50 Shades of Grey
Table of Contents
Introduction
3
Situation Analysis
4
Overall Goal
5
Buyer Personas
6
PR Objectives
7
Strategies and Tactics
Print
8
Press Releases
11
Television/Radio
12
Cross Brand Tie In/Event
13
Creative Element/ Guerilla Marketing
14
Social Media/Additional Creative Element
15
Website/Media Schedule
16
Evaluation
17
Work Cited
18
2
Client Background
50 Shades of Grey is the first on-screen adaptation of E.L. James’s novel 50 Shades of
Grey, which is the first installment in a three-part series. The book went on shelves
in 2011 and created a frenzy amongst erotic romance readers and earned the title of
the fastest-selling paperback book ever according to a 2012 Business Insider report.
The novel is about the sexy relationship between CEO Christian Grey and intern
Anastasia Steele who is in her senior year of college. The book has received
substantial publicity and gained a popular cult following so the anticipation for the
film has been high. Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film is set to have a
restricted rating (R) and will be released on Valentine’s Day in 2015.
3
Situation Analysis
Despite the high success of the novels, the film has garnered a negative public
perception before its release. With casting issues and poor reviews on test
screenings, the image of the film is already in dire straights. Given the situation of
the film, there still are strengths the upcoming movie can rely upon.
SWOT:
Strengths:
- Familiar property with a strong fan base.
- Fastest-selling paperback book.
- Strategic opening weekend release (Valentines Day).
- Highly anticipated soundtrack, including a remixed song by Beyonce.
- Sex sells.
Weaknesses
- Leading Stars are not well known.
- Plagued with re-shoots due to unexciting sex scenes.
- Original male lead actor dropped out. Replacement is less known.
- Male demographic is smaller than women
Opportunities
- Can do a second NC-17 release for fans.
- Expand male fan base
Threats
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Reviews will be very critical due to high expectations from the book.
Kingsmen, a strong action title, is slated for the same weekend.
4
Overall Goal
The overall goal for 50 Shades of Grey is to generate a strong opening weekend at
the box office and maintain strong numbers well beyond the second week. The
estimated budget for the film according to Forbes.com is 40 mill, so based on the
budget we specifically we anticipate to gross about $70 mill and no more than a
35% fall in numbers the second weekend.
Communication Problem
Although the racy and erotic aspect of the film has the power to draw in audiences,
it has the possibility to repel conservative demographics as well. There is a common
perception regarding the film due to the public and critics coining the books as
“mommy porn.” When positioning the film, coverage will need careful consideration
to not over-saturate the marketplace with over-sexualized messages. Public
Relations for the film will need to find its niche with specific audiences that will be
attracted by the film’s genre.
Communication Opportunity
The 50 Shades of Grey film has a tremendous opportunity for success due to its
built-in audience from the book’s series. In addition, the genre of the film is a
competitive point of difference; the racy and erotic content of the movie alone will
create substantial buzz. With these two driving forces, we expect a large draw in an
audience of women. Based on the book’s sales statistics for male readers, we are
expecting around a twenty percent male audience. Knowing that sex sells among
typical audiences regardless of gender, 50 Shades of Grey has the potential to attract
fans of the book as well as intrigue audiences who are not familiar with the series.
Stemming from a three-part book series, this film also has the opportunity to
develop the 50 Shades of Grey franchise following up this movie with a sequel and
threequel, with the possible popular option of breaking the third book into a twopart conclusion.
Target Audience
Three target publics include:
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Females 18-24
Females 25-54
Males 18-30
5
Buyer Personas
Young Woman from Los Angeles
Under 25 Female (18-24):
Erika Sanchez is a 21-year-old business student in her fourth year at USC. She lives
in an apartment right off campus and maintains an active social life in the area. She
is always on the go but finds time to enjoy going to the movies with friends, binge
watching on Netflix series, listening to music via Spotify and reading popular book
series in between studying. She is present on most social media sites, but is
currently obsessed with Instagram and Snapchat. She keeps up with celebrity gossip
by watching E! Entertainment and loves to catch her favorite actors on late night
talk shows such as Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
Older woman from New York
Over 25 Female (25-54):
Sara Hamilton is a 37-year-old stay at home mom living in New York. She has her
bachelor’s degree and married immediately after college. She uses her Kindle to
read adult fiction, watch Netflix and use social media including: Twitter, Instagram,
Pinterest and Facebook. She watches Good Morning America in the mornings, Ellen
Degeneres in the afternoons and indulges in a subscription to Cosmopolitan
Magazine. She likes to go for hikes with her husband and baby. In her spare time,
she finds and tries new cooking recipes.
