Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of production in the media are you have studied.
Considering that Ex Machina was an indie film with a very small budget, DNA films had to plan their marketing effectively. They chose to use below the line viral marketing which could be accessed by the public through digital technologies. It was both cheap and original, which cold be successful as it is a refreshment from traditional marketing campaigns. It was a very successful example of viral marketing. DNA films advertised their film Ex Machina on the social media app Tinder. Their chosen media tells us something about their target audience regarding the four quadrant. DNA films used the excessive number of people using the Tinder app and its geographic proximity features to their advantage. The location of this public stunt was perfect, they had chosen to perform this marketing miracle at the Southwest festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas where the film was due to premiere. They used the location and Tinder's geographic proximity features to their advantage as they captured their perfect target audience, people who are interested in the film and who have come to witness the premiere. They incorporated the theme and positioned the film, which is about the Turing Test, perfectly. After they performed the Turing Test on some of the film premier attendees, the people managing the tinder account would divert them to their Instagram page which was their promotional site for their film Ex Machina. Instagram is another hugely popular social media, recent study found that over 400 million people were currently using the site in September 2015. By choosing to use this digital technology for marketing and the huge amount of people that are active, implies that more people could become attracted and interested in the product, so would want to consume the product. The innovative and brilliant marketing of Ex Machina also lead to a huge amount of press interest. Due to the role that digital technologies played in the unique Tinder marketing scheme, the word spread fast as it was open to such a huge audience. Very quickly, DNA films was getting recognition for their media product and were being requested for TV and written interviews from cast and crew. Many of these interviews were then uploaded onto Youtube which is also a huge social media platform with over 8 billion users all over the world. It can be consumed in any way using digital technologies and can be accessed all over the world. This will effectively awareness for the release of the film. Following from the Tinder stunt, Ex Machina also created a website where they would release update about the film and trailers. The website is very simplistic with minimal writing and graphics. However, anyone with a digital device had access to this website as it was the second or third result when searched for on the internet.
The fact that Star Wars: Force Awakens is the seventh film in a film franchise which has had a huge impact on the film industry as it was based on an original trilogy suggests that just the name of the film will draw an audience to film. Over the years the Star Wars fanbase has grown and grown and now consists of all age groups in the 4 quadrants. Therefore, they had to use a method that captivated and appealed to a mixture of people. Similar to DNA films, Disney had a huge focus on below the line marketing viral marketing on social media sites. Due to the fact that such a huge percentage of the population use digital technologies to access social media, it played an important role in Disney's campaign to market Star Wars. Not only did they have official social media profiles but the actors and actresses were also advertising the film on their social media accounts which was available for over 5.9 million people to view. Star Wars has also created an official website where they continued to used it as a platform to post regular updates and advertise other marketing campaigns that were being released. At the top of the web page they also include links to their official social media sites. This highlights the importance of digital technologies in the marketing for Star Wars: Force Awakens as it ensured that a larger audience were able to access it due to the internet via digital devices. Another crucial part of the Star Wars marketing campaign was the TV and online interviews. The huge coverage over TV particularly in America would really help to market the film to all audience demographics as so many people could access them through digital technologies. Not only was there a huge audience viewing the interviews as they were live but many of the interviews were uploaded onto the social media site Youtube which has over 8 billion users. The TV interviews that were uploaded to Youtube and were received millions of views which demonstrates the success of the marketing. This highlights the major role that digital technologies payed in the marketing campaign as so many people were able to access the interviews.
As well as using viral marketing, Ex Machina used some above the line marketing methods which are more traditionally seen in film marketing. Although this was not the highlight of their marketing campaign, DNA films did release a film poster on the 29th October 2015 which included their tag-line. However this was not quite as publicly recognised as the viral marketing. This could be because there was a lack of digital technologies used in the distribution and purchasing of the marketing products and therefore highlighting the importance of digital devices when accessing a media products marketing and merchandise.
