ANALYSIS OF A COHESIVE

MARKETING CAMPAIGN

WHAT IS A COHESIVE MARKETING CAMPAIGN? A cohesive marketing campaign is a campaign that links across several media platforms that clearly show a relationship with each other. This can also be referred to as 360 degree branding as it shows multiple elements of media to promote one product.

This is commonly used to advertise and market films, for instance Disney films. Disney release multiple products across different media platforms in order to gain an audience and promote a film. For example, books and toys that are to do with the films are also released in order to gain more of an audience. This is effective as it advertises the film at the same time as making money on sales from these products that are related to the film.

COHESIVE MARKETING CAMPAIGN: SUPERSIZE ME Supersize Me is a cohesive marketing campaign as it has many other media platforms that relate to it such as film posters, DVD’s etc. The idea of this is to create a distinctive brand philosophy which is centred on consumers. It helps to anticipate all aspects of consumer needs especially when brand is fairly new it needs to be present everywhere to build a brand image.

SUPERSIZE ME: FILM POSTER The main focus point of this poster is the face of the main character who has loads of chips in his mouth. This automatically attracts the attention of the audience as it reflects what the documentary itself is about (eating fatty food).

The title of the documentary is positioned just below the middle of the page and it in large, bold, capitalised font. Therefore, the title stands out easily. Furthermore, the colours used in the title are identical to the colours of McDonald’s which further indicates the idea of the documentary. Also, the bright colours used in this poster could represent the idea that there is a bright side to the documentary.

A film poster is a good way to market a documentary as it is a cheap but effective method because they can be placed in numerous locations. This increases the amount of people that see them therefore increases the audience that a documentary or film would receive.

SUPERSIZE ME: ALTERNATIVE FILM POSTER This is another film poster that was made for the documentary supersize me; this time is has an ‘obese’ Ronald McDonald on it rather than the main character of the documentary itself. This gives the audience more realisation that unhealthy food can lead to life-threatening health issues.

Again, the title consists of the same colours as McDonalds’ colour scheme which would intrigue the audience to watch the documentary.

SUPERSIZE ME: DVD COVER This DVD cover consists of an almost complete red background which gives an impression that there are some negative elements within the documentary. It also consists of the same image of the main character as other marketing products do such as the film poster. As before, the title of the documentary is displayed in the ‘McDonalds colours’ which greatly shows the key idea of the documentary and therefore intrigues the audience. The back of the DVD cover also includes some shots from the documentary itself which gives the audience a slight insight into what is included and attracts further attention from the audience.

The documentary has been presented and advertised as a typical feature film would be. Therefore could be the reason as to why it received more attention from the public.

SUPERSIZE ME: ALTERNATIVE DVD COVER This is an alternative DVD cover that was used for this documentary. It is slightly more eye catching than the previous cover due to the background being a bright yellow. Also due to the fact that the front of the cover has an image of an obese Ronald McDonald. This is eye catching to the audience as it is not how you would normally see him. Typically, Ronald McDonald is rather skinny, therefore seeing an obese version catching attention as it is possibly showing what the unhealthy food really does to your body.

Again, the title of the documentary is in the McDonalds colours which are red and yellow. This attracts even more attention to the whole idea of the documentary which is that McDonalds food is unhealthy and have great impacts on people’s health.

SUPERSIZE ME: TRAILER Supersize Me also released a trailer as part of their marketing campaign. The trailer consisted of different clips from throughout the documentary which showed Morgan’s health declining rapidly as well his addiction for McDonalds food increasing. This intrigues the audience as it shows a serious addiction along with the serious implications it is having on someone. This attracts attention as people want to watch to find out the end result.

A trailer is an effective way to advertise a documentary as it can show the potential viewers elements of film which catches their attention and makes them want to watch more.

CONCLUSION OF SUPERSIZE ME MARKETING CAMPAIGN In conclusion, the marketing campaign for the documentary Supersize Me was successful as it received a lot of attention in the media and made a very large profit. The cohesive marketing campaign allowed a number of different media platforms to link together and create more of an audience. Larger cohesive marketing campaigns tend to be more expensive, for instance Disney films normally have toys made to promote the film further. However, as this documentary couldn’t really have much merchandise, the marketing campaign was limited to more traditional marketing methods such as the film posters. Having a marketing campaign also provides the audience with more information. For example, if the only marketing was a film poster, the audience wouldn’t know much about what the film is about. Whereas, with a trailer the target audience are able to find out more about the general subject of the documentary. Also, cohesive marketing is unusual for a documentary as they are typically used for films. However, Supersize Me has been marketed as a feature film which is unusual. Overall, the marketing campaign was successful as the documentary received a large audience.