Section B past paper

“Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of products in the media area you have studied.”

In this essay I will be discussing the ways digital technology affects the marketing and consumption of films; for film companies such as working title and warp.

  Digital technologies have had a major impact on the film industry in the past 15 years. Warp and Working title been effected by the use of digital technologies in different ways. Working title produced a film in 2005 called ‘Nanny Mcphee’, directed by Susanna Wright. Working title used digital technologies to distribute the film to the public. Nanny Mcphee had a budget of $25 million. Which in comparison to ‘Four Lions’ (£2.5 million) by warp is a considerable amount. Because of working titles larger budget the marketing was on a far bigger scale. Nanny Mcphee had digital billboards posted in various places in the US, and in the UK they spent money marketing the film on television adverts. The box office in the US was $14.5M and in the UK £2.6M. Whereas the box office for Four Lions; was $4200 in the US and £610000 in the UK. This played a key role in the consumption of the film. The more people that see it in various places the more likely they are to go and see the film. Working title played their TV advert on children’s channels, such as Disney Channel. This would be targeting the mass audience. Generally the more money you put into the film the more money you are going to get out of the film. Both Nanny Mcphee and Four Lions made a large profit, even with the different marketing techniques. Digital technology is more affective now than it has ever been; due the amount of people that have computer based devices. An example of digital marketing would be social media. Social media is a great example of marketing, especially for indie films; such as Four Lions. Social media is an effective way of marketing because it is free and is open to a large range of people. If one person likes it they may pass it on to their friends. Examples of social medias would be; Facebook, twitter and rotten tomatoes. However there can be some disadvantages; it is available for the whole world to see, therefore people may leave negative comments. This wouldn’t have a good impact on the marketing of Four Lions. Working title use large electric billboards; in large cities around the world to market their films. Nanny Mcphee was posted in Times Square for three days. You can only imagine the amount of people that saw this as they were walking through the city centre. Most often indie films will not use this form of digital marketing due to the cost of using the billboards. These are just two ways in which the role of digital marketing has developed in the recent years.

  Digital technologies have also effected the consumption of films in the film industries. There used to be about two ways of watching films. Either video players or going to the cinema. Now we are able to watch new and old films whenever and where ever we want. A role of digital technology would be programs such as; Netflix, downloading films illegally (putlocker and coke and popcorn) and sky movies. All of which give the audience the option to watch any films without having to leave their house. Before the use of Love film and Netflix you would have to go to the cinema to watch upcoming films. These digital technologies have changed the way we watch films forever. Programs like Netflix have actually put some businesses out of business. For example blockbuster; you could go and purchase or rent a film for a certain amount of time. However over time and with the use of Netflix, you can pay £5 a month and have access to a variety of films, which is far more convenient. People tend to use the most convenient way of watching films. As phones have progressed, we are able to simply have an app and start watching a film whenever. Companies such as warp and working title are aware of this and have some of their films on Netflix. Companies often share their films with Netflix and get an upfront payment. However the downside would be that there is no grossing payment.

  In conclusion, digital technologies play a vital role in the marketing and consumption of films; both in mainstream and independent films.