It’s been a fantastic year for big movie releases in 2015 (with 10 of the highest-grossing movies of all time being released!). However, no other movie release beats Stars Wars: The Force Awakens on hype, anticipation, and on the marketing front. The marketing for the new Star Wars has been brilliant and it’s hard to imagine a person that doesn’t know about the impending release of the film.

Before we start talking about the brilliance of Star Wars marketing, it’s important to recognize that Star Wars has big marketing advantage over movies like Transformers or Jurassic Park. The advantage that Star Wars enjoys is having a fanbase that feels personally connected to the franchise. People typically have a memorable experience associated with their first viewing of the film, which helps turn the fanbase into deeply loyal and vocal enthusiasts of the Star Wars brand.

If you’re a fan of Star Wars, it’s most likely because at one point you had one of those uniquely memorable life experiences when you met the series for the first time. In addition to that, the majority of fans became fans of the film while they were children, which means that when they see the films as adults they have a maintained sense of wonder and excitement. When you have a sense of wonder and excitement that’s tied to a memorable childhood experience you are bound to feel a personal stake in the franchise.

An understanding of the personal stake fans feel in the Star Wars franchise has led to amazing marketing campaigns. Walmart has been extra good at embracing this notion by launching a campaign titled, “A new generation of fans is born.”

Walmart isn’t the only company recognizing this idea though. Sony has been marketing the Playstation game Star Wars: Battlefront in a way that reignites the personal connection to Star Wars that people feel. The following commercial is an example of this in action from Sony:

The marketing for Star Wars: The Force Awakens revolves around the notion that Star Wars played an important part in your life. That may sound somewhat ridiculous, but by the movie being marketed with that ideology it’s able to make unexpectedly powerful pre-release content.

Star Wars marketing is about making the movie feel personal and it’s, in a sense, about you. The Star Wars marketing is brilliant and it helps potential audience members remember why they became fans of the legendary film franchise.

Comments

comments