How two major film franchises stole everyone’s attention this week.
In 1989, I was 12, and couldn’t even comprehend just how far away 2015 was. Watching Back to the Future 2, with its hover boards, flying cars and self tying laces – those things seemed as likely to happen to me as anything I’d seen in any (not entirely age appropriate) sci-fi movie.
Aliens bursting out of people’s chests? Yep, of course that’s going to happen. Robots being sent back in time to destroy Skynet? Totally happening.
Back to the Future 2 was just an entertaining film to me and little did 12 year old me know just how important it would turn out to be.
Because this week we hit that all important date – October 21, 2015 – where Marty and Doc find themselves in the film. And guess what? The real thing is nothing like the movie! But, oh it was a marketing man’s dream and 38 year old me got totally caught up in it (although not quite as much as the lady a colleague told me about, who got dressed up as Marty even though she actually remained at home all day and no one could see her).
Yes, there were some very tenuous links being showcased on social media, but also some great ones – the Pepsi Perfect promotion in the US, for example, and the USA Today stunt of releasing the newspaper cover as seen in the film.
A film franchise which is 30 years old was lighting up today’s communication mediums of choice for kids and teenagers, with Back to the Future Day (#BTTFDay) one of the highest trending topics on Twitter.
A brand masterclass.
Which brings me on to another one, and the launch on Monday (October 26) of the latest James Bond movie, Spectre. The farfetched gadgets being used isn’t the only thing it has in common with Back to the Future. It’s the power it has to completely enrapture an entire nation – love or hate Bond, I bet you’ll be talking about him (the same way those moaning about #BTTFDay took to social media, ultimately giving it more coverage and fuelling the brand).
We’ve already seen the same thing happen with Star Wars a number of times this year, of course – the CP launch, the trailers, the advance ticket sell-out – and the Frozen phenomenon has only just died down.
Seeing how wide our industry reaches and how accepted it is makes me really proud to play a small part in it.
