Film Marketing Research Homework:

Iron Man 2 (2010) Marketing Campaign:

For my research I chose Iron Man 2 because it is a great film and probably one of my favourites of all time (well, at least the ones I’ve seen...). With a budget of between $170 and $200 million (including for the film) – nothing compared to the gross revenue of over $620 million - this is what was achieved:

Website:

Of course, the Iron Man 2 website was release. It includes trailers/clips, info on the types of DVD available and even info on parts of the super-suit! Plus it shows off its epic music and awesome CGI. 


A website for Stark Industries also went online, with an attached graphic of a "napkin memo" from Tony Stark to Pepper Potts announcing that Stark Industries no longer made weapons (linking Iron Man to this sequel). A similar website for the Stark Expo was released, simulating what would be seen for someone living in the Iron Man universe, but still fully interactive.

Trailers:

It was confirmed that the first Iron Man 2 theatrical trailer would premiere in front of Sherlock Holmes (another Robert Downey, Jr. film). This trailer was released online on December 16, 2009. A new trailer was shown by Robert Downey, Jr. on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on March 7 after the Academy Awards.

Posters:

To get people talking, one of the first posters released included Mickey Rourke in the ‘Whiplash’ super-suit and another of Scarlett Johansson as the ‘Black Widow’ character. These two characters were not featured in the first film and it so begs the question: who are they?!

Promotion:

At the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, a five-minute teaser trailer for the movie was shown. Actors portraying Stark Industries recruiters handed out business cards with an invitation to apply for a job at Stark Industries (just for fun!).

Promotional partners include Symantec, Dr Pepper, Burger King, 7 Eleven, Audi, LG Electronics, and Hershey.


Spinoffs:

A video game based on the film was released by Sega on May 4, 2010 in North America. The game's Comic Con trailer showed that ‘the Crimson Dynamo’ (another classic Iron Man villain) is set to appear. The Wii version will be developed by High Voltage Software and all console versions will be published by Sega. Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson voice their respective characters in the video games. The trailer revealed that A.I.M, Roxxon Energy Corporation, and Ultimo (depicted as man named Kearson DeWitt in a large armour) will be enemies in the game.

Gameloft has published the Iron Man 2 mobile game.

Author Alexander C. Irvine adapted the script into a novel that was released in April 2010.

Several months prior to the release of the film, Marvel Comics released a four issue miniseries titled Iron Man vs. Whiplash as a tie-in to the movie. The series introduced a new version of Whiplash that was heavily inspired by the movie's portrayal, as Marvel's existing versions of the character had little resemblance to the movie's depiction. A three issue miniseries titled Iron Man 2: Public Identity was released in April which serves as a prequel of the events of the movie.

As the band ‘AC/DC’ produced many of the soundtracks for the Iron Man 2 film, a CD featuring all the songs played by them in the film was released with its own poster to advertise it.

Conclusion:

To conclude, I think that the Iron Man 2 marketing strategy paid off as you can tell buy the viewing figures and the gross revenue achieved. My research showed me how much effort was put not only into backing/promoting the film before release, from teaser trailers to the Stark Industries website, but also after the film’s release with the merchandise and spinoffs, probably to promote the sequel to this film: Iron Man 3 in 2013! (click here for Iron Man 3 IMDB link)