With the first new “Star Wars” movie in 16 years landing in theaters Dec. 18, we can spend the next couple of weeks watching Disney execute the culmination of its “very deliberate” rollout for the much-anticipated film.

1. FORCE FRIDAY PRIME DAY
215K
300K
THE STAR WARS
MARKETING MACHINE
GOES INTO HYPERSPACE.
Star Wars, one of the most beloved and enduring franchises, spans almost
40 years. The latest incarnations of the Star Wars’ Universe, including toys, video
games, and the December 18th release of The Force Awakens, show that the Force
is still very much with the decades-old Star Wars’ marketing machine.
September 4th, 2015 was renamed Force Friday by order of the New Republic,
to commemorate the newest products inspired by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Force Friday was all about the hot, new products, while Prime Day was about
discounts and deals of the tried and true. While Prime Day may have
produced more social mentions, The Force was strong with Force Friday, with
fans excited about the new offerings. Two-thirds of social buzz was positive
(65% Joy, Admiration, & Surprise), compared to only 50% for Prime Day.
Building on Force Friday, the marketing machine brought out in October
the beta of Star Wars Battlefront, a video game developed by DICE and
published by Electronic Arts.
Emotions ran high during the 7-day Battlefront beta October 7th–13th. The beta
showed 51% Joy and Admiration, and 25% Sadness, with much of the sadness
due to fans who missed the window, or those mourning the beta’s short duration.
Positivity dominated its release day, with gamers enthralled with the immersive
experience (55% Joy and Admiration, 26% Sadness).
Star Wars engaged the Hyperdrive on Oct 19th, with the “Official” Force
Awakens Trailer. Social mentions of the movie leapt over 2000%. Ever
since, we’ve been bombarded with new bits of the movie doled out,
including movie posters, international trailers, TV spots, etc.
Social emotion has shifted with each additional trailer. The teaser trailers brought on
questions and worry—#whereisluke and “which of my beloved characters are going
to die?” Sadness and questions turned into Joy and Admiration with the official
trailer, and positivity built even further with the premiere of the international trailer.
Each move has been carefully crafted and executed to feed our addiction
for everything Star Wars, and to capture our hearts for decades more.
To paraphrase the great Han Solo, “marketing… ain’t like dusting crops boy,
without precise calculations we’d fly right through a star or bounce too
close to a supernova, and that would end your trip real quick.” We couldn’t
have said it better ourselves, General Solo.
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX METHODOLOGY:
Based on analysis of aggregated and anonymous data of consumer data comprising of 15M visits between September and
November 2015. Composed of aggregated and anonymous data from visits to websites in multiple industries and segments.
Report based on 6+ Million engagements (mentions, likes, shares, “official” page likes and followers.) Blogs, Facebook, G+,
Reddit, Twitter, Dailymotion, Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr, VK, Disqus, Foursquare, Metacafe, Wordpress, and YouTube. Social
engagements is publically available based on a aggregate total. Star Wars: TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Adobe and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United
States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
© 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
51%
25%
Brands benefiting the most from holiday product sales
and early movie buzz:
Star Wars-related shopping kicked off on Force Friday, with Black
Friday beating it by 46% and Cyber Monday by 15% (in terms of
units sold online).
OCT 1 OCT 19 NOV 16
2,000%
TEASER
TRAILER 1
INTERNATIONAL
TRAILER
JOY ADMIRATIONSADNESS
50%
65%
UNITS SOLD
INDEXED AVERAGE DAY
(SEPT-NOV 2015)100%
SEPT 1 NOV 30
BLACK FRIDAY
CYBER MONDAY
200%
300% FORCE FRIDAY
LEGO DISNEY
20TH CENTURY FOX
SONY
ELECTRONIC ARTS