Younger Male from Chicago
Under 25 Male (18-30):
Jimmy Smith is a 24-year-old recent graduate of the University of Chicago and is the
manager at a high-end retail store. He has a girlfriend and spends most of his time
with her. They frequently go to the movies, try out new restaurants and hang out
with their friends. In his spare time he reads books recommended to him by his
friends and follows his favorite late night talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy
Fallon. He uses social media to connect with his friends on Instagram, Facebook and
Snapchat. He listens to indie rock music on his favorite radio station KROQ and
downloads his favorite music via Spotify. He stays up to date with current events by
reading the LA times and reads GQ magazine for tips on men’s style.
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PR Objectives
Our focused objective is to maintain and exceed Sara Hamilton’s interest in the film
and series. Sara is apart of the previously described built-in audience; she is a fan of
the series and is anticipating the release of the film. Our goal is to make promotional
items available on all of the available media outlets that Sara will likely be exposed
too. In doing so, we will continuously push the film’s sex appeal. Our mission is to
exceed her perception of the film’s sultry nature and to match her excitement that
the book originally garnered. Our promotional tactics will help achieve this by
building awareness and creating interest in the film and in turn stimulating demand.
These promotional tactics are focused in order to accomplish our primary goal of a
strong opening box office.
For Erika, our main objective is to maintain her intrigue in the series by pushing sex
appeal. We will target Erika through all facets of social media that she uses,
traditional media that she consumes, and a cross-brand tie-in of products she is
interested in. If Erika is not a reader of the series, we aim to gain her attention with
sex appeal and coverage on media so that she has to see this film.
For Jimmy, our main objective is to increase interest. This media persona is a part of
our campaign because 20% of 50 Shades of Grey readers are male, according to a
report by Gawker. Contrary to popular belief the fans of this series are not just
female. There is a potential to reach a built-in male audience. We want to reach
these males in our promotional campaign as well as increase interest with men who
didn’t read the book and may see the movie instead. Because of the opening
weekend there is also a large potential for male audiences who are accompanying
their significant others.
One objective for young audiences is to reinforcing the brand. The reinforcement is
done by keeping a good relationship to those who have read the book and who
knows the story, in order to strengthen the brand image of Fifty Shades of
Grey. This can be done parallel with the objective were we want to provide this
audience with more in depth information for those females who have read the book
and/or are already excited about the movie. Another objective for this target public
is to create interest of the movie with those who have heard about the book and the
movie, but have not really considered seeing the film, and thus we want to stimulate
a demand.
7
Strategies/Tactics
Print:
Target Publication: Cosmopolitan
Circulation: 18 million Frequency: Monthly
The brand mantra of the women magazine Cosmopolitan is fun, fearless, female and
has a demographic age span of 18-34 years. The magazine embraces subjects from
world serious topics to fashion and sex, and they also do celebrity profiles. We want
to work with Cosmopolitan since their readers are a huge part of our target
audience and the magazine is a crucial tool for us to reaching them.
We want Dakota Johnson who plays the main character Anastasia Steele to do a
cover story for the January issue of Cosmopolitan. The January issue is a good month
for the cover since it is released in mid-December after the Victoria’s Secret Fashion
Show has been shown, and it is a good way in advance to create awareness for the
premiere on Valentine’s Day.
The Pitch
Laurie Sandell; Aya Kanai (studio@ayakanai.com) ; and Emma Barker
(ebarker@hearst.com)
We will pitch Laurie Sandell who has written several cover stories for Cosmopolitan
to do an exclusive interview with Dakota Johnson. The story to pitch will have a
feminine and sensual angle in order to create the feeling of the movie, and we
believe Sandell will manage this approach superbly. Moreover, Fashion Director Aya
Kanai will be pitched to do a fashion report for the same issue, were Johnson could
do a photo shoot exclusively for Cosmopolitan, wearing the Fifty Shades of Grey
lingerie line from Victoria’s Secret.
