Marvel Entertainment: Awareness to Action
By Kimberly Grant
There are a lot of films that exist in the world that come in many forms. There are even a lot of ways to experience movies: theaters, streaming, OnDemand, YouTube, and even your friend’s amateur project that they made on their phones. Yes, films have come a long way since the talkies of the early 20th century. Because the film industry is saturated with many films, there is a lot of competition. Adding to that competition is epic television series that are more readily available and cheaper than spending almost $20 on a movie ticket; which does not include snacks. So how do marketers get people in the theater seats for big budget films?
One way is that they use the AIDA model. AIDA stands for Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. It’s a general marketing practice that allows marketers to track their marketing strategies, using benchmarks that give them a sense of how effective or ineffective their efforts are at reaching a target audience. Let’s break it down using Marvel Entertainment (now mostly owned by Disney) as an example.
Now You know
In the first iteration of the AIDA model, Awareness, marketers spend quite a bit of time working on this one. They must attract the attention of potential moviegoers. Marvel has almost cornered the market on marketing; pun intended. The way Marvel generates awareness of its latest Avengers film, say the upcoming Black Widow, is that it generates a teaser. A teaser is usually a static image ad with the character logo and the future release date. In this case, the teaser included the silhouette of Scarlet Johansson as Black Widow against a red and black background, the title of the film, and the first release date (pre-COVID-19). This is the eye catcher of the AIDA model.
These teasers are released mainly on social media as a way to make fans aware that another Avengers film is in every fanboy’s and fangirl’s future. This teaser, in turn, opens up for the Interest section of the AIDA model. Now that the teaser is in the ether, the various blogs, podcasts, etc. that are the fans of Marvel begin talking about the upcoming Marvel film. They usually discuss the character logo and try to hypothesize what the latest film will be about based on the comic books that have been published about that character. In the case of Black Widow, they would speculate about the film’s possible storyline and themes based on the comic books that featured Black Widow, since the trailer does not yet exist. Because these fans of Marvel begin their word-of-mouth public relations on behalf of Marvel (free of charge), they get other fans of Marvel excited.
Getting Engaged
This takes us to the Desire section of the AIDA model. Now that fans of Marvel and those with casual interest in the Marvel films have been alerted to the upcoming release and have heard a few podcasts about the film, Marvel Entertainment is just about ready to release the official film trailers. These trailers will run on TV, social media, YouTube, and during the trailers before the start of all action and family films. These trailers will generate the desire to see Black Widow, because now there are more visuals to create awe in all fans and pseudo fans, alike.
These trailers will play for a few months before the film’s release. During those months, Marvel Entertainment will host promotional tours that include press events, interviews, premieres, paid partnerships, and free screenings for a select group of uber fans. These screenings usually feature an appearance from one of the stars of the film as a part of the promotional tour. All of this is to generate a frenzy of desire that bleeds into the Action section of the AIDA model.
Fans who have gotten a sneak peek of the film at a free screening will be talking about the film on their social media, blogs, and podcasts to help with keeping the Desire momentum. Movie ticket retailers will begin selling tickets prior to the release of the film, making it so that the film can potentially be sold out before it is even released. Knowing that the first few days of a film is sold out before it opens generates even more buzz and makes filmgoers want the tickets even more. By the time the film is released, it can spend anywhere from one to three weeks in the number one spot at the box office.
Getting Paid
Now, I know what you may be thinking, that’s a lot of work. It is. It’s also quite costly. However, it pays off in big ways for Marvel Entertainment (read: Disney). These teasers, trailers, events, promotions have been done for decades and have become a part of the Marvel Entertainment marketing strategy; as well as many other film studios. The AIDA model, providing a general metric as to where marketers are in their strategies, helps them reach their benchmarks. It could even be said that this model has helped the film industry go from a few silent films to talkies to blockbusters to Marvel Entertainment-level success. The AIDA model is what happens when the hero takes a film from awareness to action.
