How Movie Marketing Works

The trailer is often the first chance to promote a movie and can start up to a year before releasing a major studio movie.

Then the movie studio will unveil an official Web site for the film, where visitors can view several versions of the trailer, watch behind-the-scenes interviews, download cell-phone ringtones and desktop wallpaper, and play games.

• Closer to the release date, movie marketers try to get favourable coverage in newspapers, magazines and TV shows.
• At the main movie publicity - or press junket - journalists, entertainment reporters and movie critics are flown to a unique location for interviews with the stars and creators.
• A few weeks before the movie opens, a publicity blitz is rolled out. The public is bombarded with so many images and promotions that the movie can't go unnoticed.
• A final strategy is a publicity stunt, where someone does something spectacular to draw attention to the movie.

• Every movie is a unique product with its own potential. Just because one film was a hit doesn't mean the next one will be.
• Movie marketers try to deal with this risk by heavily promoting expensive films, which significantly increases the expenses.
• Movies are also marketed to the widest audience. The lack of focus means millions of dollars are lost on the wrong audience.
• Moviegoers are quick to recognize a publicity blitz and are becoming less susceptible to advertising campaigns.