01/02/2006

X Verleih is an important distributor of German and international films, the distribution arm of X-Filme, one of Germany’s most dynamic and successful production companies co-managed by filmmaker Tom Tykwer and responsible for such hits as Run Lola Run and GoodBye Lenin! [+see also:
trailer
interview: Wolfgang Becker
film profile]
Here under is a broad description of the marketing campaign that was put together by X Verleih for the release of Sophie Scholl- The Final Days in Germany.

Target audience for the film
According to Marc Klocker, Head of Marketing at X Verleih, the target audience for the film was the following:
Primary audience: 22-40 years old
Secondary audience: school children

Marketing hooks
-The story itself
Topical and gripping subject matter about a young group of German students who formed a resistance movement dedicated to the downfall of the Third Reich.
Although other films such as Michael Verhoeven’s White Rose (o.t. Die Weisse Rose) and Percy Adlon’s Fünf letzte Tage (Five Last Days) had already focused on the White Rose movement, the strength of Marc Rothemund’s film was that it used exclusive new historical documents, including new-found transcripts of Scholl’s interrogations by Gestapo officer Robert Mohr that had been hidden away in East-German archives for decades and were only made available in 1990.

-Cast
the lead actress Julia Jentsch did one big German film before: The Edukators, and the director also had a hit at home with his previous feature film Just The Two Of Us (o.t. Harte Jungs) that scored 1.7m admissions. But the names of the director and actors were not enough in themselves as a marketing hook.

-Berlin Awards
X Verleih built its campaign on the Berlin selection and capitalized on the two Bear awards for the film’s opening the following week in Germany and for the film’s release in other German speaking territories.

Release date and pattern of release
X Verleih decided to set the film’s release date immediately after the Berlin Film Festival (from 10-20 February), ie on 24 February to build on the film’s awareness that had developed during the biggest film festival in Germany and one of the biggest A festivals in the world.
Based on the film’s strong subject matter, the Berlin awards and high visibility following Berlin, X Verleih put together a day and date release with an initial print run of 202 copies, a medium release pattern for Germany. The maximum number of prints in third week was 250.

Advertising campaign
-Teaser and Trailer
The first element of the marketing campaign to reach the audience was a teaser trailer that played alongside Olivier Hirschbiegel’s Downfall (o.t. Der Untergang) 4-5 months before the release of Sophie Scholl.
The teaser trailer and the trailer were made in-house. At that stage there was no artwork yet for the film.

-Artwork
Two different artworks were created just before Berlin, one brighter with a big image of the actress, then a second poster a bit darker, but perhaps more mainstream, showing Sophie Scholl in the interrogation room and giving more information about the story (used by Bavaria Film International).
Both posters were printed in the same amount and were offered to exhibitors.
Marc Klocker said that keeping two different artworks was really exceptional for X Verleih, but they just couldn’t decide which one to choose…

-Advertising campaign
X Verleigh used the usual outdoor posters, TV spots, newspaper ads to create awareness. After the successful opening of the film, the distribution company started a radio campaign in the second week of release.

Promotion campaign
X Verleih did a huge school campaign with a government organisation promoting film at schools. A brochure about the film was published, giving background information about the White Rose movement. And as stressed by Marc Klocker, for the first time, X Verleih attached a DVD with the Making of and extracts of interviews with various key people who had been close to Sophie Scholl and/or who had been important witnesses of what had happened at the time. 2,500 copies of the DVD were made and sent to schools across Germany.
Many schools brought 3-4 classes to see the film.

Preview screenings
Preview screenings are always essential for arthouse films (even with a cross-over potential) to build the word of mouth. The ‘problem’ for Sophie Scholl was that the film had been selected at Berlin and in the case of films selected at A Festivals, distributors are not allowed to have preview-screenings of the films before their official screening at the festival. So as soon as X Verleih had a competition slot, and a release date a few days after the end of the festival, they organised preview screenings in 10-15 cinemas tied-in with the magazine Stern.
Several previews were also organised for teachers.

Publicity campaign
During the Berlin Film Festival, the film had attracted a lot of positive media coverage and the level of awareness was already quite high for the opening of the film. Other interviews and talk shows were organised with Marc Rothemund and the actors, in particular Julia Jentsch.
A thorough press kit had been put together for Berlin and was also made available to the media after the festival.

Total admission figures in Germany
1,2m admissions.
The film is available on DVD since 20 September 2005.