Advertising CSP 1: OMO print advert

The first close-study product for Advertising and Marketing is the 1955 advert for OMO washing powder that appeared in Woman's Own magazine.

This product provides an excellent opportunity to analyse the changing representation of women in advertising over the last 60 years.

Sample questions for Advertising and Marketing

In your Media exams, you are likely to get questions similar to these:

- Why do advertisers use stereotypes? [6 marks]

- Explain how advertisements reflect the historical context in which they were created. [12 marks]

OMO advert CSP (1955)

OMO was a popular washing powder brand in the 1950s. This advert was from 1955 and needs to be studied both in terms of historical context and how it would be received today.

In 1955, British society was still adjusting after World War Two in which women took on many traditionally male jobs with men off fighting. This led to advertising in the 1950s often trying to reinforce traditional female stereotypes of housewives and mothers in order to protect male power both at work and at home.

Annotations

In the lesson, you'll have a chance to annotate your own copy of the OMO advert and make notes of the key conventions and what they communicate to the audience.

Here are some of the questions we discussed when we annotated our copy of the advert in class:

And here's an image of an annotated advert from the lesson on OMO - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access this.

OMO advert: blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'OMO advert CSP blog tasks' and work through the following tasks: 

1) What year was the advert produced?

2) How were women represented in most adverts in the 1950s? Add as much detail to this answer as you can as these are the social, cultural and historical contexts we will need to write about in the exam.

3) How does the heading message ('OMO makes whites bright') and the style of the text promote the product?

4) Analyse the mise-en-scene in the advert (CLAMPS): how is costume, make-up and placement of the model used to suggest women's role in society?

5) Why is a picture of the product added to the bottom right of the advert?

6) What are the connotations of the chosen colours in this advert - red, white and blue?

7) How does the anchorage text use persuasive language to encourage the audience to buy the product? Give examples.

8) What representation of women can be found in this OMO advert? Make specific reference to the advert and discuss stereotypes.

9) What is the preferred reading for this advert - what did the producers of the advert want the audience to think in 1955?

10) What is the oppositional reading for this advert - how might a modern audience respond to this text and the representation of women here?

Grade 8/9 extension questions

1) How much do you think things have changed over the last 60 years with regards to representations of women in advertising? Give examples from a variety of adverts

2) How is the aftermath of World War Two reflected in the Omo advert? Why did many adverts in the 1950s strongly reinforce the stereotype of women as mothers and housewives?

3) Read this Guardian feature on possible law changes with regards to gender representations in advertising. Do you agree with this approach?

4) Now read this Guardian feature entitled 'Mad Men and invisible women'. Why does it suggest the advertising industry has 'failed to move on'? Do you agree? Read some of the comments below the article to get a range of differing views on this topic.

You will have some lesson time to answer these questions but will need to complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.

Gender stereotypes in advertising

There is a long history of adverts featuring a sexist or negative representation of women.

We need to learn how adverts represent different people and groups and also how these representations have changed over time. Today, the focus is on the representation of women and the gender stereotypes that appear in many adverts. This builds on our work on social and cultural contexts - the way the media influences people, society and British culture.

Key words

Representation: the way a group or individual is portrayed in the media.

Normalised: when something becomes considered ‘normal’ or ‘usual’

Stereotype: viewing a group or individual in a fixed, over-simplified way.

Conventions: typical features of a media product. 

Reinforce a stereotype: the representation supports our usual expectations.

Subvert a stereotype: the representation goes against our usual expectations.

Social, Cultural and Historical contexts

Another aspect we have to consider whenever we study a media product is how it reflects British society and what message it may be sending to audiences. Our exam board AQA calls this 'social and cultural contexts' and those words will appear in several exam questions in our final exams. Similarly, when we study media products from history, we will also need to consider historical contexts - how the media product reflects the time period in which it was created. These are the key questions to ask:

Social contexts: How do media products influence or affect people in society?

Cultural contexts: How the media reflects the typical ideas, opinions and beliefs in society and the media industries.

Historical contexts: How has society (and the type of media product) changed over time?

The representation of women in advertising is a great example of all three of these contexts. The way women are presented in adverts says a lot about the culture the advert is created in, it may well affect the way both women and men feel and behave in society and it also has changed over time.

How are women represented in advertising?

The stereotype of women in advertising is often negative. Representations through the history of advertising have suggested that women are inferior to men, bad drivers, powerless, sexualised or focused on domestic work (e.g. cleaning). This potentially influences media audiences and the views in wider society.

