Digital Distribution Essay

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of media products in the area of media you have studied? 

Digital distribution involves a media product (film) being distributed in a way in which digital technology is used to exhibit that film. Technology has developed massively in the past years which has changed how institutions choose to distribute their films. The advance in digital technology has had an affect on how organisations are marketing their films. Consumption of Video-On-Demand (VOD), DVD and Blu-Ray has became increasingly popular which has meant that organisations have had to market on a bigger scale so that there are more sales made.

Mad Max:Fury Road is the fourth film in the Mad Max franchise. Fury Road is a perfect example of a film which decided to spend a lot of money on their marketing. They spent $7.5 million on 957 national airings across 42 networks. This would allow a wide spread of different people to be introduced to the film, meaning that a larger spread of people would be targeted. The trailer of the film was attached to Fast and Furious 7 and Avenger: Age of Ultron a month before its release date. Both films are action films which again would target a wide group of people. This is because action is the most popular genre of film and makes the most money at the box office. By having the Fury Road trailer shown to people watching action films, the correct audience would be being targeted due to Mad Max also being an action film.  They also turned F-1 cars into Mad Max cars as another way to market the film. This would target a different group of individuals- the car enthusiasts. By doing this, they would attract more potential viewers of the film, which would increase in the number of sales and money made 

Due to the marketing techniques which Mad Max: Fury Road used, a very large audience was reached. Mad Max is not a four quadrant film, however it is a mainstream film. This meaning that a wide audience already would be targeted due to most people wanting to watch mainstream action films. During the filming of the Fury Road, George Miller (the director) chose to create most of the stunts without using CGI. This made the film much bigger and more exciting to watch. Producers want to make films bigger so that people want to watch it in the cinema or buy a media product. However, Mad Max still became the most pirated film in the summer of 2015 and had 1.75 million downloads. The film also had 22.90 shares on torrent networks which demonstrated that Miller's idea to make the film bigger didn't result in less people illegally watching the film. When the film was exhibited in cinemas, it was shown in both 2D and 3D, due to the conversion to 3D during the post-production stage. Due to it being exhibited in both 2D and 3D, the audience had a choice as to how they wanted to watch the film. This would increase the number of sales due to the option which viewers had. Fury Road had a summer release which would increase the number of sales again, this being because summer is the peak time when most people go to the cinema. Overall, the marketing which Mad Max did allowed a wide spread of their target audience to be reached. This meant that the film made $374 million at the box office and it generated 48% in the second week of sales. 

Ex Machina used the technique of viral marketing which allowed them to reach a wider audience. They chose to use cheaper ways to market the film compared to Mad Max. They challenged institutional practices by marketing in un-traditional ways. They created Ava a Tinder account where other uses could interact and talk to Ava. This would attract Tinder users to watch the film as they would be intrigued after 'talking' to Ava. They also use the social media site Instagram to help market the film. Instagram is one of the most popular social media sites used, meaning that a lot of people would be targeted, creating a bigger profile for the film. The SXSW festival was one of the films main ways of marketing. They premiered the film at the festival and did a lot of promoting there. This was very clever as Ex Machina's target audience (film buffs) were at the festival. This meaning that their target audience would be targeted. Film 4 and DNA Films created a synergy which allowed them to create a bigger profile for Ex Machina by marketing in ways that they wouldn't have been able to without the other institute. This synergy allowed more people to be reached which is important because the film is a thoughtful Sci-Fi film, not a mainstream. This meaning that specific group of people needed to be targeted. 

Ex Machina was firstly released in 4 screens which then increased to 1200 and then went to 2000 in the US. This generated a good word of mouth and allowed people to recommend the film to others. It was released on the 12th January and piggy backed the Avengers. This was clever as most people go to the cinema twice in a row. Meaning that people would see Ex Machina after seeing the Avengers. Ex Machina's budget was only $15 million, meaning that it was far from being a blockbuster. Considering this, the film did well at the box office as it took over $38 million. Ex Machina is an Independent British film which usually means that the film wouldn't do too well outside of the UK. However, Ex Machina did. This demonstrates that the marketing worked very well and attracted the correct audience. The film was later released on DVD and Blu-Ray which also would mean that more sales are generated as you have the choice to watch the film at your own home. 

To conclude, I agree with the statement and think that digital distribution does affect the marketing and consumption of media products. Digital distribution changes how film have to be marketed. Films have to be marketed on a bigger scale in clever ways which would target a specific audience.