Freeman Bell Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Contents: 1. Guardians Background/universe 2. Guardians Vol. 3: Introduction 3. Pre-launch 4. Launch 5. Post-launch 6. Conclusion Guardians of the Galaxy Background and Universe Since its inception in 1969, the Guardians of the Galaxy (hereafter referred to as ​ ​ “Guardians”) franchise has been a consistent and influential addition to the Marvel ​ ​ Universe. The team first appeared in the popular comic book series Marvel-Super ​ Heroes #18 in 1969. Written by Arnold Drake and pencilled by Gene Colan, the comic ​ sold extremely well and was brought back a few years later. After a few more guest appearances in Marvel Super-Heroes, the Guardians were finally given their own comic ​ ​ ​ ​ book series in 1976 entitled Marvel Presents: Guardians of the Galaxy. Originally written ​ ​ ​ ​ by Steve Gerber and later by Roger Stern, the series ran for a little over a year until it was cancelled due to poor sales in 1976. However, the Guardians still made appearances in other Marvel Comics such as Thor Annual and The Avengers ​ ​ ​ throughout the 1970’s until 1980. Guardians then went dormant for nearly decade until ​ ​ the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation took off in popularity. Marvel decided to ​ ​ cash in on the show’s success by reviving their spaced-themed Guardians comics. This ​ ​ new series was highly successful and ran until 1995. In 2008, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning wrote a new Guardians comic series with ​ ​ a completely different timeline and an all new lineup of characters. This new team originates from the Annihilation: Conquest comics and is the same team that we have ​ ​ seen in the first two Guardians films: Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and ​ ​ Groot. The comic ran for two years and was cancelled in 2010. Another comic series, Guardians 3000, was created in 2015 following the success of the first film and features ​ the original team from 1969. The franchise’s first feature film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, was released in ​ ​ 2014 and dominated the box office with $773 million. In the film, Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) steals a mysterious orb from the edge of outer space and becomes the target of a massive manhunt. Quill forms an unlikely, rag-tag team of heroes consisting of Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel), that are pulled into saving the galaxy. This star-studded lineup also featured John C. Reilly and Benicio Del Toro, which propelled the film to being a fan favorite. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was released in 2017 and ​ ​ saw similar success. It added even more big name stars such as Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell, grossed over $863 million in the box office, and received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 2017 Academy Awards. Both films were written and directed by James Gunn, although the screenplay for the first film was originally written by Nicole Perlman. As part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Guardians also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War and will appear in the upcoming Avengers 4. ​ ​ ​ The Guardians franchise has expanded to other new media platforms since the ​ ​ success of the films, namely video games. A mobile game entitled Guardians of the ​ Galaxy: The Ultimate Weapon was released post-launch of the first film on iOS, ​ Android, and Windows Phone. The second film followed the same strategy, releasing Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series in the post-launch phase on all major ​ gaming platforms (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android). In addition to these games, Marvel produced an animated TV series that has aired on Disney XD since 2015. The soundtrack album to the first film, Guardians of the Galaxy: ​ Awesome Mix Vol. 1, was released separately and was quite popular. There is also a ​ Guardians-themed drop tower ride at Disney California Adventure as well as a roller ​ coaster at Epcot that is set to open in 2021) Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 The third feature film installment of Guardians was announced in 2017 with the ​ ​ release of Vol. 2. There is no official release date yet, although shooting is scheduled to ​ ​ start in early 2019 and the film is expected to hit theaters in 2020. Vol. 3 is likely to see ​ ​ at least the same level of success as the previous two iterations, although the film is clouded in uncertainty at the moment. The ending of Avengers: Infinity War left all major ​ ​ characters dead except for Rocket and Nebula, and the upcoming Avengers 4 will ​ ​ shake the universe up even further. Thus, the characters and plot of Vol. 3 are largely ​ ​ unknown. Additionally, writer and director James Gunn was recently fired from