 

 















Oxo TV adverts

Explore how the representations of women have changed through these two adverts for Oxo. Are they really as different as they first appear?

1980s Oxo advert




2017 Oxo advert: Change of Plan 

In 2017 Oxo launched a 'new family' to advertise some of their recent products and released a TV advert called 'Change of Plan'. There are definitely some significant changes between the 1980s Oxo family and the updated version - although perhaps the gender representations on display haven't progressed quite as much as it first appears.

Unfortunately, this advert is no longer on YouTube but can be watched on the Ads of the World website here or alternatively on Google Drive here (using your Greenford Google login).



Gender representation in advertising: blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Gender representation in advertising'.

1) Find three adverts featuring women that are from the 1950s or 1960s. Save the images to your Media folder as jpegs and then import them into your blog post. Hint: You may wish to look at car, perfume or cleaning products but can use any product you wish.

2) Find three adverts featuring women that are from post-2000. Save the images to your Media folder as jpegs and then import them into your blog post.

3) What stereotypes of women can you find in the 1950s and 1960s adverts? Give specific examples. 

4) What stereotypes of women can you find in the post-2000s adverts? Give specific examples.

5) How do your chosen adverts suggest representations of gender have changed over the last 60 years? 


Extension tasks

Find three adverts that subvert gender stereotypes, post the images/links to your blog and write a paragraph about how they subvert the way women or men are usually represented in the media.

Read this Guardian article on seven female stereotypes that were identified in Australian adverts. Do you recognise the stereotypes that the article discusses? 

This Guardian article reports the first adverts banned for using negative gender stereotypes. Do you think the ASA was right to ban them? 

Due date: on Google Classroom.

Advertising and Marketing: Key conventions

Our new topic is Advertising and Marketing - an important aspect of Media Studies.

One of the key aspects to deconstructing advertisements is denotation and connotation. Remember the definitions:

Denotation: the literal meaning of something
Connotation: the deeper meaning or what is suggested (reading between the lines)

Codes and conventions of print adverts

When studying print adverts we need to look for the following conventions or typical features:

• Picture of product
• USP - unique selling point. What is it that makes the product special or different to appeal to consumers?
• Lighting
• Setting / colour scheme
• Logo – this is usually the brand name 
• Slogan – this is a catchy phrase summing up the ethos of the product e.g Nike’s ‘Just Do It’

Adverts will often use unique and interesting ways to attract the attention of the target audience. This might be: innovative branding; clever use of space; unconventional or subversive ideas; emotional connections or shock / controversy.

Persuasive techniques in advertising

Advertisements are generally trying to persuade their target audience to:

• Buy a product or service
• Believe something or act in a certain way
• Agree with a point of view

There are many persuasive techniques used in advertising. A selection include:

• Image and colour scheme- to catch and keep attention
• Slogan – a catchy phrase or statement
• Established brand identity – associated with success or taste or good quality. 
• Repetition – constant reference to product name
• Association / Star Power – e.g. celebrity endorsement
• Emotional appeal or shock tactics – designed to create strong feelings
• Expert opinion – ‘4 out of 5 dentists…’
• Imperative- Giving no choice e.g ‘Taste the rainbow’

Media analysis example - Maltesers advert

Conventions and analysis

• Pictures of the product (Maltesers) to remind us of the type of product it is. The image also reinforces the word ‘lighter’ as the chocolates dance and jump off the floor. 
• The Logo is bright and large in the centre of the advert. The word ‘malt’ relates to the flavours used and ‘tesers’ is a play on the word ‘tease’ which ties in with the playful, light ethos. 
• The Background features the heavy use of red. It is bright and eye-catching with connotations of love. This makes the consumer recognise the brand colour and makes them think they love the product, or may gift it to someone they love. 
• The Slogan at the bottom is clearly visible and stands out against the background. ‘Lighter’ and ‘enjoy’ reinforce the USP – that Maltesers are slightly healthier or 'lighter' chocolate. 
• The Colour Scheme is red and white - recognisable from the packets of Maltesers, creating a brand identity. 

Introduction to advertising: blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Advertising: Key conventions'. Look at this Skittles advert:

Part 1: Skittles advert analysis

1) What key conventions of print adverts can you find and what are the connotations or deeper meanings of each convention? For each convention, write about how it communicates meaning to the audience. See the Maltesers advert above for an example of how to do this.

