| Distributor's Input to the Marketing Plan |
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Page 2 of 3 Here’s what to include – the bare bones minimum. Introduction Write a couple of sentences that state who has contributed to the plan, at what stage, and how reliable the plan’s information is (especially its financials). You won’t always be able to get reliable quotes for all services or know the future cost of media space, so show what’s firm and what’s a best guess. Log line The one-line descriptor of your project. Synopsis Use the short version of your synopsis to write a couple of paragraphs at most. No need to reveal all plot points. Demographics It’s not acceptable to say that everyone will enjoy your movie. Talking realistically about the size of your potential audience shows you are thinking seriously about how your financial partners will recoup their investment. Try to identify just one or two key demos – e.g. Women and Men, 35-49, upscale; and Women, 25-34. Focus on the group(s) most likely to want to see the film, in the largest numbers. Key selling points Identify the handful of reasons that might convince a member of the target demo to plunk down the price of admission. Star casting, hot topic, locations, and source material – these are all examples of hooks that your marketing team can use to build a campaign. Casting information Stars sell tickets. Sort-of-stars do not. Make sure your claims of stardom are justifiable. If you don’t have a star, think about the potential of your sort-of-stars. Do any of them have a major project coming out before you open that will boost their appeal? Advertising plan TV advertising is extraordinarily expensive and only justified if you are planning a semi-wide release. If you expect a limited release, focus instead on newspaper, out-of-home (e.g. transit, billboards) and grassroots activity (e.g. wild posting). Give dollar estimates for your plan, and make sure they jibe with the scope of your release and the pattern. (If you think your film will roll out over six weeks, it’s impractical to spend everything on a Week One television buy.) Tip:For excellent media relations:
Publicity & promotions plan Because advertising is so expensive, smart producers carefully plan the kind of coverage they can get for free. Think of your publicity plan as a cohesive unit, not as fragments: unit, festival, trade and consumer publicity should each have clear goals that interrelate and reinforce each other. Publicity planning is work for professionals. Continued... |
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