Audiences and Institutions within The Woman in Black (Watkins, 2012)

I think the primary audience for The Woman in Black was more young adults/teenagers. The secondary audience may have been older adults, or perhaps a more mature middle class. The film itself is a 12 which indicates that it is aiming for a younger audience. Daniel Radcliffe himself would provide an incentive for fans of Harry Potter to go and watch the film, and as he was a child star because of Harry Potter, this helps us to assume that a younger audience has been aimed at. 

The Woman in Black was marketed in a variety of ways and over a large range of media. There was the teaser campaign, which consisted of a poster, a small trailer, a Halloween competition and Daniel Radcliffe creating podcasts on YouTube where he was trying to attract audiences to help break free of his Harry Potter tag. As these were all done before the release of the film,  The main campaign had a poster with more detail(rather than half of Radcliffe's head and a face coming through the wall), a longer trailer, radio adverts, social media campaigns, advertising in magazines and on websites. It's social media campaigns stretched across Facebook and twitter, giving a way for fans/people who wanted to see the film a way to stay updated.  A range of magazines and websites featured

adverts/articles with Radcliffe in, promoting the film. Concerning magazines and websites, it was stretched over a large span on different genres to attract a wide audience. For example, there was an article about it on 'Den of Geek!', but then there was also an article done on 'Glamour' magazine. As many of these were published online, it would suggest that the main target audience are those of the 'technological' generation, as those who belong to it supposedly search the internet, going from one link to another without really thinking about it. They also adverts on the bus shelters and on the side of buildings so when people were out and about they would still see the ad, meaning that both old and young people would see it. Within the radio adverts, there are quotes from people who have just seen the film. One of these says to take someone with you. This kind of enforces the idea of it being a horror/thriller as it makes it seem like it's too scary to watch alone. It's also a bit of subliminal messaging in my opinion as if you do end up taking someone with you, that means more money for the production companies.

I think the marketing materials for the film were maybe a bit extreme, but given as it was one of Hammer Film Production's 'comeback' films, it was probably because they wanted it to do well, as to get the companies name back out there. The way it was marketed over a range of genres was a good idea to attract a variety of people to see the film.
The film had a big release. Over 2,200 cinemas showed it in the UK and USA. 
The production budget of The Woman in Black was around $17,000,000 and made over $25,000,000 on it's first weekend. 
I think the film was successful due to it's large range of marketing strategies. The large span of genres it was advertised over made it accessible to more people, therefore gaining more interest. Another reason was probably due to it's 12A rating. This and the fact that it was released a week(?) before the English half term meant that a younger audience would be able to see it and probably would go to see it as a means of entertaining themselves and as a way of being with their friends over the holidays.