As marketers face budget cuts across the industry, finding ways to do more with less has become a common ask. For the film industry, which has faced writers' strikes and disruption from streaming services, as well as widespread economic strain and covid-recovery. A hostile environment which has created constraints which have forced marketers to be even more creative.

Speaking at Focus, Mounia Wissinger, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Publicity at Protagonist Pictures and Karina Gechtman, Vice President, International Marketing and Publicity at Anton sat down with Nicola Kemp, Editorial Director at Creativebrief to discuss how to make an impact in today’s crowded market, by utilising new marketing approaches and platforms to better reach audiences.

Doing things differently

Film marketing encompasses far more than just posters and trailers. Wissinger and Gechtman are tasked with giving the film the best chance it has at success and this means understanding a project, working on it for a long time and knowing the audience it is intended for. In a post-Covid world cinema and film distribution have been changed by digitalisation beyond recognition. Opportunities have been created but marketers need to be smart and strategic. “There is no shame in telling people that you don’t have budget,” says Wissinger, urging the audience to consider reallocating funds in smarter ways.

While it is easy to look at a film like Wicked and attribute its success to its undeniably large investment, Wissinger shares that it is still no easy sell-in. Musicals are not ‘straight forward hits’ and beyond budget, Wicked has been a masterclass in creating moments of culture. Gechtman urges marketers to look for hooks and moments of connection. “Consider the audience and be more strategic,” she says.

By thinking about ‘who are we talking to and what are we trying to achieve’, campaigns can be built around reaching an audience.

Understanding audiences

Thinking audience first from a script stage, Gechtman shares that if the answer to the question ‘Who is this for?’ is ‘everyone’, then this is a red flag. It is her job to find the answer to this question and build from there.

To ensure that audiences can be represented, having diverse teams working on projects is essential. As well as hiring from diverse backgrounds, Gechtman shares the importance of having a team made up of people with different interests and points of view. In this respect, within her team, hierarchy is not important. “Films targeted at young people need young voices,” she says. She champions leaving ego at the door and being open to the fact that the best idea can come from anywhere. 

In an algorithm world, the industry is often guilty of stereotyping audiences. Serving them up ‘content’ based on their history. With studios tight with budget this can often mean that investment is pumped into ‘risk averse projects’ and ‘safe IPs’ like spin-offs or sequels. Yet, Wissinger stresses that audiences are complex and it is near impossible to find a 100% safe bet.

“Audiences prove us wrong all the time,” says Gechtman. One person might enjoy a rom-com one night and a horror film the next. With more resources for content discovery online, via reviews or the likes of Letterbox, modern audiences are watching more than ever and cannot be pigeon holed. “The best we can do is listen, learn and accept to be proven wrong,” adds Wissinger.

In this tech-driven, landscape ‘content’ has become king. Yet ‘content’ is a word met with disdain for many in the film industry. Wissinger shares her distinction that ‘content can be churned’, maintaining that  “good films change your mind, change your life, no one says that about content.”

Test and learn

When doing more than less, the pair encourage a test-and-learn approach. Think about the different marketing tools that are available to try out what works and then invest in the ones that are garnering success.

With audiences more connected than ever via social media, Gechtman urges film marketers to be open to its uses. A film she has recently been working on made use of influencer marketing by having an influencer as an extra. While this is not for everyone, and reliant on being aligned with a director and their views, there are more simple ways to utilise social media. For example, the opportunity to get behind-the-scenes footage comes and goes, Gechtman urges people to find and create moments that can be maximised on later.

The pair champion a test and learn mindset, and share that bringing people in can also help in this approach. Sharing Executive Producer (EP) credits with actors might mean that they are more understanding if the budget doesn’t stretch to first class. Testing what works and being smart about where to invest next has made film marketing an agile game. But remember to be smart about what you test. A film that goes down well with friends and family is never guaranteed success.