Media studies

Isabel Denney-Foster
Mr Ford
Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of
production in the media areas you have studied.
Marketing and consumption were paramount phases to the success of the films Ex
Machina and Star Wars: The Force Awakens and because both of these films included the
use of digital technology in their marketing technique we can see this form of marketing
is what helped to widen the knowledge of the films and contribute to their success. The
idea of any marketing process for any film is to encourage more people to involve
themselves in the consumption of the product. By including digital technology in the
marketing plan each of these films were aiming to widen their availability to the public.
With films like Ex Machina and Star Wars: The Force Awakens we can see two films which
contrast in many ways, for example: The Block Buster image of Star Wars against the
mainstream perception of which Ex Machina obtains. The marketing process for any film
is the stage of production of which they can duteously determine who exactly they have
made the film for and how to attract the audience as well as extend it.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was given the budget of $306 billion meaning that the box
office figures and the gross of the film need be profitable. In order to achieve the figures,
the film was going to have to think about widening its audience so that it appealed to as
many different personalities and ages as possible, these ideas therefore lead to the
thoughts on how to market the film. Ideas would include the use of below the line
marketing strategies such as: social media marketing and search engine marketing.
These approaches to the marketing method allowed the film to be easily accessed by all
audiences throughout the stages of production, thus keeping the public drip fed on
information and leaving them in anticipation. The same approach was taken when the
marketing for Ex Machina is analysed. Ex Machina received $15 million as their budget
however they are commemorated as one of the most successful low budget films. The
way they received their gross of $25,440,971 is the way they decided not to change who
they were aiming the film at or how to appeal to an audience but instead they changed
their whole idea on approaching the marketing strategy. Like Star Wars, Ex Machina is a
film which is generalised as a Sci-Fi. However, Ex Machinas take on Sci-Fi contrasts with
the family friendly image which Star Wars has managed to achieve over the years and
instead it has gone for a thrilling and dramatic take on mystery.
STARWARS:
Star Wars The Force Awakens had strategically set up a long term marketing plan. Their
first reveal of production for the film was in 2012, when Kathleen Kennedy became
Lucasfilms succeeding Co-Chair, and this allowed the rumours and possibility of
achievement for the film to ripple out softly through society. Its safe to say that there is a
Star Wars franchise fan in every country of the world and when news broke out of a new
film the prattle about the film was almost inescapable. George Lucas had actually began
to work on Episode VII of Star Wars in 2011 and this was in order to spark up an interest
Page
1

Media studies
Isabel Denney-Foster
Mr Ford
through the fan group and media as well as increase the value for the company,
LucasFilm, before it was sold to Disney- this means the hype for The Force Awakens
(Episode VII) had started long before any verification of production, this was simply
because of the knowledge of possibility. Lucas film officially announced the sequel trilogy
(Episode VII) on the October 30th, 2012, which was the same day that the acquisition of
Lucasfilm to Disney occurred, through an interview with a local news team who also had
an account on twitter, the news then spread through this channel of social media and
consequentially, due to easy access, the news cascaded through other forms of digital
media such as social networking sites like Facebook and online newspapers. The
involvement of Disney in the marketing strategy did help to market the film to wider
audience which was worldwide, with the involvement of countries in Asia and Oceania it
was easier to achieve success because Disney is such a trusted company and known by
lovers and haters around the world.
JJ Abrams was revealed as the new director for The Force Awakens in January 2013 via the
official site of StarWars.com. StarWars.com is an example of a below the line digital
marketing tool which was directly used by the production companies of the film, by
distributing this information directly on the site it allowed the information that was shared
to be directly appreciated by fans. Only fans would actually want to search up the official
site and attend care to who will actually be taking part in the productions of the film,
however the films franchise is so big that newspaper and magazine companies would
have attained this information and would want to use it in their own marketing structure.
The release of the information through other means of media, both digital and traditional,
allowed another surge of interest to pump itself through society via the word of mouth
just as the last one had managed to fade away.
After the news that George Lucas designed the story for Episode VII we heard later on in
the year of 2013 that the production team had abandoned Lucas ideas and that they are
now heading in another direction however Lucas still maintained a level of excitement.
This information was disclosed through a TV interview with Stephan Colbert in association
of The Late Show (an American late night talk show). George Lucas appearing on The
Late Show is an example of above the line marketing, the fact it was shown late at night
(8/11 pm over America) shows that the audience is ideally an older one. Lucas appearing
on a show for an older audience makes sense because the original films he produced
were targeted at kids of that time, they are now all grown up and kids of todays modern
generation unfortunately would not necessarily know who George Lucas is in association
with the Star Wars franchise. By using this tactic this shows that the production group
dont want to market the film to just children, they would also like to market it to the
older and original audience of the first films.
The original audiences of the films were determined by the advertising and in 1977 when
Star Wars: Episode IV Anew Hope was marketed it was all done via above the line
marketing techniques (traditional marketing techniques) such as bill boards and posters
Page
2

