The document discusses the marketing campaign for the film Need for Speed. It provides a list of various talk shows and radio programs where Aaron Paul, the lead actor, promoted the film. These included appearances on Top Gear, Jimmy Kimmel, Radio 1, and WWE Raw. The purpose of these appearances was to reach a wide audience and promote the film to fans of the existing Need for Speed video game franchise. The document analyzes how Aaron Paul was effective at promoting the film given his popularity from Breaking Bad, and that the media appearances aligned with the target demographic for Need for Speed.

1. The Need For Speed
Marketing Campaign

2.  Absolute Radio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iegrFqgGG3k
 E3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMgJbdly1_I
 Graham Norton: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03wxt98
 IGN: http://uk.ign.com/videos/2014/03/12/aaron-paul-plays-need-for-speed
 Jimmy Kimmel:
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HJup5V6qA4
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yLgTs13NN0
 Radio 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01sz9n4
 Radio 1Xtra - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vko_5p-1UJ4
 Top Gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjfH_LbyHY
 WWE Raw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UEu0lwXfcA
Theirs a variety of different ways a film can be promoted, one of the most common ways is
interviews on talk shows and radios this is known as ‘Cross media Convergence.’ The interviews
feature the stars on the shows for example Aaron Paul appeared on top gear and spoke briefly
about ‘Need for Speed.’ The stars from this film have appeared on a variety of different talk
shows and spoke on different radio shows about ‘Need for Speed’, here is a list of examples:

3. Aaron Paul appeared on top gear which was aired on Sunday 2nd March on BBC 2 speaking briefly
about Need for Speed. Top gear is an half-hour automotive show and has the same target audience as
‘Need for Speed’ which is teen boys and above. So Aaron Paul appearing on this TV programme was
good promotion for the film because of the shared target audience and topic which is cars.
Need for speed was promoted in this way for the film to get a wider range of audience and also because
of the similarities the film has with the TV programme. Smalls clips from the film is also shown during
the episode, the main topics they talk about the film is the cars and the CGI. Need for Speed doesn’t
use any CGI for any of the stunts, this would attract the audience and helps with the promotion.
Top Gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjfH_LbyHY

4. Radio 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01sz9n4
Aaron Paul was a guest on BBC Radio 1 talking to Nick Grimshaw about ‘Need for Speed’, it was aired
on Thursday 27th February 2014. BBC Radio 1’s target audience is 15-29 year olds and it provides some
programming for younger teenagers. He tells the audience and Nick what the new film is about and
how it’s related to the game ‘Need for Speed.’
Need for speed was promoted in this way to get a wider range of audience and it also has around the
same age group for it’s target audience. He also mentions how CGI isn’t used for the stunts in Need for
Speed like he did on Top Gear, this would promote the film and catch the audiences attention. They
also asked him questions which the fans have tweeted in, this could be good when it comes to
promoting the film and him as an actor.

5. Doing interviews on TV shows and radio stations is good for promoting new films, especially when the
TV programme or radio station has the same target audience. Aaron Paul went onto Top Gear and BBC
Radio 1 successfully promoting the new film he’s staring in ‘Need for Speed.’ Doing both of these were
good for getting a wider audience and even though Top Gear has the exact same target audience and
the same topic which is cars I think the interview on BBC Radio 1 was more successful. I think this
because a variety of different people (both genders) listen to BBC Radio 1, some of the audience might
not of heard of the new film release and they might want to go and watch it after listening. Where as
the audience who’s watching Top Gear probably already knows about the film release and already want
to go and watch it because of the game ‘Need for Speed.’
My opinion

6. Aaron Paul was the main star used to promote the film, he is best known for his critically acclaimed
role as Jesse Pinkman in the American TV series Breaking Bad. I think using him to front the
marketing campaign was a good ideas because he’s a well known good looking actor, so not only would
fans of the game ‘Need for Speed’ or young/teenage lads want to watch the film but also his fans and
teen-above girls would want watch it because of him. There is also other characters which could have
promoted the film well such as Dominic Cooper who’s known from Mamma Mia and Captain America:
The first Avenger. Both of these actors are popular with teen+ girls, so they’d both succeed in getting a
wider target audience, but I do think Aaron Paul was the best actor to use to promote Need for Speed.
STAR THEORY

7. PRE PRODUCTION
One of the main aspects of the film industry is it’s huge marketing campaigns, even the most smallest of movies
can make millions of dollars at the box office. The main aspects of the marketing process for films are the:
Background: Need for Speed started off as a video game and has been around since the late 90’s.
Identifying the audience: The key audience was males ranging from 15-30 for both the video game and film.
Thinking ahead: Distributors for Need for Speed would have looked at the audience research, focus groups and
surveys from the video games.
The rules of good copy still apply: Copy plays an important role in film marketing, the copyright elements
which are important include-
• A strong headline to capture the audiences attention.
• Show social proof through star endorsements, audience numbers, critic reviews or awards.
• Convey your big idea/theme through compelling taglines.
Test: In the film industry it can be difficult to know the impact of trailers in the cinema, posters and ads in
magazines. There is no way to understand how effectiveness of these promotional items and how they raise
awareness. So the only way they gain an understanding is through customer research which needs to be conducted
regularly.

8. POST PRODUCTION
In post production of films the producers want to get feedback so
they can make any changes, they use test screening for this. Test
screening is a preview of a film which is shown before the film is
released, they are held to receive audience feedback. The audience
giving the feedback usually get asked to fill out a questionnaire
about the film and/or are involved in group discussions.
The audience have a large role in the final decision, the reactions of
the audiences at early test screenings can lead to lines being
dropped, scenes being scrapped, even entire plots being written.
There are two types of advance screenings which are testers and
talkers, the main thing they have in common is giving audience
feedback. The test screeners are usually the films target audience so
for ‘Need for Speed’ they would have been males between 15-30.
Producers will get an idea on what view the film will acquire from
it’s target audience and judging from the feedback they can then
make any improvements to the script, plot or scenes from the
feedback received from it’s target audience.
Even though some producers arrange test screening to get feedback
about improving the film they can sometimes disagree with the
feedback received from the audience and not make any changes
which could lead to critical and/or commercial failure.