Tag: Avengers

Marketing Made to Manage Spoilers

In a post Avengers: Endgame world, social media can be a minefield for spoilers. However, as the saying goes; the show must go on and it does. Marketing for the new Spider-Man film, the next instalment to the Marvel franchise, is well underway so the question is how can you market a film that contains spoilers for the last film, or is it even an issue and people should just know this already? The interesting thing about this case is how Disney don’t have complete control over the Spider-Man character rights, those belong to the production company Sony. This is the reason a first trailer was released after Avengers: Infinity War when Spider-Man was among the casualties of the snap. So, if it were up to Disney we would not have seen any footage up until now. Being that this second trailer was released so close after Avengers: Endgame the marketing team at Sony made sure to put a spoiler warning at the beginning.

The interesting thing here is how pop culture influences an organisations marketing, because spoilers and fandoms have become an element of consumer behaviour organisations need to be able to navigate through them not as a corporation but almost like individuals. For instance, the spoiler warning before the new Spider-Man trailer was delivered by the star of the film, it just adds a personal touch that fans can appreciate.

There is always a divide between TV and film, in this case the social media campaign to #dontspoiltheendgame was launched and endorsed by influencers and the common people alike. However, when it comes to the equally popular Game of Thrones GIF’s from the episodes climax were immediately spread across the social waves. When it comes to TV, there is a community aspect that can be uniquely enjoyed in that everyone, even across time zones, is watching the same thing as you at the exact same time, so how much of the responsibility to avoid spoilers fall to those that didn’t watch live or is there a solution the marketing team can create to provide one online location for all those watching the show live?

Superhero hair halts spoiler scare

Marvel has another global hit on their hands with the upcoming Avengers: Endgame, with a new trailer released yesterday there is nothing but excitement invading social media. Kevin Fiege, the grand-master of Marvel Studios, is often revered for his public relations superpower of speaking in half promises. Somehow managing to generate consumer interest in possible upcoming films, while not at all confirming any definite commitments. Back in January he was quoted saying “I’d call it somewhat accurate. As was the case with a lot of our films this one in particular, you know, being able to generate excitement without giving away any of the many, many, many, many, many,many, many, many secrets would be ideal.” Here he provides insight into the assumption that all marketing for the upcoming Avengers: Endgame will be sourced from the first 15 minutes of the film.

Marketing for films have for a long time used a simple algorithm of showing what you’ll get. In some cases, this has left large twists being spoiled through the marketing, one example being Terminator Genisys, which was not a failure but did not reincarnate the franchise like the executives hoped.

Whether Avengers: Endgame only utilises the first 15 minuets of the film in its marketing or not, the interest of fans will often follow an unexpected tangent, this being the unexpected reveal of Jeremy Renner’s new hair cut for the film. A lack of narrative substance in a film’s marketing usually causes a serge of negative sentiment, but Marvel seen to have the answer in just letting the show be stolen by an awesome mohawk (and the cool new matching Avengers uniforms).                     

Update – As of recently, the Russo Brothers (Directors of Avengers: Endgame) have confirmed suspicions that the newest Endgame trailer has shots that will not be included in the film. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this either, with the Captain America: Civil War Trailer removing Spider-Man from scenes and the Avengers: Infinity War trailer adding the Hulk in scenes where he would actually appear in his Bruce Banner persona. This marketing strategy puts the film directors in control of promotion material allowing them to promote the tone of the film and not spoil any of the twists.