Media studies
Isabel Denney-Foster
Mr Ford
(outside advertising). Interviews on talk shows where one of the main marketing
techniques and this was a marketing technique that lead to the film being classed as a
family friendly film. During TV shows the idea that the film was based on the classic plot
of good against evil was one of its major age friendly marketing tools as it is a story which
deeply appeals to everyone, hence why the franchise has maintained this view
throughout all of their films.
In April 2014 the cast list for Episode VII was released and the inclusion of the original
star cast was one of the biggest hypes for the fans of the Star Wars franchise. By
including some original cast members this allows the possibility for the older audience to
return to a favoured cast and become attached to the new actors for the franchise. On
the 6th November 2014 it was announced by the official Star Wars twitter account that
production had finally been completed. JJ Abrams posted the first teaser trailer via the
Bad Robots Productions twitter as a tiny peek of what they have been working on- by
posting this information online the opportunity for more audiences to view it has been
granted thus making it more accessible for a lot more people. The teaser was shown in
theatres as of December 2014, this is how I found out about the film. I was unaware of
the mass publicity being shown around the internet and in the traditional advertisement
of newspapers and posters however, as soon as I saw this commercial my eyes had been
opened and it seemed that I could not escape the presence of Star Wars through
advertising and the word of mouth until 2015 when the film was released. In the case of
Ex Machina however, I found out about the film through school and I was surprised that I
had not heard about it before. People in my class had seen the film before and explained
how it was viewed through Netflix.
The Star Wars franchise kept up with its new uses of technology and below the line
strategies of marketing throughout 2015. The company managed to attain a spot at
2015s San Diego Comic-Con, this allowed the chance for more people to become
personally attached to the franchisee because of the relationship the influential Sci-Fi
would have had on the other films which were there. In September Facebook allowed
people to get even more up close and personal with the production of Episode VII by
releasing a 360-degree panorama of a speeder driving across Jaku which allowed the
inner fans knowledge of Star Wars to shine through. The excitement and anticipation was
upheld by the company through the appearance of the cast and production team
members on TV chat shows such as Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live.
Finally, the full length trailer for the film was released on TV and in cinemas on the 19 th
October, giving the fans an insight of the film. The cost for TV spots on a popular channel
(BBC ONE or ITV 3) for a peek viewing time (7-8pm) would be 2,000- 3,000 in England.
The trailer was released on sites like YouTube (receiving 95,505,265 views and 676,375
likes) and Facebook, these sites are so big, easy to access and well known that it is no
wonder the whole world couldnt escape the mass media references. The film finally
reached the red carpet and that meant that it was now crunch time, to see how much the
marketing plan had effected the consumerism of the product.
Page
3

