A: Is for the art of marketing

Production for 300 started on October 17, 2005 in Montreal. By December 2005 The official 300 website was launched. The promotional aspect of this film is exceptional. At Comic-Con International in July 2006 the studio aired a promotional trailer of the film. The trailer was then "leaked" to the Internet. Originally the official trailer for 300 was slated for October 4, 2006. "Just Like You Imagined" by Nine Inch Nails was the background music and attracted another kind of audience. Knowing their market a second trailer, was attached to Apocalypto December 8, 2006 and released to a theatrical audience. January 2007 saw the studio launched of a MySpace page for the film. During prime time television on January 22, 2007 an exclusive trailer for the film was broadcast. These trailers have been credited with igniting interest in the film and contributing to its box-office success.

Commercial marketing doesn’t hurt your revenues either and a PlayStation Portable game, 300: March to Glory, based on the film was released simultaneously with the films release. The National Entertainment Collectibles Association produced a series of action figures based on the film, as well as replicas of weapons and armor. Warner Bros. promoted 300 by sponsoring the Ultimate Fighting Championship's of fighter Chuck Liddell, and joined with the National Hockey League to produce a 30-second TV spot promoting the film in tandem with the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now that’s entertainment!

There are several factors that make a film a success but without a strong marketing and or word of mouth your film dies a death to the land of netflicks and DVD. In layman terms this in now a technique termed as "viral marketing." The best marketing I know of was for a film called "The Blair Witch Project". I was staring in Nunsense in Philadelphia when these students were doing this film and had a chance to get to know about it first hand. First they created word of mouth. Then a website. Next a Blog and then they filmed. Originally it was a project in marketing that did so well that the studio's sat up and took notice. We live in age were we believe the hype and buy into others idea's instead of creating our own. The lesson here is to learn from others and forge new ground and make new F.A.C.T.S