I, DANIEL BLACK MARKETING

How does the powerful image of Daniel with his fist raised represent the message of the film?

The powerful image used in the marketing of the film I, Daniel Blake which shows the eponymous protagonist defiantly raising his fist against the back drop of a graffitied wall of a job centre, represents the punchy, rousing, social-realist message of the film.

How much money did I, Daniel Blake make at the box office?

The film took £404,000 in its opening week, and was the 11th most commercially successful independent film in 2016. To date t has taken over £8.8 million worldwide.

What is Disruptive Marketing?

The term describes how accepted, traditional, ‘above the line’ marketing methods can be subverted in surprising, unexpected and shocking ways. Just as the film is meant to disrupt audiences, so were the marketing and distribution techniques used by eOne ( the film’s marketing and distribution company)

What is a Grassroots Campaign?

This type of campaign starts from the ground up with the aim that targeted audiences would promote the film through word of mouth and in turn generate further creative content for marketing purposes - e.g. through testimonials

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

1. Regional marketing officers

eOne advertised for regional marketing officers in specific locations such as London, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester etc.

The job description of the regional marketing officers was to organise talks and free screenings in appropriate locations such as community halls in the weeks leading up to the film’s release.

This type of organic marketing aimed to build up a wider feeling of political engagement around the film.

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

2. Premiere

The premier was not in London, but Tyneside Cinema, a small, independent cinema in Newcastle - where the film is set.

(The film was then rolled out as part of eOne’s platform relase strategy adn the number of cinemas showing the film increased from 94-273

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

3. Actions at the premiere

At a later premiere, members of the public whose loved ones had died having been denied benefits, asked to demonstrate outside the screening.

Actors Dave Johns and Hayley Squires also held up protest placards on the red carpet

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

4. Prime minister’s questions

During Prime minister’s questions following the week of the premiere, Jeremy Corbyn called for Teresa May to see the film.

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

5. Movements

One thing that eOne’s marketing campaign could not have anticipated was that the film’s political message was also starting to take on a life of its own with audiences:

• At an Anti-Austerity protest in France, a protestor held up a flag with the title words and an image from the film - ‘Moi, Daniel Blake’

• The charity movement ‘A bag for Katie’ was inspired by the shocking food bank scene in the film

• The Scottish Politician Mhairi Black even used quotations from the film in her campaign to change elements of how the benefits system sanctions work.

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

6. Political criticism

• Loach appeared on BBC’s Question Time to condemn the injustice of the benefits system in the week following the film’s release

• The Tory Business Secretary Greg Clark, dismissed the film as ‘fictional’.

• Right Wing journalists also waded in to criticise the film. Camilla Long in her review for The Times, called the film a ‘povvo safari’ and Toby Young from the Daily Mail said it ‘romanticised benefits Britain’

• This further exposed the nature of the film’s political message

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

7. Guerrilla Marketing

• Media company NomadiX were employed to project marketing images and key quotations on high profile buildings such as the Houses of Parliament, The London Eye and BFI (one of the sources of the film’s funding) Southbank

• They also ran a similar ‘clean graffiti’ campaign where stencils were pressure washed by water onto dirty pavements all over the UK - with release dates, title words and the #wearealldanielblake

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

8.1 Press Marketing

eOne chose the left wing tabloid owners Trinity Mirror Group to partner with for their press marketing, precisely because they deliver a very different demographic.

• Trinity Mirror Group - aware that their traditionally working class audiences may not be naturally inclined to watch social realist films - but keen to align their brand with the film’s message stated : “our audiences are socially and culturally conscious and want to change things for the better.

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

8.2 Press Marketing

The marketing campaign that followed included:

• 10,000 free tickets to preview screenings

• A fictional feature editorial piece written in the words of Daniel Blake

• A variety of print and online advertising

• The I of the Mirror’s masthead was replaced by the I of the graffiti on the job centre wall and used it in marketing material.

• Disruptive display advertising across digital newspapers

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

9. Social media

Articles published by the Trinity Mirror Group newspapers were retweeted by Ken Loach himself and the hashtag #weareallDanielBlake trended on Twitter.

• Loach also announced on Twitter that the 17th November would be ‘I,Daniel Blake’ day and encouraged people to become part of the movement

• Harnessing the power of social media, trailers and interviews with people who attended the initial free screening were posted on YouTube and shared on Facebook.

• The BBC (another funding source) website helped promote the film, with production information and images.

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

10. Film posters

A range of different film poster designs and marketing material were produced to target varying audiences both nationally and internationally.

• Whilst the image of Daniel Blake raising his fist against the job centre wall is the most ubiquitously used marketing image, another image - a more tender image of Daniel, Katie and two children walking down an alleyway - was used to appeal to audiences who understand the intertextual reference to the similar image used in Loach’s ‘Cathy Come Home’.

Summary of Marketing Techniques:

The film has created a ‘sense of outrage’ and increased public consciousness of the very real issues raised within the film - driven largely by the focused, creative and ‘disruptive’ strategies used in the marketing and distribution of the film. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

11. Unite the Union

Unite the Union - Britain’s biggest trade union - which stands for ‘equality for all’, promoted the film on its website, using it as a way to promote awareness of the impacts of government cuts to the welfare system and encouraging people to share the hashtag and contact their MPs

Poster Analysis - 1

• The poster makes clear use of the film’s success and reception to sell the film

• Loach’s name is clear at the top

• Palme d’Or winner

• Six 4 star graphics

• Social realism genre imagery

• Emotive language

• Targeting a more mainstream audience who would be persuaded by the review

Poster Analysis - 2

• The poster is French - the film made the most money in France

• Palme d’Or is prominent

• Loach’s name is less prominent

• Still from film - but the colour palette and scene seem more optimistic/upbeat - it is designed for an international audience

Poster Analysis - 3

• The painted poster of Daniel Blake has a more ‘arty’ intellectual feel to appeal to a more high-brow art cinema going audience

• Reviews from Sight and Sound (Specialist film magazine UK), CBS (US) and The Spectator (well respected politics/current affairs magazine) also suggest a more educated audience.

Trailer Analysis:

What references are made and what is the effect?

• The trailer references the BBC, BFI and Palme d’Or - assumed education and media literacy in target audience.

• The trailer explores specific government policy which may suggest audience have an awareness of political and social issues in the UK

• Only ‘star’ mentioned is Ken Loach - fans of his work will watch the film on his reputation alone

• Intertitles feature quotations from a wide range of sources showing the range of audiences - Sight and Sound (Specialist film magazine UK), Variety Magazine (US), The Times (UK) and Jason Solomon (well-respected film critic).

Trailer analysis:

What visual codes are used?

• Ultrasound image at the beginning of the trailer has connotations of childbirth - pulling on the film’s theme of the emotional idea of life and life being taken away from someone.

• Emotive soundtrack and music throughout the trailer is an indication to the emotive themes of the film

• The trailer follows a social realism style - grey colour palette, on-location filming and authentic performances

• Trailer ends with a heartbeat sound - links to Daniel Blake’s heart attack; his defining moment. The silence is a powerful tool.