Changes in Promotional Strategies Seen in Star Wars Marketing
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Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 2018 Promoting a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Changes in Promotional Strategies Seen in Star Wars Marketing Campaigns Michael Fenton Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in Communication Studies at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Fenton, Michael, "Promoting a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Changes in Promotional Strategies Seen in Star Wars Marketing Campaigns" (2018). Masters Theses. 3680. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3680 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Promoting a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Changes in Promotional Strategies sen in Star Wars Marketing Campaigns (TITLE) BY Michael Fenton THESIS SUBMITIED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Masters of Communication IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 2018 YEAR I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE sltL1� )-�-/� DATE DATE or/01/3o11 THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER DATE THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER DATE 5 If/It THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER DATE THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER DATE Promoting a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Changes in Promotional Strategies seen in Star Wars Marketing Campaigns Michael Fenton Eastern Illinois University Abstract This piece examines promotional material from the Star Wa rs campaigns fo r The Phantom Menace in 1999 and The Force Awakens in 2015 to find differences in promotional strategies with regards to globalization, fa ndom andfa n perception and the use of online spaces. Tr ailers, tie-in product materials and websites are given visual and textual analysis to find how the films have evolved to accommodate a larger, more culturally diverse audience. Jn doing so this piece seeks to understand how the changing consumer landscape is impacting the way product are advertised, and how prospective advertisers can maximize their audience through adjusting their strategy. Acknowledgement For their support and guidance in completing this project, without which this product would not be possible, I sincerely thank Dr. David Greycon, Dr. Chigozirim Sodeke and especially Dr. Claudia Janssen Danyi. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3. Literature Review 7. Promoting in America and Around the World 10. Visual and Community Rhetoric 12. Fandom 16. The Online Space 19. Methods and VisualAnalysis 24. Textual Analysis 27. Material Breakdowns 27. Trailers 52. Ancillary Product Advertising 65. Websites 84. Analysis 96. Conclusions l 00. Limitations 102. References Tables and Figures 23. Table for the Decoding of Visual Rhetoric. Introduction For those that arrived early enough, the echoes of chatter from the tightly packed crowed mingles with the smells of butter and popcorn. The chatter gets louder and louder as more people from the packed line outside the theater, long enough to wrap around the building, trickle inside the theater. The first in the building are likely the super-fans, camping outside since the previous day, with the object of their desire now withingrasp. Scattered around the crowd are the cosplayers; fans who express their investment through dress, their costumes ranging from pristine white Storm Trooper amour, accurate to the last detail, to brown bathrobes and toy lightsabers bought earlier that day. Casual viewers and those with a passing interest are still outside, having bought their tickets ahead of time or hoping against hope that some seats remain. This scene has not only played out all around the United States, largely unchanged from theater to theater, but around the world, and throughout time. The excitement of a new Star Wars film is a global phenomenon that has embedded itself in global pop culture. More than a cheesy space opera, the terms Jedi, lightsaber and the idea of "the dark side" have made their way into the vocabulary and collective memory of countless everyday people and cultures. It is, in part, because of this popularity and recognizability around the world that the Star Wars franchise is deeply interesting from a global marketing perspective. It is a product that does not have to appeal to a certain American demographic, but one that seeks to find success around the world, and as communication technology has developed, the opportunities for a franchise to reach a global audience has grown, along with their obligation to make a greater profit. The bigger, more culturally varied market could have a substantial impact on the way a promotional team needs to approach how they display a certain product. Certain assumptions may be challenged and certain promotional approaches may provide a greater advantage in getting a wider audience. This paper seeks to answer the questions of what those changes are, how they are being successful implemented, and what they may mean for the future of product promotion as technology advances, cultural norms are challenged, and the target audience becomes wider and more varied than ever before. The Star Wars franchise is uniquely poised to help us answer these questions. It is a film series that has enjoyed phenomenal success around the world since its first installment, and it contains multiple trilogies that exist in separate and identifiable generations. A franchise like Harry Potter, or the Marvel Cinematic universe may be equally successful on the global scale, but these have not existed nearly as long, and do not have the generational quality from which could be drawn snapshots of promotional strategies over specific time periods. Films that have had remakes, re-imaginings or sequels long after the original such as Planet of the Apes or Star Tr ek may have the generational quality of Star Wars, but lack the status of global phenomenon that makes Star Wars unique. This thesis focuses on the promotional strategies behind The Phantom Me nace and The Force Awakens specifically. These two films are the beginnings of new trilogies in the franchise, and so share similar goals. The reasons I will not be including the strategies of the original ?O's saga are differences in goals and limited resources. The 1977 release ofA New Hope had studios skeptical of its potential success (Telegraph, 20 16), and so it needed to establish itself as a worthy film, rather than a worthy addition 2 to an established juggernaut of a franchise. The prequel and sequel trilogies, conversely, are both additions to a film series, not looking to introduce audiences to its world, but attempting to add to what is already there. Fans and fan reaction are also major factors in marketing the start of the latter two series, a variable that did not exist for the 70's team. For these films, I will answer the above questions by looking at both American and global promotional techniques, as well as how promoters are conceptualizing fans and fan culture.