2) What is the USP (unique selling point) for Skittles and how do you know? Does the advert use any of persuasive techniques listed above?

Look at the Maltesers example above if you are unsure how to complete these tasks.

Part 2: Advert research

Use Google images to research classic adverts. Find examples for the following and add them to your blog:

1) An advert with a clear brand identity

2) An advert that uses shock tactics or a controversial idea

3) An advert that creates a a strong emotional connection to the audience

Bonus: Can you find an advert that shows women or men in a way they don't normally appear (this is an example of representation in media - subverting the typical representation of gender. We will be studying this next week!)

Extension tasks

If you have completed an in-depth analysis the Skittles advert and some research into classic adverts, do some additional research into creative or powerful print advertising. 

Task: Find an example of a print advert for EACH of the following:

1) An innovative or ‘different’, subversive concept (e.g the porcupine advertising VW car)

2) A foreign advert that you can understand despite the language barrier

3) An advert that subverts gender representations 

Finally, read this excellent Forbes article on seven of the most effective adverts of all time. Which do you think is the best and why?

Due date: on Google Classroom

Film Industry: Final index

We have now completed our first set of GCSE Media exam Close Study Products (CSPs) on the Film Industry. 

We now need to create a short index to ensure we haven't missed any of the work. Keeping an index of all your Media work is extremely helpful with organisation and revision. Not only does this keep the concepts and media terminology fresh in your mind but it will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or any other reason. 

Film Industry: Final index

Create a new blogpost called Film Industry: Final index. Your Film Industry index needs three pieces of work:

1) Film Industry: Marketing - Marvel Cinematic Universe

2) Film Industry: Black Widow

3) Film Industry: I, Daniel Blake

For your index, it needs to link to YOUR blogpost for each piece of work so you can access your previous work quickly and easily. Remember to click on 'View blog' before copying the URL. 

The index means if you have missed anything you can now catch up with the work/notes and won't underperform in future assessments/exams due to gaps in your knowledge.

If you're not sure how to do this, here's a video I did during lockdown that shows how you create an index using Blogger:

January assessment

Your index is also a great opportunity to start revising for your next assessment in January. This will test our first actual exam CSPs (Black Widow and I, Daniel Blake) plus the Audience and Industries work we've done this term.

Important: your index needs to be completed during the lesson. Any missing work MUST be caught up over the holidays alongside your revision.

Film Industry: I, Daniel Blake

Our second Film Industry CSP is Ken Loach's low-budget independent social realist film I, Daniel Blake.

Remember: for film, we only need to study the industries key concept - so this means the companies behind the film, the budget, the marketing and promotion and finally the box office success.

Hollywood v Independent cinema

Independent films are very different to Hollywood blockbusters like Black Widow. The style of ‘indie’ films is very different to Hollywood blockbusters, as the directors and producers have more creative input – it’s being made in their vision, not in the vision of studio bosses.

Independent films have much smaller budgets, and are often supported financially by public service broadcasters, film institutions and charity funding. They are also distributed by smaller companies.

I, Daniel Blake notes

I, Daniel Blake is an award-winning independent British Drama film. The main character, Daniel Blake, 59, who has worked as a joiner most of his life in the North East of England needs help from the State for the first time ever following an illness.

He crosses paths with a single mother Katie and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan. Katie’s only chance to escape a one roomed homeless hostel in London is to accept a flat some 300 miles away.

Daniel  stands up and fights for his dignity, leading a one-man crusade for compassion that will transform the lives of a struggling single mother (Katie) and her two children.   It is a drama that has a strong political message about Britain in an age of government austerity.

Key details:

• I, Daniel Blake was released in 2016 and was directed by Ken Loach. The film was rated by the BBFC as a 15.
• A UK/French co-production, the film is a classed as a drama due to the nature of the narrative and themes within the film.
• The cast is made up of lesser known actors, including Dave Johns, Hayley Squires and Sharon Percy.
• The film is classed as an independent film, due to the fact that it is a low budget film with a relatively unknown cast.

Director power: Ken Loach

Ken Loach has been a director for over 50 years. He’s never had Hollywood success, mainly because he’s never wanted it. Loach’s style is social realism – telling stories that represent the lives of ordinary working-class people and the social issues they face, for example unemployment, poverty and addiction. His films also have political themes. Rather than create films for entertainment or money, his goal is to expose and educate people to the issues that many people in society face.

