Purpose of Film Magazine covers, Posters and Trailers

Movies always require good advertisment in order for them to sell to their full potential, this goes for all films including blockbuster hits and films released by small individual companies.

Advertisment is key in all products but it matters especially to films that are shown on cinema because going to the cinema is considered a luxury, therefor people generally wont think about going to the cinema unless they see an advertisment or something else to persuade them to go.

Film producers and the people in charge of marketing and advertising will have to think about where to advertise their product, the general places film companies will advertise their product includes Magazines, television trailers, posters on the likes of Bus Stops, supermarkets etc.

The purpose of advertising is to show the customers the product, to inform them about what it is and whats included in the product, and more importantly, it tells them to go buy or view the product. The best place to advertise films is in magazines made specifically for movies, television trailers and posters, this is because the television is a product that almost everybody owns, this means the trailer will get seen by billions of people, and will be shown to lots of different types of person, so it tends for the mass market. Adverts in film magazines are effective because they target the movie followers audience, and people buy those magazines specifically to see what new films are being shown and what is in development.

Here is an example of a poster that would typically be shown outside a cinema, it is of the most recent Harry Potter Film, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. As you can see it provides a picture of actor Daniel Radcliffe, the main character in the Harry Potter films, it also includes the date of release for the film.

Here is the front cover of a Total Film magazine advertising the film Inception, as you can see it shows a picture of the main characters actor Lionardo Dicaprio, along with the title in bold text.

Film trailers will be shown on the television mainly but will sometimes be advertised on the internet or radio with companies that have a cheaper budget. When advertised on the television it will be aired at specific times to appeal to a specific audience, for example if the trailer was to be aired late at night it would appeal to adults more, or if it was aired at around four o clock, it would most likely be targeted at children. Most television adverts will include fitting music to match the genre or story, along with specially picked clips of the film.