In competition with "Dead Air" will be the wave of new thrillers and horrors that are released around Halloween, as we plan to release ours around Halloween 2011 too - such thrillers include, "Paranormal Activity 3". Horror producers usually release films around Halloween as not only will it be half term but to boost revenue by cashing in on the popular season. From my market research, there are three distinct films which are particular close in terms of conventions and themes released around the time "Dead Air" is set to release and it could impact audience figures and revenue for the production. The first is "Paranormal Activity 3".
Paranormal Activity 3 is released on 21/10/11 and already the marketing campaign has consisted of direct and indirect advertising. Through posters, trailers, interviews, social media and word of mouth, the third installment of the Paranormal Activity series has already built up a large reputation. Paranormal Activity 3 is a supernatural horror film directed by Ariel Shulman and Henry Joost and stars Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden and Brian Boland. As of yet, the film hasn't been certified for UK audiences.
This film is similar to "Dead Air" in the sense that both are set around every day life. Paranormal Activity films often follow the lives of a family, whereas my film follows those who work in a haunted building. Another similarity which will provide competition for my film, if it were to be released, is the colour scheme - black and white. Our film's opening sequence is black and white, just like some scenes from the Paranormal Activity Films.
Paranormal Activity 3's use of social media to promote the film is interesting, as they are using Twitter and Facebook for competitions. Not only does this get people through the door, but it also promotes the film, sparking word of mouth and suspense to the film.
Everything that promotes the third Paranormal Activity film follows a house style, which usually consists of the "Courier" font that is typically featured on the footage of a dated, domestic video camera to show the time and date of film, with the colouring of photographs as if it's taken at night, on a video camera. The theme of a video camera runs throughout the marketing campaign for the films and acts as a cohesive device across it's promotions. I want to emulate the success of the trilogy's marketing campaign by using some sort of cohesive device - it's likely to be inserting the image of the 'ghoul' in "Dead Air" in the same position across the marketing campaign's print products.
A second film is "Shark Night 3D". Released in the UK on the 30th September 2011, Shark Night 3D is a horror-thriller film directed by David R Ellis. Shark Night 3D stars Sarah Paxton, Chris Carmack, Joel David Moore, Chris Zylka and Sinqua Walls. Shark Night 3D was rated 15 for UK audiences.
Shark Night's marketing mix has been extensive, consisting largely of direct advertising, although there is some indirect. The advertising campaign consists of cinema and television trailers, online adverts, print adverts (posters, billboards, bus stops, vehicle, etc) and interviews. Like the Paranormal Activity trilogy, Shark Night also relies heavily upon social media, primarily Twitter, where they 'Re-Tweet' user's positive opinions on the film to boost the films reputation, sparking word-of-mouth, like Paranormal Activity and other films that use Twitter and social media. I feel I will use this in my campaign as it's definitely the 'done thing' my target audience does. Shark Night 3D also use Facebook for their social media promotion as it is the most popular social network.
Unlike the Paranormal Activity trilogy, Shark Night doesn't have it's own, dedicated website. The official movie website is run as a sub-site of the production company of the film, "Rogue".
A semantic of water is included in the house style across the marketing campaign, and it's something that's similar to the way the producers advertise Paranormal Activity, as they include a semantic of video cameras. The house style of the promotional campaign for Shark Night 3D consists of a lot of blue - signifying the water. Along with the blue, the images usually consist of deep water, signifying danger. The titles are almost action-comic like, looking as if it's just burst on the screen/paper, parallel to how a shark would attack it's victims. A blood splatter is also sprayed over the title, with the red also signifying danger. The house style appears to be inconsistent in this promotional campaign, with the website looking completely different to the promotional posters. The only consistent thing about the marketing mix would be the logo.
Everything that promotes the third Paranormal Activity film follows a house style, which usually consists of the "Courier" font that is typically featured on the footage of a dated, domestic video camera to show the time and date of film, with the colouring of photographs as if it's taken at night, on a video camera. The theme of a video camera runs throughout the marketing campaign for the films and acts as a cohesive device across it's promotions. I want to emulate the success of the trilogy's marketing campaign by using some sort of cohesive device - it's likely to be inserting the image of the 'ghoul' in "Dead Air" in the same position across the marketing campaign's print products.
A second film is "Shark Night 3D". Released in the UK on the 30th September 2011, Shark Night 3D is a horror-thriller film directed by David R Ellis. Shark Night 3D stars Sarah Paxton, Chris Carmack, Joel David Moore, Chris Zylka and Sinqua Walls. Shark Night 3D was rated 15 for UK audiences.
Shark Night's marketing mix has been extensive, consisting largely of direct advertising, although there is some indirect. The advertising campaign consists of cinema and television trailers, online adverts, print adverts (posters, billboards, bus stops, vehicle, etc) and interviews. Like the Paranormal Activity trilogy, Shark Night also relies heavily upon social media, primarily Twitter, where they 'Re-Tweet' user's positive opinions on the film to boost the films reputation, sparking word-of-mouth, like Paranormal Activity and other films that use Twitter and social media. I feel I will use this in my campaign as it's definitely the 'done thing' my target audience does. Shark Night 3D also use Facebook for their social media promotion as it is the most popular social network.
Unlike the Paranormal Activity trilogy, Shark Night doesn't have it's own, dedicated website. The official movie website is run as a sub-site of the production company of the film, "Rogue".
