1. Battleship
By Rashedul Bari

2. Battleship is a 2012 sci-fi naval war film based around the popular children’s
game. The film grossed $58 million in its first week overseas and has yet to
be released in America (May 18th 2012). Critics have given the film mixed
reviews. The film has been vastly marketed across all types of media
platforms. They used stars, games etc. to market the film and make it
stand out.

3. Trailers
Film trailers are basically videos that show off everything good about the movie
(CGI, set pieces, genre etc.) They are made to entice the audience and force
them to watch by showing off these attributes of the film. They are made for
potential fans of the film or fans of the genre (sci-fi, action). They work by not
giving away the full story but giving the audience an idea of what the film is
about to tell then what they are seeing. As the film has been marketed
widely, we can see them on TV called ‘TV spots’ which last for about 30
seconds to again show off the film’s USP. We can see them on YouTube, which
is deemed most popular and will get millions of views and the trailer also lasts
longer than on TV (more than 2 minutes), so this gives the audience even
more of an idea of what kind of film this is. The first official trailer was
released in July 2011 (almost a year before the film releases) to get a buzz
going and get people talking, the second trailer was released in December of
2011 (5 months before the film) this heightened the buzz of the film even
more and the marketing gained some heat and the third trailer was released
at the end of March, 2 or 3 weeks before the film released and this was the
final showing of what the film has to offer and force the audience to go see it.

4. Casting Rihanna
The reason is a good choice is because of how
big a star she actually is, she has sold millions
of albums worldwide and is considered a sex
symbol all around the world, this will
especially encourage the men to go see the
film simply because Rihanna stars in it. This
will also bode well to entice Rihanna’s music
fans to go see the film as her die hard fans
(who love her) will want to see their star in
this film.

5. Poster campaign
The market the film further, the film had a poster
campaign that created a continuity between each
poster, which read, “the battle for earth begins at sea”.
This tagline was on every poster to create continuity
and to tell the consumers that it is the same movie.
Each poster has a star on it to make most of the star
cast they have, the posters with individual stars on
them will appeal to their fans and persuade them to
watch the film.

6. Social Networking
The film marketing also used social networking to market their, a major social
network used was Facebook where Battleship had its own game on
it, there can also be fan pages for the film, marketing the film further as
millions of people are on facebook and will hear of the film and go to
watch the trailer to see if they like it or not. Making a facebook game will
be really popular as teens might play it and then go to watch the film.
Another great aspect of the game is it is online and lets you play with your
friends. The is cleverly designed to hook the consumer in and persuade
them to watch the film.

7. Video game tie-in
Another clever aspect of the marketing is the video game tie-in they have
created as well for home game consoles. This will hook the consumer in
further as if they play the game and like, they will likely to go watch the
film at the cinemas with their friends. The game’s story will most likely to
be based around the film and give player’s an idea of what the film will be
like. Also army-shooter games are very popular these days amongst
gamers, as games like Call of Duty and Battlefield are very popular, so they
might like this game.

8. Magazine publicity
They have also used film magazines to publicize the film and give readers an
insight into the film and give them an idea of what the narrative will be
like and if the film will entice them or not. Film magazines are very
popular as they are mainstream and many people read them, so readers
will hear of the film and get an idea of what the film is about.

9. Conclusion
In conclusion, the film uses all types on the media platform to market the film
(stars, poster campaigns, social networks, video game tie-in magazine
publicity). They all signify the genre of the film as sci-fi as the posters have
in the background spaceships and then the stars are carrying guns to
signify that this is sci-fi action film. The facebook game and video game
will further cement the genre as it will have a short intro on what it is
about (navy, aliens). The magazine and trailers will give a clear idea of
what the film is about as the magazine will have a short synopsis of what
is going on in the film and the trailer just gives clues of what the narrative
is about and shows off its action in the film.