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1.

Introduction
Event (a series of events): screening of a hypothetical animation film at hypothetical venues with an in-store game to earn discounts and free tickets Details about the film: title: 'Little Pirates of the Seven Seas' genre: animation / adventure / comedy synopsis: Three little boys find Captain Jack Sparrow's secret maps and compass. They set off on a journey through the Seven Seas in search for a hidden treasure. Will Captain Sparrow join them in the adventure? BBFC rating: U suitable for all (4+) target audience: families with children; 4-84. The events are aiming to attract families (25+ parents and 13- children) that are fans of the Pirates series and/or generally like games and adventure. It will also target fans of animation films that don't usually go to shopping malls, attracting them with a game and free tickets.

2. Product / event description


A series of similar local events at shopping malls with their own cinemas. These will be the main event before the first screening of the film for the cities in question (but not the first screening ever of the film). One of the shopping malls let's call it 'City Mall' is home of the cinema ('Lucky Cinema') where the screening will take place. Most events will follow the same basic scheme. The one at City Mall is used in this presentation as an example. City Mall is also home of 'Entertainment Land' an entertainment store selling books, music, films and video games which is a main partner in the promotion. Partners: The distribution company for the film let's call it 'Animation Films UK' City Mall chain Lucky Cinema chain Entertainment Land chain

Description of the event: The first screening of 'Little Pirates of the Seven Seas' in City Mall will be on a Saturday, at 11 am. Thirty minutes before that, the game would be announced. Rules of the game: At 10:30, the start is announced in the Entertainment Land caf. Every family that showed up on time will be given an initial discount towards the price of a family ticket. Then the host will announce the rules: There are 70 hidden vouchers amongst the products in
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Entertainment Land, each of them earning a certain discount towards the price of a family ticket. Up to 10 families can take part. Each family plays together as a team searching for vouchers. When a team finds 7 vouchers, they win a free family ticket. If they find less vouchers they get a smaller discount. All vouchers will also include membership discount cards for Lucky Cinema and Entertainment Land (valid for the next three months) There is also a 'hidden treasure' whoever finds it, wins the big prize an invitation for a special 'Meet the actors' event for the whole family, which happens after the screening. At 11:00 the end of the game is announced and the screening starts. The teams that found discount vouchers or won free tickets receive their discounts. Also, if someone has found the big prize, it is announced which family will get to meet the actors (who will be there anyway for interviews with the press). The actors involved would be the British actors playing major roles in the film not the full crew of big stars, but there would be 1-2 popular names.

3. Objectives of the marketed event:


create buzz for the film in local communities to support further screenings increase traffic in Entertainment Land and Lucky Cinema in the early Saturday hours; attract new clients that have a voucher to redeem from the games create a positive brand association for each of the partners with emphasize on the 'playful' and 'happy' side create a sense of community and give something in exchange the gift of a free screening for 10 families attract new playful, positive and game-loving clients for the partners and develop a relationship with them attract loyal fans of the Pirates story this time, for an animation film

4. Marketing strategy:
Since this would be a film that is advertised heavily anyway, a small portion of the UK budget for local distribution can be spent towards customizing the marketing materials with information about the local events. This includes: Traditional marketing channels: Film posters in the cinema and mall premises: stickers in the shape and style of maps that add the location-specific information for the relevant event Audio clips in the mall radio system: the last 10 seconds of the film announcement Trailers of the film before other screenings the last 5 seconds of the trailer (audio and visual stills, consistent with the posters) Outdoor advertising in the city (bus stops, buses, billboards) map stickers Ambient / guerilla advertising on the day of the event(s), staff members from the store/cinema are dressed as pirates, holding maps and looking as if they are searching for something Ambient advertising stickers around the mall and close to the store in the shape and colour of the maps and giving directions to 'Find the hidden treasure' Press release focusing on the family game and opportunity for a free screening
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(and the actors part) just mentioning the film title for a chance of free coverage in the 'What to do this weekend in City X' or 'Gossip' sections of local media PR / media coverage: a local family meeting the actors; a chance for local families to play together and enjoy a free film screening; interviews with the actors and lucky families

