The Mystery of Marketing

Now let's talk about movies

Here’s the refreshing truth: Nobody likes marketing. Customers don’t like marketing.

Buy now! Buy at the best price! Only today! Decide now!

Companies don’t like marketing either. Marketing? Yes, you do it because you have to. But, actually, it’s just a cost factor.

And what is the relationship between product and marketing? It usually works like this: First comes the product, then the product again, and then again. And when everything is ready, absolutely everything, then we take care of marketing. Without much enthusiasm, we “have” to do it. So we pay someone to do the marketing. And we pay good money, so the marketing will be good too.

And that’s the first mystery: Nobody likes marketing, but everyone does marketing.

1. The big studio

  • A big studio can simply buy a popular brand. Superman, Spider-Man, James Bond, Harry Potter, and so on.
  • A big studio can buy a comic book character, a novel character, a well-known story.
  • A big studio can add big Hollywood stars to these stories.

A big studio has a network of media, journalists, and events that can bring the new film to every country in the world.
And yet, despite all these advantages, there is no guarantee that the films will be successful.

Once again, we have arrived at the mystery of marketing. Does marketing work? Yes. Of course. But marketing is no guarantee of success. You can’t force people to buy your book, listen to your music, or watch your movie. We have seen even large studios regularly fail in the market with their marketing.

And that’s the second mystery: No one knows why marketing sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. 

2. The small studio / independent studio

Here’s the question we all have to ask ourselves: If even big studios with all their marketing resources fail, what on earth can we do to successfully market our film? Is it an impossible task? Is it a puzzle we cannot solve? Is there any point in trying at all?

Continued in Part II