A semantic of water is included in the house style across the marketing campaign, and it's something that's similar to the way the producers advertise Paranormal Activity, as they include a semantic of video cameras. The house style of the promotional campaign for Shark Night 3D consists of a lot of blue - signifying the water. Along with the blue, the images usually consist of deep water, signifying danger. The titles are almost action-comic like, looking as if it's just burst on the screen/paper, parallel to how a shark would attack it's victims. A blood splatter is also sprayed over the title, with the red also signifying danger. The house style appears to be inconsistent in this promotional campaign, with the website looking completely different to the promotional posters. The only consistent thing about the marketing mix would be the logo.
The third film which I think could be competition for "Dead Air" is "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark 3D".
Don't be afraid of the Dark is also a horror-thriller, rated 15, directed by Troy Nixie and starring Katie Holmes, Guy Pierce, Bailee Madison and Jack Thompson. The film was released in the USA on the 26th August and in the UK on the 7th October 2011 following a not-so-extensive marketing campaign. The lack of marketing and word of mouth has resulted in the film only taking in around $1million at box office worldwide. The film is neither a critical, nor commercial success.
The marketing mix for the film is minimal, with a trailer that's not been promoted on UK television, and a poster which has only been advertised at cinemas. There's barely any indirect advertising in the UK for this film.
Don't be afraid of the Dark appears to miss out on it's whole target audience, which is typically teenagers and young adults, as it's not yet using social networks to promote the film - despite the fact it was released two/three months ago. Described in reviews as a a "lazy horror", it seems that the film and the promotional campaign has been relatively low budget.
I haven't really seen anything that I want to take inspiration from using the marketing campaign for this film.
Our target audience and demographic will be young adults, aged 15 to 24, aimed at both genders, although typical fans of the format are predominantly male so my marketing plan will reflect this. The potential market would definitely be national cinema, if not international as it follows the huge trend in thriller cinema overseas and in the UK.
As part of the marketing campaign, I will be producing a feature article as a means of indirect advertising, a poster as a direct advertisement and releasing merchandise post-cinema release to boost DVD and Blueray sales.
I will definitely take into account governing bodies, especially the ASA, who are a self-regulatory organisation that regulates the contents of ads, promotions and marketing in the UK. The ASA isn't funded by the government. I will also be taking into account The CAP (committee of advertising practice), the sister organisation of the ASA. Whilst the ASA investigate and moderate content of advertisements & promotions, the CAP revise and update the British code of advertising, so I will be sure to follow the codes in my marketing campaign to avoid trouble from the bodies.
The plan is to release the movie on the 30/10/11, the night before Halloween. Because of this, I would release the trailer on 30/06/11 on an official YouTube account and website, four months before the films release to generate a buzz on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and working with their public relations team, I would gather feedback and results based on what people have said about the trailer ready for a further trailer release on 30/07/1.
I will be releasing the cinematic poster for the movie on 30/08/11 to encourage people to pre-book tickets and I will be designing the poster as part of my unit. The indirect advertisement of a review will be released in a magazine on 15/08/11. Finally, my merchandise will be released one month after it's cinematic release in preparation for the films DVD release. Released on 30/11/11, it will be available for the Christmas market to boost more revenue, and the DVD would then be released on 30/10/12 for the Christmas market the following year.
I will be gaining feedback using a focus group for the marketing campaign up until the merchandise release for improvements should I produce another marketing campaign. I will be using a focus group as it's the easiest way to get opinions from a number of different audiences.
Our target audience and demographic will be young adults, aged 15 to 24, aimed at both genders, although typical fans of the format are predominantly male so my marketing plan will reflect this. The potential market would definitely be national cinema, if not international as it follows the huge trend in thriller cinema overseas and in the UK.
As part of the marketing campaign, I will be producing a feature article as a means of indirect advertising, a poster as a direct advertisement and releasing merchandise post-cinema release to boost DVD and Blueray sales.
I will definitely take into account governing bodies, especially the ASA, who are a self-regulatory organisation that regulates the contents of ads, promotions and marketing in the UK. The ASA isn't funded by the government. I will also be taking into account The CAP (committee of advertising practice), the sister organisation of the ASA. Whilst the ASA investigate and moderate content of advertisements & promotions, the CAP revise and update the British code of advertising, so I will be sure to follow the codes in my marketing campaign to avoid trouble from the bodies.
The plan is to release the movie on the 30/10/11, the night before Halloween. Because of this, I would release the trailer on 30/06/11 on an official YouTube account and website, four months before the films release to generate a buzz on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and working with their public relations team, I would gather feedback and results based on what people have said about the trailer ready for a further trailer release on 30/07/1.
I will be releasing the cinematic poster for the movie on 30/08/11 to encourage people to pre-book tickets and I will be designing the poster as part of my unit. The indirect advertisement of a review will be released in a magazine on 15/08/11. Finally, my merchandise will be released one month after it's cinematic release in preparation for the films DVD release. Released on 30/11/11, it will be available for the Christmas market to boost more revenue, and the DVD would then be released on 30/10/12 for the Christmas market the following year.
I will be gaining feedback using a focus group for the marketing campaign up until the merchandise release for improvements should I produce another marketing campaign. I will be using a focus group as it's the easiest way to get opinions from a number of different audiences.
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