Regarding blockbuster films, similar to Star Wars: Force Awakens, have stuck to more traditional methods of marketing. They have resisted completely altering their methods to fully conform to fit with the interests of their often younger generation of the four quadrant and digital audience. Star Wars: Force Awakens still wants to continue to facilitate for their old fan base to ensure that the marketing will reach everyone with an interest in the trilogy. Although digital technologies widen their audience by numbers, it may not reach everyone in the world as not everyone has access to the internet. An example of this is the Star Wars poster. During a fan convention Disney released a film poster in August 2015 which was designed by Drew Struzan who also designed the posters for the other Star Wars films that featured Luke Skywalker. This is an example that digital technologies are not always essential for a films marketing as they are not needed for the selling and purchasing of the films posters. However, once the posters were released photos of the products were being spread over social media which was reaching the digital audience. In that sense, digital technologies did contribute to the success of the film poster - a traditional marketing technique - but was not essential. Another example from the marketing campaign that was not greatly influenced by the use of digital devises was merchandise and tie-ins. On the grounds that Star Wars: Force Awakens was a blockbuster film and had a big budget, they were able to invest a lot of money into their merchandise for the film. Disney did several collaborations with companies such as Covergirl (makeup brand), Hot Wheels, Tesco and Duracell Batteries to market their product. This stratergy of marketing did not require digital technologist be viewed by the public yet was still a massive success in effectively raising awareness for the film. Same applied to the official star wars merchandise that was sold in the Disney store before the release of the film. Therefore it could be argued that the audience would still consume the marketing towards the film with digital technologies playing a minor role. On the other hand, people could still claim that digital devices are needed even in the release of merchandise in order for people to here about them. With out digital technologies, if you did not live near a location that was selling the official star Wars merchandise, then you would not be aware of the product.
Digital technologies also play a major role in the consumption of a media products as people use them as a method of viewing the film. Ex Machina was released in the UK on 1st June 2015, along with Blu-ray. It was also available on digital download as early as the 18th May 2015, which was the first opportunity to catch the film following its box office run. This appealed to many of the male and female audience aged under 25 in these two quadrants of the four. They would be able to access the film from the iTunes store on their preferred digital device. Returning back to the fact that Ex Machina was a low budget film, DNA films would have struggled to get screenings on a wide spread of cinemas across the world. When the film was released on the 23rd January 2015 in the UK and 10th April 2015 in the US, this resulted in a lot of people being unable to consume the product in the cinema. At peak time, the film only screened in 2,004 screens in America out of a total of 39,356. This meant that a lot of the audience was unable to consume the film as it was not being screened in any of the cinemas that they had access to. In retaliation to this problem, a lot of the audience illegally downloaded the film in order to engage with it. Due to the fact that the product was being downloaded illegally, it means that the film did not make as much money as it should have done, Piracy was the main reason for the film not being a complete success. This illuminates the fact that digital technologies had a large negative impact in the consumption of Ex Machina as they contributed to the consumption of the product illegally.
Although digital technologies have been proven to play a major role in the marketing and consumption of a film product, it can also reflect a negative impact on the institutions. Whenever a film is released the audience have a choice where they can decide to engage with the media product in the cinema, purchase it on DVD or Bluray, download it legally (from iTunes) or illegally download it from a piracy site. People see illegally downloading a film as the easier option as it is free, you can watch it in the comfort of your own home and all you have to do is google the film you are looking for. The piracy problem has been becoming a much bigger problem in recent years purely because people aren't aware of the implications it has on film institutions. Films are usually 'leaked' through recordings of films from the cinema, or even in special screenings at premieres. Theses usually result in a total 19% decrease in how much the film makes in the Box Office. This means that the studios are making much smaller amounts of money than they should be making from their films due to piracy.
The one major contrast between the consumption of Ex Machina and Star Wars; Force Awakens was the budget. Due to the big budget of $306 million, Disney could afford to screen the film in 4,134 cinema screens in the opening weekend across the America and in a total of 937 IMAX screens across the world. This resulted in the film being available to so many more people. Incidentally, Star Wars had a lot less pirating issues that would damaged the films profit. The film would still have been slightly effected by pirating but because of the success in all the other methods of consumption, it didn't have a huge effect on the overall profit. This again highlights that digital technologies an have a negative impact as it creates the accessibility to pirating sites. Star Wars: Force Awakens was available download from iTunes and other sites which was accessible through digital technologies. This widened the availability of the film to even more audiences.
When I consumed the marketing for Star Wars: Force awakens, it was predominantly on social media. Due to the fact that I am in the under 25 female group of the four quadrant, this method of consumption appealed to me the most. I regularly came across the teaser trailer and full length trailers on the social media site, Facebook. This is where I witnessed most of the Star Wars marketing. I was able to access this through digital technologies which highlights the viability it brings the younger groups of the four quadrant. I did not come across and Ex Machina marketing. However digital devices would make it incredibly easy to search for it on the internet and it will bring up a selection of results on the search engine Google, such as there official website which include their social media links.
In conclusion, digital technologies have a major role in the marketing and consumption of the media products because they effectively widen the availability of the film to a bigger audience. With out it, the final product would not be as successful as no one would be aware of it's release. There are methods of marketing that do not involve digital technologies however in order for these methods to succeed the availability needs to be expanded to the audience through digital technologies.