Ken Loach's 2019 film Sorry We Missed You highlighted the difficulty of working class people working on zero hour contracts (you can watch the trailer here). Here he talks to Sky News about the film and how it compares to Marvel superhero blockbusters like Black Widow:

Marketing and promotion

Along with traditional trailer and print adverts, the film makers eOne also used disruptive marketing such as:

• Organise free (or ‘pay what you can’) screenings and talks in community centres across the UK to build local enthusiasm for the film’s message.
• Film was premiered not in London, but Newcastle (where the film is set) to gain local support. 
• The then Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn attended the London premiere and people that had been denied benefit payments were asked to placard the event.
• ‘I, Daniel Blake’ was projected onto the Houses of Parliament ('guerrilla marketing') and in various cities
• Loach appeared on BBC Question Time to talk on issue giving the film extra credibility

A conventional trailer was also produced for the film:

Additional promotion:

• A partnership was set up with Trinity Mirror (Daily Mirror owners) to run a marketing campaign based on the film. The Daily Mirror traditionally supports the Labour Party and left-wing causes so therefore agreed with the main message of the film.
• The film also paired up with NomadiX Media's iProjector to create an outdoor campaign using quotes from the film.
• Ken Loach and the writer did interviews with newspapers and magazines to promote the key messages of the film (see clip from Economist below).
• Finally, a video was released using members of the public and politicians that supported the film’s message. This was highlighted with the hashtag #WeAreAllDanielBlake

Secret Cinema Youth screening

Secret Cinema, as part of their charitable Secret Youth campaign, organised a screening of the film in both London’s East End and Newcastle. The event was aimed at first-time voters, and the event happened just before the 2017 general election

The screening was accompanied by talks from Ken Loach and performances from artists that either supported or had a connection with the film’s themes. They also organised food bank donation stalls at the screening and encouraged people to contribute

Budget, box office and critical success

It is very difficult to establish the exact production costs of ‘I, Daniel Blake’ although 16 Films Producer, Rebecca O’Brien, said it was a ‘modest amount’, even for a Ken Loach film. We know some of the funding it received (e.g. £300k from the BFI) and can estimate it to be around £2 million. Compare that to the $200 million that it cost to make our other CSP, Black Widow.

I, Daniel Blake was exhibited in 24 countries and performed well in Europe and other smaller countries. The film grossed £11 million and received a wide range of positive critic reviews.

‘I, Daniel Blake’ Is Ken Loach’s most successful UK release ever and continued to sell well around Europe. Like all Ken Loach films, it did particularly well in France. As well as Box Office success, it was also a critical success and award winner (including the renowned Palme D’or from the Cannes Film Festival).

Regulation: BBFC rating

‘I, Daniel Blake’ was awarded a 15 certificate by the British Board of Film Classifications (BBFC).  This was due to the following scenes being included:

• Bad language (uttered by the main characters out of anger and frustration or for emphasis. Was justified by context and not impactful.)
• Frightening and Intense scenes (There are two notable scenes of emotional intensity. They include 'the food bank' scene and the ending 'funeral' scene.)

This explains briefly how the BBFC works:

 

I, Daniel Blake: blog tasks

1) What is independent cinema and how is it different to Hollywood blockbusters?

2) What is I, Daniel Blake about?

3) Who directed I, Daniel Blake and why is this important?

4) How was I, Daniel Blake promoted to an audience? List at least three different methods used by the film's marketing campaign and how they targeted their audience.

5) What unusual or creative marketing methods were used to get audiences talking about the film?

6) What was the estimated production budget for I, Daniel Blake and how much did it make at the box office?

7) What were some of the companies involved in funding or producing I, Daniel Blake? 

8) What is the name of the film regulator in the UK and what was the age rating for I, Daniel Blake?

9) What aspects of the film contributed to the film's age rating?

10) Finally, considering everything you have learned about I, Daniel Blake, do you think the film was a success? Explain your answer in a well developed paragraph. Try and compare it to Black Widow if you can.


Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this Media Magazine article on the disruptive marketing campaign used to publicise I, Daniel Blake. Media Magazine is an excellent publication aimed at A Level Media students and it's a great resource for GCSE students aiming for the top grades.

Read this Hollywood Reporter interview with executive Alex Hamilton on film marketing - including the I, Daniel Blake grassroots marketing campaign. Why was it successful?

