Film Marketing (Black Panther)

Continue to write your case study about this film using the questions and tasks to guide you.

If you have any questions then contact me via 'Show my Homework' or e-mail.

Black Panther has been used as a text because it is an example of a contemporary mainstream film. 
It is an obvious place to start research so make sure you have read the wiki-pedia entries about the film to gain an understanding of context. 

You may get a question about film marketing which will lead into a discussion of how the film industry operates.  

Therefore we are directed to study how a mainstream film targets an audience through advertising. 

Marketing was initially concentrated on the American market which is the largest consumer of Marvel films. In particular they targeted a traditional audience of Marvel fans. 

This was then broadened to include diverse range of audiences which led to spectacular box office success.  The film has grossed over a billion dollars worldwide ($1.35 billion at present)so it is the most successful solo super hero film ever and the most successful film by a black director. Just before release, Black Panther was the most-tweeted about film of 2018 with more 35 million tweets. Another indisctaion of its success with varied audiences is that on the opening weekend 44% of ticket buyers were female.

Identify the traditional target audience for Marvel films.

This is a task that should be familiar by now. Use your kowledge of demographics (age-gender-job-regionality) and then ove on to psychographics (habits, interests, consumption)

The most interesting psychographic details are identifying what the audience consumes. What other media does the audience buy and use?
Firstly, study the teaser trailer and explain how meaning has been created for an audience.  

The teaser trailer was released in June 2017 by Disney’s sister channel ABC, during NBA Finals. Within 24 hours it had been viewed 89 million times on You-Tube. 

An enigma is created in the back story through a discussion about a secret world between two white middle aged males.  One is the actor Martin Freeman who would be familiar to young male audiences of the fantasy genre as he played 'The Hobbit'. This audience would now be old enough to move on to Marvel films as they are more challenging but still adolescent fantasy and usually focusing on a male super hero. 

The Afro - Futurist element is introduced in the second half and the voice-over clearly establishes the narrative of the super hero including familiar binary oppositions (Levi-Strauss).  Although the 'world is changing' it is still a world of  'conquered and the conquerors' involving a 'good man with a good heart' versus possible badmen, warlords, dictators in a battle to become 'King?'

The narrative is hinted at but still mysterious and oblique. The teaser is meant to intrigue audiences and pique their curiosity.  This was a new hero for a new world and an attractive twist for a tired genre.  Would the traditional audience be ready for an African super hero? 

Black Panther’s teaser trailers were shown between NBA games and a special collaboration with Lexus called ‘Long Live The King’ was shown during the Superbowl. 

What kind of audiences normally watch these programmes? 

How are they different to the usual Marvel fanbase? 

A 30 second advert during the Superbowl costs around $4 million.  American Football is one of the few sporting events that can command a huge 'live' audience, particularly the final 'Superbowl' event. This is why we analyse the adverts shown each year. Along with the half-time show they are often more interesting than the match. 

The fan base is being widened with this tactic.  Traditionally Super Bowl adverts are aimed at conservative, patriotic, white males. A more inclusive and ethnically diverse audience is targeted here linking The Black Panther super hero with athletes as aspirational role models for American males.  Sport can be credited with breaking down racial barriers and is credited with initiated breakthroughs in American culture and race relations. You can be the judge of this by analysing media texts and contemporary issues. Elsewhere we will look at the Nike 'Dream' adverts in relation to the NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick to see how these tensions in American society are playing out.  Since Joe Louis and Jesse Owens in the 1930's there have been athletes of colour whose heroic exploits have united Americans. Remember that the history of America is based on migration from all over the world and the population is a melting pot of nations and ethnicities. Although a WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) minority has hegemony this power is being increasingly challenged. The use of music from the rap genre also hints that mainstream audiences are engaging with aspirational role models from a more diverse range of ethnic and racial backgrounds, particularly from African American culture.  However, it could be argued that we are still waiting for Native American and Chicano Latino representations to achieve the same exposure. Which is problematic considering the land of 'America' belonged to these ethnic groups originally.