Internet / Social media: Facebook events advertised on the UK Facebook pages of the film, malls, cinemas and entertainment stores, encouraging people to post on their walls updates about the events mention in the malls', cinemas' and stores' email newsletters targeted Facebook ads based on the users' locations and activities (eg. if someone mentions Jack Sparrow, pirates, 'film', 'movie', 'cinema', 'free', 'tickets', 'bored', 'the kids', 'animation', 'adventure', etc. relevant keywords) Google Maps pinpoints and targeted AdSence ads based on the users' location, search terms and search results.

Main messages of the location-specific materials: Join us in a fun game and win free tickets for your family! / Find the hidden treasure in Entertainment Land! Preparation / production process: In order to keep expenses low, announcements about the local events will only be added to existing advertising materials. The stickers will be designed in bulk along with the main posters, billboards, etc. they will follow the same basic design, only the dates and location-specific details will be different. The audio announcements will also be recorded in bulk

5. Unique selling points (USP) of the marketed event


It is fun It is designed for the whole family The more fun you have and the harder you play, the less you pay (or you can even have it for free)

6. Time line / time slots of the marketing activities


In order to achieve maximum reach for the target audience, radio clips and in-store audio announcements will be scheduled to specific times (to match particular local/entertainment-themed/family-orientated programmes eg. afternoon radio talk shows for mums) The marketing activities for the event start a week before the date so they catch the regular visitors in the time slot the event would take place.
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Saturday and Sunday 6 days before the event audio ad is played every two hours Monday and Tuesday 4 days before the event audio ad is played once every 1.5 hours Wednesday and Thursday 2 days before the event audio ad is played once every hour Friday the day before the event audio ad is played twice every hour The additional message is added to the film trailer one week before the event, so whenever the film trailer is displayed, it will now have the location-specific message. Ambient and guerilla advertising stickers the day before; activities on the day. Press release Friday (8 days before the event) then Wednesday 3 days before the event. Facebook event page and newsletters Thursday 9 days before the event, then Wednesday 3 days before the event (newsletters are usually sent out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for a maximum reach and response rate) Facebook and Google ads start 3 days before the event (Wednesday)

7. Things to be calculated in the budget (costs of promotion and production of materials)


design, print and installation expenses for the stickers maps for in-store ambient advertising, stickers for the posters, buses, bus stops and billboards design and print of the discount vouchers paying for the host and actors travel, accommodation, food, etc. production and distribution of the audio advertising radio, mall announcement system, etc. production and distribution of the Google and Facebook ads

8. Example poster mockup

9. Reflection what skills and strategies are needed to create an effective marketing campaign?
One of the most important assets of a successful and effective marketing campaign are the people everyone involved should be creative, positive and motivated to execute the plan on a professional level. It is also vital that everyone knows what they are doing so a very precise marketing / activity plan needs to be elaborated and adhered to. It needs good project management and very well defined objectives it is almost like a military operation. Even though it needs to be fun, it needs to be executed with discipline and the end result in mind. In terms of content, the message needs to be strong and clear, not to lead to misinterpretations or confusion. It needs to inform, but also to create curiosity and make the viewer want to find out more and participate. It needs very strong visuals a readable font, easily remembered titles and good visual structure. All expenses should be justified, and whenever money are spent, it needs to contribute to one or more of the project's objectives. Each marketing campaign should be made costeffective. Marketing should help sales, not eat the profit. Feedback is also crucial the marketing team should make it possible to keep track of all activities and amend in case something doesn't have the planned outcome. Everyone involved should be in constant communication with the marketing team, so as to deal with problems, be informed, communicate changes and / or keep to the plan.

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