Packaging is an often-used marketing term employed by a wide variety of industries. They may incorporate different elements, but basically they are all aiming for the same goal -- to ENABLE or COMPEL the consumer to purchase the product.

Let’s examine the real estate industry. Builders nowadays must properly “package” their homes by including land, the house itself, landscaping, financing, extra bonus features such as a basement or home theater, and upgrade options. Imagine if the prospective home-buyer had to assemble each of those pieces together themselves before they could purchase a house. There would be far fewer home sales because the purchase process would be too demanding.

If you’re a music lover who has grown up during the Internet era, then you have been incredibly spoiled by music packaging, pioneered by Apple's iTunes. Almost single-handedly, the computer maker significantly simplifIed the process for selecting, sampling, sharing music before and during the buying process. It was so compelling that people where willing to change their music listening and buying habits. For Apple, combining iTunes with the iPOD was a brilliant "packaging" move, which in hindsight now seems so obvious. Apple’s iTunes and iPOD combo has literally saved the music industry and it elevated Apple as the pre-eminent brand for new media products (the iPod) and distribution (iTunes).

In the movie business, packaging has different meanings at different times. At the earliest phase, packaging means assembling talent around a story concept or a script. The producer must find a story that will draw “heat” or interest primarily from the so-called talent -- actors and directors -- in order to get the product off-the-ground (financed). The more important or well-known the “talent” attached to the project, the hotter the projects becomes, drawing the full attention of investors, which makes the project hotter still. As the project gains traction, the producer continues to strengthen the package. Once he has talent INTEREST and INVESTMENT financing, he must now gain INFLUENCE. Another word for this is “mindshare” or “audience-attention.” How do you get a person to pay attention to your movie? How do you get them excited enough to buy a ticket or purchase the DVD?

In a phrase: PURPOSEFUL PACKAGING

The classic movie poster bears the heavy burden of penetrating through all the other marketing noise that the typical consumer is bombarded on a daily basis. Everyone is packaging goods and services to the poor consumer. You’re being “packaged at” right now. That’s right. You. Don’t turn around. This is just for you. You have come to this site, you are reading this blog, and this precise sentence because we have PACKAGED information that you have found PURPOSEFUL. We win. So do you.

That’s the modern TRANSACTION between buyers (you) and sellers (me). You give me ATTENTION, and in exchange I give you content that fulfills some intended PURPOSE you’re seeking. My goal is to keep giving you purposeful content, for free for as long as I can afford to offer it, so that someday you will actually buy my content. Better still, motivate you to tell others about the content we’ve provided.

Okay, back to the movie poster.

It was packaged with purposeful content in mind. Study it for awhile. Take notes on what you think its designed purpose is meeting for a target audience. (See Part 5 for hints.)

I will come back in Distribution Part 7 to tell you the purpose behind the COME WHAT MAY movie poster. We have not printed the poster yet, so you may still send us your comments that could influence its final design. Email us at staff@adventfilmgroup.com.