BOOMSATSUMA PORTFOLIO
CAPA 367
MERCHANDISING
Explain what merchandising is and why it is important.​
Merchandising is a process of selling certain products to fans with a logo or theme on the items. Merchandising is a huge business with lots of category’s. One of the main category’s i9s clothing. Clothing can mainly costs of t shirts and hoodies however the range is huge and can extend to hats, shoes, trousers and more. A lot of the time in the film industry they have the films logo and colour scheme on them however it may be more detailed with artwork. It is really important for films and tv shows to merchandise items to help exchange the audiences for longer and is a great way to make more money. By selling merchandise you can see the dedicated fan base. By selling merchandise it is another revenue stream for film company which also allows for a bigger budget for future feature films.
Research different types of film and television merchandise
One of the main types of merchandise for a film is t shirts. They are a great product to sell as they are easy and cheap to make and provide a great profit. Another reason it Is great advertising having somewhere wearing a t shirt as it acts like a moving billboard. Another clothing product that is also popular to merchandise is hoodies. Companies sometimes don’t opt to make hoodies as they stay with t shirts but others like to sell a range of merch. Another way for company’s to sell merchandise is by small items such as mugs, cups, stickers, patches and more. These are items that fans could be using on a daily basis like a mug with the film logo on. Sometimes companies may reach out to 3rd parties to help develop more products such as lego. Sometimes films may recreate scenes with lego through a set and sell it online and in stores. This is a great activity that children and adults could enjoy and Is something to keep either as a toy or as a collectable model. In a lot of films pop figures may reach out to film companies to great collectable figure heads of the characters which a lot of people collect. They are made out of plastic as people either keep in the box to display and collect or on a shelf to show off.
Mindmap
Film Moodboard
Film Posters
Film Merchandise
Starter Film Poster designs
Starter t-shirt designs
Final Poster Design
I have made a poster for our film "mara." I am really pleased with this poster and all the detail that has gone into it. To start with I used the image from our film on the Final shot of the frostbitten face. Over the top of the image I created an orb effect in photoshop. I created the effect by using a circle and using a variety of editing tools to create the colour and edges. To create the non perfect edge I used the smudge tool which allows the circle to become different shape. I used a graphic under the orb layer to create the lines coming out of it and used lightning with a clipping mask. With the text I found a font I loved and created a gradient effect on the letters. For this every letter in the title had to be a different lawyer and each one at a adjustment layer. For the "we will kill you" each word is a different layer so I could create 4 different gradient effects.
Final Hoodie Design
I have chosen to design a hoodie for my clothing item. I wanted to try something different than a t shirt and a hoodie was great as I also had a larger surface area to work with. I wanted to create an orb on both the back and the front. I used a similar effect to my poster by starting with a shape tool and using the blur tool to create a non perfect shape and then used a variety of editing tools such as curves and hue to create thew colour effects on the orb. I used a stock image to create the orbs lightning effects coming out of it and wrapping around the hoodie. On the sleeve of the hoodie I used the text effect of the title of the main poster for mara which I also designed. I used the same font which I found before shooting the film and saved it for this. I then decided on the colour scheme of black, grey and blue. To colour the hoodie I painted the different parts of the hoodie with the brush tool. The blue is one of the shades of blue used in the orb.
Additional Ideas
I chose to design a mug as an extra product to sell alongside the hoodie and the film poster
as I wanted to create an assay product that already had a link to the film. For this it was the mug. I designed the mug to fit around the theme of the film however the mug is in the film at the very first scene where it is an old art mug for water as a pot. I wanted to create the mug with a imperfect edge to the top like the orb I created for both the hoodie and the film poster. By doing this not every mug is the same so people can really say they own something unique that no one else has as each one is made by hand so it is different. To design the mug I Used the same text effect on the title as I used on the film poster by doing the letters separately and using the gradient tool to create the colour change across each individual letter. The lightning in other background has been clipped masked around the mug so it won't go over the edges and I used a few different designs across the mug.
Understand the role that merchandise plays
Marketing in film and in television is important to creating a brand identity and marketing films. Selling clothing items such as T-Shirts provides a great opportunity for marketing the film by selling the t-shirts with logos and the film's name on the acts as a moving billboard display as people walking by the person wearing the clothing may read the t-shirt and research what it is. Creating a brand identity through the use of merchandising helps keep consistency across the merchandise range and the film. If the colour scheme and the theme of the merchandise is very similar to the film the brand is the same across the 2 using the same colour pallet.
Our merch we are selling as part of our short horror film “MARA” is designed to meet the needs of the fans and be unique within its own right. We are selling their film poster in prints which lots of our target audience fans would love to buy for bedroom decorations for example. By selling the poster its a small marketing campaign for us as not everyone will see it but it might spark a conversation between people if they see it hanging up. Our hoodie we are selling is designed to be different that most other film hoodies by having the theme of the film wrapped around the hoodie and the text is down the sleeve and not on the chest. Our final product for our short film is the mug which is hand uniquely designed as the top of it is imperfect. This has the same effect as the orb in the film: how the perfect circle isn't perfect. Having a non straight edge will make the mug stand out compared to other mugs and would be a great christmas gift especially as the film is coming out just before halloween.
Revenue of merchandise
We are planning to produce revenue from our items of merchandise by selling them in numerous places and doing an online marketing campaign to target the audience. We will be launching the merch at a launch event where members of the public and press will be invited. We can make money from these events by selling the merchandise and getting people to share it around so we can make more sales. We are planning to set up and online store to go live on the event date where people can pre order the merch and buy gift packages. We are also going to sell the merchandise in high street shops and are hoping to strike a deal with shops such as hmv and typo. Hmv would be responsible for selling the hoodie and poster while typo will sell the mug alongside the current range of their mugs.
The pricing for the products is going to be £10 for the film poster as the cost price works out for a quantity of 10 posters bought at a time as £4.40 a poster. This would leave a 56% profit margin. The Hoodie is going to be selling for £35 when buying in bulk of 20 at a time leaving a 57% profit margin. The mug we are going to sell for £18 leaving a 33% profit margin. We are planning to sell a gift package with all the items over the festive period for £55 saving £7 for the consumer. Posters on the market sell between anywhere from £4 a poster up to £15. We have gone slightly higher with this poster print however we feel if we price it at the price now it will sell well. The hoodie for £35 is in line with the market and is selling less than a lot of branded hoodies for similar styles. This price is at the lower end of the market and we are still making a good profit. For the mug we couldn't get a lower price for which is why it is priced at £18 as it is a unique product it is slightly more expensive.