How to market boring movies

6 April 16, 2008April 16, 2008

by javabeans

(Image is totally unrelated; taken from a Korean artist whom I’ve mentioned here.)

I’d have liked more elaborate answers to the question, but at least they acknowledged that they DO have to work to get movies to look like they’re worth spending money on when they are sometimes not.

What to do with boring movies: Marketers’ honest answers

Marketers introduce audiences to movies. But not all films are entertaining or high-quality. We asked them frankly:

“How do you promote movies that aren’t entertaining?”

“It’s enough to make you sigh. But I wouldn’t hate my baby merely because its face is ugly. I have to bring out a movie’s strengths, not the weaknesses. My baby’s face might not be pretty but could have a great personality. It’s how you might feel dressing him up in pretty clothing, brushing his hair, and sending him off to school.”
—A thirtysomething marketer who’d love to get married this year

“I’ve never had to promote a film that wasn’t entertaining. All the movies I’ve undertaken have been fun.”
—A veteran marketer who insists his/her response is the most honest

“Boring movies — they still have some kind of meaning. I deliberate over that meaning, and whether there’s some hidden charm within. If the movie isn’t very good, perhaps a resourceful supporting actor brings the acting into relief, or the background music, even cameos — there are many films who succeed because of those aspects.”
—A naive marketer believing that all movies have at least one merit

“Those must definitely be hidden. Movies that have lots of press conferences are all entertaining. There’s also the strategy to aim for the first week before word spreads. It’s a forced choice. Still, you must find the positives and do your best to point those out. The actors go on variety programs and busily promote, and have press appearances. It’s best when the actors go out on a lot of television programs.”
—A marketer who says that minimizing failure is more important than going for success

Via DongA.com

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1 sf

April 16, 2008 at 10:20 AM

"–A thirtysomething marketer who’d love to get married this year"
ehhe ^^;;

awww...what's the grumpy (food) pouch? angry about?

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2 belleza

April 16, 2008 at 10:55 AM

"We view 10,000BC as a work of speculative historical fiction. It is a credit to the unique vision of our director that the audience will see a recreation of mammoths building the pyramids."

"In our poll research, we found that the American public values experience and candor over empty promises and rhetoric. Unfortunately Jack Bauer was not available for My Sassy Girl, so we got his daughter instead. Yes, we will have cougars in the movie. This drew an active response in our research"

"Lindsey Lohan is not available for . . . Screw this I hate my job!!"

"Oldboy will star Souljaboy. We just wanted to make South Korea mad."

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3 l

April 16, 2008 at 12:38 PM

a bad movie being compared to an ugly baby, lol.

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4 Outdoor Movies

April 16, 2008 at 12:55 PM

I'm just saying, why would you wanna make a movie when you know it's going to be boring and then market it to be cool when really people are just going to be pissed when they leave and that they wish they hadn't spent their money on it?

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5 simi

April 17, 2008 at 6:23 PM

I hope you can give more screen time to those cute veggies and that dough guy you've got now...with interpretations. the one you did before was hella funny. it's my screensaver

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6 DAE

April 17, 2008 at 7:44 PM

i guess some would still think as capitalist would, you bring shoes to places where people don't wear them and even when there's a lot of choices you still sell your brand even if it isn't that good, in quality or by design.

I think sometimes it may come out as an accident... none believed it will be boring until it was completed and viewed/reviewed by others.

like any regular movie viewer, not everyone will like what's good enough for me - the same happens to those who make it - they may have found something interesting in it when it was coined yet went bad during filming and since expense were all in, they just had to get something out of it and pushed thru to show it on theaters.

i personally don't go for family drama that talks about the ordinary walk of life. For me, overly dramatic or too light a plot need not be viewed on wide screen.

i would pay to go to a movie that would have a lot of action and special effects. The rest, will just have to wait when i have time to spare at home in front of my TV.