How to Tackle the Job of Marketing a Movie Based on Sex

Marketing of Fifty Shades: Sexy Without being Sleazy

"Universal had to walk a tightrope by being edgy and erotic without being sleazy and inaccessible."

     Universal had the tough job of marketing the well anticipated film adaptation of the best-selling novel, "Fifty Shades of Grey." Universal chose to market to three target audiences: fans of the book, "capture the curious," and "seduce the skeptics." There was much controversy over how to market this film. The film is centered around sex, so how to market without being too controversial? Universal decided to go the route of appealing to the sexual aspect of the film, but tried not to reveal to much in order to create anticipation for those who might have not been full throttle for the film. They used billboards such as "Curious?" in order to attract attention and interest. The marketers also chose a sophisticated color palette of grays, blues, and blacks in order to stay as far away from sleazy as possible. 

     The marketing team at Universal also made a clear digital marketing plan. They released scenes from the film a year ahead of the film's release in order to create buzz for the film. The team also created an interactive online marketing plan like being able to take a tour of the main character, Christian Grey's, apartment. Universal targeted the novel's main audience, middle-aged women, but also reached out to target men and those who did not have interest in the film originally.

"The studio asked the question: Why were the books so popular? Their research uncovered some surprising findings. Readers heard about the book from friends and they wanted to see what all of the excitement was about. They bought the book because they were intrigued by its titillating story line, but kept on reading to follow the relationship between fictional businessman Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele."

     I love the way that Universal chose to market the film of Fifty Shades of Grey. I think that they achieved their goal of creating buzz for the film very far in advance of the release date. My favorite aspect of the promotion was the widespread appeal of the line "Mr. Grey will see you now." This line, the beginning of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey's relationship, is one of the best in the novel, so it created a massive amount of anticipation. I also feel that the marketing team did a very good job of not only advertising the sex aspect of the story. They did use the sex to their advantage, but it was not the main thing advertised.

James, M. (2015, February 13). 'Grey' area: For a provocative film, many shades of marketing. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-fifty-shades-marketing-20150213-story.html#page=1

50 Shades of Fame

50 Facts About 50 Shades

"Based on the first novel in E.L James' mega-selling trilogy of titillation, and starring our own Jamie Dornan as the domineering Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as his submissive lover Anastasia Steele, its clear fans, dissenters and the merely curious alike will be descending in their droves on the cinemas this weekend."

The anticipation for the novel "50 Shades of Grey" coming to life on the big screen has been almost too much for the fans to handle. E. L. James has now been labeled one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." From June 2012 to June 2013 alone, James made approximately $95 million. "Sons of Anarchy" star Charlie Hunnan had originally been cast as Christian Grey, but then had to drop the role in order to continue filming "Sons of Anarchy." BDSM communities around the world are up in arms towards the novel because they do not feel it accurately portrays their lifestyle. Overall, the fascination with this trilogy has a jaw-dropping affect.

"The 50 Shades trilogy has sold 31 million copies worldwide, overtaking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Da Vinci Code as the bestselling books in Britain."

Personally, I am one of those crazed 50 Shades fans. My anticipation for the novel coming to the big screen has been growing each day. I find that people focus too much on the sex aspect of the books, and cannot identify the underlying romance between the two characters, Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. I am personally upset that Ryan Gosling did not receive the part of Christian Grey, because well, he's Ryan Gosling. However, I feel that the cast was well picked and the movie will be a huge, massive, insane success.

50 sexy facts about 50 Shades of Grey. (2015, February 11). Retrieved February 13, 2015, from http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/50-shades-grey-50-facts-5145440

The Dominating New Trend

Book to Movie Trend

"Lately, an all too-common trend has been hard to ignore."

     Hollywood has acknowledged and acted upon the popularity that comes along with topping the New York Times' Best Seller List. Whether destroying or perfectly recreating the novels they adapt, their main goal is money. Hollywood has settled upon making mediocre films, as long as they bring in revenue. Social media has also played a large role in creating this ever present trend. For example, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 released similar propaganda like that in the film all over social media in order to gain anticipation for the film's release. It's genius. Movie makers have succeeded in discovering what works and what doesn't. They can completely butcher a fan base's idea of a novel, yet  most everyone that is within that fan base will pay to witness the butchering. 

"For example, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” was the No. 1 movie of 2014 is brought in the most revenue to the box office at over $700 million worldwide. While the most prestigious awarded film of 2014 was “Birdman,” with revenue of only over $50 million worldwide."

     Not only do I pay to witness the butchering of my favorite novels, but I spread the word about the films, unknowingly advertising for others to also contribute to the people that butchered it. Even though I am well aware of this common occurrence of Hollywood's complete misdirection in the production of a book-based film, I will probably not stop paying to see them. Bad or good, I still want to see the words I have been reading come to life on the big screen.

Celis, A. (2015, February 5). The rise of the book-to-movie trends. Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://sundial.csun.edu/2015/02/the-rise-of-the-book-to-movie-trends/

Want to know the ending?