the project by Marvel after offensive tweets surfaced online. A new director is yet to be hired and whether or not Marvel will continue with Gunn’s vision is unknown at this time. The following transmedia marketing plan for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 aims ​ ​ to overcome the controversy surrounding the film by engaging current audiences through interactive experiences, targeting new audiences, and increasing brand awareness on a large scale through various partnerships with other brands. Pre-Launch Collaboration with The Weeknd A major aspect of this transmedia campaign is a collaborative partnership with Grammy-winning recording artist The Weeknd that will persist throughout the pre-launch, launch, and post-launch phases. The Weeknd’s 2016 album Starboy went ​ ​ double platinum, making him one of the hottest recording artists in the music industry right now. He has previously partnered with Marvel to create an original comic book series featuring himself as the protagonist. This, combined with the fact that music is a major theme of the Guardians franchise, makes The Weeknd the ideal partner for this ​ ​ campaign. The first phase of this partnership will come in the form of Vol. 3’s soundtrack ​ ​ album, produced entirely by The Weeknd. The album will be released on all major streaming platforms, as well as in physical forms, one month prior to the film’s release in 2020. Black Panther executed something very similar earlier this year to perfection. ​ ​ Their soundtrack album was produced by Kendrick Lamar and featured The Weeknd, resulting in a number one debut on the US Billboard 200. Vol. 3’s album will also feature ​ ​ Guardians-themed music videos to accompany the songs. The Weeknd’s Starboy brand ​ is internationally famous, fits like a glove with Guardian’s galactic theme, and will bring a ​ ​ tremendous amount of awareness to the film. Alternate Reality Game Upon the album’s release, an alternate reality game (ARG) will launch in all major US cities. Commencing with coded messages in the album and music videos, players will be led to a website and accompanying social media accounts. These will lead the players on a scavenger hunt around their city to different record stores where they will collect one song from the album on a vinyl record. The first players in each city to collect all records will be rewarded with tickets to the movie, a DVD boxset of the films, and a signed poster. This unique ARG will engage the audiences and start a conversation about the film across social media platforms. Snapchat The final step of the pre-launch phase will consist of a series of Snapchat filters designed to increase exposure of Vol. 3. We will utilize Snapchat’s facial recognition ​ ​ feature to create unique filters where the user’s face will be turned into Rocket and Groot (and additional characters as the story allows). Groot’s filter will also transform the user’s voice into varying inflections of his iconic saying, “I am Groot.” Furthermore, overlay filters will be available with Vol. 3’s logos and release date. Snapchat’s status as ​ ​ one of the most popular social media platforms will propel Vol. 3’s awareness and help ​ ​ it reach a wider audience. These attention-grabbing filters will continue into the launch phase when the film premieres. Launch Live Venues Kicking off the launch of Vol. 3 will involve a campaign of spontaneous pop-ups ​ ​ in major cities around the world. The pop-ups will consist of a unique Guardians themed ​ ​ merch van with speakers playing the soundtrack album. They will offer limited-time merchandise as well as physical copies of the album in both Vinyl and CD, and will be announced only the day before their appearance. This will increase the exclusivity of the merchandise and will increase buzz on social media. Recently, Childish Gambino went viral when he set up completely unannounced stations in New York and Los Angeles that played his two new singles on speakers next a truck handing out free milkshakes. The mysterious nature behind these pop-ups sparked a conversation on social media, which Vol. 3’s campaign aims to do as well. ​ ​ Van’s Partnership Marvel has an existing partnership with Vans to create Marvel-themed socks, shoes, shirts, hats, and backpacks. However, Vol. 3’s campaign will break ground by ​ ​ working with Vans to create Guardians-specific apparel to sell online as well as in the ​ ​ pop-ups. Apart from Vans’ standard lineup of apparel, we will collaborate to create a special edition Star-Lord jacket. Vans has gotten very creative with creating Marvel apparel in the past, and we wish to open the door even further to allow them full artistic freedom. This stylized jacket will be a high demand collector’s item and a perfect product to include at the pop-ups. The Weeknd Shoe In addition to the Vans partnership, we will also create a The Weeknd signature shoe with a Guardians theme.