I, Daniel Blake is an A Level Media text for another exam board. Watch Media teacher Mrs Fisher's YouTube lesson on I, Daniel Blake and make notes on the key points she makes.

Complete for homework if you don't finish it during the lessons - due date on Google Classroom.

Film Industry: Black Widow

Our first Film Industry CSP is Marvel blockbuster Black Widow.

For film, we only need to study the industries key concept - so this means the companies behind the film, the budget, the marketing and promotion and finally the box office success.

Reminder: industry terminology

In our Introduction to Media unit, we learned a range of media industries terminology that we may well be tested on in the exam. Make sure you know the following:

Conglomerate
Most major media companies are conglomerates that own a range of smaller companies (called subsidiaries). An example of this is Disney owning Marvel.

Vertical integration
Vertical integration is when one conglomerate owns different companies in the same chain of production. E.g Disney owns film studios, CGI specialists, film distributors and TV channels such as the Disney Channel. This gives Disney the chance to make money at every stage of production. Complete ownership = more profit.

Horizontal integration

Horizontal integration is when one company buys other companies at the same level of distribution. E.g Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 (at a cost of $1 billion) so that they could cancel out the competition by making money from both. Horizontal integration allows companies to widen their audience and find other ways to make money.

Convergence, branding and synergy 

Convergence refers to the way we can now access everything about a film - reviews, trailers and even watching the film itself - using our phones. Branding and synergy is when a company creates a brand that can be used across different media products and platforms. E.g Disney makes movies but then also has related stage shows, theme parks, merchandise, soundtracks and events.

Black Widow notes

Black Widow is the 24th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It raises many industry issues surrounding the production, distribution and exhibition of film in the digital age.  

Film franchise

A film franchise is a series of films or multi-picture stories, often including some of the same characters from film to film.

Franchises have become even more important than individual stars. They consist of connected universes (e.g. Star Wars, Marvel's Cinematic Universe, DC Extended Universe etc) and many sequels (or prequels).

Blockbuster movies

Black Widow is a blockbuster movie. A blockbuster is a major studio movie that's made with a large budget, big stars and often involves a franchise. 

A true blockbuster is extremely popular and brings in a lot of money. Typically, a blockbuster is a summer movie that audiences line up to see the first weekend it's released (which coincides with the school holidays and more family time).

Disney and Marvel

In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment for US$4 billion. The Walt Disney Company now owns Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and Pixar.

Walt Disney Studios are one of Hollywood's major film studios and generated an income of $2.4 billion in 2017.  This means that they can afford to make more expensive films, market them around the world at great expense and ensure that they are hugely profitable.  

Marketing and promotion

Star Power implies that people will want to see a film with a certain star in it. Most mainstream films and blockbusters will use Star Power to attract audiences to their film. The main star in Black Widow is Scarlett Johansson who is very well known and has established fans. 

Walt Disney Studios had a huge budget to make and market Black Widow although the success of the film was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic closing cinemas. Some of the strategies used included:

• Traditional methods such as posters and teaser trailers on TV and in cinema.
• Stars of the film appeared on a range of TV chat shows and press events. 
• Film trailers were released on YouTube and in cinemas. 
• Specific IMAX promotions with 22 minutes of the film shot in 1.90:1 aspect ratio especially for IMAX cinemas.
• Section of the Marvel website with gallery, story synopsis, character posters and opportunities to buy or stream the movie.
• Social media profiles on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Social media and YouTube advertising was also heavily used by Marvel to promote the film including using tweets from audience members on massive billboards.

Star interviews and TV appearances:

Specific IMAX promotional videos:

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the film industry and changed the release strategy for many films. While cinemas are still the primary way of making money for the film industry, some movies are being released to streaming services alongside cinema - or bypassing cinema altogether. Watch this report on Black Widow with an interview with IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond:

Social media marketing

The film used tweets from audience members to help promote the film:

Was the film a global box office hit?

Black Widow’s success is difficult to judge due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Black Widow’s budget was $200m and it only made $379m at the worldwide box office due to the pandemic. Marvel would have spent well over $100m on marketing the film globally so the profit level is very low. Most Marvel films have made around $1 billion at the box office. 

However, this doesn’t take into account revenues through Disney+ so Black Widow may well still make Marvel and Disney a profit in the end.

Film industry: Regulation

Films in the UK are regulated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

Black Widow was awarded a 12A by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).  It was deemed to have “moderate violence, injury detail”, yet was not too graphic.

