The document discusses the release strategy for a live-action film in a competitive market, focusing on engaging families, particularly parents and grandparents, to drive cinema attendance. Key communication pillars included adventure, heritage, and family connections, with innovative promotions such as a craft activity featured in the Telegraph to foster family interaction. The campaign exceeded box office expectations, demonstrating that traditional newsbrands can successfully engage younger audiences and create memorable family experiences.

1.
UK Theatrical Release
Background and Objectives
The film was being released in a competitive market place, as the summer holidays
traditionally sees an influx of kids releases and this was no exception.
Based on FAME data we were able to identify the following audiences and in order
to reach the box offices targets we needed to engage and convert the following
audiences;
Parents ABC1 25+ (of 7-11 year olds)
Grandparents ABC1 55+ (of 7-11 year olds)
Alongside this, the key communication pillars of the film were;
• The Spirit of Adventure
• English Heritage
• Family & Friendships
We needed to communicate and engage across these audiences in order to convert
to cinema attendance in a cluttered marketplace.
The specific role of Newsbrands was to create a shared family moment between
parents/grandparents and their children/grandchildren. To reach inside the family
and engage the key audiences together.
Insight
The competitive landscape of the film market place presented lots of animated films
such as Finding Dory and live action such as Pete’s Dragon. Our release as live-
action and having an English heritage presented a unique opportunity for our
traditional film to standout within a cluttered CGI competitor landscape.

2.
Looking at FAME (Film Audience, Measurement and Evaluation) data we were able
to analyse the audiences of previous releases in order to create our target audience.
The data told us that we were clearly looking for a family orientated audience with
more than 50% across both our primary (Parents ABC1 25+) and secondary
audience (Grandparents ABC1 55+) Looking at the socio-demographic breakdown of
competitive releases the average was 62% ABC1 and skewed slightly female.
However, subject matter of a film did have an impact on the gender.
Overall, the audience strongly agree that their family is more important than their
career. We were then further reassured to see that again more than 50% of our
grandparents enjoyed spending time with their families. All the while both groups
strongly value communicating with friends and family.
Traditionally, the kids’ film marketplace is driven by pester power from children to the
adults in their life. As the heritage lay with the older audience (parents and
grandparents) we wanted to reverse this role and have the pester power coming
from the grownups!
The Plan
In conjunction with the Telegraph we produced a craft activity that children could
participate in with the assistance of the ‘grown-ups’ in their lives! We created a four-
page pull out including a pirate hat cut-out. In keeping with the Swallows and
Amazons’ competitive theme, we ran a competition page where pictures of the hats
could be uploaded.
Running this activity in the Telegraph allowed us an association with a trusted
English heritage brand matching the values of the film. Ensuring engagement with
the target audience but also reigniting the ‘kids at heart’ of the older audience.
We were able to connect this across many media channels but a specific focus on
digital with activity running across Instagram to further bolster the reach of the
newspaper activity. This was also carried into the client’s PR and publicity strategy.
Results
The Total Box Office to date (6 weeks from release) is £3,000,000, vastly exceeding
the client’s expectations. Opening weekend generated a box office of £700,000
which ensured screens were held over into the competitive summer holidays against
the strong competition.
In total we received 201 entries to the competition which was a direct result of seeing
the print ad and going online to enter.

3.
Newsbrand spend accounted for 11% of the overall spend, which exceeds averages
for kids’ film releases.
Newsbrands can be seen as stuffy or old fashioned, but we think this campaign very
much demonstrated this was not the case. We were able to create a fun engaging
campaign in what might be considered a traditional vehicle. We demonstrated that
Newsbrand readers are just as young at heart as the children in their lives! We also
showcased how to reach beyond the reader, talking to the primary audience of
Newsbrands but reaching outwards into their family to create a unique moment that
emotionally connected them to one another as well as with their inner child (and
pester power!)
Client View
• Denise Parkinson, Global and UK Entertainment Director at Telegraph Media
Group -
“We loved it because Instagram and FB integrated in a seamless marketing exercise to bring
the original print execution to the scale of audience and a delightful "how to make a paper hat
for children" promotion. Delighted users and the client".
• Stuart Henderson, Head of UK Theatrical Marketing for StudioCanal –
“One of our core objectives for the Swallows & Amazons campaign was to create a sense of
cross-generational excitement amongst grandparents, parents and children. The Telegraph
was therefore an ideal partner for the film and their creative solution gave us an opportunity to
engage with all of those audiences in a way which really captures the film’s spirit of fun and
adventure.”
• Grace Parruca, Senior Account Manager at Target Media and lead on the
campaign –
“The Telegraph was a great partner for enabling us to talk to families in a time and
environment where they would all be together. We wanted to bring the element of creation
and fun to life, where the adults could be seen to pass on a skill to their youngsters. The
execution was so much fun that we got our office to make their own paper hats too. It’s fair to
say there’s Swallows and Amazons hats on desks and heads throughout our floor!!”