In addition, we will pitch sex and relationship editor Emma Barker to do a one-page
profile of Jamie Dornan, who plays Mr. Grey, in the February issue of Cosmopolitan.
The story will be an indirect reminder of the movie, were the angle to pitch is that
the actor provides the readers with Valentines tips. This will create further
excitement for the movie of the Cosmopolitan readers, i.e. our target audience.
http://www.hearst.com/magazines/cosmopolitan
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/authors/a1756/cosmo-masthead/
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/author/1405/laurie-sandell/
8
Target Publication: GQ
Circulation: 944, 000 Frequency: Monthly
This monthly international men’s magazine writes about fashion, style and culture
of men. Their readers are around 25-39 years old and match our male target
audience; hence GQ is a good tool for reaching this public.
We want to do a cover story for GQ’s February issue with Jamie Dornan. The reason
for choosing this issue is that it works for the readers, our target audience, to
spontaneously decide to seeing the movie at the theaters the same month and less
likely will they regret their thoughts of going, as might have been the fact if a story
was made in an earlier issue.
The Pitch
We will pitch GQ’s Chris Heath to make an exclusive interview with Dornan for their
February cover story. Heath has written several style articles and cover stories of
celebrities in the same age as Dornan (such as Channing Tatum), and we believe
Heat would make a great story of Dornan through a perspective of fashion and
relationships. We will pitch the story in this angle since we believe it will capture
the reader’s interest and thus, reach our objective of creating further awareness of
the movie to this target public.
http://www.condenast.com/brands/gq/media-kit/print
http://www.gq.com/contributors/chris-heath
When to Approach:
These two consumers’ publications are planning their issues months in advance. But
since we have strong connections with their editors in chief of both magazines, we
know they are willing and very interested in doing our wished cover stories and
thus, postpone their planned stories for January (Cosmo) and February (GQ).
Target Publication: Los Angeles Times- Entertainment
Circulation: 945 000 Frequency: Weekly
The entertainment section of the Sunday’s issues of Los Angeles Times writes about
the entertainment industry. According to the newspaper, their readers are ”39%
more likely than the average Los Angeles DMA (designated market area) adult to
have attended a movie during opening weekend in the past 30 days”. To have story
in their entertainment section is therefore a crucial tactic to reach our older target
audience of both sexes.
The Pitch:
We will pitch entertainment editor Gina McIntyre to interview the director Sam
Taylor-Johnson and the author of the book that the movie is based on, Erika Leonard
(pen name E.L. James). McIntyre has 19 years of experience in writing and editing
and does, among other stories, interviews of actors, writers and directors for the Los
Angeles Times’ print edition. We will pitch a story angle that captures the essence of
the feeling of what the director and the author want to communicate through the
9
story of Ana and Mr. Grey. The purpose of the angle is to create further awareness
and interest of the upcoming movie, and to reach (a broader audience): our target
audiences are females 25-54.
When to Approach:
McIntyre often writes stories for Los Angeles times several times a week. Since the
entertainment section comes out once a week on Sundays, her deadline for these
issues is most likely on a weekly basis. We want the story to be covered in the
newspaper a week before the premiere, February 8, and we do not want to contact
her around the deadline of that issue when she is probably busy in order to increase
the effect of the pitch. We believe around a week in advance is a good time for the
pitch, namely February 2.
http://mediakit.latimes.com/portfolio/los-angeles-times
http://mediakit.latimes.com/categories/entertainment/movies
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/tag/gina-mcintyre/
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/gina-mcintyre/86/9b1/35b
How to Pitch:
The pitch letters to these publications will be sent by email to each and everyone of
the above named writers and editors. The letters will be concise invitations that
highlight the unique opportunity to write exclusive stories with new angles of the
main characters of the movie, the director, or the author of the book, and the
opportunity to be the first magazine photo shooting the Victoria’s Secret Fifty
Shades of Grey-collection. The pitch letters will have an interesting opening, include
the five W’s, and the contact information of the sender. The emails will be followed
up by phone calls.
