10 Unorthodox Black Panther Marketing Secrets Exposed

1. Repurpose Content. The Marvel Cinemative Universe (MCU) pretty much has a ticket to mega bucks for the foreseeable future because the world is now in a super hero frenzy. Black Panther is the 18th back-to-back hit — making billions for Marvel/Disney in just a decade. All they’re basically doing is repurposing popular comics of yesteryear into cartoons, TV shows, LIVE plays, and movies. No starting from scratch trying to reinvent the wheel. What content can you revive and repurpose that could potentially be a game-changer in your life or business?

2. Craft Your Own Narrative. Rewrite your story if you must but don’t let others tell it for you because they can’t capture your unique voice and message. That’s what branding is all about. For you to stand out, your message must be clear and compelling to your ideal audience. Though Black Panther has a history, Coogler made use of current trends and social issues to strenghten the film’s positioning and perception. From the choice of actors to the release date, the narrative surrounds a message that was not left up to someone else to craft. What’s your story? Who crafted it?

3. Disrupt The Status Quo. Don’t try to blend in or fit in. Stand out instead and do so like a sore thumb. The Black Panther could not be another Iron Man, Ant Man, Spider Man, Thor, or Avengers film. It would have just been “more of the same” and audiences won’t pay over $700 million for that. Though all those films were successful in their own right, the Black Panther disrupted an entire industry and sent a pointed message to Hollywood and the other entertainment elites. This is similar to what Uber did to the Taxi business. It’s similar to what AirBnB did to the Hotel industry and also similar to what Powur is now doing to the energy industry. This is what copywriting and marketing legends Bill Glazer and Dan Kennedy calls, Outrageous Advertising. Marketing your products, programs, and services today require that you make bold moves and shake things up as much as you can. Are you ready to disrupt an entire industry if needs be by going against the grain?

4. Do a Pre-Launch. Create massive buzz to get everyone talking — good and bad. Marvel released teaser trailers at key moments to stir up conversation and peek interest. Once the views started racking up on YouTube and other video sites, the chatting and reviews began rolling in. When everyone is talking about your product, program, or service, (even some negativity can be productive), it’s like receiving free coverage and publicity. News sites were featuring articles and clips almost daily. So much so that once tickets went on pre-sale, several millions of dollars were recouped almost overnight. Then came the private screenings and premiers. And the rest is a wrap! Plan your pre-launch carefully and execute with excellence and you’ll confirm whether or not your business is resonnating with your niche.

5. Find Early Adaptors. They become the best word-of-mouth advertisers and will further help you get your message out to the world. An epic article by Variety, titled, ‘Black Panther’s’ Grassroots Marketing Movement Is Unlike Any Other Marvel Movie, confirms this fact. So many people organized screenings of this super hero film for youth and families of low-income communities. Some went as far as crowdfunding to get just about anyone to watch the blockbuster who really wanted to see it but may not have had the means to do so. Can you feel the intensity of this movement? Celebrities and organizations got in on the action too — reserving entire movie theaters to host special screenings.These super fans are similar to those who wait in long lines for three days and more just to get the latest iPhone. Can you attract a good number of early adoptors to support your mission or cause ?

6. Optimize For Circular Viralocity. It’s amazing that to this day, professionals and entrepreneurs aren’t effectively using the power of circular viralocity (term coined by Brendon Burchard), afforded by social media channels, in marketing their business. Type hastags #BlackPanther, #Vibranium and any other phrase mentioned in this movie and you’ll see the power of social media in making this film go viral. Multiple Facebook pages and groups, for example, are named Black Panther. Poster pics and movie scenes grace the feeds of sites such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. When you have this much traction and fans sharing your content, going viral is organic and inevitable. Take notes my friend and begin to make good use of advertising on these social networks as much as possible.

7. Launch on a Meaningful Date. Why didn’t Marvel/Disney release this film in the summer, during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even New Year’s? Because they know their audience and the importance of launch timing. They strategically picked February which is coupled with Valentine’s Day and President’s Day — perfect for sales and impact. The entire month, being Black History month, would sustain the film much longer than a few days or weeks in the minds of its fans. The point is clear as seen by the obvious response of over $700M in just about 2 weeks. Who knows. “Within a month, Black Panther could be a $1Billion franchise.” — RL Chance (Tweet that!) Be sure to pick an ideal date and time to launch your project. As a #1 bestselling author, I understand this very well because I also take care to be sure that I release my book on certain days that will also not compete with the typical days for releasing blockbuster movies or a day when another high profile author releases his or her book. If you plan this right, you can ride the waves of key events, holidays, and activities that so happen to be taking place during your launch.

8. Accessorize. This should be a given but think about what spin offs you can add to your product offering. If your launch is successfull, there’s already a buzz for what your thing so why not add posters, clothing, toys, DVDs, etc. to the mix? Whenever a super hero film hits theathers, there is bound to be accessories and other things to upsell, cross-sell and cross promote. And why not? Did you notice how hoards of fans were wearing African garb to see the Black Panther in movie theaters? This is a great way to maximize your marking dollars. Instead of having multiple stand alone marketing pieces, you can, as it were, ride the back of your main offer to create extra revenue streams.

9. Globalize. The surpassing of expected sales at the box office is not entirely due to support in North America and the UK only. These record-breaking numbers are greatly assisted by the global appeal and impact of the film. And it hasn’t even been released in China and Japan as yet (at the time of this post)! That’s the power of today’s global market. Technology has further opened the world of free enterprise like nothing else before. Making it easier for you to get your product, program, or service seen, heard, and experienced on an international level. Plus, you’ll be singing Black Panther all the way to the bank when you go global.

10. Make it a Wakanda Affair. This fictional country on the continent of Africa is central to the Black Panther movie. Now almost everyone wants to go to Wakanda on a one-way trip. Super heroes always have high-tech gadgets, sleek clothing, all around cool stuff, and the producers of this film lived up to every aspect of this. The nation represents so much of what individuals yearn for and relentlessly pursue. Things like sophistication, excellence, power, potential, fulfillment, diversity, class, style, taste, and strength. Copywriters and marketers love this because their job is to create assets that resonnate with the language already taking place in their customer’s mind. It’s no wonder then that people all over the world have bought into the slogan, Wakanda Forever! Welcome to the new world of skills monetization in the digital age. Its’ time to turn on your super hero marketing powers and make your “thing” sizzle in the eyes of your tribe. Make use of all the tech that’s readily available at your finger tips. You may not have virbranium but with the Internet, mobile technologies, and a global workforce of the smartest people, bringing your project to life and promoting it in style is just an outsource gig away.