What to read before the movie comes out

     Every time a film comes out that is based on a book, people practically chomp at the bit in order to finish reading the book before the movie is released. Everyone says they don't like a spoiler, but they all want to know what happens, before they see it actually happening.

"We all know it's practically impossible for a movie to be better than its original book counterpart."

     Books, always better than the movie. However, we still want to read the book even though we know it will leave us with an unfulfilled feeling after watching the film. So what should you read to spoil the movie? Some upcoming films based on young-adult novels are: Eleanor & Park, Insurgent, Fallen, and The 5th Wave.

"From The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, The Book Thief and Warm Bodies, the book-to-movie trends seems to be unstoppable."

     I am a strong believer in the "read it, then see it" idea. I love reading the book before seeing the film, even though I know it will leave me wanting more once the film is over. As much as I say I hate a spoiler, I cannot take the anticipation of having to wait for the film to know what happens. I want to walk into the theater feeling as if I know something everyone else doesn't, like I have the inside scoop. For this reason, I continue to ruin the endings with my nonstop delving into books before they are released as films.

Everyone should read these 4 books before they become movies! (2015, January 30). Retrieved January 30, 2015, from http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/01/30/quick-read-these-awesome-books-before-they-become-movies-2641221?lt_source=external,manual

Film Adaptation Takeover

2015 Film Domination

"We're excited to get our reading on, and hopefully you are too. I mean, what monster doesn't read the book before the movie?!"

     The excitement for the upcoming book-based films is uncontainable. There is a whopping 37 books being adapted into films throughout 2015. Not only are these novels extremely popular with overwhelming fan bases, but many are already anticipated to dominate the awards. Just the month of February alone will be releasing 5 book-based films, which are The Seventh Son, Fifty Shades of Grey, Kingsman, The DUFF, and Maps to the Stars. 5 films? That's insane. Box offices are raving with excitement for the mass consumption that these films are going to bring along. 

"We know there is a huge book reading audience out there who loves adaptations."

     I myself cannot contain my excitement for many of these films to be released. Most of my excitement stems from the release of the well anticipated film, Fifty Shades of Grey. It is book-based films like this that bring along a massive fan base, only to be combined with the fan base brought along from the film alone. 

2015: 37 Books being Adapted into Movies. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2015, from http://www.gotchamovies.com/news/2015-37-books-being-adapted-movies-182099

2014 Books to Movies: Success or Failure?

2014 Books to Movies: Success or Failure?

   "Looking back, there were a slew of page-to-screen projects, but which were the cream of the crop? Here’s a definitive ranking of the films that stayed true to their inspiration (and a few that didn’t)."

     2014 was filled with many book to film adaptations. Some were an extreme success, however, others were almost a total flop, causing disappointment in anticipating fan bases. Book-based movies such as The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Giver, and This is Where I Leave You failed to do justice by the novels. The movies, while being filled with excellent casts, did not successfully create visuals for the text. However, movies such as American Sniper, The Imitation Game, Divergent, and Unbroken caused an uproar of popularity throughout the media world. Many were up for multiple awards due to their excellence. 

"Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper worked with Chris Kyle’s widow to make sure the adaptation of his autobiography of the same name for as accurate as possible. The result was a Best Picture-nominated film about the most lethal sniper in U.S. history."

     Whereas I agree with a few of the comments on these films from this article, I also disagree with many. This article criticizes a few of the direction of the films because they differ from the novels that they are derived from. I feel that in some scenarios, that is necessary. If Hollywood was to film a movie word for word, scene by scene from a novel, audiences would be sitting in a theater for hours on end. It is Hollywood's creativity and direction to artistically choose which scenes are necessary to get their vision expressed. 

Armstrong, O. (n.d.). A Complete Ranking Of 2014's Book-To-Movie Adapations. Retrieved January 16, 2015, from http://decider.com/2015/01/16/2014-book-to-movie-adapations/

     

Book to Movie Domination

The Movie Adaptation Takeover of 2014

    The complete domination of movies adapted from novels have dominated the top movies of 2014. Is this Hollywood losing its creativity? I don't think so. Books have had a rebirth with all of the new technology making them extremely accessible to every age. Hollywood is simply taking advantage of this. Movies like Gone Girl, The Fault in Our Stars, and Divergent dominated the box office in 2014. All book adaptations, the creation of the movies caused book sales to sky rocket.

"Perhaps the only thing more reliable than the ability of films and books to help each other is the inspiration of real life."

"Movies may get their best ideas from the book world, but they return the favor by creating very effective feature-length advertisements for reading."

    I think that the domination of movies adapted from films is a great thing. I personally love seeing the words on a page come to life on screen. Not only does it produce profit for the filmmakers, but it gibes the author the opportunity for more exposure. However, this domination also puts a damper on screenwriters that do not have the advantage of a previous book.

Bennett, D. (2015, January 7). The Symbiotic Relationship Between Movies and Books. The Atlantic.