Description
Case analysis of Passion of the Christ, a marketing case.
The Passion of the Christ
1. Background of the case
Bob Berney, president of Newmarket Films, must decide on a distribution and marketing strategy for Mel Gibson's controversial new movie, The Passion of the Christ. Prior to Bob’s company taking over the marketing campaign, Mel Gibson himself was doing the promotion. With the help of his star power as well as an extensive prescreening campaign among Christian leaders and others representing likely target audiences in the summer of 2003, the religious movie had started to generate publicity in mainstream media. Five months prior to the film's scheduled opening Berney has to choose whether to continue with the prescreening campaign to stimulate further word-of-mouth among core audiences or switch to a mainstream media advertising campaign more commonly used to promote new movies. He also has to determine the appropriate distribution strategy, in particular whether to opt for a wide or limited (sleeper) release and whether to change the timing of the release. The unique nature of the movie, coupled with the public debate that had already resulted posed several challenges for Newmarket.
2. Objectives
Newmarket’s main objective is to maximize the revenues generated from the movie while at the same time minimizing the marketing expenses. The company aims to do this by developing the following strategies: ?
Distribution strategy development – Newmarket had to decide on how to release the movie i.e. whether to do a wide or limited release.
?
Develop an advertising and promotion strategy – This was to decide whether to continue with the pre-screening and word of mouth promotion or to move to mass media marketing. This decision would depend on the type of release which would be decided by Newmarket.
?
Determining the right time to release the movie – Newmarket has to determine the day on which to release the film so as to ensure that the movie gets the maximum viewership while at the same is able to face the competition from the other movies that would be released around the same time.
3. Challenges faced
?
The genre of the film is religious drama. The films of this genre are seen to attract lesser crowds in the past few years. This raises a question about the revenue generating ability of the film.
?
The film features a lot of violence and is expected to get an R rating. This will reduce the target audience for the film.
?
There was a controversy regarding factual inadequacies and about the film being ant-Semitic. This had created a negative hype about the movie.
?
As the cast was not star studded, the film would not be able to take advantage of fan following. Hence it would require even more effort to attract the viewers.
?
There is bound to be competition from movies to be released at similar times. The movies slated to be released around the same duration are more of action/thriller types and these are bound to attract more viewers based on the past trends (where top 2o movies are of similar types to these movies)
?
The dialogues of the movie are in two foreign languages (Latin and Armanic) which most of the people in US are not familiar with. This would act as a deterrent for the prospective audience.
4. Solution - Formulation of the marketing strategy:
The solution includes the advertising, distribution strategies and at the same time coming up with the appropriate release date. Based on our analysis, we consider that the below should be the respective strategies.
Advertising strategy: ?
The target segment for the movie includes the entire Christian population across all age groups and classes. This is a large base which needs to be tapped in an effort to maximize the audience. Use of mass media advertising – As the movie has to reach a huge segment of the population, mass media advertisement campaign should be used. The advertising strategy should use all mediums of mass communication i.e. television, internet, print media etc. as they cater to different segments of the society. The topic of the movie (related to religion) is different hence it is necessary to give the public a wide exposure to the movie. Hype has to be created which in turn would help to attract more audience by increasing the awareness and curiosity. The distributor's grass-roots approach should be continued to be used centered on Christians and church leaders.
?
?
Making of the movie screening – Apart from normal TV advertisements featuring small video strips and release dates, larger documentaries should also be created. These documentaries can be in the form of ‘Making of the Movie’ which will include interviews of the cast and crew. This will serve as a platform to generate awareness about the movie. Interviews by the cast and Mel Gibson can be used to justify the violence in the movie. The doubts raised about the factual authenticity can be also cleared in these documentaries. Also the star power of Mel Gibson can be tapped in this to give more credibility.
?
Continuation of pre-screenings – Pre screenings have already been conducted, these can be continued. These screening can be followed up with discussions about the presence or absence of Anti-Semitism. Discussions or debates between opposing groups will keep the movie in limelight which would also help to keep the audience engrossed.
?
Use of Online Media (Internet) –
Internet sites can be used to attract different segments and also to have polls, sell merchandise etc. It can act as a disseminator of information and materials for churches and evangelists to spread the word. Use of online sites where people could order posters, postcards would help to publicize the movie among the online users. ? Use of Mel Gibson’s star power for promotion – The star power of Mel Gibson can be tapped in this to give more credibility. Interviews with Mel Gibson should be telecasted on TVs and should be made available on the internet. His past achievements would help to lend more strength of the ? Special screening for protesters – As part of the publicity, a special screening can be held for the protesters to allay their fears. This screening should also provide citing to references and sources from where the facts have been taken like the Bible which would help to increase the credibility. Also the protesters would not doubt these sources as they already trust the same.
Distribution Strategy: ?
Wide release of the movie – Such huge publicity and advertising should be followed by a wide release. A wide release backed up by a strong publicity campaign, will draw the crowds in the first few days. Later even if the response is not good a major portion of the expenses will be recovered. A wide release will demand an extra 1.4 million expenditure, but this will be recovered in the first few days of movie release. Going for a sleeper release can have certain disadvantages; first if the movie does not do well initially, the number of screens won’t be increased and the effective collections will be very less, second, if it does well, the grey market may capture the market before the movie is released elsewhere.
Release Date: ?
Currently in October 2003, the movie is already in news. When the buzz is already created about the movie, the movie should be released at an earlier possible date. The current controversy should be used to the maximum limit if the movie is released while the controversy is still fresh. In addition later on when Easter arrives, the movie can be re-promoted which would help to attract more crowds and hence would help to increase the revenues.
?
?
So based on this we believe that the movie should be released on Ash Wednesday itself.
doc_850956995.docx
Case analysis of Passion of the Christ, a marketing case.
