An analysis of promotion strategies for domestic youth films in China between 2010 and 2015

Abstract

This study has three objectives: 1) to explore the social background of current youth films, 2) to identify the characteristics of youth films, and 3) to indicate the relationships between the five-attribute concept of diffusion of innovation (DOI) and promotion strategies for youth films. A total of 20 individuals, including seven film scholars, eight film promotion practitioners and five filmmakers were interviewed. This paper concludes that eleven characteristics are prominent in youth films. Specifically, these characteristics are IP film, fan film, consistency, emotional resonance, nostalgia, campus life, youthfulness, networkedness, new media, topicality and timeliness. These characteristics were categorized into the five attributes of DOI theory. Eight promotion strategies corresponding to five attributes of DOI theory were summarized from interviews with film industry practitioners. This study found that the attributes of relative advantages and compatibility are enhanced with strategies such as promotion materials, trailers and clips and topic setting and theme songs, whereas complexity, trialability and observability are often influenced by campus preview, new media promotion, O2O ticketing applications, collaborative marketing and word-of-mouth management. Furthermore, emotional resonance is perceived to be essential in both youth films and the corresponding promotion.