How B2B Marketing Changed in The Film Industry Since The Pandemic

As a highly specialized sales market, marketing in the film industry is largely run by a specific set of needs and deadlines. From film set creation to virtual effects, the industry branches across a wide number of creative talents and functional purposes, all run by internal B2B marketing tactics. As a result of the pandemic, the film industry was brought to a sudden halt, forcing businesses to pivot and adapt their marketing strategies. Although much of the industry has returned to work since March 2020, there has been a significant impact on the way companies are finding clients and managing the logistics. From special effects to closed captioning, here are a few businesses that have adjusted strategies and remained successful throughout the pandemic.

As an international supplier and special effects studio located in North Vancouver, BC, Thomas FX faced a variety of supply chain issues, cancelled projects, and the 4-month closure of their physical store. Known for their Patented biodegradable SNO-FX!™ and BIO-ASH!™, Thomas FX has built its brand supplying high-quality special effects production supplies to Oscar-winning films, such as The Revenant and The Hateful Eight. After closing the physical storefront due to COVID-19, Thomas FX focussed on developing overseas dealer networks. Building these international relationships and meeting the tight deadlines of film productions was made possible through strategic inventory pre-positioning. Having dealers on multiple locations allowed the team at Thomas FX to manage the bumps in their typically smooth road.

“This year, we have been having to manage a greater number of international shipments of our products. In February, we shipped snow products and equipment to a Montreal-based Special Effects Coordinator working on a production in Whitehorse, Yukon. In addition to the North American shipments, we have also been supporting Special Effects coordinators in Australia and Spain, who were working in Thailand and the Canary Islands. We are now supporting film productions in the Dominican Republic and South Korea, while servicing clients in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and all major production centres across Canada.” - John Quee, CEO, Thomas FX.

Unlike Thomas FX, some aspects of the film industry have become exclusively virtual and do not concern themselves with shipping logistics. Before the pandemic, businesses were starting to make digital transformations to reach customers and become more accessible. In response to the market changes caused by COVID-19, Caption Easy, a film accessibility service in Toronto, has been seeing success by switching to entirely digital marketing tactics. Although Caption Easy has the benefit of being a virtual business, the company still had to find a way to quickly adjust strategies to better reach its target market.

“Since marketing is all about following the eyeballs, we've had to move to digital advertising. I feel that the need for film accessibility has increased during the pandemic because more media is being consumed on average. With stay-at-home orders in some countries and more films on VOD platforms, there has been an increase.” - Khurram Suhrwardy, Owner of Caption Easy.

Similarly, the team at Golden Jones productions has found that the pandemic has opened the door to new virtual opportunities and led them to begin streaming on a much more global scale. As a video marketing content creator for small businesses, Golden Jones productions is responsible for providing video content for a wide array of clientele. Since returning to the production studio, Golden Jones has noticed significance in the way businesses are now using video and film content.

“It's not just for social media, website, YouTube and google ads. A lot of clients are incorporating video in their email marketing as well! The biggest change has been the live streaming equipment. We've always been a film studio first, but now I feel as if we are a mini tv-studio who can broadcast almost anywhere in the world, live!” - Kevin Nulty, CEO of Golden Jones Productions.

Amongst the industry, the most common changes we see are the reliance on virtual communication and integration. Whether it's meeting and conversing with new product dealers or globally streaming a product, the film industry has become reliant on digital marketing.