Deadpool Case Study

8/18/2019 Deadpool Case Study

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Deadpool (2016)


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The Leak - Comic-Con 2014

The test footage instantly spread like wildfire across the Internet, and rapidly had millions of fansbegging and pleading for an actual movie release (even those people not privy to the comic booksthemselves).Those prayers were answered, and before we knew it, a Deadpool movie was being pushedthrough to become a reality. Many are under the impression that there was always going to be aDeadpool film, and this was simply the start of an epic and beautifully entertaining marketing ploy.

http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Deadpool-Leaked-Test-Footage-40230696


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In March 2015, a first-look photo was release depicting Deadpool in his costume lying on a bearskinrug, mimicking the famous Burt Reynolds Playgirl centerfold. The image was a key test to see iffans approved of the costume. They did.

Fox’s marketing operation is being given high marks for their provocative and irreverentcampaign, which launched in earnest almost a year ago. “We treated this as a combination of asuperhero movie and an R-rated comedy. And Ryan was the real genius behind this,” says Foxdomestic marketing chief Marc Weinstock, who made waves at Sony when orchestratingDistrict 9 's marketing campaign.


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RR Addressing the PG-13 Controversy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5TB0pKLj0Y


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Conan O'Brien Appearance

Two weeks later, Fox and the filmmakers convinced Conan O’Brien’s show on TBS tochange its rating to TV-MA so as to debut the first Deadpool red-band trailer. It was the mostviewed red-band trailer in history, garnering 114 million hits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3akK3XvMHQ


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Red Band Trailer

Green Band Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONHBaC-pfskhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3k9CgOGCFQ


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Deadpool Sneak Peak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByUB4d5OA0o


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Teaser Trailer

Premiered at Comic-Con

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G4cjrHYAtE


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How Deadpool Spent Halloween

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr1YnpLiJC8


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Merry Christmas From Deadpool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ZyhGTfUNk


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Red Band Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIM1HydF9UA


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"This is probably as much variety as I've ever done for a campaign. And it traveled more

because so much of it was outrageous and audacious," says Weinstock.Box-office analyst Jeff Bock says fanboys ate it up. “Deadpool is unconventional inways,” says Bock, “but I call it a return to the core values of what comic books offer — anabundance of energy, unbridled excitement, spontaneous comedy throughout andgeneral snarkiness.”

Most everything about the Deadpool campaign was designed to go viral, including abillboard with a poop Emoji that, combined with a skull and an “L,” spelled out thecharacter's name. That and another mock billboard making Deadpool look like a NicholasSparks rom-com appeared in fewer than 10 locations, but were the talk of social media.There was also a "touch yourself tonight" campaign in which Deadpool encourages mento check themselves for early signs of testicular cancer, an April Fool's Day gagsuggesting the movie would be rated PG-13, and an eleventh-hour video from BettyWhite reviewing the movie, among numerous other gags and stunts.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDN5mVOCn4w


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United Synergy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78XHY8B5oL8


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https://youtu.be/LNXSyq2E25I?t=3m


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Australia Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv05IIPRY6Y


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Chinese New Year Promo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoiq-3_twz4


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V-Day 2

Valentine's Day Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo7ExHnFdq8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW3ValAfU5A


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This is perhaps more a feel good story than a marketing stunt, but it works onboth levels. Deadpool and 20th Century Fox decided to reward fans by offeringa surprise screening and advertising it as a fan get-together with a few clipsand perhaps a few giveaways.

Fans got more than they bargained for when they found out that they weregetting an opportunity to see the film weeks early, and were even moreshocked to find out that Ryan Reynolds was actually in attendance (at least fora handful of the screenings). Even better than this story, the word coming outof these surprise screenings that the film is, in fact, really good.


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOiq_A6r8ic


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Tinder


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"Script Leak"


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Deadpool Emoji


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https://www.instagram.com/deadpoolmovie/


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The One Marketing Machine

https://youtu.be/nrw4btrElp8?t=1m46s


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heQkjWWd_hA


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOHNgnzqQdY


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https://youtu.be/TSADUlFKU5k?t=2m18s


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Deadpool 's campaign also had more traditional components, including green-bandtrailers. And the movie invaded the most mainstream of events, the Super Bowl,holding its official press junket the day before the game not far from Levi's Stadium in

the Bay Area.

"At that point, we wanted to be everywhere. And we knew from tracking that we hadreached beyond the core fans. We were getting everybody. Our whole plan was to beaccessible as possible in explaining who Deadpool was while treating the fanbasewith respect," says Weinstock.


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The Ryan Reynolds superhero movie opened to an astounding $132.4 million for thethree-day Valentine's Day/Presidents Day weekend and $152.2 million for the four-day holiday, the biggest R-rated opening of all time and the seventh-biggest for acomic book opening. (The Merc with the Mouth just became Merc with the Money.)

No one saw those kinds of numbers coming — not even Fox. Expectations weretempered due to the film's R rating, unheard of for a comic book property. Not onlythat, it's a "hard" R. But the demographics tell the story: At least 62 percent of ticketbuyers were males, says Fox. And 47 percent were under the age of 25, a highershare than any recent comic book movie, according to exit-polling service PostTrak.Nearly 37 percent of Deadpool 's audience was between the ages of 18 and 24, astellar turnout compared with just 19 percent for Guardians of the Galaxy and 19percent for the more traditional X-Men: Days of Future Past (both of those films wererated PG-13).


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Deadpool Case Study

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