10
Press Releases:
First Press Release
 “Jamie Doran to lead 50 Shades of Grey”
A press release will be sent out in October, four months before the
premier of the film. The release will be designed to instill excitement
for the upcoming film while informing audiences of the lead actor in
the film. The release will be sent out to all major publications. It will
detail the new actor’s excitement to be involved in the film and it will
address but not highlight the dropout of previous lead actor Charlie
Hunnam.
Second Press Release
 “Mr. Grey Will See You Now Trailer”
A feature trailer will be released in November, three months before
the premier of the film. The release will be to inform audiences of the
newly released promotional piece. It will go out to all major
publications and to PR Newswire. In the release, it will describe the
newly released trailer, where to view it, and other buzz worthy
information regarding the film and its release.
Third Press Release
 “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show”
Victoria’s secret fashion show will be held in December, which is two
months before the release of the film. A detailed release will be sent to
all major publications and to PR Newswire. The release will describe
the highlights of the fashion show and its relationship and partnership
with the upcoming 50 Shades of Grey film.
Fourth Press Release
 “50 Shades of Grey to Premier Next Friday”
One week before the premiere of the film, a release will be sent out to
all major publications including PR Newswire. In the release, it will
detail all information regarding the film’s release.
Final Press Release
 “Extended NC-17 50 Shades of Grey Cut Premier”
One week after the original premier, a press release will be sent to all
major publications, including PR Newswire, detailing the special cut of
the film. In the press release, it will highlight the film’s big opening
weekend numbers as well as describe the special cut.
11
Television:
We will utilize the reach and depth of television to reach a range of audiences. Our
targeted specific platforms will include Interview on E! News (interviewed by
Giuliana Rancic), Ellen DeGeneres Show (a day time show with women audience),
New clips to be revealed on Access Hollywood, Jimmy Kimmel (late night
programming), The View, and the GMA.
Platform Example: The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon
Target: Young audiences who watch his show.
Jimmy Fallon helms the longtime late night show “The Tonight Show.”
He currently holds the number one slot for late night, and has a high
demographic for young audiences. His unique abilities to include high
profile individuals to perform wacky and fun stunts or bits have been
a staple in Jimmy Fallon’s career. We plan to have Dakota Johnson
participate in one of these bits to excite viewers into seeing the film.
Radio:
We will utilize traditional radio, satellite radio, and podcasts to reach a wide range
of audiences. These platforms will include KROQ’s Loveline, a nationally syndicated
late night radio show with the theme of love, sex, and relationships, Sirius Satellite’s
Vivid Radio, another specialty channel dedicated for sexual content, and The Savage
Lovecast Podcast, is a love and relationship podcast that is currently ranked 86th out
of all audio podcasts.
Platform Example: KROQ’s Loveline
Target: Young audiences that listen to the program.
Loveline is a syndicated call-in program. It offers relationship advice
to listeners. Our plan is to dedicate a night to Jamie Dornan, where
with the themes of 50 Shades of Grey, listeners can receive their usual
advice alongside the lead actor.
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Cross-Brand Tie-In
The ideal product with the same demographics as to the Fifty Shades of Grey movie
would be a brand that can easily be associated with the movie and that also would
benefit from collaboration. We have chosen to collaborate with the worldwide
known lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret, that’s self-described as a specialty brand that
brings fantasy to life. Since fulfilling fantasies is the core story of the movie,
Victoria’s Secret and the movie share a common attribute, and together with there
shared demographics, the collaboration is profitable for both parties.
The collaboration will be presented during the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion
Show in December, where the leading lingerie brand will be launching a special Fifty
Shades of Grey collection in two price ranges; one for our older target audience with
a more mature, delicate design in a higher price range, and one for the younger
target audience with a more playful, innocent design in a lower price range.
Every year, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has several big named artists who
perform during the show. Beyoncé, who has remixed a slower sexier version of her
famous song “Crazy In Love” exclusively for the movie will perform that song at this
year’s fashion show. By featuring a song from the film’s soundtrack, performed by a
best-selling artist on a nationally televised event, it will thus give the lingerie line
and the movie additional attention.
