Most cinema tickets are one-off purchases. You base your decision to buy a ticket on the basis of the marketing you have seen for an individual movie. You might be quite loyal to that brand while it lasts (you might buy a t-shirt, a soundtrack CD and the DVD when it’s released), but in most cases, it's a short-lived loyalty. And that loyalty is very expensive to purchase. With each new movie release, a studio has to create a new brand. This is why they like sequels and franchises so much — a string of movies all based around the same brand are easy to market as audiences have already had a taste of them.
The Star Wars movies are perhaps the most successful example of this, with consumers demonstrating rabid brand loyalty, and the brand being associated with a whole range of merchandising, from pillowcases to happy meals. Although many fans of the first three movies had major “issues” with The Phantom Menace, they all felt compelled to see Attack of The Clones, and no matter how many “issues” they had with AOTC, they will still all go and see whatever the third one is going to be called. They are loyal to the brand, and the marketing of the movie reflects that.
Stars may also be considered brands, particularly if they are associated with only one type of movie. Audiences feel comfortable going to see a movie starring an action hero such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, because they know that they are going to get a specific sort of action movie. However, stars as brands go stale after a while, as audiences tire of actors doing the same thing over and over again. People may be fans of an individual actor, and will go to see a movie because he or she is in it, but actors do not like to be restricted in their choice of scripts, otherwise they will quickly become typecast. Therefore the marketing of a movie is all about creating instant brand identity. A movie's brand is established by signalling to consumers what it is like and where it has come from.
SHELF LIFE
Films can only be marketed effectively prior to their release. Once they have been shown in cinemas, the cat is out of the bag, and word-of-mouth takes over from the marketing department in persuading audiences to go and see a particular movie.
Films have a limited distribution window, and therefore a limited shelf-life. They may play in cinemas for as long as six months, sometimes only for a week. The marketing has to happen at absolutely the right time to get audiences into cinemas. A marketing campaign may build for as long as it takes to make a film, but it is over once the movie has been released.
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