Introduction
The marketing campaign for movie Sex and the City focuses on the routine of observing four main heroines interacting with each other and forwarding their own personal vision of perfect life, should it imply as many shoes that can be held in the closet or a loving man following hard on woman’s heels. One way or another, the film campaign is confined to selling lifestyles, which entail fashion, clothes, behavior, and habits (Smith 2008). The emergence of trailers and posters of the movie relies predominantly on glamorous representation of femininity, as well as carefree lifestyle of all protagonists.
Exploring Patterns of Consumption
Lifestyle habits and behavior of the leading characters are confined to purchasing and alcohol consumption patterns. Buying habits are brightly represented by Carrey who plans to get marry and hires a wedding assistant to choose a designer’s dress. This moment in the movie strongly correlates with advertising brands and designers of dresses. Apart from selling clothes as an integral marketing concept of the movie, patterns of alcohol consumption are also among the most spread ones in the movie. These behavioral trends correspond to the representation of power, independent woman, similar to Samantha, who takes everything she wants from life.
Identifying the Audience
As it has been stressed, the movie focuses on various representations of feminine lifestyle and, therefore, it certainly addresses female audiences who search for self-expression and self-determination. In their turn, the male audience is rigidly opposed and even ignored because male characters are represented in the movie as the tools for achieving various purposes and performing various functions that women dictate. Although the movie does not exempt men from the film audience overtly, it still ignores discussing the film plot from the male perspective. Therefore, women as the target audience will receive much more pleasure from watching the film because it is also about fashion, relationship, friendship, and women’s life.
Main Discussion
Exploring Film Culture
The popularity of film Sex and the City has led to significant shifts in lifestyle, habits, and consumption patterns. The movie producers have released a number of posters, trailers, and marketing campaigns advertising these cultural trends and integrating new outlooks on feminist ideal. In particular, the film aims “…to empower women and remind them that they did not have to sacrifice the beauty of being feminine women, for that of having a career” (Zendejas 2). It is possible to strike the balance between work and pleasure and, therefore, the movie successfully manages to reflect the problems and concerns that contemporary women experience.
While viewing four women’s lives, the female audience can also discover the confrontation of modern women with the constantly-shifting perceptions of the feminine ideal in a socially dynamic world. The movie producers have introduced completely different types of characters in the movie for women to fine the ideal that suits best their own images of a woman. Despite the fact that the heroines are counterparts of each other, all of them are concerned with their attitude to sex, men, family, and career. Due to the wide range of personages represented in the movie, it is not surprising that each woman will be able to find the most relevant in this ideal four-woman chemistry.
Exhibition
One of the marketing promotion schemes imply advertising designer’s clothes and relates to the fashion exhibitions taking place after the movie release. The exhibition will take place at Chadstone Shopping Centre, New York, from 1st to 31st March (New York City Style 2013). The collection presented at the centre introduces Carrie’s famous wedding dress made by famous designer Vivienne Westwood, as well as dresses of other heroines from Versace and Oscar de la Renta. There are a great number of other exhibitions dedicated to the fashion trends demonstrated in the movie. They are considered to be one more proof of the marketing perspective of the movie that demonstrates purchasing and consumption patterns of the audience. In particular, the exhibition called Seven Autumn Leaves and headed by Patricia Field is dedicated to Sex and the City movie, representing iconic features of four characters (Blogger 2013). Once, the film Sex and the City is a commercial project because it dictates trends in fashion, as well as popularizes women as glamorous, independent, and self-determined individuals (See Appendix 2). It also reproduces the new patterns of New York Style to outline the recent trends and streamlines in clothes, shoes, and accessories.
Marketing Genre
Sex and the City belongs to the genre of blue romantic comedy, which explores relations through sex, sexuality, and romance. All four characters look differently at these concepts, but these themes become the streamlines for all the scenes in the movie. Marketing this film genre is beneficial because it makes the directors to attract more women who are more interested in intimate relationships, as well as how they influence their perceptions in society. Some of the topics discussed are overt and ironic, but the variety of angles presented allows the movie producers to expand the audience and capture new dimensions of influence. As such, even the trailer to the movie have also provided the basic elements and topics discussed by the heroine that focus primarily on fashion, relationships, and attitude to marriage (SexAndTheCityFilm 2008). All these aspects are also commercialize to develop new promotional campaigns.
