Rise of Comic Book Movies
In the past decade, we have been fortunate to witness an explosion of superhero movies based on comic books from the biggest movie studios, featuring the highest-paid actors in the world. Since Superman was introduced to the world in Action Comics Vol. 1, superhero movies have seen enormous growth in popularity.Â
The earliest superhero characters that gained huge popularity among readers were Superman and Batman, which were created in the early 1940s. These early characters represented the force of good, they were crusaders for justice, always fighting evil forces and corruption for the peace of their city. These movies had a significant impact on pop culture.Â
Many believe the most significant factor behind the rise of comic book movies was the 2008 economic crash. There were excellent superhero movies before this happened, such as Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan’s Batman series reboot, with a loyal fan base. But after the economic crisis hit, superhero movies went into orbit. All of a sudden, people wanted escapism into a different world, where the hero always won and where the differences between good and evil were obvious.
Along with computers becoming more prevalent, special effects have become more realistic, something that was previously limited for comic book movies. And that was the second reason why superhero movies’ popularity grew. Today, special effects designers have a greater variety of choices to work with, as well as better software and technologies, than they did 20 years ago.
And the third reason for the popularity of comic book superhero movies is their adult audience. Those are generation x and millennials who grew up on comic books during the 1970s-1990s, and now they are adults who can afford to go to the cinema for premieres, to buy figures, t-shirts, and other collections of popular favorite comic book heroes.
The Impact of Super Hero Movies on Pop CultureÂ
Superhero films have grown to be one of the most popular and profitable film genres in the world. Thanks to leaders such as Marvel and DC, who have taken superheroes from comic books to the very top of mainstream pop culture. As of June 2022, the Marvel Cinematic Universe series was the most successful and highest-grossing movie franchise, with a total worldwide box office earnings of $26.6 billion, this achievement is a testimony to the enormous impact and sheer love that audiences have showered upon these remarkable films.
Iron Man was the first Marvel superhero movie that came out in 2008, and it was a very successful franchise of three movies. Soon after, Captain America followed with three movies, as did Thor with his three movies. Spiderman also got his own movie, but most importantly, The Avengers, which is a comic book containing all the well-known superheroes of Marvel, got its own movie. All these movies are going very well, gaining the attention of millions of fans around the world. Overall, superhero movies have had a great influence not only on fans but on pop culture as a whole.
Leverage Pop Culture to Grow Your Brand
People in business shouldn’t turn a blind eye to pop culture and think it’s irrelevant. Mentioning pop culture in creative ways is one of the most effective methods for companies to generate greater customer interest and ultimately grow their business. When businesses ignore it, they’re at a significant competitive disadvantage.
Lego figured this out when they partnered with Star Wars in 1999 to introduce a series of products; this resulted in 700 different new sets, television series, five video games, and some additional products, since their partnership. Also, celebrities, politicians, and sports teams frequently refer to pop culture themes like The Office, Meatless Monday, Friends, and Baby Yoda to stay relevant. There are many examples of pop culture marketing success stories.Â
Five Tips to Boost Your Brand Growth Â
Businesses should be able ‌to identify the right pop culture opportunity at the right time, and the results can be epic. Here’s how to take advantage of pop culture trends to connect with audiences and thereby expand your business:
1. Take advantage of viral trends. A viral trend is a piece of content that is spreading quickly and they happen daily. There are many ways to draw a connection between viral trends and your brand. You just have to observe and be creative. A trending topic that is circling the internet fast should be related somehow to your brand if you decide to use it to your advantage.
2. Create memes. Memes could be easily used as a symbolic reference to specific ideas and beliefs. To use memes successfully, you should consider your audience. How does your targeted audience react to memes in general? Do they understand it? Are they related to them culturally? Such questions should be considered to avoid confusion or insult. The whole point of sharing memes in marketing is to add value to your brand. Memes are great when they are used modestly and when appropriate.
3. Fuse forces with talents. Collaborate with influencers, musicians, and artists, the more talented people you can talk to from as many different backgrounds, the better the end product of your business marketing will likely be.
4. Spark nostalgia. Make your audience feel like kids again by referencing pop culture moments of the past. This is an especially good idea if you have difficulty swiftly producing innovative responses.
5. Timing is crucial. To keep an eye on it, Twitter’s trends section provides hashtags and keywords that are ‌often used in specific regions and globally. Also, Hootsuite lets you search and monitor hashtags, keywords, and discussions across all your social media. Furthermore, keep an eye on digital media leaders like Buzzfeed and Mashable, and pay attention to online forums such as Reddit – lots of trends start there.
To leverage pop culture and grow your brand, it’s essential to dive into the interests and passions of your target audience. One effective way to do this is by providing engaging and relevant content that aligns with popular trends. For instance, if your brand revolves around art and creativity, you can explore opportunities like creating tutorials on popular subjects. For example, you could develop a tutorial, like the web comic book community BIOWARS did, titled “BIOWARS tutorial on how to draw a deer,” focusing on the current fascination with both the franchise and the art of animal illustrations.Â
By interacting with the never-ending flow of popular trends, your company can harness the power of pop culture to achieve optimal results. This can be accomplished by delivering high engagement, connecting with your audience, and establishing your brand’s voice.
The Benefits of Including Pop Culture in Your Marketing Campaigns
Utilizing popular culture can lead to real benefits for your brand, including:
1. More attention. If done properly, using pop culture in your marketing strategy will bring an incredible amount of traffic to your website.
2. New customers and more loyalty. When you’re true to your values and use pop culture topics that relate to those values, your audience will stop and think “Wow these guys really understand me.” Which is leading to new customers and increased loyalty among existing ones.
3. Improved brand authenticity. Your brand will have a personality, and your company will feel more human, compared to distant big old corporations, your brand will actually feel approachable.Â
4. Opportunities for soft sale. You are going to be a brand that delivers ‌fun content that people actually want to consume, along with soft sales that they actually may pay attention to.
5. A better understanding of your customers. Your pop culture campaigns will give you more understanding of your audience’s preferences, interests, goals, and lifestyle.
Your pop-culture campaigns can give you the push you need to learn more about your audience, allowing you to optimize your marketing strategy as a whole, not just your pop-culture campaigns.
