The document discusses the marketing strategy for the 2014 film Need for Speed. It explains that the film was targeted towards young males aged 15-35. To reach this demographic, the producers advertised on TV shows like Top Gear and online by promoting clips of star Aaron Paul at the E3 gaming convention on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Hiring the popular actor Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad also helped attract a wider audience beyond just car fans. Pre-production marketing tested posters and trailers to ensure the visuals appealed to the target demographic by featuring fast cars and women. Merchandise like games, toys, and a soundtrack were released to generate interest from people of all ages.

1. Hollywood Blockbusters
Need for Speed – Aaron Paul.

2. Introduction
• When creating a film one of the main factors is thinking
about the advertising you are going to do. There would
be no point in creating a film that nobody knew about,
therefore nobody was able to go and see. In this day
and age there are many ways that a production
company can advertise their film, a few ways being on
TV shows, internet and the radio. These methods help
a wider range of audience get to know about the film.
However as the film has a specific demographic, they
will obviously choose relevant networks to advertise
on, for Need for Speed, examples are BBC1 and E4 as it
is aimed at the younger male generation.

3. TV Shows
• TV shows are a huge way to get film promotions
across – more specifically, TV chat shows. This is
because the audience watching the show can see
for themselves what the film is going to be like,
usually with a verbal description given by one of
the stars too, giving their thoughts on the film. An
example of a TV chat show which Need For Speed
was advertised on is Top Gear. This is a good
choice as both film and show are about cars and
are also targeted at the male gender. Plus, this
gave Aaron Paul a great excuse to be on the show
as well.

4. Internet
• The internet is a great way to advertise as nearly
everybody uses it – especially the target audience
of young males that the production companies
want to see the adverts. So promoting the film
online is a good idea. Aaron Paul gave a celebrity
appearance at the E3 gaming convention. Clips
from this were shown all over the internet on
sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter which
can then be shared amongst a lot of people. Also
it means that fans of both Aaron Paul and the
Game Need for Speed are hit, and these factors
may make them go watch the film.

5. Aaron Paul
• When thinking about Need for Speed, Aaron Paul
may not be the most obvious of choices to play
the main role of Tobey Marshall, however after
his huge success in the TV show Breaking Bad the
producers knew that using him would be a great
way to bring in a wider audience. Even those who
don’t like the genre are more likely to go and
watch the film if their favourite actor is starring in
it. It is also great for advertising as other shows
would really want this star on theirs to boost
their own profits, whilst ultimately boosting the
films too.

6. Pre Production
A films popularity is always heavily reliant on marketing which starts pre
production. The main thing that advertisers need to know is who they are
aiming their marketing at so they can make something relevant. In this case
for Need for Speed it is males between the ages of 15-35.
Everything about the film combines so the advertisers know what to use
when creating the posters etc. In these posters they will use Aaron Paul to
advertise. They will do this as they know that he is instantly recognizable and
he already has a very strong fan base. This is because of his previous role in
Breaking Bad which already has it own fans.
Marketing campaigners will also do screen tests which are a vital process that
need to be taken into account. A screen test will allow producers to gather
feedback to see what they can improve on before they release the final film.
One of the main things that the audience commented on this time, is the use
of colour. They felt that it would be better if they changed it to suit the style
and mood of the film more. This helped to make the final film much better.

7. Anchorage
• Anchorage is the ability to make a
piece of media text so that it is
interpreted in the intended way.
This means that the producers and
directors have to know what the
audience is going to be attracted too.
In both of the promotional posters
I have chosen to look at, you can see
they are similar. Fast cars and
women are used. Just by looking at
these images it is clear to see what
kind of target audience they are
aimed at – this would be males between
the ages of 15-35. This age group and
gender are the ones that tend to be
interested in the fast cars and women.
As you see in all advertising, the posters
have been photo-shopped quite a lot. This
is to make them look more appealing to the eyes,
therefore more people will look at them.

8. Synergy
• There is a lot of synergy which was released relating to
Need for Speed. They brought out games, DVD’s and
toy cars which match the ones that you can see in the
film. The film does try to cater for all ages when think-
ing about their synergy products, this way they will
make more money when people of all ages are buying
them. There is also an official soundtrack for the movie
which they have also released, so people who watched
the film can listen to
the music again and
again if they liked
the sound of it the
first time.