Targeting And Maintaining Audiences Flashcards
Disney, the film’s distributor adopted a what?
‘360-degree consumer experience’ to their marketing using differentiated marketing for a different audience
Principally, the concept was to make the film into a what?
A ‘cultural event’ across a variety of media and platforms.
Why did Marvel decide to make the film into a ‘cultural event’?
The aim was to raise the film’s profile from being another superhero film into something more politically resonant.
What are some of the diverse associations made with properties throughout Black Panthers initial cinematic run?
Hasbro Toys, Lexus Car and Black Panther Soundtrack by Kendrick Lemar
Hasbro Toys
Including masks, claw gloves, numerous accessories, toy cars, action figures, etc.
All advertising for these toys featured children across a range of ages and both genders of colour, predominantly playing with these items as the marketing clearly focuses on the non-white comic fan and asked them to identify with the protagonist of the property itself. The main slogan for the toys was ‘Make way for the hero in you!’.
Lexus Cars
The Lexus LC-500 was featured heavily in a key action sequence within the film itself, but also appeared in a companion graphic novel created with Marvel custom solutions called Black Panther soul of the machine.
Black Panther, featured throughout the print advertising for the car, as well as in the TV advertisement. The advert features many of the actors from the film in their roles. Using its relationship to the Black Panther property, Lexus hoped to appeal to the cool vibe generated from the release and success of the film. The appeal moved beyond ‘comic nerds’ into the mainstream as young adults and parents of children seen the film may have been enticed by expensive products featured throughout the film.
Black Panther Soundtrack (Interscope Records subsidiary of Universal Music) by Kendrick Lemar
The Black Panther Soundtrack featured music produced by popular award-winning rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar. This product appealed to fans of the artist and fans of the Marvel property it is associated with, benefiting both film and music properties.
Some individual songs were released independently thus generating further buzz not only for the album, but for the film franchise as well. Some tracks feature explicit language, therefore targeting an older audience not primarily associated with a Marvel product.
What is Synergy?
Where two or more organisations work together for a higher commercial gain.
How does the impact of synergy make Black Panther more than just another superhero film?
It became a cultural experience through which film goers appropriated a different hero, reflecting ideologies more in tune with the multicultural spirit of a changing world.
In a world, dominated by issues of segregation, for example, Donald Trump’s wall to separate the US from Mexico, stories of racially motivated police brutality etc.
Black Panther offers both escapism and a template for better racial integration between ethnicities and nations. This is reflected in the film’s narrative of the isolated Wakanda and its reluctance to share its sophisticated technology with the rest of the world.
Where was the Black Panther teaser trailer shown?
Between NBA games on a special collaboration with Lexus called ‘Long Live the King’. The trailers were shown during the Superbowl.
Why does advertising to sport fans generate a level of risk of obtaining a higher demographic?
Fans of sport such as basketball and American football are not the usual target audience for a Marvel property, as they are normally much younger and display a preference for creativity and imagination.
Clearly the trailer and its broadcast slots identify a broader and wider appeal of the film this extending its fanbase, across not only races/ethnicities, but ages, genders and interests too.
