Black Panther

Who made Black Panther (company)?

MARVEL Studios

Who is MARVEL owned by?

The Walt Disney Company (Vertical Integration)

Examples of how Black Panther was advertised:

• Posters

• Teaser trailer

• Social media

• Merch

• Snapchat Filter

• Magazines

• Talk shows

• Synergetic products

Subsidiary company definition

a business owned or controlled by another company, known as the parent or holding company

Toyota Lexus collaboration

• Released 2 BP themed cars

• Advertised both brands

• Targeted an adult male audience interested in technology and status

Who collaborated on the soundtrack?

Kendrick Lamar and Sza

Targeting their fans and young, black audiences in general.

Where were trailers released?

• Cinema

• TV

• Online

• Teaser trailer was debuted at the NBA finals, targeted a diverse audience.

What was the aim of the film?

To target audience with the best bits.

Teasing the audience with narrative, special effects and actors

Wanted to emphasise that the film was part of the MARVEL franchise to target pre-sold fans.

What famous slot was the Lexus x Black Panther trailer shown at?

Superbowl

Meant insane publicity and targets a global mass audience.

What brand collaborated with the film to create toys and action figures?

Hasbro

Targeted super-fans who were interested in collectable items.

Also targeted children and family audiences.

When was the film released?

February - Black History Month

Emphasised that the film was a cultural event

Grass-roots marketing definition

Instead of mass advertising, it uses community engagement, word-of-mouth, and social, local interactions to build long-term brand loyalty from the ground up.

What was the #BlackPantherChallenge?

Members of the public created a GoFundMe to raise money for young black children to be able to watch the film due to positive key representation.

How was social media used as a marketing techique?

YouTube - Allowed audiences to like, comment and share

Twitter - Used to do live stream Q+A sessions with the cast and crew, created anticipation for the film

How were chat shows used as a marketing technique?

Helped gain an older audience who recognised the actors

Help create a global fanbase

360 degree marketing definition

It means promoting a product across lots of different platforms at the same time

So the audience sees it everywhere they go, creating maximum awareness.

NYFW ‘Welcome to Wakanda’

Created a fashion show inspired by the outfits in the film

Targeted a more female audience

Comicon

Globally recognised event for fans of big global franchises

Targets super-fans of the shared universe

Creative control

Marvel controlled the franchise and production, while Coogler had significant influence over the film’s story, themes, and cultural representation.

Coogler controlled narrative and representation

MARVEL controlled its place in the universe, casting, story, budget, and overall vision.

MARVEL as a diversified company

The brand has a lot of presold fans that will go see the next film.

MARVEL sells the rights to their characters to raise money for their production work.

Hesmondhalgh applied

MARVEL makes similar films over and over due to a working formula for financial success.

LOW RISK examples (to appeal to a modern audience)

• Shared universe

• Pre-sold audience

• Famous actors

• Global conglomerate

• Detailed campaign

HIGH RISK examples

• Lesser known character

• Predominantly black cast

• Very expensive

CURRAN AND SEATON, Media Industries applied

• Owned by a big conglomerate
  Made by Marvel Studios, owned by The Walt Disney Company → shows concentration of ownership

• Profit is the main goal, Big budget, global release, heavy marketing → designed to make maximum money

• Follows a safe, popular formula
  Superhero genre = proven success → less risk, more guaranteed profit

• But some creativity still exists
  Director Ryan Coogler added cultural themes and representation → shows creativity isn’t completely limited

BBFC certificate

12A

Reason behind BBFC rating

• Lots of fighting and aggression (fantasy-based)

• However had moral reasoning

• Some said was too lenient, but others say that MARVEL films have always been violent

Why is regulation difficult globally?

Needing to follow regulations in different countries, whilst trying to appeal to and audience and make more profit simultaneously

Reasoning behind a range of posters of different characters

Helps to target a wider audience (female posters)

Allows different readings

Chinese poster controversy

• A separate poster was made for a Chinese audience that masked T’Challa’s skin colour.

• The company responded and said it was to show off the mask and wasn’t intentional.

• Could be seen as self-regulating to target a specific audience.

• Perhaps would be harder to market a predominantly black cast.

Issues of representation

• Mixed and matched cultural clothing from all around the continent.

• Only a few landscape shots were in Africa.

• Obnoxious American version of African dialect

• Wakanda teaming up with the CIA, who have historically interfered with the continent.

Ryan Coogler

First black MARVEL director

What awards was Black Panther nominated for?

Won - Best Costume Design

Nominated - Best Picture, first MARVEL film to be nominated

How much did the #BlackPantherChallenge raise?

$950,000

Global Box office earnings

$1.3 billion

How many tweets?

35 million

Making it the most tweeted about film ever

Roles of women

Authoritative roles: soldiers, queens, protectors, doctors, scientists

Post-colonialism

Exists to question white patriarchal views and how they relate to race

Afrofuturism

Celebrating African heritage without the burden of colonialism, a future where society doesn’t limit them

Post-colonialism applied

Black Panther shows Africa without colonisation, challenges stereotypes, and explores the impact of oppression through Killmonger

If a person is unable to trace their family roots to their country of origin, the idea of an unoppressed Africa would be appealing.