Event:
Golden Globes /Universal After Party
The 2015 Golden Globes will take place on January 11th. This is an excellent
opportunity to generate press coverage at a large-scale event just a month before
the premiere of the film within the movie community. The cast of the film will walk
the red carpet and be able to promote the film with various members of the press
through on-carpet interviews. In addition, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson will
present an award during the ceremony. After the Golden Globes the cast will attend
a Golden Globes after party hosted by the film distributor Universal Pictures.
Universal will invite A-list names in the industry to ensure plenty of press coverage
of our stars.
We will aim to have 50 Shades of Grey nominated in the 2016 Golden Globes.
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Creative Element
In our campaign we will create augmented reality posters to attract attention and
create buzz. Augmented posters of different shades of grey and reading “Curious?”
will be placed in metropolitan cities around the United States and fans will get the
chance to find and interact with them using their smartphones or tablets.
We will have an application that can be downloaded on iTunes that has the ability to
display computer generated sensory input over the real world object that is being
viewed through the device’s camera. In this case, the user can hold their smartphone
up to the poster and view an exclusive scene from the film, incorporating the
poster’s “curious” at the top of the poster. The scenes can only be seen while the
phone is held up to the poster.
These interactive posters will further excite fans for the film’s release by giving
them a fun and different experience. We wanted to incorporate the clips as an
alternative to releasing film teaser clips via Youtube.
Guerilla Marketing
During the promotional campaign for the 50 Shades of Grey movie, we will
incorporate a guerilla stunt involving our very own distributor Universal Pictures.
We will propose to transform the Universal Pictures buildings in Los Angeles and
New York City into Grey Enterprises. The Universal Pictures logo will be covered by
an official Grey Enterprises logo as it appears in the movie in both locations. Fans
will be able to see the newly renamed Grey Enterprises building from busy LA
freeways and in Los Angeles in Universal City Plaza. Fans in the east will be able to
pass by as well as see the new Grey Enterprises building from afar in downtown
New York City on 8th Avenue. These buildings guarantee prime exposure throughout
the busy downtown areas of LA and New York City. The new logos will be in place
for one day in both locations. We will use the character’s accounts on Twitter to
break the news of the new location of Grey Enterprises and invite fans to take a
picture at Grey Enterprises and check-in using their favorite social media platform.
The goal is to generate a buzz around the transformation of these major buildings
for the film as well as create a unique experience for existing fans during the film’s
promotional period. It will create more anticipation for existing fans of the book
who will immediately recognize Grey Enterprises and get the attention of audiences
who haven’t heard about the film or have heard very little about the film.
14
Social media
Our social media campaign for the film will utilize Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and
Snapchat. We will use Facebook for general updates regarding the movie
production, announcements, or news on the cast. We will utilize instagram by
holding a photo-sharing contest called “50 Shades of IG” in which users utilize the
hashtag #50shadesofigcontest
Additionally, we will utilize Twitter to promote the film. Each leading character will
have their own Twitter account under the names Christian Grey and Anastasia
Steele. Fans will be able to follow tweets from Mr. Grey and Anastasia that reflect
their characters in the 50 Shades of Grey story and quotes from the book. Accounts
will engage with fans by replying to some tweets or retweeting fans. These accounts
will also update fans with the latest 50 Shades of Grey news.
We will also take advantage of the relatively new photo-sharing app Snapchat to
appeal to our younger audience. Snapchat allows users to send instant pictures with
text to friends but only for an allotted time, then the image disappears. The feature
My Story on Snapchat allows the user to do the same but to their whole contact list
at once. Our Story is the newest feature Snapchat has released which delivers a feed
to every Snapchat user of specific events. The feed is made up snaps from users at
that specific event. One of the first events used in the Our Story feature was FIFA
World Cup 2014. Every Snapchat user was able to see various snaps from real
people at the world cup. We plan to pitch Snapchat to feature the Fifty Shades of
Grey premiere in theatres on Our Story so that fans will be able to share their
experiences at the theatres and fans that are not at the movies will be exposed to the
50 Shades of Grey opening weekend.
Additional Creative Element
As an additional element within our public relations campaign we will hold a contest
to win a date with Christian Grey. This contest’s winnings offer the ultimate fan
experience. One lucky fan will get to accompany actor, Jamie Dornan at the actual 50
Shades of Grey premiere. They will get the VIP treatment and receive a makeover,
be able to hang out with Dornan at the premiere, walk the red carpet, meet the rest
of the cast, and see the movie before any other fans! The contest will be held via
Instagram. Fans will post selfies of themselves incorporating the movie title “50
Shades of Grey” into their picture and use the hashtag #50shadesofigcontest and the
most interesting and creative photo will be chosen as the winner and notified
through Instagram.
