Ill Manors is a soundtrack British crime movie, written, scored and directed by musician Plan B to compliment his new album, also called Ill Manors. The film was released on June 6th 2012, and was budgeted around £100,000 - which is extremely low for a Box office film. The release of the film was hugely successful, with box office proceeds reaching approximately £256,000 on the opening weekend and a total of £451,000 - profiting at over four times the estimated budget. In order for this film to be so successful, it relied heavily upon a marketing and promotion campaign from Revolver Entertainment Distribution that aroused much interest in it prior to the release.
Unlike many other films, Ill Manors had a headstart in terms of publicity and promotion. The reasoning for this is because the artist associated with the film, Plan B, released a precursor to the film in the form of an album. This meant that the success and attention off the back of the album was continued into the film's reception - the audience of the record were eager to watch the movie based on how much they enjoyed the album, and were expecting it to have the same effect on them, due to Plan B's association with it. The album was hugely successful, reaching UK no.1 album for a brief period of time, meaning that the existing fan base was already strong.
The first marketing tool that Revolver Entertainment adopted were promotional posters. The first posters were used to grab the public's attention and raise awareness of the films release. This is an effective introductory technique as poster usage is normally subtle, and not too overwhelming, whilst still providing the opportunity for audience speculation and excitement. There were 8 different posters designed for Ill Manors, however the most commonly used and most well known was the design with the main character, Aaron, holding a handgun, with Ill Manors written in white in the foreground, and a dingy grey sky in the back - mirroring the gloomy nature of the film. These posters were placed in various positions, such as on high-key billboards in Central London and in a variety of magazines. This use of mass marketing ensured that all demographics were accounted for when the film was marketed, and that there wasn't a specific niche targeted on the whole, which may have only recieved limited interest.
After the release of the posters, the trailer was created and then first broadcasted in May 2012. This ordering was effective, as the posters being introduced previous to the trailer meant that people already had a general idea of the film but were left questioning it until the release of the trailer, sparking excitement amongst viewers. This trailer used quoting extensively from credible review sources, which were very effective in that they were persuasive for viewers. The trailer summarised the film well in only 1 minute and 45 seconds whilst creating enigma code to entice the audience into watching the movie upon it's release.
As many of these promotional tools were being utilised, Ill Manors received a review called 'There Will be Blud' in the renowned film magazine, Empire, on it's website. This article review contained a 'Plot' and "Review' section, allowing readers to gain an insight into the content and also a 'Verdict' section, where the journalist gave their own opinion on whether the film is worth seeing. In this section, a generally positive yet honest piece was written, explaining that the film was ' a goodun' and that 'it has bags of style'. After this, an overall star rating of 3 out of 5 was awarded to the film, making it 'Good' on the review scale. This publicity was great for Ill Manors, as this persuasive article would have reached out to much of Empires extremely large readership, who would have gained a professional film critic's insight into the film.
After the release of the posters, the trailer was created and then first broadcasted in May 2012. This ordering was effective, as the posters being introduced previous to the trailer meant that people already had a general idea of the film but were left questioning it until the release of the trailer, sparking excitement amongst viewers. This trailer used quoting extensively from credible review sources, which were very effective in that they were persuasive for viewers. The trailer summarised the film well in only 1 minute and 45 seconds whilst creating enigma code to entice the audience into watching the movie upon it's release.
As many of these promotional tools were being utilised, Ill Manors received a review called 'There Will be Blud' in the renowned film magazine, Empire, on it's website. This article review contained a 'Plot' and "Review' section, allowing readers to gain an insight into the content and also a 'Verdict' section, where the journalist gave their own opinion on whether the film is worth seeing. In this section, a generally positive yet honest piece was written, explaining that the film was ' a goodun' and that 'it has bags of style'. After this, an overall star rating of 3 out of 5 was awarded to the film, making it 'Good' on the review scale. This publicity was great for Ill Manors, as this persuasive article would have reached out to much of Empires extremely large readership, who would have gained a professional film critic's insight into the film.
The use of social media as a marketing and promotion technique was relied upon heavily for the release of Ill Manors. The reason that it was used with such success is that the main target audience for the film were predominantly adolescents and young adults. Interaction through social networking platforms was an ideal way to target this demographic, as they spend a lot of time on social media, and will therefore take notice of the film advertisements, making them susceptible to watching the film at the Box Office. The main social media platform was Facebook, which gained 31,609 likes
. The content on the Ill Manors page involved the posting of posters, trailers and exclusive content. This also acted as a great platform for fan interaction, and allowed fans to ask questions and feel more involvement in the movie. Twitter was also used extensively by the distribution company,
. This was also also a very interactive platform as fellow fans could communicate and connect with one another through the use of hashtags, which spread awareness of the film further.
