News
Film Ad Spending Remains High
Aug 28, 2011- A Variety story (written by the author of Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition) shows a mixed result from Hollywood studio chief pledges to clamp down on escalating marketing expenses.
Advertising researcher Kantar Media shows aggregate U.S. spending on theatrical movie advertising fell 8.3% from 2008 to 2010, dropping from $3.90bn to $3.57bn. That should warm the hearts of studio and corporate brass that is aggravated by high marketing costs for films.
But digging deeper, the savings are not so clear cut. While ad buying costs fell 8.3% in the three year period, the number of Hollywood release fell 11.7% according to the Motion Picture Assn. of America, indicating spending on a per film basis actually rose (the majors have been trimming their film outputs).
“The centerpiece of ad campaigns remains TV, which gobbled up 73% of movie advertising dollars in 2010,” says the Variety story. “That's actually an increase over TV's 67% share of movie ad spending in 2008, due to cuts in other media, according to Kantar.... Spending on film ads in radio, newspaper and magazines fell by double-digit percentages from 2008-2010. However, the categories of Internet display ads and outdoor (such as billboards) climbed.”
The Variety article continues: “Film marketers know that imposing any steep cuts on P&A is fraught with risk, because films face growing competition for leisure time from videogames, online video and vast choices on cable TV. For all the brave talk about saving money by emphasizing low-cost digital media, online is still a long way from being able to take the lead in launching wide-release movies.
Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition says that media buying is one of the most problematic parts of the film marketing process. Because of audience fragmentation from burgeoning cable TV networks and online, the audience is sliced into every smaller pieces. “Aggregate network television audiences have been eroding at mid-to-low single-digit percentages every year, yet the cost of the standard thirty-second commercial has remained flat or even risen modestly,” notes Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition.
The $3.57bn is what Kantar Media estimates studios fork over in media spending for commercials, pages in magazines, banner ads online, etc. This is known as "paid media." The figure excludes cost of making trailers, conducting research, expense in creating the ads themselves and salaries/overhead for studio marketing executives.
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