By: Kimberly Grant
February 14, 2021
There are various modes that marketers use to convey their marketing messages. We, as consumers, are familiar with a few of them. General advertising is the most common mode of marketing that consists of paid delivery of the marketing message, ie. commercials. Another, subtle mode of marketing is publicity using static text (written word of advertising). Once upon a time, I was a movie critic and a happy member of the publicity marketing exchange. I was also hated by a segment of my family who refused to speak to me, because I didn’t like the early Star Trek movies. Thankfully, a new love of sci-fi changed my mind some time later and I was welcomed back into the family.
But I digress.
In order to review the movies that I critiqued, I was invited to screen them (basically watching a movie for free before it is released), then write my opinion on it. It was fun. I got to see free movies and people read my opinion of them. In turn, there was an unspoken agreement when I would attend these screenings. The public relations firm that invited me to these screenings were using the publicity mode to market each film. Publicity can be simply defined as getting others to discuss your brand or product without paying them.
In exchange for the free movie-going experience, the publication I was writing for would publish an article about the film. The more South Florida publications talking about the film, the better. So, I and about 20-30 South Florida critics would be invited to these free movies on a weekly basis in the hopes that our contribution (a favorable review) would be published in our South Florida market. Now, the Miami market by way of South Florida is a whole other post. Let’s just say, the tri-county area is considered a major market in the film industry.
Now, it may sound like I was being used by the public relations firm for publicity, but this relationship was the perfect exchange. There was value on both sides, because the firm would get the readers of my publication seeing and talking about the film and I was able to watch a movie, exclusively, for free. And, I loved it!
If you’re curious about my past articles or value exchanges, you can visit here.
