Marketing and promotion of the Woman in Black

Firstly 3 things needed to be considered; What the film was, who it was for and how and when will they reach the audience. The film is a classic ghost story which was based of a novel of the same name, which delivers chills and thrills throughout. The marketing campaign thought of many different groups that this film would be suitable for. One of them being fans of theatre, as The Woman In Black was previously a play, so people who had watched this in theatre and enjoyed it may be interested in seeing the film. As Daniel Radcliff is probably most famous for playing Harry Potter, fans of this set of books and film series may also be interested in watching this film as he appears as the main character. Fans of the horror genre who watch horror films quite regularly will also be the target audience, as The Woman In Black is a horror film, and the film is set in Victorian times, so lovers of history may be attracted to this film. The marketing campaign would then think of their goals for the advertising of this film. Obviously one goal would have been to attract the groups mentioned above to the film. Another goal was to target a large broad audience with marketing and publicity in order to make the most money from the film. They would also want the film to become as popular as possible and positioned as a blockbuster.

To start off the actual marketing of this film, the campaign focussed on teasers. Teaser posters were released which only consisted of the title, or a picture which did not give away a lot of information about the content of the film. This would create enigmas for the public and intrigue them. Pictures of the main character, Daniel Radcliff, would be included in these posters in order to attract fans of him. A Halloween competition was also arranged where people were able to win tickets to the premier.This would get people aware of the film.

After the teasers, the main campaigning began. More posters were released but with a lot more detail, revealing more content and clues as to the plot of the film. This would create excitement within the target audience while also giving them more information about the film. The campaign had to think carefully about where they placed these posters. They placed them near bus stops, so that people of all age range can see them in order to create a wider and more varied audience. They were also placed on building so that people could see them whilst driving. As a large portion of the horror genre audience is teenagers/young adults, this film was advertised using social media sites commonly used by people of this age group. The Woman In Black was advertised on sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, in order to win over these young adults. Channels with popular programmes watched by teenagers or young adults such as Big Brother, Gossip Girl, and The Only Way Is Essex were used to advertise the film too. In order to create publicity, interviews with the cast, filmmakers and author were released, and things like book and play ticket giveaways created more excitement within the public. A worldwide premier was also hosted.

There was a very positive outcome from all of this marketing, and the campaigns goals were reached. The films box office results were record breaking, and the book became placed in the top 10. Due to this great outcome, The Woman In Black 2 is now out in cinemas.