Derived Demand in the Star Wars Economy

MAY THE MARKETING FORCE BE WITH . . . STAR WARS

Star Wars, The Force Awakens, has its own outsized economic effect. As of today, the Disney movie has exceeded $1.7 billion in global box-office revenue. It's currently the third-highest-grossing movie of all time. And the film hasn't been in theaters for a month yet. Even in China, where the older Star Wars movies are not pop culture icons, this new movie debuted with record revenues.

Of course, demand for movie merchandise is generally based, to a large extent, on the movie's popularity. In the case of Star Wars, merchandise tie-ins may very well have their own ultrahigh trajectory. Why? Because Star Wars is a long-established franchise with two generations (or more) of fans. It's become an evergreen franchise in most markets, independent of any new movies. Months before the new movie opened, Force Friday brought adults and children into toy stores for Star Wars merchandise, old and new, even when they were not sure who the new characters actually were.

Current day fans are incredibly vocal on social media about their likes and dislikes. On opening weekend, fans tweeted nearly 5 million times about the movie. Many blogged and tweeted about the news that Rey, the new female lead played by Daisy Ridley, was left out of the Hasbro Monopoly game (an error being corrected). Search for the hashtag WheresRey and you will see the comments. Derived demand is a force to be reckoned with in the Star Wars economy.

Star Wars and Trans-Generational Emotional Resonance

The president of Hasbro's brand division coined a term for what happens when parents (well, primarily fathers) who grew up loving Star Wars or Marvel comics characters and shared that brand fandom with their children. The term is "trans-generational emotional resonance." Hasbro makes Star Wars toys under license from Disney, and it's a particularly lucrative partnership this year. Force Friday showed the power of the brand, and it's only the beginning.

The immense opening weekend box office success of Disney's Star Wars: The Force Awakens demonstrates the power of trans-generational emotional resonance. Disney says the new movie took in $248 million in North America alone. Worldwide, the movie generated ticket sales of $529 million. Both are records for opening weekend ticket sales. News coverage often showed parents and children attending the movie together, some dressed as Star Wars characters, some chanting dialogue from older movies in the series.

This latest movie is tweaking the brand marketing to appeal to females, by casting Daisy Ridley in the leading role of Rey. Will Star Wars: The Force Awakens, supported by star power and many millions of dollars in marketing, make Rey as popular a character as Hunger Games's Katniss Everdeen? Will it tap into trans-generational emotional resonance so that, 20 years in the future, mothers buy Rey merchandise for their daughters? Hasbro is in good position to benefit, because it has the Star Wars toy license until 2020.

The Marketing Force in Marketing the Force

Hundreds of thousands of brand fans worldwide were involved in Force Friday on September 4th, a day devoted to marketing Star Wars movies and merchandise.

From Disney and Hasbro to Toys 'R' Us, Target, and beyond, retail and manufacturing partners jumped on the Force Friday marketing bandwagon to market merchandise tied to the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, due for release in December.

Mattel, which is making Hot Wheels tie-ins, worked with Uber to send out Dodge Charger cars decorated like Storm Troopers so fans could ride in brand style. Even Major League Baseball got involved, with a light-saber duel after the first pitch in a NY Mets/Florida Marlins game on Friday.

Disney began its movie promotion a year in advance, and promoted #ForceFriday as only one in a series of marketing activities leading up to the new movie's debut. Social media was a huge element in Force Friday, including a coordinated multi-city "unboxing" event for YouTube.

Many stores (and websites) planned for midnight promotions, building buzz by including guest appearances and other special events tied to Force Friday. The stars of the show: New merchandise keyed to new characters and new technology to be fully revealed in the new movie. Brand community was a major part of the appeal to customers, with costumes and entertainment and photos and more. In short, the marketing force is strong for this new Star Wars movie and its merchandise.