Marketing campaign
The above-enumerated exhibitions introduce fabulous and iconic pieces from the film that was worn by favorite characters. The marketing idea postulates that the exhibited piece bears symbolic meaning going beyond fashion as itself, as well as the advertised item. Rather, the collection is directed at those people who are fond of the movie. Women who have watched the movie identify the clothes with the contextual dimensions rather than with designer’s effort. Each item represented at the exhibition is more associated with scenes, memories, and episodes from the full screen versions. Hence, it is more associated with branding in the movie rather than with movie branding. The movie itself has become the iconic representation of New York Style.
Carry Bradshaw’s obsession with designer shoes has reached influence beyond fashion and has made fans buy products that somehow relate to the film and the characters (Poster of Sex and the City n. d.). Possessing promotional partnerships, the movie brands and items are also used to advertise other projects, such as the one called “The Super Bowl for women” (Nichols 2008). The campaign refers to the football championship, which makes promotional companies use concepts, meanings, and even quotes from the cinema project. According to Nichols (2008), “…the partnerships often do not involve companies paying to have their products in the film. Instead, businesses spend heavily to promote their ties to the movie” (n. p.).
Judging from this, the movie could be regarded as potential bearer of goods and services that are reasonably advertised. Most of the companies offering such goods and services as Mercedes-Benz do not have to pay for advertising in the film because these products have been used by the film directs. The choice of brand products and clothes from famous collection designers was quite successful because fans were more concerned with the protagonists using these products, but not with the products themselves. Although the leading companies did not have to pay for the products included into Sex and the City project, they spend much more money from establishing the connection to the film as compared to other promotional campaigns.
Theoretical Understanding
Previous discussion refers to materialism and fashion as basic underpinnings of the movie, making it a purely commercialized project advertizing dreams. The analysis of theoretical implications, “the movie, being the extension of a brand-conscious franchise… certainly seems to be a good fit for marketers looking to associate themselves with the aspirational lifestyle the characters perpetuate” (Movie Marketing Madness: Sex and the City 2008, n. p.). Therefore, developing new marketing concepts and placing products in the film make the entire project the foundation for promotional campaigns and advertising.
Apart from representing materialistic conception, the choice of the protagonist can also be regarded as a successful commercial campaign. In particular, Sara Jessica Parker playing Carrie Bradshaw has managed to render the real female ideal. Thus, the heroines did not strive to be always on the top; she was a cute woman, but not pretty, smart and funny enough, but was not distinguished by exceptional intelligence. She often experiences humiliation and difficult situations, as well as heartbreaks in relationships with men.
The marketing conception of the film also focuses on women’s commitment to friendship that exists between the heroines. Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte can count on each other in their searching for love and happiness. This is one of the things that remain unchanged in the movie franchise. According to Fuller (2008, p. 6), “The SATS brand recognizes what many marketers don’t: that women connect with and will follow a woman or a brand that is friendly, relatable and likable vs. someone or something that is perfect and on a pedestal”. Therefore, the power of making the connection to female-focused brand presented it as a familiar and friendly phenomenon that attracts masses of women who want to be acknowledged despite the pitfalls and nonconformity with the beauty ideals accepted in contemporary fashion.
The movie gives a deep insight into intimacy and friendship, as well as into habits and behavior that girls are involved in while communicating and spending time together. Therefore, there is not more promoting and commercial successful than introduce Carrie’s e-mails as the trailer for the film. In addition, sending the official site of the movie to the potential audience could be less efficient, as compared to posting Carrie’s history, notes, and quotes with photos. Hence, launching information about Carrie’s Macbook has expanded fan’s views on the character. Indeed, the audience was challenged by the questions posted by other SATC heroines unlocking the content. Using film script as the basis for the promotion campaign has significantly contributed to the success of the marketing process. The website has allowed the movie fans to explore the details of the movie for hours, which increased the number of visitors and made the film project even more popular.
