75 / 108
Ryan Davis, a principal at Smarthouse Creative who promotes
the work of her entertainment-industry clients. “They can also
be badges of honor, proving you were among the select few at
a premiere.”
Promotional products can also stand in as thank-yous for
production crews and others who helped out on the project.
“A lot of times, if it’s a crew thank-you, I encourage choos-
ing something that will make their job on set a little easier, like
a bag that they can use to tote stuff around,” says Tamaryn
Tobian, owner, publicist and strategist for Spectacle Creative
Media. “And I like to give these things at the beginning of the
shoot, if possible.”
While it seems like marketing and advertising a film is a
concern best addressed post-production, the sooner marketing
plans are made the better. “Planning ahead allows you to take
advantage of sales and volume price breaks,” Tobian says.
“Rush orders always cost more. Know how you’ll use extra
quantities—there is
always
a way to use extra quantities.”
Tobian often uses posters, flyers, t-shirts, buttons, magnets,
reusable bags, hats and more in the promotions she creates for
clients in the entertainment industry. She’s used these items as
crowd-funding perks and as prizes in social media contests.
“If you have a larger budget, you might want to think
about making many smaller runs so you have ‘limited edition’
items to play with,” she suggests. She also keeps costs in
check by reducing the sizes, cuts and colors of items such as
t-shirts. “Many women can wear a smaller-sized men’s shirt,”
she says.
One last tip for promotions on a budget: limit your target
audience. “Many filmmakers think their film would appeal to
everyone, which it might, but you can’t market to everyone—
you have to find your niche,” Davis advises. She says online
advertising tools and A/B testing, which tests different versions
of a campaign to see which is more effective, can help deter-
mine where to focus.
If clients want to aim at a larger audience, Davis recommends
creating movements with hashtags that tie into the film. “They
can be something fun like #myroadtrip, or more advocacy based
like #savethewhales,” she says. “Marketing teams need to be
savvy and ride cultural tides whenever possible.”
APRIL 2015 •
PPB
• 73
Marketers mailed plush foxtail ties to journalists in advance
of the 2009 film
Fantastic Mr. Fox
, which depicted a farmer
shooting off a fox’s tail and wearing it as a necktie.
Blankets bound with logoed leather bridles promoted the
1998 film
The Horse Whisperer
. Distribution included TV
commercials, print ads and radio phone-in giveaways.
Winner
of a PPAI Pyramid Award.
Journalists received 10-inch plush “Puffy” the dog toys tout-
ing the 1998 movie
There’s Something About Mary
. Each pet
was bandaged to resemble the dog in the film and arrived
sporting an aluminum dog tag.
Winner of a PPAI Pyramid
Award.
TAKE YOUR CUE FROM
Star-Quality Film Promotions
LIKE THESE
Six months before the premiere, timers were sent to members
of the media to build anticipation for the 1996 summer
blockbuster
Independence Day
. The black boxes counted down
the minutes to the invasion of Earth. Follow-up sand sculp-
tures were sent two months later showing the Earth disinte-
grating into a dust cloud.
Winner of a PPAI Pyramid Award.
Makers of the 2013 Superman movie
Man of Steel
gave out
custom travel bags logoed with “C. Kent” to build excitement
for the film. Bags contained capes, caps, t-shirts, action fig-
ures, plush toys and a LEGO® set.
The 2015 Oscar Award-winning film
Birdman
was pro-
moted using a custom talking action figure with nine
pre-programmed phrases from the film. The action fig-
ure was mailed to members of the media and also raf-
fled off to fans through the film’s website.
PHOTO COURTESY OF FOX
SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES