The marketing campaign for Iron Man 3 targeted males ages 14-25 who were fans of the comic books, movies, and merchandise. Younger boys and older men with sons were also audiences. The film was promoted through trailers, posters, interviews, magazines, and social media to build excitement leading up to its April 2013 release. It was screened in multiple theaters simultaneously to meet expected high demand. Post-production research gathered audience feedback on what they liked and disliked to inform future films.

1. Analysing the marketing campaign for Iron man 3
Producers make a film and do it with a certain audience in mind. This is because they don’t want to
make a film no one is going to watch. Having an audience helps the film because a final production.
If the audience is for teenage girls then producers will do primary research into what teenage girls
like. Using surveys or a focus group. They will ask questions that relate to the audience so then this
can be a part of the film and relate on a more personal level to the audience. With Iron Man 3 I think
the audience is boys of all ages really, however mostly younger because of the superhero in the film.
If dads or older people have grown up with iron man they will be the original fans. It’s obvious boys
are targeted with this film because of the explosions, comic book style, genre and storyline. However
there is some romance in the film just to balance out the fighting and maybe get a girl audience.
Producers aim for a specific audience but if they add another genre or a few different characters in
they might gain some more other different viewers that wouldn’t normally watch the film which
makes more money for them and the film a success to a wider audience than they imagined.
Marvels Iron man faces yet another
enemy trying to stay alive and save
his girl. Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an
odyssey of rebuilding and retribution. Building many iron man suits in his spare time comes in handy
when taking on the enemy. Starting with a flashback it all becomes clear what Tony is going to have
to face to save the world.
I think the target audience for Iron man 3 would males between the ages of 14-25. These type of
males I think are mostly going to be boys who follow the whole franchise. They have read the books,
comics, seen the TV programmes and all the films. The main audience will have the posters and
merchandise and follow the whole saga. However also another type of audience could be older men
with their sons. I think this because they might of liked it when they was younger and then followed
and read the comic books and watched the films as it came out so then people want to see the third
one to. Also they will want their kids to watch the film because of what it means to them, they want

2. to share it with someone. There may also be a younger audience which have the toys, read the story
picture books and watch the animation but aren’t old enough to see the films yet. The term for this
kind of film is called a long tail because the audience can range from high to low ages but the
younger audience not watching the films as much. Because the film has a woman in it this will also
attract the males more because of the action and female attraction together.
The genre of iron man is described as an action, sci-fi thriller. The certificate of the film is a 12a so
the thriller genre will be a thrill for people the age of 12 and up, so it’s different to the kind of thriller
that might be a 15 or 18 certificate. The year of production was from May 2012 to 2013 and the film
was released on the 25th
of April 2013 in the UK. Fans were waiting since 2010 for the release of Iron
Man 3 and so it was big when it came out with lots of cinema screenings multiple in most big
cinemas chains like VUE and ODEON. The box office taking s on the first weekend it was brought out
were $174,144,585 in the USA and it grossed so much more than the film cost. The budget for the
film was estimated at$200,000,000, so when the film grossed $340,868,034 in the USA just after 2
weeks of showings I’m sure director and producer Shane Black was very happy.
Star theory in Iron Man does attract different audiences to watch the film. Robert Downey Jr
attracts fans from previous roles and films he has been in. For example he was in The Avengers and
the other 2 Iron Man from the saga so people know his main role is being Iron Man so he has gained
a lot of fans from the range of different films he starred as Iron man in. He was also in The Incredible
Hulk. So fans that like other superheroes may watch a film which includes Iron Man and so become a
fan. However he is also known for his role in Sherlock Holmes I think this would make him more
attractive to females and maybe make them want to watch him in other film like Iron man because
Sherlock Holmes made him more desirable. Gwyneth Paltrow is the other big star in the film and
might attract more males to watch the films because she is a desirable blonde woman. She recently
starred in a young teens show called GLEE and so this could make young people know her and want
to watch Iron Man.

3. The film is based on
comic books a superhero
from many years ago
that has lots of
adventures and one evil
rival. He must save the
world and at the end of
every story he always is
the good guy and saves
everyone but the bad
guy always comes back.
Because of the comic books this will draw people into watching
the films because they liked the stories and characters. People will
of connected with the books, comics, old films and animations and so this will make them want to
watch the new updated saga. The film genre is action/fantasy which is a popular genre with young
people because they like to imagine something that isn’t real and be taken away to a different
world. Maybe if they have problems in their life watching a fantasy film like this lets them dream
something better could happen and that good guys do win. It relates to each audience member
differently. Because of the age the film is aimed at according to reception theory young 14-24 year
olds receive this genre better than much older or younger people because older people might not be
as willing to accept the surreal genre and story. Or older people might watch them in fear because
they are older and want to be a child again. They want to stay in this fantasy world they have been
living in from when they were a young age.
Iron Man 3 was a big film that was long awaited from the last Iron man 2 in 2010. The build up to it
started early in the year to get fans and the audience excited. As soon as filming had started the
director was promoting iron man 3 getting
everyone excited. In an interview at comic
con he hinted about the plot of the new Iron
man 3 film and got everyone interest. This was in May 2012, then in late 2012 the first teaser trailer
was released and give clues about the mandarin storyline. The first poster was released in February
2013 and this is when things started to get bigger and the audience started to get more knowledge
about the film coming out. The production team led false trails and kept tricking the audience so

