Movie Marketing 2.0

Every week, I try jousting at windmills to let my readers have a peek at the forces and dynamics shaping the business of motion picture exhibition. While I know that for many reading these weekly meanderings, they may seem dark at times; that is not the case nor the intent. I sincerely believe in movies; I deeply believe in moviegoing. Movies have contributed much enjoyment and diversion to my existence, and I make my living through the movies.

?The movie business will change, and frankly, change for the better. There is about to be a decentralization of the movies. While digital technology would have liberated movie theaters first, in a global sense, it liberated the production of motion pictures. Now, for less than $10,000, budding filmmakers can equip themselves with the gear necessary to produce a feature-length movie. Many are doing it, but only a few are successful. There is a ton of self-indulgent dreck being produced, movies that really have no place in the world of commercial exploitation. But five percent of these efforts are incubating the next Tarantino, Coppola, or Rodriquez. These filmmakers can tell dynamic stories that engage global audiences, whether learned or innate.

Here is a statistic provided by the Harvard Kennedy School of Public Policy which states categorically that the audience for independent feature length movies is drastically underserved by almost 50%. Moviegoers have an appetite for independent feature length movies that is far from being met. This has to change.

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Today, the tendency is to get these movies onto a streaming platform as soon as possible. A small but tepid PR campaign would be launched. The movies would make minor waves for a week, but then sink slowly into the morass of digital confusion that most streaming services are managing. Now most filmmakers are film festival junkies and will crow about winning an award at some obscure festival. It doesn't mean anything. Only a few festivals do anything for you; Cannes, Toronto, Venice, Berlin, and Sundance (diminishing, though). Whether the movies are sci-fi or horror, Fantasia Festival in Montreal or Sitges in Spain. That's it. There are 12,000 film festivals in the world today.

At one time, I would seek out various reviewers I was aware of to help shape my moviegoing. I knew if Roger Ebert liked something, then there was a high probability that I would like it as well, but to be frank, a couple of times, I thought he was off his mark, but we are all just human, even Roger. If Rex Reed hated a movie, I would run to see it….if he disliked it, it had to be good. With the demise of newspaper-based journalism and the rise of hordes of cinematic pundits, relevant criticism has become lost in a sea of malice, pettiness, and sociopathology. Great critics are out there, but they have faded from the mainstream in social media and the internet. Maybe only AO Scott and Todd McCarthy stand out today. The golden age of film criticism, when Richard Schickel, Pauline Kael, Andrew Sarris, and Roger Ebert held sway, is long over.

?Now, here is the thing: you can make a good movie, but if you are not aware of your audience and do not have a defined way of reaching that audience, you have a problem. Most exhibitors feel that you need a national campaign to get any traction. That’s not really true. What you need is 1. An awareness of who your movie appeals to 2. Where are these folks located 3. How is it best to reach these people? If you can answer these questions effectively, you can start a plan.

?As an example, I believe that there is a profound lack of movies that appeal to the young adult/Gen Z market. When I was of that age, the majority of movie marketing was targeted at that age group. The launch of the comedy Porky's used a ton of campus radio stations and campus newspapers. The movie was released and was made successful by a campus-based audience that craved ribald humor.

?Hollywood and the studios have a stale reputation with young adults. The culture emanating from Hollywood seems pathetic and false to most of them. A major factor in marketing to a younger crowd is authenticity—the simple ability to be authentic. There are voices out there who the youth of today do listen to; these voices are called influencers.

Yes, anyone with an opinion and a webcam can become a social media influencer. But similarly to the rise of hordes of filmmakers, the cream is rising to the top. The best breed, some things have millions of followers. It is a YouTube phenomenon with 37 million verified subscribers and takes home anywhere from $187,000 to $600,000 a month. Mr. Beast (not his real name) has a subscriber base of 325 million subscribers with an estimated revenue base of up to $8.7 million monthly. Other influencers may have only?10,000 subscribers, but their time to their base is perceived to be much more authentic, and they have a deeper relationship with their base.

?A strategic alliance with influencers can target youth demographics and provide the inertia needed to bring a movie to market. It is the present-day equivalent of engaging with campus radio. There is a service called SIDEQIK that I have used and am a big fan of,?www.sideqik.com. This platform has a registered base of 90 million social media influencers and can provide you, as a movie marketer, with an authenticity rating to target your market precisely. It can also assess local-based influencers and allow theaters to reach out to the cloud, bringing audiences in.?According to Lou Schwartz, President of Sideqik, "Partnering with influencers is no longer just a trend; it's an essential strategy for engaging today's youth and amplifying a movie's reach.? As traditional advertising methods lose their effectiveness, marketers are increasingly recognizing the power of influencers to create genuine connections with targeted audiences.? Sideqik’s network of over 90 million influencers, offers a platform for marketers to tap into these authentic relationships. By leveraging influencer partnerships, marketers can target specific demographics and engage audiences in a more personalized manner. Influencers are often seen as trusted voices and offer deeper connections through relatable content, drawing in viewers who are more likely to engage with a movie. This strategy not only broadens a movie's visibility but also cultivates a sense of community around it.”

By the way moviegoers state that the biggest influence on their moviegoing is social media.?

Prints and Advertising is dead, long live influencer marketing . An alliance of social media influencers can provide movies with marketing tools to rebuild the youth audience. Couple this with Snapchat and TikTok, and it becomes a marketing one-two punch that helps fill auditoriums.

?It's here, and it's also the future.