12/15/2015 How Star Wars Changed Film Marketing Forever

https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/thehistoryofmarketingstarwars.aspx 1/14

How Star Wars Changed FilmMarketing ForeverBy: Eden Ames and Molly SoatMarketing News

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Key TakeawaysWhat? Star Wars created a moviemerchandising juggernaut.

So what? Star Wars foundunprecedented sales success by quicklyexpanding beyond the films; its marketingempire includes merchandise in almost allglobal verticals.

Now what? Go beyond borrowed interestand locate the nexus between your brand

A long timeago in agalaxy far, faraway,marketingdidn’t drivemovies theway it doesnow. Insteadof harnessing

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and the entertainment asset that will strikea chord in pop culture.

merchandising power and preexisting fan bases, movies existedon their own creative merit, looking strictly to the box office tomake the big bucks. But in 1978, that changed when a marketingjuggernaut was born. Since the release of the first Star Warsmovie (now called Star Wars: Episode 4—A New Hope),Lucasfilm (and now its parent company, Disney) has beenleveraging the popularity of the story to sell everything fromburgers to vacations.

Over the 38year span of the Star Wars’ lifetime, Lucasfilm haslicensed $20 billion worth of goods. The saga’s brand consistentlyfinds a place in the top five licensed toy brands each year,according to NPD Group. Today, companies like Campbell’s andCoverGirl are harnessing Star Wars’ marketing power, creatingStar Warsthemed everything, from canned soup to eye makeup.

1977 The first Star Wars film is released.

In its earliest iterations, Star Wars was a marketing machine. Themovie was copromoted with Burger King through commercialsand merchandising (namely glasses, which are now collector’sitems).

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12/15/2015 How Star Wars Changed Film Marketing Forever

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1977 Star Wars - Burger King Glasses Commercial

Lucas sold toy merchandising rights to a company called Kenner,then owned by General Mills. In 1977, the demand for Kenner’stoys was so high, the company actually issued IOUs to waitingcustomers that included complimentary membership into the StarWars fan club. Kenner soon expanded the collection to includemore characters, including those from the infamous Cantinascene. By the end of 1978, Kenner had sold more than 40 millionaction figures.

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Star Wars Vintage Kenner Creature Cantina Playset toy commercial

1978

Star Wars' initial run eventually ended by early 1978 with over$260 million in ticket sales, making it the most successful film inhistory at the time. It was rereleased over the next 20 years,adding $220 million to its overall total ticket sales. To this day, it issecond only to Gone With the Wind in a list of the highestgrossing American films of all time after adjusting dollar values toaccount for inflation.

On November 17, 1978, the Star Wars Holiday Special aired onTV once and never again. It was never released to video due to adismal reception at its time, but today, its obscurity translates to arare Star Wars collectible. The full two hours of the special arenow on YouTube.

1980The Empire Strikes Back is released.

The Empire Strikes Back, the second installment of the franchiseand fifth in series chronology, is released, and Kenner is readywith more action figures. The company uses direct mail

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marketing to promote the toys leading up to the movie’s release.Experts say this marks the beginning of the megamoviemarketing era, in which merchandising outpaces ticket sales.

“Well, when I was writing I had hadvisions of R2D2 mugs and littlewindup robots, but I thought that wouldbe the end of it.” George Lucas, in a 1980Rolling Stone interview.

Star Wars Toy Commercials from the 80's

1983

Return of the Jedi is released.

12/15/2015 How Star Wars Changed Film Marketing Forever

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via GIPHY

Originally titled "Revenge of the Jedi," the final installment to theclassic Star Wars series in which Ewoks made theirdebut, grossed the inflationadjusted equivalent of $784,455,500.

1984The Ewok Adventures is released as a TV movie.

The Ewok Adventures, now known as Caravan of Courage: AnEwok Adventure, was released on November 25, 1984. The TVmovie's popularity with younger audiences led to Emmynominations and a sequel in 1985 (Ewok Adventures: The Battlefor Endor).

1987

Star Tours is opened.