The two media areas that I will be referring to is Star Wars: Force Awakens and Ex Machina. Star Wars is a part of a well known and incredibly popular film franchise. It is a huge mainstream film which is a huge contrast with Ex Machina - a niche film. Due to the opposing popularity of the two films, they both had very different marketing campaigns. Both films used digital technologies in their marketing campaigns. This played a crucial role in the consumption and successes of the films. In the 21st century digital technologies have become such an essential part of our lifestyles therefore it is no surprise that it has impacted on the film industry. Digital technologies effectively create awareness for the release of new film products due to the fact that so much of the population use some sort of digital device.
Considering that Ex Machina was an indie film with a very small budget, DNA films had to plan their marketing effectively. They chose to use below the line viral marketing which could be accessed by the public through digital technologies. It was both cheap and original, which cold be successful as it is a refreshment from traditional marketing campaigns. It was a very successful example of viral marketing. DNA films advertised their film Ex Machina on the social media app Tinder. Their chosen media tells us something about their target audience regarding the four quadrant. DNA films used the excessive number of people using the Tinder app and its geographic proximity features to their advantage. The location of this public stunt was perfect, they had chosen to perform this marketing miracle at the Southwest festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas where the film was due to premiere. They used the location and Tinder's geographic proximity features to their advantage as they captured their perfect target audience, people who are interested in the film and who have come to witness the premiere. They incorporated the theme and positioned the film, which is about the Turing Test, perfectly. After they performed the Turing Test on some of the film premier attendees, the people managing the tinder account would divert them to their Instagram page which was their promotional site for their film Ex Machina. Instagram is another hugely popular social media, recent study found that over 400 million people were currently using the site in September 2015. By choosing to use this digital technology for marketing and the huge amount of people that are active, implies that more people could become attracted and interested in the product, so would want to consume the product. The innovative and brilliant marketing of Ex Machina also lead to a huge amount of press interest. Due to the role that digital technologies played in the unique Tinder marketing scheme, the word spread fast as it was open to such a huge audience. Very quickly, DNA films was getting recognition for their media product and were being requested for TV and written interviews from cast and crew. Many of these interviews were then uploaded onto Youtube which is also a huge social media platform with over 8 billion users all over the world. It can be consumed in any way using digital technologies and can be accessed all over the world. This will effectively awareness for the release of the film. Following from the Tinder stunt, Ex Machina also created a website where they would release update about the film and trailers. The website is very simplistic with minimal writing and graphics. However, anyone with a digital device had access to this website as it was the second or third result when searched for on the internet.
The fact that Star Wars: Force Awakens is the seventh film in a film franchise which has had a huge impact on the film industry as it was based on an original trilogy suggests that just the name of the film will draw an audience to film. Over the years the Star Wars fanbase has grown and grown and now consists of all age groups in the 4 quadrants. Therefore, they had to use a method that captivated and appealed to a mixture of people. Similar to DNA films, Disney had a huge focus on below the line marketing viral marketing on social media sites. Due to the fact that such a huge percentage of the population use digital technologies to access social media, it played an important role in Disney's campaign to market Star Wars. Not only did they have official social media profiles but the actors and actresses were also advertising the film on their social media accounts which was available for over 5.9 million people to view. Star Wars has also created an official website where they continued to used it as a platform to post regular updates and advertise other marketing campaigns that were being released. At the top of the web page they also include links to their official social media sites. This highlights the importance of digital technologies in the marketing for Star Wars: Force Awakens as it ensured that a larger audience were able to access it due to the internet via digital devices. Another crucial part of the Star Wars marketing campaign was the TV and online interviews. The huge coverage over TV particularly in America would really help to market the film to all audience demographics as so many people could access them through digital technologies. Not only was there a huge audience viewing the interviews as they were live but many of the interviews were uploaded onto the social media site Youtube which has over 8 billion users. The TV interviews that were uploaded to Youtube and were received millions of views which demonstrates the success of the marketing. This highlights the major role that digital technologies payed in the marketing campaign as so many people were able to access the interviews.
As well as using viral marketing, Ex Machina used some above the line marketing methods which are more traditionally seen in film marketing. Although this was not the highlight of their marketing campaign, DNA films did release a film poster on the 29th October 2015 which included their tag-line. However this was not quite as publicly recognised as the viral marketing. This could be because there was a lack of digital technologies used in the distribution and purchasing of the marketing products and therefore highlighting the importance of digital devices when accessing a media products marketing and merchandise.
