Marketing Blinded by The Light
Blinded by the Light used a mixture of traditional and digital/viral marketing methods to get the audience’s attention. Examples of the promotional activities used to market the film include:
Traditional forms
Official Trailer
Trailers have always been used to promote the latest releases in cinemas, but social media platforms offer filmmakers a fantastic chance to promote their work to a larger audience. For instance, you can still watch various versions on YouTube:
Poster Campaign which differed by region (e.g. called The music of my life in South America) & Theatrical Trailers released with a PG certificate to make them widely available to a range of potential audiences globally.
Cross Promotion: emphasising the trusted brands (brand synergy) connected with the film product on promotional material and using them to promote it e.g. Springsteen (a well-established international and highly successful music star) and Bend it Like Beckham the director Chadha’s previous smash hit film which made a huge international impact. This is an obvious attempt at Minimising risk/Maximising profit (Hesmondhalgh)
The Importance of Film Festivals
The following link discusses the use of a film festival to secure a distribution deal.
“Blinded by the Light” premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival – an important event on the movie industry calendar because it gives independent filmmakers from around the world the opportunity to showcase their work to film critics and, most importantly, the distributors. New Line Cinema acquired US distribution rights while the UK rights were bought by Entertainment One. This article from Deadline has lots of great information about the auction. It should be noted New Line Cinema is owned by the huge conglomerate, Warner Bros. Pictures, who delivered the theatrical release of the film to parts of Europe and South America.
Gurinder Chadha then took her film to the Seattle International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Feature Film, and won the Paul Mazursky Award at the Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan. Early screening events with the cast and crew also helped to raise the profile of the film in key markets.
Press Junkets / Interviews
Press Junkets ie Festivals and Interviews – The distributors spent a long time on the festival circuit trying to publicise the film internally and secure world-wide distribution deals which is perhaps why the film lost out to “Yeste,rday” which was released first. Newspaper Critic Reviews e.g. the Guardian Newspaper review which called the film a “buoyant but uneven crowd-pleaser
These videos show how directors, their past work and the ideas they aim to communicate can be important in film marketing.
New Digital Forms
The various promotional Websites (Warner Bros, Film Site, Corner Stone Agency Website) which contain links to interviews , clips and various versions of the trailer.
The Twitter page – which was regularly updated and maintained while the film was engaged in the “festival circuit” in January 2019 right up until the release of the DVD in November 2019.
YouTube videos of Bruce Springsteen advertised the film, contributing towards a cross-media promotion and drawing on the star power of the American super star. This evoked the formatting technique of maximizing audience that has been discussed by Hesmondalgh.
The Facebook page – which encouraged users to like and share material with friends and contacts including interactive polls such as “were you a Wham Boy or a Bananarama Girl?” This ideas is known as “Viral Marketing” and takes advantage of something called The Two Step Flow* model of communicating information.
The concept of the ‘two-step flow of communication‘ suggests that the flow of information and influence from the mass media to their audiences involves two steps: from the media to certain individuals (i.e., the opinion leaders, influencers, popular facebook and social media commentators) and from them to the public.
Meta-critic websites e.g. Rotten Tomatoes – where all the reviews from both critics and users are put in one place for film audiences to see how well the film is “rated”.
Official Poster
Although you are not studying representation, notice how the producers are able to signify a sense of time with the use of denim clothing, the Converse shoes and the iconic cassette player. This might appeal to the audience’s nostalgia for the trends that defined the 1980s.
In terms of marketing, the quotation “the feel-good film of the year” comes from The New York Post. This signals the quality of the film to audience because it is a trustworthy source. It is worth reading their full review online. The poster also appeals to fans of the director’s previous success “Bend It Like Beckham” (2002). Of course, the music of Bruce Springsteen will grab the attention of his followers.
Reviews Poster
There are many reasons why audiences might choose to watch a particular film in the cinema: famous actors can “open” a production because we are always eager to see our favourite performers on the big screen; directors, especially those who are considered auteurs, will attract a devoted following; and big-budget blockbusters use incredible special effects to appeal to our senses..
By contrast, independent films rely on critics and reviews to create interest. Reviews posters are used to emphasise the quality of the text – look at how many appear in this poster. The language is persuasive: “feel-good”, “crowd-pleasing” and “beautiful music”. – we are “guaranteed” to enjoy this five-star production.
Digital Distribution
Studios used to make money from the sale of videos and DVDs. While that revenue stream continues to shrink because of the popularity of digital streaming and VOD, you can watch “Blinded by the Light” on Amazon Prime for a small fee. It is also available to rent on Apple TV, Google Play and other platforms. If you are in America and subscribe to HBO, the film is included as part of your package.
