One of the biggest reasons behind a films success is its marketing campaign. If a film is hoping to become a worldwide success, it must have an effective marketing campaign that builds a buzz/hype around it to target potential viewers. I have chosen to analyse the marketing campaign behind the Paranormal Activity film as i believe this is one of the best examples of a successful marketing campaign, and it is also of the same genre as my film - horror.
It was a very low budget film made for just $15,000 so it was massively important for the creators to advertise it as good as they could. As you can guess from the title, it tells the story of a haunted house featuring a number of different paranormal incidents that would leave viewers shocked.
The movie was given a limited release with a number of midnight screenings in small towns across America. The company then turned their attention to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to create a buzz about the film. They encouraged the lucky people who had got the chance to see the film during its limited release to write about it with short reviews and with the majority of them being positive and recommending others to see it, this lead to a larger limited release, mainly focusing on college towns as this was where the majority of their target audience of teenagers would be.When Paramount had become aware of the success of the film in these few towns, they knew they had to get the film out on a larger scale. The website for the film which was promoted all over the internet on the likes of Twitter and its trailer allowed for users to demand the film to be screened in their town with the click of a button. This is very effective as it involves users by giving them the power and making them feel like they are a part of the film and its distribution. Paramount said that if it gained 1 million demands, they would release it nationally. Which it did.
Social networking sites such as Twitter allowed for the film to generate even more publicity and awareness as it was featured in the worldwide trending topics for weeks on end meaning that any of the millions of users on Twitter where aware of its presence. With the trailer for the film, they wanted to create something different - to stand out from the crowd. Rather than having a number of clips and scenes from the film edited nicely in a montage that had the potential to spoil it for viewers, they only included a small number of clips from it whilst showing the reaction of a live viewing audience. By focusing on the reactions of the live audience, this would entice viewers to want to see the film themselves and flood cinemas instantly to gain the same experience. Watch the trailer below:
A poster promoting the film was also put up on billboards and walls across the world. It features a very eerie looking photo from the film that attracts viewers attention as well as a quote saying that it is one of the scariest movies of all time. This was sure to appeal to horror movie fans or people who enjoy being frightened in general as this is exactly what they will want. It features a rhetorical question as well as the message "don't see it alone" in order to involve viewers and make them feel apart of the film. It also directs viewers to the films website where they can demand for it to be screened in their area.
Overall, I feel that the marketing campaign for Paranormal Activity was very successful in advertising the film effectively and generating a huge buzz to entice people to go and see it. The campaign itself is the main reason behind why it gained a significant box office taking of over $193,355,800 from just $15,000.
It was a very low budget film made for just $15,000 so it was massively important for the creators to advertise it as good as they could. As you can guess from the title, it tells the story of a haunted house featuring a number of different paranormal incidents that would leave viewers shocked.
The movie was given a limited release with a number of midnight screenings in small towns across America. The company then turned their attention to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to create a buzz about the film. They encouraged the lucky people who had got the chance to see the film during its limited release to write about it with short reviews and with the majority of them being positive and recommending others to see it, this lead to a larger limited release, mainly focusing on college towns as this was where the majority of their target audience of teenagers would be.When Paramount had become aware of the success of the film in these few towns, they knew they had to get the film out on a larger scale. The website for the film which was promoted all over the internet on the likes of Twitter and its trailer allowed for users to demand the film to be screened in their town with the click of a button. This is very effective as it involves users by giving them the power and making them feel like they are a part of the film and its distribution. Paramount said that if it gained 1 million demands, they would release it nationally. Which it did.
Social networking sites such as Twitter allowed for the film to generate even more publicity and awareness as it was featured in the worldwide trending topics for weeks on end meaning that any of the millions of users on Twitter where aware of its presence. With the trailer for the film, they wanted to create something different - to stand out from the crowd. Rather than having a number of clips and scenes from the film edited nicely in a montage that had the potential to spoil it for viewers, they only included a small number of clips from it whilst showing the reaction of a live viewing audience. By focusing on the reactions of the live audience, this would entice viewers to want to see the film themselves and flood cinemas instantly to gain the same experience. Watch the trailer below:
A poster promoting the film was also put up on billboards and walls across the world. It features a very eerie looking photo from the film that attracts viewers attention as well as a quote saying that it is one of the scariest movies of all time. This was sure to appeal to horror movie fans or people who enjoy being frightened in general as this is exactly what they will want. It features a rhetorical question as well as the message "don't see it alone" in order to involve viewers and make them feel apart of the film. It also directs viewers to the films website where they can demand for it to be screened in their area.
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