, giving their ideas
about the film to their large numbers of followers.

5. Traditional Marketing Techniques:
Online Reviews
As well as people reviewing the trailer, there were also online
reviews posted of the film.
Most of these are very positive, which spreads a good word
about the film and makes people more inclined to watch it.

6. Competitions
There were many competitions to get up the hype about
the film, for example competitions to win a book and the
soundtrack, along with others giving away copies of the DVD
and such like.
This helped to get people
interacting with the film
and engaging with the
marketing, helping the film
to be shared around
friends through word of
mouth and on social media.

7. New Marketing Techniques - Facebook
There is an official 12 Years A
Slave facebook page that has
just over 850,000 likes. This
page allows people to view
content and leave feedback
through community posts and
comments.
The page also gives teaser trailers and promotes
links to DVDs. Allowing page viewers to be easily
redirected to sites where they can purchase the
media content.

8. New Marketing Techniques - YouTube
Multiple trailers have been uploaded to YouTube by
the distribution companies associated with this film.
It is highly likely that FOX paid YouTube to feature
their trailers at the start of popular videos.
People have also uploaded personal reviews of the film
up to YouTube so that their subscribers can learn about
this movie. This is a prime example of exchange, and is a
technique that is commonly used online to promote a
company's movie.

9. New Marketing Techniques - Twitter
The 12 Years a slave Twitter page does not have as big of a following as the Facebook page, but still contains
valuable information regarding the films distribution.
Here is an example of how the Twitter page has
been used to retweet a link to purchase the film.
The Tweets that the page uploads
mentions other accounts and uses
hashtags. These are all ways of
increasing the likelihood of
someone seeing this account, as
the hashtags and pages can be used
to redirect them to the 12 Years A
Slave twitter account.

10. Use of stars
12 years a slave cleverly enticed many a person by
their use of stars; their cast containing some world
renowned actors.
Though a very serious film, no matter what sort of
character, fans will view a film if their favourite ‘eye
candy’ actor is featuring.
Brad Pitt - Top notch actor for many years most famous for
his roles in films like Fight club, mr and mrs Smith and
Se7en. Whilst truly being an amazing actor he also has the
women (and some men) swooning.
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Though his main recognition for acting
was in 12 years a slave people knew Ejiofor before this for
his roles in films such as kinky boots and 2012.
Benedict Cumberbatch - Cumberbatch made a big name for
himself in the uk when the TV series ‘Sherlock’ started.
People liked his quintessentially british charisma and
became loyal to his features in later films such as 12 years a
slave and the imitation game.

11. How effective was the campaign?
The budget for this film was $20 million.
It made just over $180 million worldwide.
The campaigning was successful as it made a drastic amount compared
to its budget and stayed in cinemas for just under 8 months (America).