Once mainstream audiences and traditional Marvel fans had been engaged, the marketing focused on the ethnicity of the super-hero more overtly.  Study the posters for the film.

 

• How does the film celebrate African culture? 
• Why might it be important to black children to have characters like Black Panther?
•  How does it also represent black women in a powerful way?
•  How does it also appeal to fans of blockbusters?
  

The film’s release also harnessed a political element to add gravitas.  The name 'Black Panther' has political connotations as you have discovered. It links it to movements protesting about abuse of power and inequality and injustice in society.  We have also looked at the 'Black Lives Matter' movement in America in relation to other set texts.


Some marketing strategies included;

•  Crowd-funding projects to buy under-privileged children a ticket won support from celebrities

• the film was released during Black History Month
  

• The stars and the costume , hair/make-up , production designers all gave detailed interviews on television and in print publications about how the film celebrates African culture.
  

• There was also a ‘Welcome to Wakanda’ catwalk show at New York Fashion Week and features in numerous fashion magazines

The music in the film also engages audiences and the Soundtrack became an all star album curated by Kendrick Lamar.  Click this link to read an article about the music and consider how it could promote interest in the film

Interestingly the New York Times provides a good quote about the film as 

'A defining moment for Black America'

Answer the following questions posed by the exam board in their fact-sheet to accompany the film.

• How do Disney collaborations such as merchandise, music and press articles combine in a synergy to make Black Panther ‘more’ than a superhero film?
  

• How to Disney use brand association deals to target a diverse audience?
  

Disney, the film’s distributor adopted what they termed a ‘360-degree consumer experience’ to their marketing (i.e. wherever you look, there’s Black Panther! )

Market research and data analysis proved that there was a large 'potential' market for the film.  The Marvel franchise was already wildly successful in commercial terms.  With new audiences being targeted with this film and established audiences being loyal, Disney banked on Black Panther being another successful part of the franchise. They decided to market the film aggressively and financed an ambitious marketing campaign.

'The aim was to establish the film as a ‘cultural event’ across a variety of media and platforms and raise its profile from being ‘another superhero’ film into something more politically resonant.'

 

In terms of academic theory you can apply the theory of HESMONDHALGH in this answer. Like CURRAN and SEATON he would say that films are made for profit.  All media texts are made to be consumed.  They are produced for a specific audience who will pay for the content. 

• explore the concept of profit in relation to the film industry and in this case specifically to the film franchises. 
  
  
  • Often films within a series can become formulaic and lack risk. Is this the case with Marvel Studios? Or Disney? 
  
  
  
  Explore Hesmondhalgh’s idea that media conglomerates operate across a range of cultural industries.
  

  Consider the way the film was released as part of a synergy combining fashion, music, video-games, sports tie-ins, even a car! 
  

  
  

  You might also usefully introduce the idea that this film has a very low risk for the producers. 
  The character of T’Challa and Wakanda were introduced in Captain America: Civil War, the comic is over 50 years old, and all previous Marvel films have been hugely successful. 

  
  
  

  Here are some pointers from the exam board on areas that you should consider;
  
  Consider how films/marketing is circulated and distributed;
  
  

  • Where and how is film marketing most likely to be consumed by audiences?
    
  • How has this consumption changed or been impacted by the internet, including
    YouTube and smartphones?
    
  • Are audiences now more likely to seek out, for example, new trailers online as active consumers? (Think about ‘reaction’ videos of people watching trailers!)
    
  • Consider the way people share trailers or movie gossip (casting decisions, plot elements etc.) especially those with a strong fan community. How is this is an example of ‘word-of- mouth’ marketing?
    
  • How does this impact the relationship between audience and product?
    
  • How did Black Panther harness other, more political social media campaigns to create a ‘cultural event’ rather than just another summer blockbuster?