The full screen version of Sex and the City delves into the utmost concerns, preferences, and desires of the majority of women. It does not only shifted the stereotypes about feminism, but has provided a new perspective of how modern women could operate and dominate in society, remaining feminine, beautiful, and successful. At this point, Gennaro (2007) focuses on the theory of perpetual adolescence in the context of marketing discourse. According to this theoretical underpinning, both young and adult consumers prefer adolescence to adulthood. The main trigger of such an assumption is media and television that distorts the identity formation and overuses identities and images of consumption. In addition to this theory that represents the film characters as those striving to perpetuate adolescence, the film is also associated with post-feminist movement that premises on unconventional and deviated values that are confined to family life, gender, and sexuality. All these aspects are also introduced through the perspective of diversity and choice in sexual and domestic relations.
Communal orientation, character narrative style, and mocking are among the leading features of marketing promotion in the movie. Carrie’s blog, therefore, introduces a sort of coming-of-age diary in which she pretends giving viable advice about drinking, dating, and dressing. More importantly, the blog highlights the heroine’s propensity for exposing her problems, experiences, and feelings. At this point, Kozinets (2010) explain that Carrie relies heavily on novelties on the market, but does not relate them directly. Implicit representation of brands is another type of marketing campaign that does not foresee any advertising pressure.
Mocking and overt discussion of intimate relations is just an approach to attract attention of larger audience and gain their loyalty. Further methods are directed at developing product promotion through personal utilization of mobile phones and a variety of accessories. Carrie’s blog is the brightest example of word-of-mouth marketing, theory according to which products are popularized through Internet blogs, social networking, and mobile phones. The framework also uncovers the consumer-to-consumer model of delivering information about the product. It also provides the link between communication strategies and commercialization. Hence, the movie itself offers market professionals to employ this strategy to advance new concepts and delivering those to masses.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be stated that the analysis of the marketing campaigns, promotions, consumerist patterns and cultural trends in Sex and the City rely heavily on several important dimensions. To begin with, the movie re-conceptualizes the meaning of the modern feminism that deviates significantly from the traditions visions. In particular, women should not necessarily ignore fashion, brands, and shopping, if they want to become emancipated and independent. They can dominate in society and have great interest in fashion, clothing, and shoes, like Carry Bradshaw, the protagonist. Second, the movie does not provide the idealist vision of a woman who possesses exceptional beauty and intelligence. Rather, the directors prefer depict ordinary women who strive to be trendy and smart, but who also experience difficulties in life. The promotional campaigns are premised on the concept of fashion, materialism and perpetual adolescence in the context of the marketing discourse and, therefore, this movie is considered to be one of the most successful commercial projects.
Reference List
Blogger, 2013, ‘Sex and the City Exhibition Curated by Patricia Field’, Seven Autumn Leaves. Web.
Fuller, B 2008, ‘What the creators of ‘Sex and the City’ know about marketing that you don’t’, Advertising Age, 6.
Gennaro, S 2007, ‘Sex and the City: Perpetual Adolescence Gendered Feminine’, Nebula, 246-275. Web.
Kozinets, RV, Valck, K, Wojnicki, AC, and Wilner, SJS 2010, ‘Network Narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online Communities’, Journal of Marketing vol. 77, 71-89.
‘Movie Marketing Madness: Sex and the City’ 2008, WordPress. Web.
‘New York City Style: Sex and the City Costume Exhibition’, 2013 Timeout.com. Web.
Nichols, M 2008, ‘Sex and the City film a Marketing Dream’, Reuters, Web.
Poster of Sex and the City, n. d., image. Web.
Romano, F 2008, ‘Sex and the City campaign taps into what women want’, New Media Age, EBSCOhost. Web.
SexAndTheCityFilm, 2008, Sex and the City (2008) Official Trailer. Web.
Smith, M 2008 ‘Sex and the City Lessons’, ScentTrail Marketing. Web.
Zendejas, Popular Culture and the Feminist Ideal: A Feminist Critique of Home Box Office’s Sex and the City, n. d. Web.
Appendix 1: Poster for Full Screen Movie Sex and City: Get Carried Away
Appendix 2: Seven Autumn Leaves
