Executives need reasons for success or failure. It’s called survival. It’s how you cover your butt. If you can provide a plausible reason for success or failure, then you’ve taken yourself off the firing line.
I’ve often joked about marketing, and the people who market motion pictures. Granted, it’s a tough job, and not for the faint of heart. I guess that’s why we leave the marketing to the experts. Sometimes I’m not sure that’s a good idea because what makes us think the “experts” are so smart?
I remember reading about the late Stanley Kubrick, and how controlling he could be when it came to his films. Kubrick wanted control over every aspect of his films, including the marketing. Not a bad idea, if you ask me. Who better to sell a film than the person who conceived it in the first place?
Still, I’m sure I’d catch a lot of flack from marketing people because they would insist that they — and only they — know best. Of course, these are the same people who are wrong half the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard marketing people take credit for a film’s huge box office. Naturally, it was because of the brilliant marketing campaign. Should the film open to less than spectacular expectations, you can be sure the film makers will be the ones to blame for their unimpressive efforts.
I don’t get it. Marketing promised us a mega blockbuster.
Clearly, I’m no expert in film marketing, and my opinions are just that. Opinions. However, I do know that if people are unaware of a film’s existence, don’t expect them to turn up at the box office. After all, how many times have you talked to someone about a great film you saw only to have the person say they’d never even heard of it? Marketing has to first make people aware of a film. Getting them to actually go see the film is an even tougher challenge.
Some films, and this includes some pretty good ones, have no marketing budget at all. It’s not surprising such a movie would fair poorly at the box office. However, some studios pour millions into their marketing campaigns and sometimes come up with little to show for it. Film marketing is not an exact science, and though studio executives would love it to be so, there really is no way to guarantee results.
Producing an animated feature film is pretty labor intensive, and it’s an arduous process that often takes years. Do some people actually think this all comes down to a marketing campaign? Forgive me if I answer, I don’t think so.
Some truly good motion pictures are allowed to die in release because for one reason or another the studio decided to give up on the film. Others are given a disingenuous marketing blitz that unfortunately totally misrepresents the motion picture. Sometimes, I’m not sure which is worse.
Time to order up that killer marketing campaign.
A solid marketing campaign can help a good film reach unexpected heights. However, a real stinker is not going to be saved by tons of marketing dollars. You can hoodwink the public on opening weekend, but the truth will ultimately catch up with you. However, everyone it seems still wants easy answers.
As an old Disney guy I can remind you of our deep disappointment when “Sleeping Beauty” failed to find an audience back in 1959. However, its failure was not due to a flawed marketing campaign. Nor was “101 Dalmatians” success due to a brilliant marketing strategy. The public will ultimately choose the film they want to see, and if we’re lucky that film will be ours.
For us film makers, our obligation is to produce the best motion picture we can. If we’ve done that — then we’ve done our job. There’s not a lot we can do once our film opens on Friday afternoon — except pray.
Still, producers will continue to speak about better marketing as if that was the answer to all their problems. It isn’t — hasn’t been — and never will be.
Did you enjoy reading Floyd Norman’s thoughts on the perils of movie marketing? Well, this is just one of the hundreds of Hollywood-related tales that this Disney Legend has to share. Many of which you’ll find collected in the three books Floyd currently has the market. Each of which take an affectionate look back at all the years that Mr. Norman has spent working in the entertainment industry.
These include Floyd’s original collection of cartoons and stories — “Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation” (which is available for sale over at John Cawley’s cataroo.com) as well as two follow-ups to that book, “Son of Faster, Cheaper” & “How the Grinch Stole Disney.” Which you can purchase by heading over to Afrokids.com.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to check out Mr. Fun’s Blog. Which is where Mr. Norman postings his musings when he’s not writing for JHM.