Most movies are made to generate enough revenue to cover costs and provide profits. With the exception of experimental projects made for private consumption, movies must make financial sense before being made. The big Hollywood studios and streaming platforms understand the importance of advertising films through several mediums.
Some use traditional approaches, while others explore websites and online gambling platforms like Spin City, for example. These studios sometimes spend more than 50% of the total budget on marketing activities. Hollywood movie ads come in different forms, and you might have interacted with an advertisement without knowing.
Traditional Advertising
For decades, film marketing in Hollywood didn’t change or evolve much. The limited advertising channels meant studios had to get creative or spend extra to get premium slots on traditional channels. Some of these channels include:
- Newspapers;
- Radio;
- Cable TV Advertisements;
- Billboards;
- Posters;
- Human-to-Human Sales, etc.
The major studios took out expensive ad spaces in the most famous newspapers, leading to the advent of entertainment-centered newspapers and magazines. Radios made it easier for actors and actresses to communicate directly with the general populace, a massive innovation for movie marketing. When televisions became a thing, TV stations charged a lot for the highly sought-after premium advertisement slots, and attractive actors and actresses often helped sell the movies on TV.
Alternatively, posters and billboards were perfect for local advertisement and used in conjunction with other mediums. Personal sales on the streets, in front of cinemas, at the mall, and in other hotspots helped studios advertise their films locally to the right audience. More than a decade later, traditional advertising mediums still play a significant role but are used as secondary strategies alongside more exciting and efficient advert mediums.
Digital/Social Media Advertising
The advent of social media and smartphones has made it easier for studios to target key audiences in their campaigns accurately. It’s also straightforward to calculate the efficacy of different marketing campaigns. Some of the most prominent social marketing avenues include:
- Ads on Social Media Apps;
- Podcasts;
- Direct-To-Web Shows;
- Influencers;
- Songs, etc.
Most readers would have encountered at least one advertisement for an upcoming movie or TV show while using social media. These ads are sometimes blatant ads run by studios, but often, these studios work with specific services and influencers to covertly publicize projects without making them look obvious. Social media has democratized Hollywood marketing; in theory, anybody can go “dollar-for-dollar” to advertise their film projects, but the costs are prohibitive.
The new advertisement forms have made it simultaneously easier and harder for studios to reach their target audiences. It’s possible to show your ads to the right audiences, but social media platforms charge incredible sums to offer these services. This means that only projects from massive corporations can afford to spend the fortune required to advertise their projects. The costs of advertising projects have also led to fewer films being released as the massive studios focus their efforts on franchises with a proven record of success.
Gimmick-Driven Advertising
Hollywood is a competitive space, and there are only 52 weekends each year, with less than 10 “primetime” weekends to release movies in the USA. Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving, Labor Day Weekend, and 4th of July Weekend are among the most sought-after release dates for studios and projects. Spending big on traditional and digital advertising might not be enough to differentiate your project from the competition. Marketing teams are forced to run “gimmick-driven” and unorthodox campaigns to leave a lasting impression on the general public.
The most famous example of such in recent years is the Barbenheimer marketing campaign for the Barbie and Oppenheimer movies. These projects were scheduled to be released on the same day, but their plots could not be more different. Both projects leaned into their differences and helped birth a semi-organic campaign that gripped the internet for weeks in 2023.
It’s safe to say that the campaign was a resounding success and set the standard for future “gimmick-driven” advertising campaigns. Studios are often willing to work with different mediums, no matter how wacky it might be. The next few years promise to usher in new and innovative ways to advertise projects.
Top-Notch Film Marketing
Unfortunately, the Hollywood marketing space has made it borderline impossible for independent creators to release “low-budget” projects. It costs more than ever to advertise projects, and the data suggests that it will cost more in the future as fewer people spend less on entertainment due to unsustainable living costs. However, with the right budget and an interesting storyline, any production studio can help you launch the biggest blockbuster movie of the year.