Marketing Plan

Marketing Strategy

Documentaries, more than other types of films, come with their audience already built in.  There is a subject to the documentary that can be exploited when considering a marketing strategy.  There has to be something of interest that encouraged the filmmaker to explore the event.  In most cases that event has already been explored by someone else and comes complete with its enthusiasts built in. Carl Clifton explains “Distributors are not just buying a film, but buying a support structure.”  Adam Dawtrey of Variety furthers the thought, “the key to making its docs break through is mobilizing support from activists long before release.”

People That Need to Know About This Movie

USS Randolph Alumni - I intend to make use of the mailing list of the 400 sailor’s that attend the USS Randolph’s reunions as the bedrock of my marketing plan.  I plan to encourage all of them to spread the word about the movie, and will have a small section in their newsletter to keep them all up-to-date about the film's progress.  Because of the age and technical savvy of the people I intend to communicate with, I believe that a mailing list would be more effective than simply maintaining a blog or tumbler account, although I will do those things as well.  

USS Randolph Alumni Families - I believe the difference between financial success and not on this project, is whether the grandchildren of the Randolph association are interested and more importantly engaged by the project.  This has been taken to heart as a core of the film’s creative vision.  The most clear themes of Blivits! is about learning to communicate with our parents.  Another one of the ways that I hope to encourage that sort of engagement is to provide each of the people that takes part in the documentary with a complete, unedited version of their story for their own personal use, to share with their family.  I hope to foster participation by allowing people to contribute stories for their parents or grandparents or husbands through the website.

Navy/History Enthusiasts - Research has lead me to believe that there are significant number of people that are interested in the United States Navy and/or history on whole.  Upon further review this fact should have been self-evident given the success of such cable stations as The History Channel, Discovery Channel, The Military Channel, and NatGeo.

This approach will likely reach the most specific audience for this film, and a slightly broader audience would be anyone that has served in the armed forces.  The official magazineof the Navy “All Hands: Magazine of the US Navy” and the Military Officers Association of America both have websites and classified sections that reach around a million retired soldiers and sailors.  There are many other magazines that serve similar functions but speak to slightly different demographics: “Meridian: Magazine of the National NavalOfficers Associations”, “Proceedings: Official Magazine of the US Naval Institute.”, “Link: Career Magazine for the Navy Professional”, “MarinesMag: The Official Magazine of the United States Marine Corps”, “The Officer”, and also “The Navy Times”.  The print media reaches a portion of the population that does not frequently use computers or the internet.  Numbers on the exact circulation of the magazines are difficult to find, making it difficult to quantify the exact impact of focusing a large effort on raising the film’s visibility in those journals.

Communication Strategy

Web Ready Content

I have already started a channel on Vimeo for all the content that I am creating.

Here are some examples of that work.


Earl Cline from Charles Sutter on Vimeo.


Doug Smith from Charles Sutter on Vimeo.


Dave Davenport from Charles Sutter on Vimeo.


Sam Stratus from Charles Sutter on Vimeo.


Ed Luas from Charles Sutter on Vimeo.

I am still in the process of putting together the other 20 interviews that I have collected over the past 2 years, but as I load them to vimeo, I will also host them to my website.

List of Contacts for Publication

The Military Officers Association of America
Proceedings: Official Magazine of the US Naval Institute
MarinesMag: The Official Magazine of the United States Marine Corps
The Navy Times
American Heritage Magazine
American History Magazine
Armchair General Magazine
Good Old Days Magazine
Military History Magazine
Military History Quarterly
Vietnam
Reminisce Magazine
Smithsonian Magazine
World War II Magazine
Military History Monthly
History Today

Budget

The budget for promotion and marketing of the film is around $1000.  However, I hope to find a partner in the History, English or Journalism Departments that are looking to develop a spec article for publication.  All of the publications listed above accept free lance article submissions, and they also have relatively inexpensive advertising costs.

Festivals Targets

There are two criteria a film festival must meet for me to consider submitting the film (and hopefully attending).  I am most concerned with the festivals being in places that are accessible to the veterans that are in the film.  Another consideration for me is that I do not like the idea of being in competition.  It would feel dirty somehow to "win" something for this film.

Seattle Film Festival - Doug Smith
Traverse City Film Festival - Chuck Manning
Orlando Film Festival - Ed Sutter
Daytona Film Festival - Earl Kline
Newport Beach Film Festival - Sam Stratus & Dave Davenport
Dead Center Film Fest - Fred Bartlett & Allie Ryan
Tulsa International Film Festival - Fred Bartlett & Allie Ryan
Barebones Film Festival - Fred Bartlett & Allie Ryan
Atlanta Film Festival - Russell O'Day
Macon Film Festival - Willie Bibbs, Bill Marshall & Jack Reynolds
DCIFF - Don Hillard
Silverdocs - Don Hillard

Blivits Marketing Timeline