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Movie Marketing Ideas

There are a variety of inventive ways to market a movie in this day and age, especially with audience interactivity via cell phones and social networking pages on the Internet. Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and head of distribution company Magnolia Pictures, posed a problem: How can a major movie studio successfully market a movie without spending $60 million? That means your average studio film loses eight bucks a ticket at the box office to pay for their marketing budget, which consists of television advertisements, billboards and posters all over the country, if not the world.

Many marketing ideas depend on the budget of the film and what the film is about, but with the right, inventive approach, many movies can be marketed on a budget to a wide audience.

  1. Brilliant Cross-Promotion

    • When the "Simpsons Movie" came out, Fox made a deal with 7-Eleven to turn certain stores around the country into Kwik-E-Marts, the convenience store in the "Simpsons" film where Apu worked. People drove hundreds of miles to see these otherwise common convenience stores, promoting the film by spending very little money and without saying the name (though most people got the connection anyway).

    Is it Fake or Real?

    • When "The Blair Witch Project" was about to come out, missing posters with the filmmakers who are in the film were distributed, adding to the mystery and realism that the film itself was a found series of tapes and not a truly scripted film. This bit of marketing worked because of the shroud of mystery surrounding the film in general--and the fact that some people were (and still are) convinced it was real.

    Viral Marketing

    • According to the adamkalsay.com blog, more people watched the "Saturday Night Live" skit "Lazy Sunday" online than watched the show on TV that next week. This proves that viral marketing works wonders. Just taking a movie star or celebrity out of their glossy, fantastical element and putting them in cheaply shot viral videos will spread the word about the film they are promoting as well, if not better, then a movie preview on television. Think about it--when was the last time you saw Brad Pitt in a funny YouTube video? If you did, you'd remember it.

    Audience Grass Roots

    • Allowing the audience to get involved and help market the movie is another great idea. Competitions where people are asked to promote the film in the funniest way, videotape it and post it on the film's website, with a promise to air the best videos on television, is a good idea. This makes your audience pay attention to the movie and spread the word in a unique, grass-roots way. Word will spread from there.

    Free Stuff

    • Everyone loves getting things for free, so any way to partner with a company and give away free merchandise that is usable or can be collected is a good idea. Major movie campaigns often partner with fast-food chains to give away glass and other "shwag" with every meal that is purchased. This forces people to remember it every time they drink out of that promotional glass or wear that T-shirt or throw that Frisbee.

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