Need for Speed Marketing Campaign

By Megan Robinson

IntroductionThere are different ways a film can be promoted such as radio interviews and advertising and T.V. shows. The decision to use a particular style of marketing may depend on the target audience and demographic. For example, a T.V. show maybe more successful because it is very visual and has an immediate impact. On ‘Need for Speed’ the marketing campaign was quite large including all the below:

• Absolute Radio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iegrFqgGG3k• E3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMgJbdly1_I • Graham Norton: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03wxt98 • IGN: http://uk.ign.com/videos/2014/03/12/aaron-paul-plays-need-for-speed • Jimmy Kimmel:

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HJup5V6qA4 Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yLgTs13NN0

• Radio 1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01sz9n4 • Radio 1Xtra - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vko_5p-1UJ4 • Top Gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjfH_LbyHY • WWE Raw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UEu0lwXfcA

The film Need For Speed uses cross media convergence, which is where different media platforms are converted together to promote a film. This is why there are different media platforms used above for Need For Speed.

Top GearTop Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, particularly cars. It appeals to people in their late 20’s and above who would watch BBC 2. It is broadcast throughout the world in 170 different countries and reaches 350 million viewers. On 2nd March 2014, Aaron Paul was featured on the programme and used to promote the film, ‘Need for Speed’. It is clever marketing to use a program about cars to advertise a film is about cars and speed.

The Graham Norton ShowAaron Paul was a guest on ‘The Graham Norton Show’ on 28th February 2014. He was there to talk about ‘Breaking Bad’ which has attracted a wide audience and has been acclaimed as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time. He was also promoting his new film, ‘Need For Speed’. It is on BBC One at 22:35 for about an hour so it is most likely going to attract a very wide ranging audience of young adults to middle-aged adults. People who watch ‘The Graham Norton Show’ know that the celebrities will be trying to promote recent films, shows, music. ‘Need For Speed’ was promoted on this show because Aaron Paul is a very popular actor has had success with ‘Breaking Bad’ already. People watching will be very interested in knowing about his new film. Also the show was aired in late February and the film was going to be released two weeks later so it is still fresh in people’s minds and they will be looking out for it at the cinema.

The most successful I feel from the two marketing campaign I have discussed is ‘The Graham Norton Show’ because they can reach out to wider audiences than ‘Top Gear’ audiences. Also ‘Top Gear’ is more about cars and the reason Aaron Paul is on it is ‘Need For Speed’ is about cars and they did talk about the cars on ‘Breaking Bad’. I think ‘The Graham Norton Show’ is more successful as he brings out the best in people and makes them look good. Also he invited Ant&Dec, Jaime Dornan from ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, Naomi Campbell and Ellie Goulding on that particular show. They are all very popular and people will still watch it even if they haven’t heard of Aaron Paul. This is very clever marketing. Graham Norton encourages his guests to discuss films and shows, music together and so also makes the audience involved. There is also lots of humour on this show so it makes people feel more attracted to the show and people on it.

My Opinion

Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper both star in ‘Need For Speed’. They are both attractive males and are both good actors. Many people have heard of Dominic Cooper who has been in ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Captain American: The First Avengers’ and ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’, is a very well known actor. So using the star theory, you would think he would be the best choice for the marketing campaign for ‘Need For Speed’. However, I don’t agree that he is the best choice because Aaron Paul is more well know than him and he has starred in ‘Breaking Bad’ which is widely regarded as one of the greatest American television series of all time. By its end, the series was among the most-watched cable shows on American television and received numerous awards. In 2014, ‘Breaking Bad’ entered the Guinness Book of Records as the highest rated show of all time. For this reason I feel that Aaron Paul is by far the best choice for promoting ‘Need For Speed’.

Star Theory