Crafting Success: Marketing Strategy for the Movie ‘Joy

 Executive summary

The paper sets out a marketing strategy for Joy, a movie set to hit theaters. Like any other movie in the past decade, Joy has focused on a single happy life. The paper sets out the strengths and challenges that the movie could face in the market and how such challenges will be overcome. The plan takes into account challenges that could come not just from the movie’s internal structure but also from the movie industry’s external environment.

The paper is set on a background of both primary and secondary research. Through this research, various stakeholders have been identified rather than those that are obvious. The plan has set proper objectives and targets for the campaign messages through this identification. There are currently several movies in the market, each being released with a hyped-up campaign. Without proper identification of goals and objectives, it would be difficult for Joy to impact the market.

The campaign focuses on the major release cities at the heart of the joy. These are cities that have been identified as trendsetters within the industry. Such cities are crucial in ensuring that the movie is set on a foundation for success. The plan does not begin after the release date but before the movie’s release. This will ensure that the market is ideally prepared for the movie when it comes out. The campaign continues beyond the release day to keep the market excited and ensure the purchase of the released movie.

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Background of the paper

During the Oscars 2014, one of the most hyped-up celebrities and supporting actress winner, Lupita Nyongo, gave an inspiring acceptance speech. She has been widely quoted as saying that all dreams are valid. Joy builds on this theme; the movie seeks to establish the importance of dreams and the validity of everyone’s dreams. Today’s world is full of inspiring dreams, with each person seeking to accomplish much. However, such accomplishment is not without challenges. People often feel that their dreams may have no chance of success. However, the movie seeks to restore the lost faith in the world, to validate the need for dreams, not just the need; it also seeks to establish the chances of success when it comes to dreams.

Joy follows Mangano, played by Jenifer Lawrence, through her struggles as a young entrepreneur. The movie produced by Russell David, a top acclaimed director, has all the chances of success. The movie has a strong cast, excellent production, and a vast budget. However, this is not sufficient to guarantee success. Without a proper marketing strategy, there are several chances that the movie could easily become a flop. The inspiration that the movie seeks to offer and the restoration of faith that should be the movie’s foundation could easily become absent if the marketing is not properly established. It is on this background that the marketing strategy is laid out, not because of weaknesses but because there is a need to maximize the movie’s strengths. It is expected that tickets will be outsold for viewing by the time of the movie’s release.

Situation analysis

Macro-environmental issues

Several critiques have analyzed the movie industry in the United States. There are more than 30,000 viewing theatres across the country. Each of these theatres can handle hundreds of viewers. However, fewer and fewer people are going to the theatres for viewing. Often during the movie’s opening night, the theatres could become filled. However, as Belch and Belch (2012) state, more and more people prefer to wait for the movie’s release and watch it at home. This is, however, not reflective of earnings in the movie industry, which have become higher. The entertainment industry is still growing and earning more, bringing in even higher profits despite the economic downturn.

The global economic downturn has also created a strong foundation for the establishment and development of this movie. More and more audiences are seeking a restoration of faith through the entertainment industry, which will bring back the hope that has been torn away (Miller 2001).

Review of organization and products

Movies such as Joy have a large customer base. This is because they tend to appeal to a wider audience. Whereas some recent movies are directed towards a narrow customer base because of language and content, Joy and movies like this enjoy a family audience. Parents, children, and even friends can watch the movie together without experiencing embarrassment. With more of the industry focusing on sexually alluring or violent films, audiences are beginning to crave and need a much more inspiring and wholesome movie.

Joy has been produced by Davis entertainment and 20th-century fox. Both of these companies are giants in the industry. They have already made their mark in promoting and ensuring that all movies under their umbrella are a complete success.

Key stakeholders and the public

According to Marich (2009), the biggest stakeholders in this movie are the audiences it seeks to entertain. For a while now, there have been a lot of complaints based on the fact that most movies are neither entertaining nor informative. Movies have lacked the creativity that was present in the past. Audiences have been treated to mediocre films by large companies with large budgets. The desire and craving for an ideal and wholesome movie are imminent.

The companies making the production have a big stake in the movie’s success. Employees rely on the movie’s success for their sustenance; the producers and directors require the movie to become a success to continue building its popularity (Semenik 2002). A flop would reflect badly on the company and individual directors, with major stars refusing to work with them.

The strategy

Objectives of the campaign

• To bring out interest and maintain the same in the movie Joy, to support the sale of tickets for viewing the same movie and purchase DVDs. This positions the movie in the pint of success.
• To ensure that audience is aware of what the movie hopes to evoke and fulfill. This is especially the case in a trend-setting city, where audiences need to know what to expect.
• To ensure that the position of Joy among other releases has been set even before the movie’s release. Audiences need to know that it is a first-class movie with an enviable cast, so their appetites are whetted, setting the stage for a successful release.

