black panther - industries

what number movie is black panther within the disney marvel industry

seventeenth

what is the marvel industry to disney as a whole?

a subsidiary to the walt disney company which is a global conglomerate.

marvel is vertically integrated and can distribute as well as produce products

why is disney being vertically inegrated a good thing for them?

disney distributing the film meant that they had a large budget, and resources to create a detailed marketing campaign

a global conglomerate involved also helped to distribute the film globally too

what is 360 degree marketing campaigns

a example of 360 degree marketing is when producers and distributers release trailers and tv spots across various channels to build anticipation

disney collaborates with popular brands to create reach for the new films

how does disney use 360 degree marketing?

disney always aims to create 360 degree marketing campaigns for their films to really ensure all audiences are familiar with their films

-they released trailers to create anticipation for the film targeting their pre-sold fans

-they collaborated with brands like Lexus, who released two limited edition black panther themed cars, and Hasbro to create co-branded commercials and merchandise, extending the films reach

-lexus partnership was a great was of targeting a adult male audience, interested in technology and staus

-disney launched hashtags like #Wakandaforever, encouraging fans to share their excitement and participate in online discussions

-marvel released a soundtrack with disney and Kendrick Lamar, targeting his fans, and young black males in general

how were trailers distributed

-the trailer was broadcast in the ad break of the superbowl in America, one of the most expensive advertising slots in the world

-excellent at gaining an immense amount of publicity, and targeting global mass audiences

how does partnering with brands engage audiences?

collaborations with other brands encourages more audiences to see the product. for example disney partnered with children toy brands creating action figures giving the target audience something to collect whilst also enjoying the film.

action figures and toys are a great way of targeting children and family audiences which is what disney wants

also appealing to adult superfans if the franchise who are often interested in collectable items

why is the time of release of the film significant?

the film was released during black history month meaning that the release was marketed as a ‘cultural event’ to celebrate black culture and pride in cultural heritage which was a clever choice of when to release the film

how did the public help market the film?

-members of the public created a crowd funded ‘black panther challenge’ to buy tickets for young black children to see the film as they thought it was very important for them to see this as it happens so rarely in the american film industry

-the crowd funding campaigns were shared online and in the media and so they acted as unofficial marketing for the film

how did disney make use of synergetic partnerships?

they worked with NY fashion week to create a ‘Welcome To Wakanda’ fashion catwalk show, displaying costumes inspired by the film

-this was a great at getting national and global publicity, but also for targeting a female audience

-another way was using youtube and it was used as an effective global marketing technique, allowing audiences to like/ comment and share the trailer, allowing audiences to market the film for them - viewed 19 million times in the first 24 hours

-disney also used twitter to market the film using hashtags, posts and teasers etc… the film became the most tweeted about film of the year and now (at the moment) of all time as well - proved social media as a powerful tool for marketing

-twitter was also used to do live stream q&a sessions with the cast creating anticipation for the film worldwide and encouragin fans to get involved

how did they use tv shows to their advantage?

-actors taking part as guests on chat shows and other tv programmes is a great was of marketing the film to an older audience

-the actors and crew appeared at CommicCon , a globally recognised event for fans of the big franchises in film, gaming and tv etc - famous conventions like this are a great way of targeting super fans of a franchise or shared universe, ensuring they spread the word

-the exclusive snapchat filter for the film was a great method of targeting a much younger audience to the existing fan base they already had

what was good about disney owning marvel studios?

marvel retained alot of creative control over their films. the walt disney company often leave creatice decisions in the production to marvel

what kind of company is marvel?

marvel is a diversified company, making comics, graphic novels, films, animations, tv etc

meaning marvel has a pre-sold fan base of their products. people who liked their other media texts, and will go to see whatever they release next

how does marvel raise money for production work?

sometimes marvel will sell the rights of one of their characters to raise money for production work

however they chose to retain the rights to black panther as a character because they knew they wanted to make a film about him at some point

some argue that marvel simply make similar films over and over, having found a working formula for financial success

this use of successful formula/ genre / universe helps to reduce risk and maximise profits. this reflects Hesmondhalgh’s ideas about companies striving for maximised profits

why is black panther a low risk film?

-shared universe/ existing franchise

-pre-sold audiences

-global conglomerate involvement

-famous actors

-popular genre

-detailed marketing campaign

how is black panther a risky film?

-lesser known marvel character

-predominantly black cast

-it costs a lot to make

perhaps marvel took these ‘risks’ to appeal to modern youthful audiences

why would the marvel franchise chose to use these risks in their film

maybe marvel and disney chose to make the film to ‘cash in’ on the current social and cultural context of people wanting more diversity in the media

what are the stereotypes of lead roles portrayed by a black person?

commonly, films that offer lead roles for black actors, are social realist in genre and based around crime and poverty

how does this make the film appealing to audiences?

the diverse and positive representations in the film make the film stand out as different in Hollywood, and may make it appealing for audiences

perhaps black panther reflects the current social and cultural desires for stronger female characters in movies

what did people think Disney was using the film to try and do?

some think that black panther was an attempt by Disney to change their reputation for representing ethnic minorities poorly in films

black panther could be seen as part of Disney’s strategy to improve its reputation for the way it treats ethnicity / gender in films'

who regulated black panther?

bbfc

what regulation certificate was given to black panther by the bbfc

black panther was given a 12a certificate in the uk by bbfc

what does 12a certificate mean?

it means that if you are 12 and over you can go and see the film by yourself however you can also see it if you are under 12 but must be accompanied by an adult

why is black panther rated 12a

because there is some fight scenes

why do people think that the 12a rating is controversial

some people argued that Black Panther had a lot of violence in it for a 12A certificate

how did the bbfc argue against these controversies

there is an argument that audiences should expect a certain level of violence in a marvel superhero film

why could the rating not be controversial?

some might also argue that the violence in the film is ‘fantasy based’ which qualifies it for a lower certificate according to the BBFC guidelines

the violence also exists within a moral universe where it is supposedly not glorified and senseless

how is regulation challenging for a film?

regulation is challenging when you are trying to distribute your film globally, and you want to try and follow different regulations of different countries

what do producers have to bear in mind when making a film product?

producers also have to bear in mind the different regulation in other countries for the marketing materials as well as the films itself

how do the marvel industry target wide ranged of audiences through marketing

the range of posters produced with different characters on, helps to target a diverse range of audiences

separate poster was also specifically designed to market the film in china, which some say reflects the countries different attitudes towards race

how is the poster produced in china a example of a company self censoring their marketing?

the china poster had the characters covered up so it was very hard to tell that they were black.

this could be seen as an example of a film company self censory their marketing materials to target specific global audience

why would disney conceal the fact that the main character was black?

-it would make it more marketable

-it would be harder to sell and market a film that had lead black actors in asian countries