Dawn of the Dead (2004) Promotional package

I am going to go over the various promotional methods used by the producers and

distributers of Dawn of the Dead (2004) and how they relate to the Post-Apocalyptic Horror

genre and also how it appeals to that genre’s demographic which is 17-25 males and

females.

The most common example is that of a trailer released months before the film’s intended

release date. This method of promotion allows the film to become recognised by its target

audience as well as a general audience too.

http://youtu.be/8LUzJAsa-gg

Other ranges of media used to promote the film to an audience used were:

Being shown on TV

Magazine Adverts/Articles

Being shown in cinemas before the feature presentation

Flash game set during a certain science in the film

Website

Ads on Internet

Most of these methods are conventional methods of advertising to any genre of film but it

appeals specifically to the target audience of the Post-Apocalyptic Horror genre as younger

people use these types of media such as the internet more than people of other ages. These

can be easily found bysomeone from this target audience so will generate a much bigger

audience so will become more successful because of a bigger worldwide box office revenue.

Press and reviews- A method of promotion that is commonly used for most films is the use

of press and reviews. The press includes interviews with the stars in order to create star

appeal to appeal to an even wider audience with quite well-known names such as Ving

Rhames. Others include an insider into the sets and locations in order to create a bigger

buzz for the film. Film magazines and newspapers would also review the film and give an

insight into how good the film actually is. However, this could have a negative backfire if the

film gets negative reviews which could create a negative buzz so it could be a risky move.

The film was mostly a critical success thus creating a more positive buzz to the film showing

that the target audience of this sort of genre will be appealing to them which would create a

word of mouth effect between other Post-Apocalyptic Horror fans which will thus gain a

much bigger audience. Also if you are not a subscriber to film magazines or read

newspapers which this demographic most likely are not, it only takes a simple search on the

internet to find a list of reviews by various publications and the internet is a source that the

genre’s target audience would commonly use.

Posters and DVD covers-

The poster and the DVD cover look a lot alike with each showing silhouettes of the infected

walking towards the shot which connotes that they are threatening with the wide shot

emphasising this as they are shown to be a mass group which signifies the ratio of humans

to Zombies which creates a no-hope situation which is a convention for the Post-Apocalyptic

Horror Genre. These conventions would also be appealing to its target audience, which will

encourage them to buy or watch the film. The use of the colour schemes black, orange and

yellow is used well, which makes the zombies stand out better thus creating an even bigger

sense of danger. The black colour used on the font is conventional and it also helps the text

and title stand out and attract its target audience. The tagline ‘When there’s no more room

in hell, the dead will walk the earth’ is a reference to the original 1978 film ‘Dawn Of The

Dead’ which will help create an even bigger audience by targeting older fans of the genre.

By using these conventions, this will help promote the movie to a target audience thus

creating a much bigger anticipation for the film to be released and the DVD cover helps

create an even bigger ancillary revenue thus becoming more successful.

Flash Game

The flash game is a tie-in to the film that helps promote the film to a much wider audience

and appeals to the target audience as it relates to their psychographics of being familiar

with computers and that they regularly use them. The game is a horror game with tense

action that relates to what is featured in the film, as they are what appeals to the target

audience. This is a great use of viral marketing as it generates word of mouth and

broadcasts the film across the Internet and to a target audience who’s main interests are

using the computer for entertainment.