“May the Force be with you”, Han Solo once said to Luke Skywalker. And so did General Dodonna before him. And the millions of fans after him for 38 years. This movie quote achieved such cult status that May the 4th has now become a popular annual celebration full of events, special collections, customized gadgets, sales, cheers and excitement.
Social media has had a huge role to play in the ongoing success of the Star Wars franchise and the consequent fan-led establishment of May 4th as Star Wars Day. A substantial presence on the web is key, but a loyal, committed, and active community of fans to respond to it is also essential. The film series, which spawned the Expanded Universe (now Star Wars Legends), a collection of derivative products including books, comic books, video games, toys, and other media, is an extremely rich pool of meme-potential quotes, internet jokes, fan art, forum discussions and resource centers such as Wookiepedia.
Did you know that according to the UK's 2001 Census, 390,127 people described themselves as being followers of the Jedi religion – Jediism. A serious matter!
Let’s take a closer look at the 4 lessons learned from this successful brand communication strategy that has stretched over almost four decades.
Lesson #1: Build a strong online presence through social
Tap into social conversations by listening to everything that is being said about your brand, your products and your activity; and by initiating the conversations yourself. A few figures about Star Wars’ official social channels:
- Half a million YouTube subscribers
- 4 million followers on Google+
- 983K followers on Instagram
- 1.3 million followers on Twitter
The key is to have enough content to really keep the social media activity going continuously. Good content will open the door for interaction with your fan base, so in order to attract their attention, make sure to leverage a variety of content types including text, photo, video, and even music.
Lesson #2: Connect emotionally with your community for innovative content creation
Over time, encourage your audience to naturally become brand ambassadors and participate in story creation: build and maintain a strong community that actively creates, shares and publishes content online, whether in the form of debates, fan art, or memes. Example: Star Wars’ official website is full of information that comes in all shapes and sizes:
- TV Shows
- Games and Apps
- Celebrations
- Fan Organizations
- Blogs
- Podcasts
Let’s not forget the countless hashtags related to the movie series (see below the top hashtags ordered by number of uses in the past 30 days), including the #StarWarsEmojis introduced by Twitter, which give you the option to insert emojis with certain Star Wars characters inside tweets.
Example: Isn’t it great to have fans amplify the excitement about Star Wars’ next movie in December by filming and posting their reaction to the trailer on YouTube? (for the climax, go to 1:30)
Lesson #3: Include meme-potential scenes and quotes in your content
Memes are ‘awesome’ for marketing because they are already viral, they’re absolutely great visual content and they attract traffic, likes, and links. Also, a little humor never hurt anyone right? But make sure to use the memes in the right way or you will have to face the consequences… Cult phrases that have been turned into popular memes include (obviously) “May the Force be with you.” but also:
- “I am your father.”
- “The Force is strong with this one.”
- “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
- “Use the Force, Luke.”
- “IT’S A TRAP.”
- “No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”
And more recently since Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens movie trailer: “Chewie, we're home.” Learn how to use memes in a creative way to stay ahead of the curve and be part of an international inside joke!
Lesson #4: Make use of influencers
Work with key individuals who can help you increase awareness and promote your brand and your products to their respective fan bases. Ultimately, influencers can have a meaningful impact on your customer acquisition and customer loyalty, so make sure not to miss out.
Example: Celebrities that are fans of the saga include:
- Matt Stone and Trey Park, creators of the TV show South Park
- Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central
- Daft Punk, a Grammy-award winning electronic music duo
- Seth MacFarlane, creator of the TV series Family Guy
- Conan O'Brien, late-nigh talk show host of Conan
Influencers can do more than express their love for you. As real co-branding partners, discuss strategic alliances to leverage the best of both worlds.
Example:
- The Lego and Star Wars’ legacies mashup
- Mimobot Star Wars-styled designer USB flash drives
- The Vans Star Wars Collection
- Angry Birds Star Wars
- 50 Cent’s SMS Headphones
Conclusion
It is no coincidence that the Star Wars legacy has had such an impact on pop culture. The film series fundamentally changed the perception of the sci-fi genre and Hollywood as a whole, which was the starting point for a perfectly constructed and successful phenomenon, preserved and amplified with the help of social media. So happy Star Wars day everyone! Find out more about today’s special deals and sales using this query on Talkwalker Free Social Media Search tool: ("star wars day" OR starwarsday) AND ("limited edition" OR "star wars sales") and beware of “Revenge of the Fifth” tomorrow (in reference to Revenge of the Sith of course!).
