'Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices'

'Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices'.
To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?




It is important that films have good marketing and distribution towards their target audiences to get a good response. However, a good review also helps the films success.


The Grand Budapest Hotel got  92% rating on 'Rotten tomatoes' so it has been largely approved by critics. Positive reviews help to encourage people into going to see the film so they don't miss out. Cinema costs have risen so people go to the cinema to see fewer films, if they want to go to the cinema then they will choose to see a film that is worth seeing. These factors effect the success of the film.




Production practices which allow texts to be distributed and marketed for specific audiences are more important then a good review. The Grand Budapest Hotel is accessible to buy in UltraViolet, which means if someone buys a DVD they will not have to buy the film online to download it do their devices such as computers or tablets. This works by receiving a redemption code with their DVD so they can download it on numerous devices. This targets a young audience as they use technology on a daily basis. Also UltraViolet is easier to access which helps it appeal to a younger audience. However, Apple does not support UltraViolet, because of this the young audience owning mainly apple products do not have access to the film this way.


The actors used in the film are another type of production practice to help the film get success because of them appealing to a certain audience. Bill Murray and Ralph Fiennes appeal to an older audience. Older audiences might have seen or know of the actor so they are interested in seeing another film they are in. Because of this the film has a bigger audience which means it has a higher gross. The use of well known actors helps Wes Anderson to attract a bigger audience, as most of his auteur films only appeal to aficionados. American block busters attract audiences and have a large success due to the use of an A-list cast. So like the Avengers with stars such as Robert Downey.Jr and
a budget of $220 million doesn't necessarily mean the film needs good reviews.


The bigger the Distribution company means the bigger success of the film. 20th Century Fox is the second largest film studio. It distributes a large success of films such as Avatar. The wealth and size of the distribution company means they can pay to distribute their films worldwide and it allows a large audience to see their films. They can also afford a large marketing campaign to interest people into seeing their films. These things help to result in a large gross. Also marketing a film through the use of social media helps to promote the film and draws people to see it. This includes YouTube adverts and pages on social network sites. YouTube was a effective use of social media because it showed tutorials on how to make Mendl's pastries from The Grand Budapest Hotel. This drew in a bigger audience as people become more aware of the film and become interested.


The distribution and marketing strategies  help how to audiences engage with the film. Statistics show that 15-24 year olds make up the largest percentage of cinema audiences. This proves that the use of marketing through social media is aimed at them and helps draw in a younger audience. The Avengers appealed to this age group resulting in why it had such a big success. This why The Grand Budapest Hotel used a large amount of marketing techniques, as it needed to appeal to a larger audience and this age group especially as Wes Anderson films don't usually appeal to a younger audience.