Exclusive analysis ｜ Should the audience buy the movie ＂selling miserably＂ marketing？

Special feature of 1905 film network Recently, the film Transparent Heroes, which was originally scheduled to be released nationwide on June 30th, was announced to be withdrawn. During the previous publicity period, the film released a number of publicity videos of director Zhang Disha "bowing to the fans" and "doing his best to publicize" in the cinema, bringing the marketing method of "selling badly" which is common in the film market back to the public’s field of vision again.

"Today’s Film Review" invited Weng Yang, an associate professor at the School of Management of Beijing Film Academy, to talk together. Is "selling badly" really a good way of film marketing?

Selling miserable marketing for "changing fate"Misselling, as a marketing method, appeared in the film market and originated from movies.A hundred birds fly at the phoenix.

A Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix is a literary genre film released in 2013. The film sincerely shows the persistence and true feelings of suona artists in the impetuous generation. It can be said to be an excellent Chinese film in terms of production and plot itself.

However, due to its strong market share in Captain America: Civil War, a movie released in the same period, the box office and film arrangement rate of "Hundred Birds at the Phoenix" are "extremely bleak". Under such pressure, Fang Li, one of the producers of "Hundred Birds in the Phoenix", "stunned" in his live broadcast room, pleading with the audience to go to the cinema to support "Hundred Birds in the Phoenix" and to promote "Hundred Birds in the Phoenix" on social media platforms.

After the live broadcast, the screening rate of "A Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix" rose from the initial 1% to 4.5%, and finally gained 86.75 million box office. This kneeling, not only saved "A Hundred Birds in the Phoenix" in from the mire, but also opened the "road of selling miserably" in film marketing.

In 2017, the film "Flash Girl" was released. Faced with the same low film scheduling rate, the film released seven propagandists kneeling on the ground and holding the material map of the apology letter, which was intended to explain that "it is not the fault of the film that no one watched it, but that our publicity was not done well." Similar miserable marketing also appeared in the promotional video of "Out of the Earth" released last year. In the video, the director of the film walked into various movie theaters and told the few audiences in the audience his difficult feelings.

From these endless marketing, we can actually see the cooperation of the whole team for this marketing method very directly.What is the internal purpose of this tried-and-true marketing?What is the purpose of the tried and tested marketing?Selling badly first is for the sake of "arranging films."

The film side releases these materials that can reflect the difficulty of production and the care of the heart. The purpose of the first layer is to let cinemas, projection companies and cinema companies see them, and to stimulate their sympathy and allocate more ostentation and extravagance to the films in the market.

The second reason for selling badly is to "seek attention."In addition to letting the film company see it, the film also wants the audience to pay attention to the hardships of film production, so that the sympathy of fans and friends is rampant, and they are willing to go into the cinema to pay for their sympathy. Whether it is "Flash Girl" or released in recent years.Five teenagers who saved the water、Warriors of FutureIn fact, in selling miserable marketing, they all have the same purpose.

What are you selling miserably in the endless stream of marketing?Since the appearance of miserable marketing, its own marketing routine can be said to have been upgraded round after round, but for the past miserable marketing methods in the film market, they can be roughly divided into two types.

The first kind of selling is miserable, and it is not easy to sell the main creative team.

Take last year’s summer movie "War of Tomorrow" as an example. Louis Koo played the leading role and was the chief producer, and Louis Koo was also the main material during the publicity period. However, after the creative team found that the audience paid more attention to the topic of "selling miserably", the whole publicity direction changed from the original positive dissemination of China science fiction to Louis Koo as a "lone ranger" in China’s sci-fi pursuit of dreams, which really earned a wave of bitter tears for Chinese sci-fi fans.

The second kind of selling is miserable, selling the feelings of the film itself.

Whether it’s Journey to the West, Demon, New king of comedy, or Jia Zhangke’s return to the cinema, the filmmakers invariably chose a slogan: "We owe someone a movie ticket".

There is no denying that Stephen Chow’s films have influenced a generation or even generations, but most people have finished watching Stephen Chow’s works through CDs or in video halls; And Jia Zhangke’s film works, fans and friends used to watch mostly through streaming media platform.

Therefore, the film side seized the subtle emotion between the audience and the film, and through "selling feelings", let the fans and friends willingly walk into the theater and pay for their youth and feelings.

What makes miserable marketing "enduring" in film promotion?

Weng Yang, an associate professor at the School of Management of Beijing Film Academy, said: "Misselling marketing is essentially an expression of emotional marketing. It looks forward to grasping the sympathy or feelings of audience friends and making them willing to walk into the cinema and support the film."

Although selling miserable marketing and emotional marketing are similar in core, selling miserable marketing is not the only way of emotional marketing.

For the film market, the real core of emotional marketing is not to create emotional points that consumers do not have, but to stimulate and awaken many hidden emotions in the audience’s hearts through the film content itself, and to trigger spontaneous publicity and watching by the audience.

In recent years, film works have not only paid attention to "love the country" and "family friendship", but also paid more attention to the "hidden money" emotion in the audience’s mind. For example, the movie "She Disappeared" released not long ago actually takes emotional marketing to a new level. This movie not only pays attention to the changes of contemporary young people’s views on marriage and love, but also focuses on the energy point of "girls help girls" and explodes it in an appropriate way, which naturally gains box office and audience reputation.

It can be seen that selling badly naturally has its effects, but it should not be the mainstream way of film market promotion strategy.

Only by truly paying attention to the emotions of the audience, and making a delicate connection with the audience through the film works, and narrowing the distance with the audience, can it be a kind of good marketing with "moderation, skill and morality".

We also expect that in the future film market, there will be more marketing methods that are more suitable for the audience, so that the film and the audience can get closer and the film can take root in the hearts of the audience.