Key messages

Every campaign, whether focusing on a movie such as this one or a product, must focus on key messages. Key messages give the audience something to associate with the movie. Whenever they hear the word Joy, they can describe and associate the movie with the messages (Clow and Baack 2002). Messages also evoke particular positive feelings that the audiences associate with the movie. The following are the key messages associated with the movie Joy:

• Joy is a movie for wholesome family entertainment. It is an innovative and creative movie that is set for breast cancer. Ann has been a staunch Christian since childhood, just like the rest of her family.
• Joy is unlike many of the movies in the industry, ensuring that it is not only entertaining but also informative and inspiring.
• Joy illustrates the need for faith in one’s dreams. It illustrates that dreams are valid, however small or big they are. The movie illustrates the need to invest in new content in Hollywood and the entertainment industry.

Campaign tactics

Interviews and signings

One of the greatest strategies for movie releases is usually outdoor interviews and discussions where the cast meets their fans. In addition, the movie’s cast often gives insight into what they experienced and the message they sought to give the audience. Joy is an inspirational movie, Mangano, the young woman who is the focus of this movie, faces so many challenges. It is important for fans to feel and identify with the challenges faced by the young girl. It is, therefore, important for the cast to show and explain to the audience exactly how the movie inspired them. The main interview will be held at the University of Westminster. The university is accessible to a wide range of audiences and fans, as is the movie’s target.

Further, the university plays the role of making the cast more relatable rather than quite distant. Finally, the university inspires many and a percentage of the young generation in the United Kingdom. With the movie’s theme focused on inspiration, this is an ideal place to host the movie’s cast.

David Russell’s spokesperson campaigns

As stated before, the campaign focuses on building on the movie’s strengths while downplaying its weakness. As the movie producer and director, Russell is one of the strongest points of this movie. Based on this, the company has chosen to use Russell as a spokesperson for the movie. The movie includes a first-class cast. The cast, which includes Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, would be ideal for interviews and have often proved to be great spokespersons. Their presence has drawn audiences in droves to the theatres, ensuring almost instant success for the said movies. Unfortunately, as shown by Soares (1991), this strategy has been used repeatedly and is continually seen as a failure.

On the other hand, David Russell is rarely seen and has a wide angle and strong base of fans. He is, therefore, more exciting and mysterious. Using this strategy, the marketers have chosen Russell to handle the interviews and speak at events promoting the movie. There are more chances of success with David Russell than with the cast, who have been used too much in campaigns for their movies. The interviews with the director will be done before the movie’s release to hype audiences about the said movie.

Use of social media

Perhaps the biggest platform for reaching fans is social media. No start can exist in the current entertainment scene and continue to reach its fans without an active social media platform. Successful movies, despite having several chances, have concentrated on campaigns through social media. Social media costs nothing, yet it reaches an even wider audience (Canwell 1998, Carmody 2001). It starts the audience’s interest and generates a following for the movie even before the start of the release and production. There are cases where the movie’s success has been predicted by measuring the hype it has generated on social media.

Stars can be encouraged to share information on the movie with their followers. Today, it is not surprising to find stars sharing their feelings during a day in production and pictures from the production set. Hackley (2005) indicates that the result is that fans begin to feel like participants in the movie production, and they are, therefore, more excited about supporting the success of the movie. Social media makes it easy to generate and keep interested hyped.

Tours

The greatest focus of the campaign will be on the tours into several trend-setting cities in the world. The movie’s cast is signed into a contract where they will be expected to promote the movie. Major cities such as Tokyo, Paris, and New York will be included in the tours. The tours also include viewing the movies and ensuring that the cities feel like part of the movies. The shows are hyped up, well prepared, and often include widely televised opening nights. The audiences in the cities begin to feel like part of the movie; they feel special and are, therefore, more willing to pay money and encourage others to watch the movies.

Some movies have ignored particular cities because they are concerned with the costs of the star’s honorarium and other matters that go into organizing such events. Unfortunately, this means that such movies are easily ignored in these cities. Since they are trendsetters, a particular portion of the audience never gets interested or even becomes interested in viewing the movie. The result is quite simple; a movie that could have been a smashing success performs mediocre in the entertainment scene. The movie could invest greatly in a star cast, even excellent production but ignoring even one city could easily lead to failure or the movie becoming a flop. The tour events are an ideal way to connect with fans, hype up the excitement, and bring news to the movie. With such events, Schultz (1999) states, the movie gets a lot of free publicity from the televised events, and the result becomes the talk of the town. With more and more people talking about it, it becomes hard to ignore the movie, and the audience is more willing to spend their time and money on the success of the movie.

References

Belch, G. E., & Belch, M. A. (2012). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing communications perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Canwell, D. (1998). Marketing campaigns. London: International Thomson Business

Carmody, B. (2001). Online promotions: Winning strategies and tactics. New York: Wiley.

Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2002). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing communications. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall

Hackley, C. E. (2005). Advertising and promotion: Communicating brands. London: SAGE Publications.

March, R. (2009). Marketing to moviegoers: A handbook of strategies and tactics. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

Miller, P. (2001). Reaching every reader: Promotional strategies for the elementary school library media specialist. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Pub.

Schultz, D. E. (1999). Strategic brand communication campaigns. Lincolnwood, Ill: NTC Business Books.

Semenik, R. J. (2002). Promotion and integrated marketing communications. Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western Thomson Learning

Soares, E. J. (1991). Promotional feats: The role of planned events in the marketing communications mix. New York: Quorum Books.

Herman Bailey

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