Consider how imaginative techniques are used by media products from your cross-media study to attract and maintain audiences (32 marks)
Imaginative techniques are very important in ensuring a media product attracts and maintains its audience. I will be using my case studies Ill Manors, A Field in England and Spectre which are based on the British Film industry to demonstrate how effective the use of imaginative techniques is.
Ill Manors is a good example in demonstrating how imaginative techniques are used by media products in terms of their social media campaign 'Tag-London'. This campaign was based on social media and gave the Ill Manors audience on twitter the opportunity to ‘tweet’ their opinions on the current political climate in London, as the Ill Manors film is based around during the period of the London riots. These tweets were then projected across London to present the voices of society, while also promoting the Ill Manors film. This marketing technique was quite successful in attracting the audience as it allowed the audience to engage with the film and other members of the audience, and this can be linked back to the idea of personal identity (Uses and Gratifications) as the audience can find themselves reflected in the views of other members of the audience and Ben Drew, the director himself who has created this preferred reading (Stuart Hall) of the London riots. The user-generated campaign also maintains the audience as the Ill Manors twitter page and also their Facebook page is constantly updated with behind the scenes and clips that link back to the film, which is something the audience would look forward to. By using a UGC campaign, which is an imaginative technique, and social media, the audience are attracted to the film and also maintained as they are constantly engaged with while the film is also being promoted.
In terms of broadcast, Ill manors also took an imaginative approach in attracting and maintain their audience. Several videos were posted on YouTube such as a music video which contained cameo appearances of the characters in Ill Manors. This created synergy between the film and the music video and gave the audience a sense of being rewarded for their knowledge on the film. Synergy between Plan B’s already existing fan base is also created, and this attracts the audience as Plan B himself is another institution that may appeal to those who enjoyed Ill Manors, and this will maintain the audience as they become fans.
Distribution strategies can also be constructed to be imaginative, as demonstrated through the film A Field in England. A Field in England was distributed on all platforms i.e. Cinemas, VOD, DVD and on Film 4 (TV) on the 5th of July 2013 which has gained it widespread attention in the media industry as this defies the typical distribution technique of films being distributed on platforms over the course of several months. This technique proved to be successful as shown through the opening weekend box office figures reaching £21,399. The audience were indeed attracted to the film as benefits were provided with each product i.e. DVDS contained extracts on the making of the film while cinema’s hosted Q&A’s. This allowed the audience to choose whichever platform they found suitable to watch the film on while also gaining benefits and putting each product to its best advantage therefore boosting the revenue. However, there was a disadvantage through this imaginative technique as the audience were not maintained as the interest in the film product eventually died out because of all the releases on the same day. If the distributers followed the typical distribution technique and released a product over the course of several months it would have been more likely for the audience to be maintained as there would have been something to look forward to.
Despite the fact of print being a dying media, it could still be taken advantage of as done by Ill Manors director Ben Drew (Plan B), who has had several newspaper interviews to promote Ill Manors and to attract an audience. By doing so Ben Drew could widen his audience range and attract the higher/middle class, older audience and the lower class, younger audience. Ben Drew has had several interviews with newspapers such as The Observer and Men’s Health, which create this image of Ben Drew being one of a higher class as several images of him in formal attire are in the articles. This would attract aspirers and the explorers in terms of psychographics (Young and Rubicam) as they may want to find out more and watch the social realism film, and also make the audience to aspire to be successful such as Ben Drew. The NME article however creates an anti-authority image of Ben Drew, where he gives his opinions on the political climate in London (the riots that took place). This would attract to the younger audience, who can personally identify with Ben Drew (Uses and Gratifications). Overall, the use of different newspaper institutions to promote a film is quite imaginative as it can attract a wider audience including the ABC1 margin i.e. Men’s Health and The Observer readers while also attracting a younger and lower class audience i.e. NME readers, however it does not necessarily maintain them as it is a dying platform.
In terms of a mainstream film, Spectre also demonstrates the use of imaginative techniques. Spectre’s social media campaigns on Snapchat and Heineken were quite effective in attracting and maintaining an audience. For example, the Snapchat campaign features a channel solely based on promoting the Spectre film, and a filter that could be used for several weeks that also promoted the film as it carried on the theme of Spectre. This would attract and maintain the younger audience of the James Bond franchise as it would allow them to engage with the film product. The Heineken campaign featured a change in packaging and advantages for the target audience such as the opportunity to see behind the scene extracts, this would attract an older audience who have been part of the James Bond fanbase for several years as it has been around for many decades. By using these two separate campaigns, two different audiences can be attracted to Spectre and also maintained as they gain benefits from using these products.
In conclusion, the Imaginative techniques that are used very important in ensuring a media product can attract and maintain its audience.
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