Media studies
Isabel Denney-Foster
Mr Ford
Throughout all of the stages of production Star Wars created partnerships with charities
such as UNICEF and the ALS association. This helped to enforce the marketing structure
for the film because the production team managed to incorporate helping a good cause
and revealing aspects to the film all at once thus leading to appealing content which
contributes to the drip feeding of the public and appeal for the product.
We also have the consideration of post-production marketing to evaluate. As well as the
trailers to advertise the availability of viewing the film in a cinema there must be a way of
advertising the DVD which was to be sold on the 5 th April 2016. Trailers were used to
captivate a customer and the releases eared $156.5 million and this is only added to the
success of the film. Star Wars: The Fore Awakens is also a film which is able to be
streamed online, via sites like JustWatch, these sites have made deals with Disney/
Lucasfilm to give a certain amount of profits from their success. The rumour of Star Wars:
The Force Awakens hitting Netflix next year has excited many audiences because it helps
to enlarge the availability of the film. Unfortunately, with the use of digital streaming as
one of the access points for the company the achievability for the film to be streamed or
downloaded illegally had been made possible. Star Wars is a hugely successful film and
when isnt comes to illegal downloads and piracy it is safe to say that their ever growing
profits are not affected by this version of exploitation for their production company. Unlike
a film like Ex Machina, their company is so small and their profits would be substantially
effected by the illegal downloads and piracy.
EX MACHINA:
In contrast to the approach of a long term marketing plan we see that Ex Machinas
marketing structure was based upon its older, niche audience and the accessibility they
could attain. Ex Machina decided to target England with the film first as it was released in
2015 January time for England. The opening weekend for America which took place in
April 2015 saw the figures in the box office hit $250,000. To market the product to
America the production companies of DNA Films, Film4, and Universal Pictures decided to
venture down the rout of digital marketing tools lot more than the traditional processes of
marketing. Ex Machina decided took a unique approach on advertising and they jumped
in with an incredibly involving and interactive method which evolved the app called
Tinder. By using a popular application to advertise a product you are not only making it
free but you are also appealing to the digital crowd of today, the film was rated a 15 so it
makes sense to advertise an app that is used by clients who are mature and older. It
appears that we now live in a digital world and the form of advertising through digital
interaction has been proved to be incredibly beneficial and successful. The Tinder
approach, which was set up during the SXSW festival in Texas, related the target
(prospect) as the person in the film, some may see it as being hood winked but the initial
idea of having Ava the female protagonist of the film personally try to interact with you as
an undercover Turing test sounds very encouraging, intriguing and even rogue. The idea
got bad press however most people argue that the idea should be celebrated. The
Page
4

Media studies
Isabel Denney-Foster
Mr Ford
companies didnt actually care; however, about the bad press because the marketing
strategy was free and got them publicity anyway. People were still intrigued by the
process and they still went to see the film anyway. Other than this method of marketing
the film took no other unique and storm breaking method of advertisement other than
their three trailers and sneak clips distributed through sites like BigScreen.com and their
official Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their official Website. The trailers were
downloaded on the internet and the film was advertised on Netflix however no definite TV
spots for the trailer where scheduled because of the expenses.
When you evaluate the approach taken by the production and marketing team of Ex
Machina, it is easy to see why they managed to make such success with their products
and the film because of their unique, rogue and incredibly well planned approach towards
the marketing structure ad strategy. In comparison to this approach we have the wellknown methods of advertising for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens- which hit both the
above and below the line spectrum. These methods come from the huge film distribution
and production company Disney as well as Lucasfilm being so conspicuous back when the
first films were produced, it is evident to see that these companies didnt need to make a
new and unique method to advertisement.
In conclusion it is shown that when it comes to films, whether they be Block Buster or
niche/ mainstream it is evident that marketing helps to achieve an over success.
Obviously the past reviews of the films or any related story fixtures can affect how well
the film does however, ultimately it is obvious that if you approach the marketing
strategy with an open mind and originality you can create and producing influential idea
which could lead to an extremely successful product. Over all we can see that digital
technology has a huge impact of advertising also, in the case of Ex Machina there is no
way their film would have been so successful unless they had the accessibility of digital
technologies. Star Wars managed to up their marketing strategy by including examples of
below the line marketing which contrasts to the marketing they used back in 1977 with
above the line outside and physical marketing. Digital technologies make a substantial
difference to the marketing stage of the film and to the overall success simply because of
the idea that it is more accessible, by targeting and marketing in this way it creates an
overall effect because it simply appeals to the digital world of today.

Page
5