Another platform that allowed interaction as well as announcement opportunity was the creation of the website 'www.illmanors.com'. Generally, it is rare for films to have corresponding websites, so this made Ill Manors unique, and set it apart somewhat from competitors. The website contains lots of persuasive content such as reviews and videos, but also informative content, such as a synopsis and pieces about Ben Drew (Plan B), giving the audience an idea of the film's background and the context of it's production. Furthermore, the website provides links to buy physical copies of Ill Manors, which means that they can continue to generate revenue as people continue to use the website.
Just before the film was released, it was premiered In London's Leicester Square on May 30th. This was a very high profile event, with celebrity figures such as Ed Sheeran, Example and Tiny Tempah all in attendance. The fans of each of these people subsequently also took notice in the event. This occasion received a large amount of media coverage, with newspapers such as The Daily Mail producing a spread about it and the celebrities involved. This press coverage was great publicity for the film as the Daily Mail is has one of the highest readerships of newspapers in the UK, so many of the readers would have been made aware of the film from the coverage of the premiere.
Ill Manors was nominated for a number of awards in various film festivals. For example, the British Independent Film Awards, Manchester Film Awards, Toronto International Film Awards, Official Selection Vanguard, Festival Rio, Stockholm Film Festival and the Zagreb Film Festival, The London Critics Circle Film Awards (2 nominations) and finally the Dinard British Film Festival, where it won two awards (Technicolour Award for Cinematography and Coup de Coeur). The nominations for these festivals meant that the films were being shown to a large audience of critics and film enthusiasts free of charge. This allowed people to gain opinions of the film and made it a big talking point amongst the film industry, which raised awareness massively all over the world.
In conclusion, Ill Manors marketing methods were particularly effective leading to the huge success of the film, despite its relatively low budget. These promotional methods were most successful as they reached out to and raised the awareness of a vast audience using mass marketing techniques, whilst also specifically targeting a niche audience, through the use of social media etc. The range of techniques also ensured that many people knew about the film before it's release, meaning that subsequently, more people purchased tickets at the box office.
. The content on the Ill Manors page involved the posting of posters, trailers and exclusive content. This also acted as a great platform for fan interaction, and allowed fans to ask questions and feel more involvement in the movie. Twitter was also used extensively by the distribution company,
. This was also also a very interactive platform as fellow fans could communicate and connect with one another through the use of hashtags, which spread awareness of the film further.
Another platform that allowed interaction as well as announcement opportunity was the creation of the website 'www.illmanors.com'. Generally, it is rare for films to have corresponding websites, so this made Ill Manors unique, and set it apart somewhat from competitors. The website contains lots of persuasive content such as reviews and videos, but also informative content, such as a synopsis and pieces about Ben Drew (Plan B), giving the audience an idea of the film's background and the context of it's production. Furthermore, the website provides links to buy physical copies of Ill Manors, which means that they can continue to generate revenue as people continue to use the website.
Just before the film was released, it was premiered In London's Leicester Square on May 30th. This was a very high profile event, with celebrity figures such as Ed Sheeran, Example and Tiny Tempah all in attendance. The fans of each of these people subsequently also took notice in the event. This occasion received a large amount of media coverage, with newspapers such as The Daily Mail producing a spread about it and the celebrities involved. This press coverage was great publicity for the film as the Daily Mail is has one of the highest readerships of newspapers in the UK, so many of the readers would have been made aware of the film from the coverage of the premiere.
Ill Manors was nominated for a number of awards in various film festivals. For example, the British Independent Film Awards, Manchester Film Awards, Toronto International Film Awards, Official Selection Vanguard, Festival Rio, Stockholm Film Festival and the Zagreb Film Festival, The London Critics Circle Film Awards (2 nominations) and finally the Dinard British Film Festival, where it won two awards (Technicolour Award for Cinematography and Coup de Coeur). The nominations for these festivals meant that the films were being shown to a large audience of critics and film enthusiasts free of charge. This allowed people to gain opinions of the film and made it a big talking point amongst the film industry, which raised awareness massively all over the world.
In conclusion, Ill Manors marketing methods were particularly effective leading to the huge success of the film, despite its relatively low budget. These promotional methods were most successful as they reached out to and raised the awareness of a vast audience using mass marketing techniques, whilst also specifically targeting a niche audience, through the use of social media etc. The range of techniques also ensured that many people knew about the film before it's release, meaning that subsequently, more people purchased tickets at the box office.
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