4. they didn’t find out to much before the film came out. They even went to the lengths of filming
surprise scenes two weeks before the film came out. Iron man was all over the TV in the months of
March and April with the trailer being shown at specific times through the day to reach the right
target audience. Being played on certain channels at certain times the production team and research
team have to think about this so the film gets noticed more. There were advertisements to win
tickets to cinema showings on Facebook and Twitter which included file sharing which go the word
out about the film very quickly to many thousands online. As well as just people talking about the
film coming out there were countdowns on most social network site. YouTube had advertisements
of the trailer in the header of their page playing over and over or people to see as they opened up he
webpage. The trailer was being played in cinemas a lot in screenings of similar films with similar
audiences. Also around London billboards were appearing for the premiere coming in May. All over
the world people were getting ready for it with big billboards advertising the film also in the USA and
Hong Kong.
Posters were up in all the cinemas advertising the film and the release date more than 10 in some
big cinemas like The Trafford centre and the BFI IMAX and Vue cinemas in London. Because of the
big recognition the film has got over the years with the release of the other two films this was a big
deal for box offices around the world. Companies like VUE and ODEON were expecting big box office
incomings for this film so it was screened in more than one screen. This is rare and only done for big
films so that it can be shown literally all day for people. For companies to do this they have to show
less of other screenings and make room for this film to be shown in multiple screens so this loses
money for other films and for them if they don’t get enough people going to them so it’s a big risk
for cinemas. Iron Man 3 was in a lot of magazines, whole pages filled with the movie poster and
release date. On many it was advertised on the front pages of magazines in March, April time with
Robert Downy Jr on the front covers in his suit or advertising an interview with him talking about the
film. He was on the front cover of big magazines Empire, GQ and The Movie Magazine. Interviews
inside where ‘iron ma’ talks about the new film the press the filming. Magazines get a lot of money
for interviews like this because of the iron man franchise everyone wants to buy the magazine
because everyone is fans from the other films. Then journalists will read the interviews and make up
their own version of this and so interviews and opinions are released all over the world by fans of
the magazine, film, actor or journalism will see this. People might release a video on YouTube stating
their opinion on the interviews in magazines or newspapers and therefore gets lots of views globally
and get the word out about the film. Or people may blog or use social networking sites to share an
opinion. Everything leads into other things when marketing and gets people talking and this is
exactly what the prouder and marketing team want. All marketing then turns into word of mouth

5. about each of the other marketing techniques, people start to talk about the posters, billboards,
blogs, interviews and trailers then this is when the Iron Man 3 film because one big marketing circle
all over the world.
Anchorage means drawing the audience trying to anchor them into a franchise, saga or single film.
The poster below for Iron Man 3 first of all attracts everyone because of the big picture of Iron Man.
He is doing a very heroic pose and dominates the poster which straight away will attract the very
young audience. This is the part of the poster that’s fun and get people excited because it’s the
actual superhero not just Tony Stark. Audiences as young as 3 will recognise this iconic superhero
without needing to read its Iron Man so this why it’s the main part of the poster. Iron Man is a
cultural icon. Also people from other countries will recognise it without reading it so it tells everyone
what it is before they even read it. The next biggest thing on the poster is then the words Iron Man 3
in big bold letters this then tells everyone it’s number 3 and
draws attention to this and that its part of a saga. Another
thing that will attractpeople’s attention even if they don’t
know Iron man or have never seen it, is that it’s a marvel
film which is a global franchise. The logo is so famous
people know what it means anywhere. It’s where all the
superheroes come from so even fans of marvel may been
drawn into looking what the film is and even watching it
because of the company Marvel logo, its well respected.
The tagline underneath the title of the film is short but
impactful. It has the character’s name Tony Stark, the word
return so people know it’s a sequel then energy which is a
strong word and will make people excited. Then the picture
has the date and info on the bottom of when the film comes
which people want to know.

