‘POSITIONING’ IN MARKETING AND HOW THIS CAN BE APPLIED TO MOVIE POSTER DESIGN

A common mistake can be made by assuming a movie poster is created simply to look attractive to an audience. This is wrong. The poster is designed to compel an audience to watch the movie, by telling a entire story in a single image. It must be powerful, in order to motivate the audience to go out and purchase the film; it must influence them to take action. It is for this reason that we ought to visualise a movie poster as part of an advertisement campaign.

Positioning is the ability to influence a customer’s perception. “Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors.”

In relation to positioning, a movie must be thought of as a brand and the poster its advertising campaign. Market positioning considers many factors:

• What is it? What is the movie about? What actors are included?

• Market Category What genre is the movie? Which are the competing movies?

• Primary Differentiation What makes the movie stand out, in comparison to similar movies.

• Target Market Who is the target audience? Who would purchase this movie?

• Competitive Alternatives If a person does not wish to watch our movie, what would they prefer to watch?

• Key Benefit For which reason should a person chose your movie, above others? What does it have that other’s are missing?

POSITINING MAPS

Positioning Maps help us to view the position of existing products and where they are placed in comparison to each other. This could assist us to further understand why certain products are more successful to others.

I have created a positioning map for existing movie posters of the Romance genre, where a classic design would be the typical image of two people, staring lovingly at one another.

Information derived from:

1. Corporate Finance Institute (2015). Market Positioning – Creating an Effective Positioning Strategy. [online] Corporate Finance Institute. Available at: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/market-positioning/.

2. reedcomm.com.au. (n.d.). Designing Movie Posters To Attract An Audience | Reedcomm. [online] Available at: http://reedcomm.com.au/?q=node/21.