Regarding blockbuster films, similar to Star Wars: Force Awakens, have stuck to more traditional methods of marketing. They have resisted completely altering their methods to fully conform to fit with the interests of their often younger generation of the four quadrant and digital audience. Star Wars: Force Awakens still wants to continue to facilitate for their old fan base to ensure that the marketing will reach everyone with an interest in the trilogy. Although digital technologies widen their audience by numbers, it may not reach everyone in the world as not everyone has access to the internet. An example of this is the Star Wars poster. During a fan convention Disney released a film poster in August 2015 which was designed by Drew Struzan who also designed the posters for the other Star Wars films that featured Luke Skywalker. This is an example that digital technologies are not always essential for a films marketing as they are not needed for the selling and purchasing of the films posters. However, once the posters were released photos of the products were being spread over social media which was reaching the digital audience. In that sense, digital technologies did contribute to the success of the film poster - a traditional marketing technique - but was not essential. Another example from the marketing campaign that was not greatly influenced by the use of digital devises was merchandise and tie-ins. On the grounds that Star Wars: Force Awakens was a blockbuster film and had a big budget, they were able to invest a lot of money into their merchandise for the film. Disney did several collaborations with companies such as Covergirl (makeup brand), Hot Wheels, Tesco and Duracell Batteries to market their product. This stratergy of marketing did not require digital technologist be viewed by the public yet was still a massive success in effectively raising awareness for the film. Same applied to the official star wars merchandise that was sold in the Disney store before the release of the film. Therefore it could be argued that the audience would still consume the marketing towards the film with digital technologies playing a minor role. On the other hand, people could still claim that digital devices are needed even in the release of merchandise in order for people to here about them. With out digital technologies, if you did not live near a location that was selling the official star Wars merchandise, then you would not be aware of the product.
Digital technologies also play a major role in the consumption of a media products as people use them as a method of viewing the film. Ex Machina was released in the UK on 1st June 2015, along with Blu-ray. It was also available on digital download as early as the 18th May 2015, which was the first opportunity to catch the film following its box office run. This appealed to many of the male and female audience aged under 25 in these two quadrants of the four. They would be able to access the film from the iTunes store on their preferred digital device. Returning back to the fact that Ex Machina was a low budget film, DNA films would have struggled to get screenings on a wide spread of cinemas across the world. When the film was released on the 23rd January 2015 in the UK and 10th April 2015 in the US, this resulted in a lot of people being unable to consume the product in the cinema. At peak time, the film only screened in 2,004 screens in America out of a total of 39,356. This meant that a lot of the audience was unable to consume the film as it was not being screened in any of the cinemas that they had access to. In retaliation to this problem, a lot of the audience illegally downloaded the film in order to engage with it. Due to the fact that the product was being downloaded illegally, it means that the film did not make as much money as it should have done, Piracy was the main reason for the film not being a complete success. This illuminates the fact that digital technologies had a large negative impact in the consumption of Ex Machina as they contributed to the consumption of the product illegally.
Although digital technologies have been proven to play a major role in the marketing and consumption of a film product, it can also reflect a negative impact on the institutions. Whenever a film is released the audience have a choice where they can decide to engage with the media product in the cinema, purchase it on DVD or Bluray, download it legally (from iTunes) or illegally download it from a piracy site. People see illegally downloading a film as the easier option as it is free, you can watch it in the comfort of your own home and all you have to do is google the film you are looking for. The piracy problem has been becoming a much bigger problem in recent years purely because people aren't aware of the implications it has on film institutions. Films are usually 'leaked' through recordings of films from the cinema, or even in special screenings at premieres. Theses usually result in a total 19% decrease in how much the film makes in the Box Office. This means that the studios are making much smaller amounts of money than they should be making from their films due to piracy.
The one major contrast between the consumption of Ex Machina and Star Wars; Force Awakens was the budget. Due to the big budget of $306 million, Disney could afford to screen the film in 4,134 cinema screens in the opening weekend across the America and in a total of 937 IMAX screens across the world. This resulted in the film being available to so many more people. Incidentally, Star Wars had a lot less pirating issues that would damaged the films profit. The film would still have been slightly effected by pirating but because of the success in all the other methods of consumption, it didn't have a huge effect on the overall profit. This again highlights that digital technologies an have a negative impact as it creates the accessibility to pirating sites. Star Wars: Force Awakens was available download from iTunes and other sites which was accessible through digital technologies. This widened the availability of the film to even more audiences.
When I consumed the marketing for Star Wars: Force awakens, it was predominantly on social media. Due to the fact that I am in the under 25 female group of the four quadrant, this method of consumption appealed to me the most. I regularly came across the teaser trailer and full length trailers on the social media site, Facebook. This is where I witnessed most of the Star Wars marketing. I was able to access this through digital technologies which highlights the viability it brings the younger groups of the four quadrant. I did not come across and Ex Machina marketing. However digital devices would make it incredibly easy to search for it on the internet and it will bring up a selection of results on the search engine Google, such as there official website which include their social media links.
In conclusion, digital technologies have a major role in the marketing and consumption of the media products because they effectively widen the availability of the film to a bigger audience. With out it, the final product would not be as successful as no one would be aware of it's release. There are methods of marketing that do not involve digital technologies however in order for these methods to succeed the availability needs to be expanded to the audience through digital technologies.
No comments:
Post a Comment