With a 12A, no-one under the age of 12 can see the film at the cinema unless accompanied by an adult. It is quite a new classification and was introduced due to the large gap between PG and 15. Here's more about the BBFC:

It is important that all MCU films are 12A at the most as the major film companies want to keep the young audience for:

• Merchandising opportunities.
• Better potential box office.
• 47% of cinema audiences were aged 7-24 in the UK in 2014.  Word of mouth and peer influence is important in generating interest.

Black Widow: blog tasks

1) List the companies involved in the creation of Black Widow. You may wish to use Black Widow's IMDB entry to help with this - see the company credits page - but the answers can also be found in the notes above.

2) What is conglomerate ownership and how does it link to Black Widow?

3) Analyse the film trailer for Black Widow. What aspects of the trailer tell you this is a big-budget blockbuster movie?

4) How was Black Widow promoted to an audience? List at least three different methods used by the film's marketing campaign and why they were effective in promoting the film.

5) What was the production budget for Black Widow and how much did it make at the box office?

6) Would you consider Black Widow a successful Hollywood blockbuster? Why?

7) Who regulates the film industry in the UK?

8) What age rating was Black Widow given? Why?

9) Read this feature on Marvel using a fan's tweet to help market the film. Why is audience interaction such an important aspect of modern film marketing? 

10) What other interesting details can you pick out of the article about Black Widow marketing? For example, you may want to make a note of some statistics, ratings or how they used TikTok influencers to help promote the film.

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

If you want a top grade in Media, you should also complete the grade 8/9 extension tasks once you've completed the basic eight questions above. Try the following:

1) Read this Guardian report on Scarlett Johansson suing Disney over the release strategy for Black Widow. Do you agree she is right to be angry with the multiplatform release strategy?

2) Read this feature on how Black Widow shot 22 minutes of IMAX footage to give viewers an incredible widescreen experience in IMAX cinemas. Why is IMAX an important part of marketing a blockbuster movie?

3) Look at this Guardian website page allowing Marvel fans to discuss Black Widow. What interesting opinions do you notice in the comments? 

Finally, you might want to read this feature on whether there are too many Marvel sequels and spin-offs. Do you agree that there are too many Marvel films?

Complete for homework what you don't finish in the lessons - due date on Google Classroom.

Film Industry: Marketing - Marvel Cinematic Universe

Our first exam Close-Study Products will be from the Film Industry.

In our lesson, we learned the importance of film marketing and what a risky business it is for film studios. 

The two Close-Study Products (CSPs) we'll be studying for the Film Industry are:

• Black Widow (2020)
• I, Daniel Blake (2016)

A summary of the notes from our research activity:

Risky business
The creative industries are a risky business for companies - it costs a huge amount of money to create a media product like a film and there's no guarantee the audience will like it.

No brand loyalty
A new, original film has no established brand or audience - it has to generate all the interest through marketing. This is why film companies prefer to make sequels, reboots or films from an established franchise (like the Marvel Cinematic Universe) - there is an existing audience ready to buy the product. 

Star power
If the film isn't from an existing franchise, film studios use star actors or directors to help generate interest in the film and find an audience. Star directors like veteran political filmmaker Ken Loach have an established audience that will always watch his films regardless of subject matter.

A matter of timing
Marketing campaigns need to be carefully timed to create excitement about the film's release. Often, the first teaser trailers will drop up to a year before release - particularly for established franchise films like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Social media marketing
Once the film is out, the marketing campaign has less power - because audience word-of-mouth will take over. In the digital age, people will post online about the film immediately after seeing it - which means word-of-mouth is more important than ever. 

Why does Hollywood keep making sequels?




Film Industry: Marvel Cinematic Universe blog tasks

Read this BBC article on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and answer the following questions based on the article:

1) How many films were there in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) at the time of this article?

2) How much money have the MCU films made in total according to this article?

3) Why did Marvel create the Avengers films?

4) Who owns the rights to Spiderman and why is the character now appearing in Marvel films?

5) Which company owns the rights to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men?

6) Look at the very end of the article. What has Disney announced regarding TV shows on their new streaming service Disney+?

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this Guardian review of Black Widow to prepare for studying our first CSP. What did the Guardian think of the film?

Read this BBC feature on Marvel at 80 years old. How has it survived so long and why is the Marvel Cinematic Universe so important to the recent success of the brand?

Complete for homework if you don't finish in the lessons - due date on Google Classroom.