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Website
Erika (18-24)
·The 50 Shades of Grey website will feature a “Which 50 Shades of Grey Character
Are You?” quiz. Fans can take the quiz and share it with their friends via social
media links to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
·The website will also include a link to Victoria’s Secret’s 50 Shades of Grey lingerie
collection. Women can find an exclusive collection of bras, panties, and lingerie
inspired by the movie.
Sara (25-54)
·The website will include an exclusive video of an interview with 50 Shades of Grey
author E.L. James, where she talks about her inspiration for the book, thoughts on
the movie and cast and her input in the film behind the scenes.
·The website will also feature a gallery of stills from the movie incorporating racy
quotes from the book.
Jimmy (18-30)
·The website will include a link to the official “50 Shades of Grey Channel on Spotify.
The channel will include the highly anticipated soundtrack as well as “sexy” songs
inspired by the film.
·The website will include a link to the 50 Shades of Grey Augmented Reality app on
iTunes. Fans will be able to download the app for free via the link and use it to
reveal a 50 Shades of Grey surprise wherever specially marked posters are.
Media Schedule:
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Evaluation:
To measure the success of our PR campaign, several aspects will be analyzed. First,
the success will be evaluated by the box office numbers of our opening weekend
since it shows whether we reach our goal or not. If the box office numbers grow to
the second weekend’s measurement, the film will be considered a huge success and
we will be continuing our PR marketing. If the movie drops 35 % at the most, it will
still be considered a blockbuster movie and we will continue the marketing.
However, if it drops 40 % or more the movie will be considered a disappointment
and we will stop the PR marketing since it would not be economically sustainable.
Further, we will analyze our social media marketing through activity, traffic
and through participation in contests. In addition, our cross-brand tie-in
collaboration with Victoria’s Secret will be evaluated through sales numbers of the
lingerie-line.
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Works Cited:
http://www.businessinsider.com/by-the-numbers-the-50-shades-of-greyphenomenon-2012-6#ahrefhttphostedaporgdynamicstoriesuusbooksfiftyshadescomicconsiteapampsection
homeamptemplatedefault16-milliona-copies-of-the-50sog-series-have-been-soldso-far-in-the-\us-1
http://www.bowker.com/en-US/aboutus/press_room/2012/pr_11292012.shtml
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/10/09/fifty-shades-of-greydoesnt-need-boys-at-the-box-office/
Appendix:
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
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Guidelines
Client Background and analyzed the client’s situation
o Book. A lot of hype (people expect a lot). Upset about actor choices.
Reshoot of sex scenes. Anticipation.
Extensive SWOT analysis based on background and situation
see above
Main communications problem/opportunity
o Opportunity - social media. Target audience is easier to individually
reach.
o Problem - Due to subject matter, conveying film needs to be selective
with advertisements.
Overall goal, consistent with organization goals (such as sales figures)
o Goal is $40 mil opening weekend. Retain 20% male demographic
(those that have read the book). $30 mill second weekend with NC-17
release.
Logically segmented and targeted their publics and focused on 2-4 targets
o First release - Primary target is women under 25. Second is women
over 25. Then followed by Male under 25. Last Male over 25.
o Second release (NC-17) - women 17-25. Then women 25+. Men 17-25.
Men 25+
Create a specific buyer persona for each target public
o focusing on 1st release - under 25: fan of the book,
Present clear PR objectives with rationales for each target public
o Create interest
o Build film awareness
o Provide information
o Stimulate demand
(http://www.knowth
is.com/public-relations/objectives-of-public-relations)
Present specific tactics and PR tools to achieve each objective
o social media. Publicity stunts. Regular publicity. Pairing products with
tickets. themed appearances (love line, savage lovecast).
Present a means for evaluating the success of their program
o Measuring our box office numbers and demographics.
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