6. Pre production research
Producers have to carry outsecondary researchinto location where the film is going to be set, why is
it going to be set there and why it would look good. They need to think about the script story and
include all of this into their pre-production research so everything can begin to move on into
production quicker. Lots of trial and error happens in pre-production and filming may be done at a
number of different locations to get the right one the director thinks works best.
Producers and directors have to read the script in order to carry out pre-productionwhich is also
secondary research. They find a country and a location and then have to research into the culture of
foreign countries, the beliefs. This is because some staff, actors or production team may be hired
from that country and might have certain rituals or religious things they must do. This could be half
the production team needing to pray, eat or sleep at different times of the day. So all of this goes
into account when creating a film, as this will slow the production process and may cost more
money, so research teams need to be prepared and ready to deal with things like this.
Research teams spend months on the internet, reading books and even looking in local papers for
things going on that may disrupt filming for the production of the film. They have to use the internet
and to get information on religions and cultures. Then newspapers to find out about locals news that
may not be on the internet because of the location they are using. It could be very small and rural
and not a very big town. There may not be much on the internet about so a trip to the country first
may have to be arranged to check it out. Things like weather reports are also taking into account for
example if the director wants a daylight scene done with the sun shining and it’s raining all day then
things will need to be rescheduled. This is why people need to check weekly and daily what weather
reports are so that scenes can be assigned and scheduled to certain days. A big thing research teams
would need to find out is about hospitals and hotel facilities for everyone going to be a part of the
film whether they are production, staff or actors. Everyone needs somewhere to stay when on
location whether that be in a dessert or city. So this is a big thing to keep everyone happy and make
sure everyone who needs to be there is. Hospitals are important when working on a set because
things can always go wrong and people can get hurt especially in action films like this with lots of
stunts.
There is also primary research that the target audience producers carry out. This is where the target
audience is included in things to do with the film so that the researchers and the producer know
what the audience want to see in the film. They may organize focus groups where people who
respond to respond to a public invite to a focus group about the film. This may be advertised on an
Iron Man 3 fan website, forum or the official website inviting people to come and talk about the film,
what they would like to be included, stay the same or change. They may be asked to do a survey on
things they liked about eh previous Iron Man films, or other marvel films. They might be asked if
they like the characters, which is their’ favourites and why. The target audience researchers then
take all this primary research and present their results to the producer and director. Then things that
have been said may be considered for the film or included.
The surveys may be on the genre of the film, whether the audience want more action or romance.
The star theory which is the actors in the film, whether maybe having another big star come into the
film as a new character would attract people to watch the film or bring in some new audience and
fans for the film. They may be asked about the story/narrative and given an example what it’s going

7. to be like and if people like the sound of it. Research would have been done like this on all the films
before and after. A question that will always be asked is would you like a sequel and if enough
people say yes then this is the motive along with the profit from the film all over the world to create
another film. People contribute more than they think when filling out surveys for example if 8 out of
10 people say they want more of a love story between the main characters out of 50 surveys over
the world then this will be put into consideration as overall more people want more romance. If the
audience want more action or explosions or other things will be asked to.
Quantitive research will be done for the film. This is kind of research results are ratios, its
measurable research. For example researchers would ask 100 people a survey, and the result might
be 50% like iron man the other doesn’t. It’s measurable research rather than words about what they
liked, it’s a statistic. Questions would be specific and looking for yes or no answers so they could get
a statistic easier.
Qualitative research findsout aboutpeople’s opinions and allows them to write down things. This
survey would be simpler questions so that people could give a wide range of answers it’s not just
looking for a specific yes or no. Most surveys like this maybe would ask if people have other
comments also if they were part of a surveys or focus group. They do this kind of research to get the
aspects of the public find out if they like the storyline. They want to know the attitude of the fans
and then other audiences towards the film.
Post production research is all about whether the audience like the film. They like to find out the
audiences liked the film the feedback after seeing it and whether people expected different things,
liked or didn’t like things. Producers do a post-production test screening; they will get 100 people in
the country of the American production company so if it’s an English film in England. They will be
invited into a private cinema to watch the first draft or cut of
the film and then this will be the post production research. It’s an intimate screening of the film.
Once they have watched the film they will be given a questionnaire and rate the film and might be
ask to give their opinion on how they could make it better and what was good. They will then take
the research and swap things around and re edit the film. They will then re-open production and get
the producers cast and production back and re shoot things and cut things and add things that the
audience wanted and invest a lot more money into making the re edit. Then after that about 400
people will be in a full scale production film and then all of these will be asked to do a questionnaire
about the new filming. A lot of questions asked will be designed around what was your favourite
character if they like the music not bad things because they won’t want to film again. They will ask
the audience things that can become marketing strategies, if they liked the music or certain quotes
or characters. This will then become the synergy of the film and they will bring out a soundtrack,
tops, hats, cups, figurines, toys whatever they can think of.