Was the Empire Marketing Board successful?
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Britain tried to reorient its trade towards the Empire via an advertising campaign led by the Empire Marketing Board. As this column shows, in economic terms, the initiative was a complete failure, producing no increase in the Empire’s share of Britain’s imports.
What were EMB films designed to do?
EMB films would work both as advertisements for specific products and for ‘the idea of empire’ more broadly. The strategy initially evolved by Grierson and Tallents was to use pre-existing film, principally from the Dominions, that showed examples of agricultural produce or raw materials.
What is GPO Film Unit?
The GPO Film Unit was a subdivision of the UK General Post Office. The unit was established in 1933, taking on responsibilities of the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit. Headed by John Grierson, it was set up to produce sponsored documentary films mainly related to the activities of the GPO.
What is the General Post Office Film Unit and in what country was it based?
Who was the director of the Empire Marketing Board?
Empire Marketing Board Film Unit (1926-1933) Film Unit. The Empire Marketing Board (EMB) was a bizarrely innovative anomaly of interwar Britain. Directed by Sir Stephen Tallents, its brief existence encompassed everything from documentary cinema to yoga demonstrations.
What was the failure of the Empire Marketing Board?
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Britain tried to reorient its trade towards the Empire via an advertising campaign led by the Empire Marketing Board. As this column shows, in economic terms, the initiative was a complete failure, producing no increase in the Empire’s share of Britain’s imports.
How many posters did the Empire Marketing Board use?
The posters were uniquely designed as the Empire Marketing Board “used a series of five posters in a sequence, a little like a cartoon strip, with each of the posters telling a part of the story in pictures, or with copy and slogans… erected in over 1700 sites, in 450 British cities and towns”.
Who was the first chairman of the EMB?
Amery was its first Chairman, Sir Stephen George Tallents its Secretary, Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd its Assistant Secretary, and Walter Elliot was Chairman of its Research Committee. The EMB had three principal aims: publicity for Empire trade.