Film Industry: Marketing - Marvel Cinematic Universe

Our first exam Close-Study Products will be from the Film Industry.

In our lesson, we will learn the importance of film marketing and what a risky business it is for film studios. 

The two Close-Study Products (CSPs) we'll be studying for the Film Industry are:

• Black Widow (2020)
• I, Daniel Blake (2016)

A summary of the notes from our research activity:

Risky business
The creative industries are a risky business for companies - it costs a huge amount of money to create a media product like a film and there's no guarantee the audience will like it.

No brand loyalty
A new, original film has no established brand or audience - it has to generate all the interest through marketing. This is why film companies prefer to make sequels, reboots or films from an established franchise (like the Marvel Cinematic Universe) - there is an existing audience ready to buy the product. 

Star power
If the film isn't from an existing franchise, film studios use star actors or directors to help generate interest in the film and find an audience. Star directors like veteran political filmmaker Ken Loach have an established audience that will always watch his films regardless of subject matter.

A matter of timing
Marketing campaigns need to be carefully timed to create excitement about the film's release. Often, the first teaser trailers will drop up to a year before release - particularly for established franchise films like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Social media marketing
Once the film is out, the marketing campaign has less power - because audience word-of-mouth will take over. In the digital age, people will post online about the film immediately after seeing it - which means word-of-mouth is more important than ever. 

Why does Hollywood keep making sequels?




Film Industry: Marvel Cinematic Universe blog tasks

Read this BBC article on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and answer the following questions based on the article:

1) How many films were there in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) at the time of this article?

2) How much money have the MCU films made in total according to this article?

3) Why did Marvel create the Avengers films?

4) Who owns the rights to Spiderman and why is the character now appearing in Marvel films?

5) Which company owns the rights to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men?

6) Look at the very end of the article. What has Disney announced regarding TV shows on their new streaming service Disney+?

Extension tasks

Read this Guardian review of Black Widow to prepare for studying our first CSP. What did the Guardian think of the film?

Read this BBC feature on Marvel at 80 years old. How has it survived so long and why is the Marvel Cinematic Universe so important to the recent success of the brand?

Complete for homework if you don't finish in the lessons - due date on Google Classroom.

Industries: Ownership and control

Most media companies are owned by one of the big six - massive conglomerates that dominate the media industry.

As GCSE Media students, we need to learn how media companies are bought, sold and controlled.

Notes

Industries: recap

Industries are the producers, the companies that produce (make) and distribute the media product. 

Industries have a strong interest in who their Target Audience is so that they can best appeal to them. 

Some companies dominate the industry which means they own more of the content and therefore make more money (revenue).

Vertical integration

Vertical integration is when one conglomerate owns different companies in the same chain of production.

E.G Disney owns film studios, CGI specialists, film distributors and TV channels such as the Disney Channel. This gives Disney the chance to make money at every stage of production. Complete ownership = more profit.

Horizontal integration

Horizontal integration is when one company buys other companies at the same level of distribution.

E.G Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 (at a cost of $1 billion) so that they could cancel out the competition by making money from both.

Horizontal integration allows companies to widen their audience and find other ways to make money.

Synergy

Synergy is when a company creates a brand that can be used across different media products and platforms.

E.G Disney makes movies but then also has related stage shows, theme parks, merchandise, soundtracks and events.

Ownership and control: blog task

Create a new blogpost called Industries: Ownership and Control and complete the tasks below:

1) What is vertical integration? What are the benefits of vertical integration for media companies?

2) What is horizontal integration? What are the benefits of horizontal integration for media companies?

3) What is synergy? 

4) Give an example of a brand that appears across different media products and platforms.

5) Research the different companies that are part of the Disney media empire. This BBC article on Disney buying 21st Century Fox might help. First, list 5 companies that are owned by Disney. This graphic may help you: 

Extension questions

1) Look at the BBC article linked above. Why did Disney buy Fox - what are the benefits?

2) Now read this article from Recode about Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram. Why did Facebook buy Instagram for $1bn in 2012?

If you don't finish these questions in the lesson, complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

GCSE Media assessment: learner response

Well done on completing your first GCSE Media Studies assessment - it's an important first step in identifying our strengths and weaknesses in the subject so far.

The first part of your learner response is to look carefully at your mark, grade and comments from your teacher. If anything doesn't make sense, ask your teacher - that's why we're here! 

Your learner response is as follows:

Create a new blog post called 'Media assessment learner response' and complete the following tasks:

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

2) Write down the mark you achieved for each question: 

Q1: 
Q2: 
Q3:

Q4:

Q5:

3) Did you get any media terminology wrong in the assessment? If yes, make a note of it here for future revision:

4) Identify one of your stronger questions. Why did you do better on this question?

5) Identify one of your weaker questions. Why did you score lower on this particular question?

Extension tasks

Make sure all of your blog work is up-to-date. If you have posted each blogpost, make sure you are also completing the extension tasks for each too.