The Passion of the Christ
1. Background of the case
Bob Berney, president of Newmarket Films, must decide on a distribution and marketing strategy for Mel Gibson's controversial new movie, The Passion of the Christ. Prior to Bob’s company taking over the marketing campaign, Mel Gibson himself was doing the promotion. With the help of his star power as well as an extensive prescreening campaign among Christian leaders and others representing likely target audiences in the summer of 2003, the religious movie had started to generate publicity in mainstream media. Five months prior to the film's scheduled opening Berney has to choose whether to continue with the prescreening campaign to stimulate further word-of-mouth among core audiences or switch to a mainstream media advertising campaign more commonly used to promote new movies. He also has to determine the appropriate distribution strategy, in particular whether to opt for a wide or limited (sleeper) release and whether to change the timing of the release. The unique nature of the movie, coupled with the public debate that had already resulted posed several challenges for Newmarket.
2. Objectives
Newmarket’s main objective is to maximize the revenues generated from the movie while at the same time minimizing the marketing expenses. The company aims to do this by developing the following strategies: ?
Distribution strategy development – Newmarket had to decide on how to release the movie i.e. whether to do a wide or limited release.
?
Develop an advertising and promotion strategy – This was to decide whether to continue with the pre-screening and word of mouth promotion or to move to mass media marketing. This decision would depend on the type of release which would be decided by Newmarket.
?
Determining the right time to release the movie – Newmarket has to determine the day on which to release the film so as to ensure that the movie gets the maximum viewership while at the same is able to face the competition from the other movies that would be released around the same time.
3. Challenges faced
?
The genre of the film is religious drama. The films of this genre are seen to attract lesser crowds in the past few years. This raises a question about the revenue generating ability of the film.
?
The film features a lot of violence and is expected to get an R rating. This will reduce the target audience for the film.
?
There was a controversy regarding factual inadequacies and about the film being ant-Semitic. This had created a negative hype about the movie.
?
As the cast was not star studded, the film would not be able to take advantage of fan following. Hence it would require even more effort to attract the viewers.
?
There is bound to be competition from movies to be released at similar times. The movies slated to be released around the same duration are more of action/thriller types and these are bound to attract more viewers based on the past trends (where top 2o movies are of similar types to these movies)
?
The dialogues of the movie are in two foreign languages (Latin and Armanic) which most of the people in US are not familiar with. This would act as a deterrent for the prospective audience.
4. Solution - Formulation of the marketing strategy:
The solution includes the advertising, distribution strategies and at the same time coming up with the appropriate release date. Based on our analysis, we consider that the below should be the respective strategies.
Advertising strategy: ?
The target segment for the movie includes the entire Christian population across all age groups and classes. This is a large base which needs to be tapped in an effort to maximize the audience. Use of mass media advertising – As the movie has to reach a huge segment of the population, mass media advertisement campaign should be used. The advertising strategy should use all mediums of mass communication i.e. television, internet, print media etc. as they cater to different segments of the society. The topic of the movie (related to religion) is different hence it is necessary to give the public a wide exposure to the movie. Hype has to be created which in turn would help to attract more audience by increasing the awareness and curiosity. The distributor's grass-roots approach should be continued to be used centered on Christians and church leaders.
?
?
Making of the movie screening – Apart from normal TV advertisements featuring small video strips and release dates, larger documentaries should also be created. These documentaries can be in the form of ‘Making of the Movie’ which will include interviews of the cast and crew. This will serve as a platform to generate awareness about the movie. Interviews by the cast and Mel Gibson can be used to justify the violence in the movie. The doubts raised about the factual authenticity can be also cleared in these documentaries. Also the star power of Mel Gibson can be tapped in this to give more credibility.
?
Continuation of pre-screenings – Pre screenings have already been conducted, these can be continued. These screening can be followed up with discussions about the presence or absence of Anti-Semitism. Discussions or debates between opposing groups will keep the movie in limelight which would also help to keep the audience engrossed.
?
Use of Online Media (Internet) –
Internet sites can be used to attract different segments and also to have polls, sell merchandise etc. It can act as a disseminator of information and materials for churches and evangelists to spread the word. Use of online sites where people could order posters, postcards would help to publicize the movie among the online users. ? Use of Mel Gibson’s star power for promotion – The star power of Mel Gibson can be tapped in this to give more credibility. Interviews with Mel Gibson should be telecasted on TVs and should be made available on the internet. His past achievements would help to lend more strength of the ? Special screening for protesters – As part of the publicity, a special screening can be held for the protesters to allay their fears. This screening should also provide citing to references and sources from where the facts have been taken like the Bible which would help to increase the credibility. Also the protesters would not doubt these sources as they already trust the same.
Distribution Strategy: ?
Wide release of the movie – Such huge publicity and advertising should be followed by a wide release. A wide release backed up by a strong publicity campaign, will draw the crowds in the first few days. Later even if the response is not good a major portion of the expenses will be recovered. A wide release will demand an extra 1.4 million expenditure, but this will be recovered in the first few days of movie release. Going for a sleeper release can have certain disadvantages; first if the movie does not do well initially, the number of screens won’t be increased and the effective collections will be very less, second, if it does well, the grey market may capture the market before the movie is released elsewhere.
Release Date: ?
Currently in October 2003, the movie is already in news. When the buzz is already created about the movie, the movie should be released at an earlier possible date. The current controversy should be used to the maximum limit if the movie is released while the controversy is still fresh. In addition later on when Easter arrives, the movie can be re-promoted which would help to attract more crowds and hence would help to increase the revenues.
?
?
So based on this we believe that the movie should be released on Ash Wednesday itself.
doc_850956995.docx