Merchandising
Entertainment That Extends To Everyone
Overview
Characters from SEA LORD ENTERTAINMENT have become synonymous with their personas, legendary conversations, costumes, and everything else that comes with them. The merchandising division of SEA LORD ENTERTAINMENT has successfully pioneered the way and tapped into the niche segment of film merchandising, creating memorabilia that allows movie fans all over the world to cherish some of our most beloved films and characters even after they have left the screen.
Conventional Media
For more than a century, film producers have promoted their wares through the media available at the time. Colorful posters for "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz" showed images of what the film would look like to potential viewers. TV commercials for the 1979 "Superman" film made viewers believe a man could fly. In 1998, movie-goers bought tickets to films such as "Monsters, Inc." and "Meet Joe Black" just to see the trailers for "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace."
Social Media
The advent of social media has enabled movie producers to reach audiences in a new way. Producers can post trailers on their Facebook pages, post updates on Twitter, and upload concept art and imagaes on Tumblr. The 2009 horror film "Paranormal Activity" used an aggressive social media campaign to bring the low-budget film to theaters. The campaign gained more than a million followers and gave the film the highest per-screen average for a film playing in at least 100 theaters in history.
Merchandising
Many major studio blockbusters, such as the "Star Wars" series and the Marvel superhero films, make their presence felt on store shelves as much as in movie theaters. Licensed merchandise -- including toys, T-shirts and lunchboxes -- can bring as much attention to a film as a commercial or poster. Studios will license the characters to manufacturers in exchange for up-front fees and a percentage of sales to retailers. In most instances, as much as 40 percent of movie merchandise is sold before the film is released.
Online Games
While the goal of any studio is to sell tickets to the film, some innovative marketers have found that using online games to tell the story can also be an effective means to attract viewers. Producers of such films as "Cloverfield", "Super 8" and "The Dark Knight" used alternate reality games, or ARGs, to bring viewers into the "alternate reality" of the film's characters, settings and stories.