Television is the favoured and probably the most effective advertising medium for film distribution, because the advertising message can be made visually appealing and delivered to target audiences. It is also the most expensive-- Canadian distributors will usually reserve this medium for only their most wide-released and commercial titles. Radio advertising is used less often, and reaches its peak in the summer, when most people watch less television. Newspaper advertising has been declining, but the independent distributors tend spend proportionally more on this medium-- perhaps the reasons for this are that Canadians tend to read newspapers more than Americans, moviegoers have been trained to seek film information from newspapers, and the short lead times fit well with the constraints of contingency bookings.
Alliance has sought to maximize exposure through the use of the 'combination ad' which features the Alliance logo and all their currently-released films. These types of advertisements are more noticeable than the smaller single-film ad, are more cost-effective, and help to establish Alliance as a brand for upscale films.
Trailers are short (90 seconds or less) advertisements for films and are probably the most cost-effective selling tool for films. They can be shown on television and in theatres to a captive audience. They can convey a feel for the story, which is important to the potential audience.
Media opportunities are a low-cost method for promotion. The mere mention of a film and its details in newspapers, magazines, television, or radio may produce more word-of-mouth awareness than an advertising campaign. This may be related to the fact that the public accepts news stories more than advertising messages because of their so-called authenticity. For example, when Malofilm Distribution released Margaret's Museum, the film's star Helena Bonham Carter traveled across Canada to do over 100 interviews in support of the film, generating free publicity and expanding the potential audience for the film.
The ability to attract a national sponsor usually requires the film to have a wide-release pattern in a major market. For example, the family feature Salt Water Moose, distributed by Norstar, signed on corporate sponsors that tied in with the animal/baseball themes, such as the Metro Toronto Zoo and Spalding Canada.
Word-of-mouth publicity is the most powerful form of promotion for films, particularly the upscale film. The audience segment responsible for generating word-of-mouth is the avid moviegoer, the 'early adopters' of the moviegoing public. Though they only make up 8% of the population, they see more than 24 movies per year, and as a result, purchase over half of the movie tickets sold. They also constitute up to 75% of the audience for a film in the first two weeks of release. Canadian distributors use two tools to pursue this segment to build positive word-of-mouth for their films: advance screenings and festivals.
Sampling is the technique by which tickets to sneak previews and premieres are given away. A film distributor would make a deal with a radio station (selected for its demographics to deliver the film's target audience) to provide a determined number of announcements inviting listeners to phone or write in to win tickets to a special advance screening (the distributor pays for the theatre rental and invitations, but not the air time).
Distributors can also specifically target community 'opinion leaders' for their advance screenings to assist in speeding word-of-mouth promotion. Influential journalists that write about the arts or an association that embodies the target audience may be invited to a special screening. For the release of Priest, Alliance held an advance screening for various religious leaders to generate discussion about the film.
Most Canadian films are launched at the three main Canadian film festivals: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver; and at select foreign festivals, such as New York and Cannes. These events can maximize exposure for the film. On the other hand, success at festivals does not always carry over into box office sales. Alliance has found that a successful run in the Toronto Film Festival seems to have zero impact on the general public, and in the Montreal festival, which has traditionally been excellent for promoting Quebec and foreign films, it has been increasingly difficult to create a 'buzz' over a film in recent years.
A strategy employed by CF/P to increase a film's visibility was to print the logos of their new releases on placemats that were distributed to cafes-of-choice of the target audience. For the release of Indochine, CF/P struck a deal with The Bay to display an Indochine theme in thirteen store windows.
For the release of Eldorado in Quebec, Alliance arranged for a promotion by MusiquePlus, a music television station tuned in by the target audience, a rave at a Montreal nightclub, and created a web-site specifically for the film (in addition to its already-existing Multiplex Web site which provides information on upcoming releases, audio/video clips, interviews, and links to related sites).
Another tactic that Alliance has relied on is the use of retail tie-ins (such as contests and point-of-purchase displays) in related media outlets, such as book and record stores. These efforts can help build awareness with modest investments in time and labour.