Star Wars becomes an amusement park attraction, debuting inDisneyland and now operating in Disneyland Paris after its closein America in 2010.

1997

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1997Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is released.

The Phantom Menace is released, attracting longtime fansreinvigorated with the promise of a new generation of films, madein the dawn of CGI technology.

Star Wars The Phantom Menace Teaser HD

The film holds 8th place among highest grossing films in Americasince 1977.

2002Attack of the Clones is released.

While this second installment of prequels received generallybetter reviews, it did not outperform any of its predecessors at thebox office. Introduction of the clones in this film paved the way tothe creation of the succesful animated TVseries The CloneWars.

2005Revenge of the Sith is released.

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Revenge of the Sith is released as the first PG13 installment ofStar Wars. As the bridge between the prequels and sequels, therewas great anticipation for this film.

(Dollar values not adjusted for inflation.)

2005 also brought us this Buger King commercial:

Star Wars Burger King Heavy Breathing Duel

2008

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The Clone Wars TV show is released.

As the first weekly Star Wars TV series, the animated kids' showruns to this day on Cartoon Network, maintaining viewershipfrom younger audiences.

2011Volkswagen harnesses Star Wars in "The Force"

The Force: Volkswagen Commercial

Volkswagen released its first in a series of Star Warsthemedcommercials, called “Force,” created by ad agency Deutsch. ThisVW 60second spot leaked before its intended release as a SuperBowl Ad (in which it was only allowed 30 seconds). Experts saythat its success changed the normal onetime strategy of SuperBowl Ads at the time. Now, brands spend months developing andmarketing a Super Bowlbound advertisement, leaking teasers oreven releasing the entirety of the commercial online far before thegame.

2012

12/15/2015 How Star Wars Changed Film Marketing Forever

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Disney aquires Lucasfilm Ltd.

Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and Disneystock, which included both Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Theacquisition puts the marketing power of Disney behind the StarWars franchise, opening opportunities for TV shows,merchandising and theme park concepts. At that time, Disneyannounced that three new films were in the works—a sequeltrilogy—the first of which would be released in 2015.

VW also releases a second Star Warsthemed Super Bowl ad,“The Bark Side,” which features a canine choir barking the iconic“Imperial March” most recognized as Darth Vader’s theme song.Within the first 24 hours of its launch, the commercial garnered1.6 million views on YouTube.

SUPER BOWL 2012: Bark side in Star Wars / Volkswagen

2014

Marvel Comics releases remastered comics inspired by theoriginal Star Wars trilogy films. Cartoon Network airs animated TVseries Star Wars Rebels.

2015

12/15/2015 How Star Wars Changed Film Marketing Forever

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2015 The Force Awakens is released on December 18.

Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm released a digital collection ofthe first six movies, remastered in high definition, throughAmazon and iTunes in April.

The Force Awakens, the seventh of the series, opens in theatersin December 18. Early ticket sales for the film have broken IMAXrecords at $6.5 million, outpacing past frontrunners such as TheDark Knight Rises and Avengers.

12/15/2015 How Star Wars Changed Film Marketing Forever

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Cobranded promotions for The Force Awakens include TVcommercials for Kohl’s Black Friday sales and Verizon.According to Ad Age, at least $66 million has been shelled out forpromotional TV time and those numbers are still rising.

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer (Official)

"Force Friday" (September 4, 2015) marked the midnightunveiling of new Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys to the publicat retailer locations like Target, The Disney Store, Toys 'R Us,etc. According to NPD, every $1 of $11 spent that weekend wenttoward a Star Wars toy.

"Force Friday" Times Square (Collider.com)

2016 and Beyond

After 2015’s The Force Awakens, Disney has announced that

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new Star Wars movies will be released in 2017 and 2019, all partof the sequel trilogy.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is slated to open in 2018 onChicago’s lakefront Museum Campus.

AuthorBio:

Eden Ames and Molly SoatEden Ames is a digital content producer for theAmerican Marketing Association. She may bereached at eames@ama.org. Molly Soat is the seniorstaff writer for the American Marketing Association.Email her at msoat@ama.org and follow her onTwitter @MollySoat.

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