Initial Evaluation of Promotional Campaigns - Brendon

 “The Avengers” 2012

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The Avengers marketing campaign was started back in 2008, albeit very briefly. The company was dropping small hints at the end of the first “Avenger, Iron Man” movie. This tease carried on in the second all the way to the fifth separate Avenger specific movie from 2008 with Iron Man to 2011 with Thor. Each of these movies hinted at the Avengers being joined together for ultimately a team or joint movie. This marketing strategy, that had started years before the movies release, was exceptionally brilliant as it bought all the fans from each of the different characters together and made all of them watch all the movies until the very end, even through the credits of the movie to see the next hint at the Avengers movie to follow gaining suspense and getting people interested in the movie well before it came out so when the movie was released the hype was immense. The current Avengers movie also hinted at the end after the credits of a new villain, carrying on in the same marketing theme/strategy as the previous in the saga.

 The Teaser Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJK3TVVceSc

The first teaser trailer was released in July of 2011. This trailer started off with a black screen with the Avengers emblem slowly fading in from the back. A voiceover from Samuel Jackson (one of the main characters in the movie) starts by explaining how the avengers were formed, and how it was a day unlike any previous. As the voiceover continues we see a panning down shot of a building in New York and as the camera stops panning we see Captain America running out of that building looking disorientated. The next shot is of Captain America running through the streets filled with cars and people, the shot changes to a view of the public and what is happening around him as he runs towards the camera where he stops due to a fair amount of black vehicles pulling up around him, where the voice over voice stops and is now heard from a character in the trailer. He states that the “Captain” has been asleep for almost 70 years, which brings context to the new era he is in. That part of the trailer finishes with a title screen showing at the end of “Captain America” “The first Avenger”. The trailer then continues with a fast cut shot of each character in the Avengers movie finally finishing with them conversing slightly and then Samuel L Jackson talking again. That part of the trailer ends with a black slide and then the voiceover starts once again as the Avengers logo and then title fades from the blackness and then the trailer ends.

Final Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPpG4s3-O4

 

The trailer starts off with a ratings card as usual stating that this trailer is rated for the appropriate audiences. It then is followed by a black screen which quickly changes to a pan of the New York sky line. The next shot is of the camera panning through the buildings quickly, until a quick fade to black transition leads the shot into another shot a horrified lady looking from behind a window in a restaurant at the skyline. There is a constant voice over up until this point. The next shot is started by a loud noise and several cars being blown up causing havoc and chaos in the streets. This shot quickly transitions into a shot of some soldiers within the wreckage of buildings looking up at the skyline purposefully, the next shot follows a similar theme with police around their cars pointing there weapons to the sky. The next shot is of a dark room, the music is steadily increasing in sound bringing a sense of danger approaching, with a close up on a mans feet as he is walking forwards, followed by a shot of this man in the dark leading the viewer to believe he is the villain. The next shot is one of a street filled with cars being destroyed and explosions occurring. The trailer follows on with Samuel L Jackson doing a voice over again explaining how the avengers were bought together, as we see shots of the different members coming together in this S.H.I.E.L.D organisation. The next scene is of the characters conversing and teasing each other and playing on each others Ego’s. Next few shots are of each character within some sort of conflict followed by a title screen showing a date of release and a title slide for the name of the movie and the fact it will be in 3D.

 

Teaser Posters

 

 

These two posters are two of the original teaser posters. The one on the left would have been released very early in the campaign as it only shows the Avengers emblem and the words “ASSEMBLE 2012” over it. It also shows the production company “MARVEL”.

The second poster on the right would have been released later in the campaign as not only does it show the Avengers emblem but on either side of the emblem there is a half face shot of each of the avengers/characters from the movie being 8 in total. On the poster on the right there is also text showing the release year “2012” and the production companies as well as the catch phrase “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.

Full campaign Posters

 

These two posters would have been from further in the campaign towards the end due to the specific date shown. The poster on the left would have been displayed later than the one on the right as it displays the names of all the main characters with a main image of all of them almost cascading from the hulk to iron man with the Avengers logo and title centrally placed towards the bottom of the picture with the credits underneath with a large specific release date seen in between the credits although at the bottom of the page. The second poster on the right however is on of the 8 special posters released with each one having a specific character featured centrally in the poster. This one has the “Black Widow” shown with a brief image of “Captain America” in the background. This poster displays the main character amongst some carnage as well as the film title central to the poster with the release date at the bottom of the poster with no credits.

Magazine covers

 

 

These magazine covers would have been issued mid way through the campaign. The Total Film magazine cover on the left shows three of the eight main characters from the movie in an arrow formation although they have the largest/tallest in front and the other two in the back ground the same height. The cover is effectively empty other than the main image and the movie title in the centre, the magazine title is at the top of the magazine cover in the movie colours although it is behind the main image so as not to undermine it. The Empire magazine however is a collector’s special edition cover which features iron man in this specific cover although there is a cover for each individual Avenger.  The cover consists of Iron Man central to the magazine cover with the movie title just underneath which is on top of a brief film strip of other films in the magazine. The back ground of the cover reflects the colours of the hero displayed on the cover as does the main title of the Empire magazine which is in the same colour and roughly the same font as the Avengers title on the cover.

Overall

This was a very elaborate and well-planned campaign. It began very early and shows how long the film was in the minds of its producers. It relies on the conventional elements of a teaser campaign such as trailers, posters and magazine covers, so there is a lot we can learn from this to give ideas for our campaign. One thing I have noticed is that a gradual tease over months or even years works very well to gain interest. Secondly, all the different elements of the campaign have to be considered in relation to each other. The order in which they are released dictates how they will be read and what information is taken from them. For example, if we plan teaser posters, there needs to be some buzz about the film already for these to work, especially as we are not working in a known franchise.