On the Film Distributors' Association site, we watched the presentation by
Kezia Williams, head of theatrical distribution at Pathe, on how distributors work to create a successful marketing campaign.
I chose the highly successful Avengers: Endgame to analyse marketing for, as this
blockbuster spectacle is a direct sequel of Avengers: Infinity War and so follows the stories of the Avengers and other superheroes who were not 'blipped' at the end of Infinity War. It shows how these saviours bring back the half of the population who went into the soul realm, including some very dear superheroes.
Matt Smith (of the FDA) told us that the digital spend has enormously increased. Trailers and posters are now cut for portrait, owing to the fact that most viewing now takes place on smartphones. This includes all social media platforms that work as a
synergetic whole in promotion.
POSTERS
The posters for Endgame came in 3 categories: The stereotypical full superhero poster, the Character profiles, and a few limited edition drawings. The Superhero style posters help to bring across all the big names in the film, such as Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Scarlett Johansson, so many so, that there are no names on the poster, as there is
no space for the full billing.
The next category, Character Profiles, is also split into two sub-categories, the superheros still alive, and the superheroes left dead at the end of the last movie. The alive superheroes are depicted in colour, and their posters detail that the audience know they have one last mission. However, the dead superheroes are depicted in grayscale, with the words AVENGE THE FALLEN.
This plays into the audience's relationship with the superheroes especially as many of the fallen heroes had speculation about their resurrection, having more solo movies to shoot in the actor's contract. For example, Tom Holland's Spider-man had 6 movies in his contract, and died in Infinity War, having only fulfilled 4 of those movies. The last category includes 2 hand drawn images as a
limited edition which evoke a sense of pride towards the movie from the audience as they are well known symbols for the Infinity War saga.
These posters also allow the audience to find out which superheroes will be in this spectacle, allowing the audience to be informed (as we learnt in Dalecki's 4 's's, the posters could be counted as surveillance), as well as letting the audience settle back into the escapism of superhero movies. The posters also give an indication of what the character's motivations are and what might happen in the movie, reinforcing ideas of 'Avenge the Fallen' and 'Whatever it takes.' These posters show the implication that these Superheroes are just like the audience, having to deal with grief, whilst getting on with their lives.
THE TRAILERS
All the trailers were announced as
only taking footage from the first fifteen minutes of the film. This came as a shock, as this is Marvel's longest film to date, running for over 3 hours.
To gratify the needs of the audience (as in the Blumler and Katz model), they also included
flashback scenes to other Marvel movies, such as Captain America, Iron Man and Infinity War. This reminded the audience what the survivors were fighting for and also cemented that this was to be the biggest event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The trailer also uses
shots specifically created for the trailer, such as one of Natasha Romanoff in shooting practice. This then means they can surprise the audience by adding even more content than they thought they would get. This leads to a
bigger spectacle, especially as the shots in question show the heroes preparing for a big battle. The trailer also uses iconic Avengers theme music which
hooks the viewer, signifying that although it is different from the other movies, it is still part of a bigger story. There is also almost no CGI within the trailer, except for the obvious Hulk and pre-serum Steve Rogers, which leaves the audience hooked (as Kezia Williams states), as the lack of CGI suggests there will be a big battle at the end of the movie.
ONLINE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
As with most Marvel movies,
high-profile actors are involved, and this is even more the case with Endgame. As well as the Official Marvel Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, they also utilised the main actors (whose characters are still alive) who all were told to post the same quote "Whatever it takes", as seen from the trailer screenshot above. This provided
free publicity, as the actors also wanted to promote work that they were proud of. The Official accounts also counted down with various bonus clips from trailers, and the slow release of special posters.
The website offers ways to buy the movie, as well as a look at photos from the red carpet of the Endgame premiere. However, before the movie premiered, it mainly offered the trailers, brief summary of the previous movie, and the posters as they were revealed. This meant that any fan could go to one central page to find all the content they wanted,
for convenience.
MEDIA AND PUBLICITY
Several interviews were conducted as part of the build up to Endgame such as
one with all of the cast (still alive at the start of Endgame). This let the audience into what the actors were thinking within filming. This counts as
Marketing as the actors were paid as well as the interviewers. Another device they use, is to invite influencers for an experience on set as well as giving out freebies connected to the movie to help promote the movie through paid promotion videos on their channels. Disney, who own Marvel, also teamed together with big corporations, using
product placement in the movies in exchange for advertising.
A form of
free publicity is how the actor's and company's posts get retweeted. The actors' also tweet official content too, as well as behind the scenes content, which pleases the viewers as it can give certain clues for them about the upcoming movie.
OVERALL
The movie had a great marketing strategy as there were over 30 superheroes to support, leaving someone for everyone to want to see a glimpse off. As this was also technically a
sequel, the campaign heavily focused on what had happened in the Infinity War film. The marketers drew attention to the fact this film was a
spectacle and that you didn't want to miss the 'event of the century'. Overall, it was very successful as it became the
worldwide highest grossing film ever, with the help of a re-release with post credit scenes for which Marvel is famous for.
