There’s no denying that the meme-worthy, hyped-up, much-anticipated Star Wars Day every year on May 4th, has gained a lot more significance and popularity in recent years. Thanks to the internet and social media, it’s rather difficult to escape all the mayhem that surrounded the glorious franchise, and who doesn’t love an obscure day of celebration that is completely light-hearted and filled with appreciation, pun-intended content, and mass appeal by all communities.
And it’s no surprise that many brands have jumped at the opportunity to become part of the Star Wars narrative by producing powerful content that ranges from humorous to inspiring. But first, let’s start with some basics.
What makes Star Wars Marketing a thing?
The Star Wars franchise remains one of the biggest box office successes of all time that has delivered incredibly original and engaging marketing attempts. The ever-expanding universe has provided multiple marketing opportunities that many international brands have taken advantage of, from the likes of Windows, Philips, Burger King, Google and many more, proving that the franchise holds immense marketing power.
Star Wars has become more of a culture, creating a loyal community that holds millions of fans spanning nearly four decades, with brands utilizing that to implement the franchise into their storytelling to guarantee that it will resonate and highly impact their audiences. People have become immersed in the stories of the blockbuster movies throughout the years, which is a great incentive in using the franchise into any sort of marketing or advertising attempt, and there are great lessons to be learned all around from how Star Wars has managed to become and remain such a great marketing punch.
5 Lessons We Can Learn From Star Wars Marketing
1. Come Up With a Memorable Slogan
Nothing compares with a timeless tagline or catchphrase that fully resonates with your brand and becomes instantly recognizable with your audience. Whether it’s McDonald’s ‘I’m lovin’ it’ or Nike’s ‘Just do it’ and Star Wars’ ‘May the force be with you’, among many others, there’s great importance in being able to capture the essence of your brand in a single line. Make sure it is clear and simple so as to keep it as memorable as possible for your audience, and always strive to captivate the spirit and heart of your brand into a single phrase.
2. Create a Trusted Community
Longevity and success often come from building a trusted community that will be loyal and committed enough to your brand, its goals, objectives and outcomes in the long-term. The aim is to appeal to your target audience as much as possible, and make your brand as relevant as can be in order to make consumers feel some sort of attachment and connection to you, so that they feel inclined to follow you.
3. Take Advantage of Nostalgia
Throwbacks and established past events can be a great way to reintroduce your brand and bring to the surface a number of elements that your audience will be able to easily relate to and reminisce with your content. You can recreate the values that you stand for and bring in the newer generations. Nostalgia can help grow your business, as it was incredibly achieved by Star Wars with the new trilogy in the 2015s, as well as remind everyone of the ‘good ol’ days’.
4. Evoke Emotions
While creating an established brand that appeals to your target audience is a great success in itself, there’s nothing more important than conveying real, raw emotions with your content and advertising. Consumers are looking for an emotional connection, where they can have a unique and memorable experience that will tug on their heartstrings in any sort of way. Making an impact is way more effective when you speak to your audience’s heart, values and beliefs, and will be a key component in making you stand out from your competitors.
5. User-Generated Content
Nothing is more relevant nowadays than UGC campaigns. Just like the ‘Share The Force’ campaign, where fans of the franchise were encouraged to send in their most treasured Star Wars memories on social media with the submissions being stored as stars in a 3D galaxy that resembled characters from the movies. By making the audience part of your brand and content creation, you not only have the amazing potential of going viral and creating a super-relatable campaign that appeals beyond your trusted following, but it can also be a great incentivizing approach and a top-notch strategy in making consumers more eager to connect with you.
It’s no coincidence that Star Wars remains such a profitable and respectable entity in the movie industry and beyond, even after four decades. It’s an integral part of pop culture and their marketing attempts are greatly admired, going as far as having an entire day every year dedicated to puns, memes and memories from the franchise and any brand can jump onto the opportunity to capitalize from such as immense success.
WTF by KEAN
And that is exactly what we are going for with the entire month of May for one of our most out-there and fearless clients, WTF by KEAN. Stay tuned to see what’s coming and how we managed to create some adventurous Star Wars-related content for a food channel, like our latest Chewbacca Toast!
And some extra-added inspiration from some of our previous Star Wars content creations!
In the meantime, let’s see some of the intergalactic attempts by international brands to slam their engagement and awareness into hyperdrive with Star Wars content throughout the years.
Volkswagen - The Force
Lego - Compilation of Star Wars Ads
Duracell - Battle For Christmas Morning
Philips Shavers - The Last Jedi Edition
Air BnB
McDonalds
Twix
