At present, what is the biggest problem in Chinese film marketing? The general answer of people in the industry is that investment is insufficient. In addition, there is a serious shortage of professionals in all aspects of film marketing, and the phenomenon of outstanding talent vacancy is also very prominent.
introduction: there is a saying in the film circle: the quality of the film determines how far the film can fly, and marketing determines how high the film can fly. In recent years, the film industry pays more and more attention to marketing, with more investment and diversified means. In addition to traditional advertising, posters, and trailers, film marketing can also do this: setting Weibo topics, placing ads, and "buying" popular variety shows.
however, what is the marketing gap between Chinese films and the mature Hollywood film industry? What kind of marketing can enhance the competitiveness of domestic films? The reporter conducted an investigation in this regard. strong > means / strong > strong > New media topic interaction, commodity implantation and resource exchange are more diversified / strong > in recent years, with the vigorous development of China's film market, some basic laws of the film industry have become more and more prominent. As a special commodity, film has the dual attributes of works and products. As a product, the film belongs to "ultra-fast-moving consumer goods". The performance of the first weekend or the first four days of release often determines the ultimate fate of the film in the market. How to make full marketing before the film is released is very important for a film. the key to movie marketing is word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth does not mean to say good words, but to discuss the amount-- to topic the content to be spread a few months in advance, and constantly attract the participation of the target audience. " Zhang Wenbo, president of Bole Marketing, said. A few years ago, advertisements, posters and trailers were almost all the marketing content of a domestic film. Nowadays, the emergence of new forms, such as new media topic interaction, commodity implantation and resource exchange, online discount ticket purchase and so on, make the marketing methods more and more diverse. take commodity implantation and resource exchange as examples. Chen Hongwei, director of the production side of Beijing Love Story, which was released in 2014, said that Cadillac, Yili, Chinese Dream Show, DQ ice cream and missing dumplings were implanted in the film, and these brands promoted the film in a variety of forms and channels. Therefore, the marketing cost converted by commodity implantation and resource replacement is much higher than the actual marketing capital investment of the film. in the marketing of "that year in a hurry", a domestic brand mobile phone not only implanted advertisements in the film, but also bought a popular variety show for film promotion special and bought a large number of advertisements to put on the market. these marketing costs are not included in the marketing budget of the film itself. over the past year, more films have begun to understand how to graft with advertising brands. From the simple advertising placement in the past to the current brand joint promotion and integrated marketing, not only film advertising is getting stronger and stronger, but also film marketing is getting stronger and stronger, which is a win-win situation. " Zhang Wenbo said. "Social communication takes the form of interaction and sharing, and usually from the moment the film official WeChat is established, a connection is established with potential consumers, which is closer and more direct than any other media channel. From the release of the first poster, the first trailer, it is necessary to provide consumers with the opportunity to 'experience' the film. " Zhang Wenbo believes that making full use of the advantages of new media, especially social media, is the key to realizing this kind of "experiential marketing". Through the interaction and sharing of social media, the public's interest in a film can be quickly identified. and dig deep. "when we were doing'in a hurry that year', we did 30 Weibo topics and read 4.7 billion times, which shows that the cognitive coverage of marketing is high." strong > / strong > strong > the best marketing of domestic films is to strengthen their emotional connection with the audience and arouse resonance / strong > many practitioners believe that Hollywood blockbusters sell the entertainment function and audio-visual shock of their products, which is realized on the industrial basis of their accumulation for many years. However, most of the small and medium-sized budget films in China can not compete with them in these functions. therefore, the emotional connection between domestic films and audiences must be strengthened at the level of content creation and marketing. to find the differential competitiveness between Chinese movies and Hollywood blockbusters, we must first find the reasons for consumers to buy. For film consumption, in addition to the entertainment consumer demand based on audio-visual experience, consumers are subconsciously more eager to imagine themselves as someone on the screen to achieve emotional substitution. This is the opportunity for domestic realistic films. " Zhang Wenbo said. according to industry insiders, the reason why "left ear" still grossed nearly 480 million yuan at the box office in the competition with the imported blockbuster "Fast and Furious 7", campus tour, poster production, and star promotion are all important factors for success, while the deeper reason is the film's display of youth in "small town youth", which is rare in previous youth films. Establish the connection with the audience and cultivate the relationship with the audience, in the case of "Town Youth" contributing more and more to the film market, the experiential marketing that arouses emotional resonance has achieved a more accurate audience delivery. 33 days of being lovelorn, which was released in 2011, is still regarded by practitioners as a classic case of film marketing upgrading. Although it was released at the same time as the imported blockbuster "Iron Armor and Steel fist," the domestic film with an investment of less than 10 million yuan created a box office miracle of 350 million yuan. As the film's marketing planner and executor, Zhang Wenbo said that the way ordinary people tell their lovelorn experiences resonates with more people, thus identifying with the film and generating consumer impulses is an important reason for the film's success. strong > the gap is not small / strong > strong > there is a serious shortage of professionals in all aspects of marketing, insufficient investment, lack of supporting resources / strong > among the many marketing means, what is the most effective strategy to achieve efficient coverage and effective communication? Advertising is the most direct and effective way, which has long been a consensus in the industry. in Hollywood's mature industrial system, 50 per cent of the marketing budget is spent on advertising, especially television advertising. Because the market is mature, the type of consumer demand is clear, and the appeal of the star at the box office is strong, the film can safely buy advertisements to broadcast the film trailer and accurately find the target audience of the film by strengthening the type and strengthening the stars. " Peng Kan, a researcher in the film industry, said that although such a vision has always existed in China, the reality is not so simple. at present, what is the biggest problem in Chinese film marketing? the common answer in the industry is underinvestment. It is understood that the marketing cost of a Hollywood film is generally 50% of the cost of film production, but in China, the cost of film marketing is not calculated according to the proportion of project investment, but the marketing company takes the project as a unit and settles the service fee with the producer. for a domestic film with an investment of more than 100 million yuan, its marketing cost is only 20 to 30 million yuan. "this is an unreasonable mechanism. In order to survive, many domestic marketing companies either go upstream to participate in production or downstream to participate in distribution. But in Hollywood, marketing and distribution are not split in the first place, which is why they attach so much importance to marketing and invest so much. " Analysis by people in the industry. in addition, there is a serious shortage of professionals in all aspects of film marketing, and the phenomenon of outstanding talent vacancy is also very prominent. Industry insiders told reporters that in the field of poster, trailer and other production, there are only so many people who can reach the first-class standard in China, and the talent is seriously out of gear. "the supply of talents and supporting resources in the sub-industry chain is insufficient, which is actually a phased problem in the development of the film industry. Therefore, the upgrading of China's film industry still has a long way to go. " Peng Kan said.
Edit: vian