LO1: Advertising campaign report

  Media product: Marvel's Black Widow

Social media/print/TV

Aims and objectives

The company 'Marvel' is a subsidiary of the conglomerate company 'Disney'. Since Disney is a large conglomerate they have many subsidiaries, this allows Marvel, along with their other subsidiaries to advertise their products through synergy. There are many ways that they can do this but a couple of the most obvious are through the use of the streaming service 'Disney+' along with their different social media accounts which is a form of below the line advertising. The company makes money through the sale of tickets as well as a selection of toys and collectable items relating to the films. However, the aim of this specific campaign is to create awareness, increase ticket sales and gain an audience for the movie release 'Black Widow'.

Target audience

This campaign is targeted towards both binary genders. More specifically women because the main character and majority of the surrounding cast are women. Not only is Black Widow a woman but she was the first female Avenger and it is the first time she has been represented in a solo film and we have been able to get to know more about her as a character. It also appeals to men as it proves the Male Gaze theory by Laura Mulvey as we see the female characters in a way that is sexualised through the eyes of a heterosexual male. However this is one of the first times we haven't seen her as sexualised in the poster for a film.

It mainly appeals to the age range of 13-35. This is partially because of the fact that the age rating is PG-13 due to the amount of violence and swearing. Also many people over 35 aren't as interested in Marvel as people younger are as they have different interests. As the marketing is for a marvel film, it will target marvel fans as they have watched the other films. Many of the people on the older side of this age range will have grown up with Marvel and the younger ones may have started watching it due to friends and family watching them.

It can appeal to all cultures and ethnicities as there are different social media accounts for different locations and different languages to target a wide geo-demographic such as @marvellatam which is the official Marvel Instagram account of Latin America and @marvelstudioscanada which is the official Instagram page for Marvel in Canada. It will bring in people worldwide as they do a lot of global PR such as the world premiere fan event that took place in Melbourne, London, New York and Los Angeles and social media posts can be viewed world wide on any of the official Marvel accounts or @black.widow the official Black Widow account. It is more mainstream as not only is marvel popular but it can really be enjoyed by anyone. 

The marketing will mainly target people in the middle classes (B, C1, C2, D). This is because people in social Grade A are likely to be busy with work to be interested in films and some people in E are likely to either not be interested due to age or that they do not have the money to watch the film and therefore won't be overly interested in the marketing. It will appeal mainly to heterosexual males and and anyone else who is attracted to women because Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh are considered attractive by many people, however it is suitable for any sexuality to watch as it doesn't include any sexual content.

Key messages

One of the key messages in this campaign family. throughout the trailers it shows Natasha and her family working together to abolish the Red Room. It shows the strength of family and love. Another key message of this campaign is that Black Widow will be released in cinemas on July 9th. 

Approach

This campaign advertises cross-media through the uses of the media sections, Tv, Print and social media. The movie 'Black Widow' has been advertised widely throughout the pandemic. They mainly used above the line advertising methods such as Television adverts, posters, billboards, transit bus posters and Magazine covers. Since they are a subsidiary of a large conglomerate they use the other subsidiaries to advertise their products though the use of synergy. It would likely be considered soft sell advertising since there isn't any type of aggressive techniques used to persuade the consumers rather it is a persistent marketing technique with subtle language aimed to slowly gain consumer attention. 

Representation

The campaign is for 'Black Widow' meaning that it is centred around female avenger Natasha Romanoff better known as the Black Widow. In turn this means that the campaign represents women in a way not often shown in media. It goes against female stereotypes such as 'women are weak' and shows that they can be just as powerful as men, if not more. This is not only needed in such a male dominated industry but will also aid to bringing in new viewers as Marvel was previously seen as company that made films for men but this along with other recent Marvel projects disproves that showing that anyone can enjoy Marvel no matter their gender. It also represents family in a way that shows that you don't have to be related by blood to be a family and to love each other. This would have a positive impact on consumers who may be adopted or living with foster families to see such a well known company represent them. 

Campaign logistics

The first trailer for the film was released in December 2019 on YouTube and other social media platforms such as Instagram around five months after the film was officially announced in July of the same year. They then continued to release more trailers up until the release of the movie. The cast also did various interviews which were also published on YouTube. This allowed them to engage an audience and keep them interested right up until the point of release. 

Choice of media

They chose the types of media they did primarily based of of the age demographic for their product. With the target audience being aged 13-35, they selected their marketing methods based on the interests of that age range. since most people in that age group frequently use or at least have access to some form of social media, it made the most sense for them to market their product that way as it would then be seen by a large amount of people. they then used print products such as posters, billboards and bus posters to reach those who may not use social media as they are likely to see them when they leave the house to go to school, work or shopping etc. this would then attract the attention of more viewers. Finally they reach out through the use of television adverts since a lot of people watch television. Through doing all of this, they are able to reach the larges number of people who may possibly pay for their product.

Call to action

Call to action tells the audience the next step to take, one way this campaign does this is through television adverts. At the end of the adverts they make a statement such as 'experience it in theatres'. They also say 'or order it on Disney+ premier access'. Not only does this give an audience a clear next step to take but it also gives them options as to how and where they want to see the film. They also include a hyperlink to purchase the film on Disney+ in their social media bio's. This has a direct link to sales and profit by providing the audience with the tools needed to purchase the product rather than them having to spend time finding it for themselves which may put some people off. 

Legal, ethical and Regulation

The Film is rated 12A due to violence and the use of bad language. Due to this they must not show adverts on children's channels, as per ASA guidelines, to ensure the least amount of exposure to any inappropriate content. Instead they get around this by advertising a corresponding line of toys and action figures. 

How is this consistent across media platforms?

One way that they show consistency through all of their media platforms is by using one consistent font for 'Black Widow' as it is like the logo for the film. This makes it recognisable to the audience across all of the platforms.

Show how another campaign is consistent across media platforms

In comparison, the Little Women advertising campaign was smaller due to the fact that the budget of the film without marketing was only $40 million dollars in comparison to Black Widows $200 million budget. In spite of this they still managed to create a cross marketing campaign of a high standard bringing in an opening night profit of around $60 million. The campaign included a range of trailers, posters and cast interviews, capturing the attention of the audience. much like Black Widow, there are themes of women empowerment and family. this can be seen throughout the trailers. At the end of the trailers it says 'only in cinemas' which encourages the audience to but tickets as they cant see it any other way.