‘Wicked’ $350M Promo Push Unprecedented For A Hollywood Studio; Bewitches Target, Lexus, Starbucks & More
If you were shopping in Target this weekend, you didn’t hear the sound of Christmas carols over the loudspeaker, rather the showstopper “Defying Gravity” from Universal’s Wicked.
But there’s more, for on the main throughfare at the Sunset Boulevard location is a standee of Wicked attire, from slippers to sweatshirts. Meanwhile, over at their Starbucks, you had a choice between Elphaba’s Cold Brew and Glinda’s Pink Potion.
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While it should be a marshmallow world in the winter, it’s a Wicked one, and we’re just living in it. For Universal Pictures and its lineup of 450 promotional partners, the studio has defied all gravity in racking up a media value for the Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo tentpole of $350 million — the most ever for a Hollywood theatrical release. That number beats the promo partner campaigns of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($220M), 2019’s Avengers: Endgame ($200M) and 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($170M).
By the way, that’s gratis media value for the studio, and doesn’t include the estimated $150M it shelled out in global P&A for the first part of the Jon M. Chu feature take of the 21-year old Broadway musical.
Even more gobsmacking is how Universal tripled down in committing to its sell of the movie version of this Broadway show. The genre’s success in recent years at the box office has been one of slot machine yields: While Les Miserables and Into the Woods shined at the box office pre-Covid making $443M and $213M worldwide, respectively, a string of big-screen musicals bit the dust from 2019’s Cats ($76M worldwide) onward including West Side Story ($76M), Dear Evan Hansen ($19M) and even Chu’s big-screen take of In the Heights ($45M WW).
However, Wicked is something of a female-skewing Harry Potter property, having grossed north of $5 billion during its stage run. For Uni, selling it short on this combined $320M film production just wasn’t an option.
“We knew the size of the enterprise and we had to treat it like a cultural event,” Universal Chief Marketing Officer Michael Moses tells Deadline.
He adds, “This is IP, but there’s not an existing film franchise, so we felt obligated to do everything to become an event.”
The yield in regards to Wicked‘s promo-partner campaign that prioritized retail? How about a reach of 2 billion shoppers and 25 billion impressions? Also, did we forget to mention the busting of domestic and global box office records: Wicked scored the best ever opening for a title based on a Great White Way show at $112.5M in the U.S. and Canada, and $162.5M globally.
Curating the lineup of brands entailed inviting them to a Wicked fair, essentially a set visit to the London shoot where advertisers became immersed in production designer Nathan Crowley’s Emerald City and massive Shiz University sets. Potential promo partners heard from Chu, producer Marc Platt and even got a special in-person performance from stars Grande and Erivo. Universal shot video from the Wicked fair and then took it on the road, reaching out and enlisting brands in eight other markets around the globe.
“We were so inspired by the vision of the filmmakers including the scope and scale of the production and artistry both in front of and behind the camera,” says Universal President of Franchise Management and Brand Strategy David O’Connor.
“We started very early. Our goal was to make a cultural defining moment which would not only drive box office, but connect with fans and consumers and go beyond the Broadway’s show’s following. There’s something joyful, fantastical and affectious about these characters,” O’Connor adds.
In regards to Uni’s lassoing of partners, there was Lexus. Now, there aren’t any cars in Wicked, just the sleek train that takes Elphaba and Glinda to Oz. Typically car partners look for their vehicles to make cameos in movies, but in the case of the luxury automobile, they responded to the song “Defying Gravity.” Everything that ditty represented reflects the new Lexus interface. There was a 360-degree marketing campaign with a co-branded, 30-second custom spot featuring the 2024 Lexus TX, the theme of which was “Experience Ozmazing.” The spot is airing on Hulu, YouTube and linear throughout the promotional window, running October 21-December 6.
Typically a fast food partner is one of the top promo partners dollarwise in any film’s campaign, however, Universal had a one-up in Starbucks, with the $115.4 billion coffee chain teaming on its first ever film partnership with activations in 20,000 stores around the world. This includes a line of Wicked tumblers in addition to Glinda Pink Potion (aka a Mango Dragonfruit Starbucks Refreshers Beverage with a swirl of creamy coconut milk and a sparkle of ruby-red cookie crumbs) and Elphaba’s Cold Brew (Starbucks Cold Brew topped with frothy matcha foam and a refreshing peppermint kick) for pure sorcery in every sip. We understand there were other coffee chain suitors, but Starbucks won out. Peg it to the green.
Myriad retail partners aimed at varying demos were in on the magic. Wicked‘s Emmy- and Tony-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell launched a fashion line inspired by the pic’s costumes. The pic’s director of photography didn’t just shoot the Target spot that starred Erivo, but also one centering on Comcast’s Xfinity with Grande. The Target ad also shows off Wicked merch.
At Bloomingdale’s, Wicked-themed installations line the display windows of their historic flagship location in Manhattan. In addition, the movie is taking over its holiday catalog, while their iconic bags are going green and pink at 35 locations. There was a window unveiling event held November 13 with a guest appearance by Erivo.
Meanwhile, over in London, there was another decking of windows at Liberty department store, seen above.
In a final coup, Wicked screamed all over the Amazon ecosystem, from Alexa talking in the voices of Erivo’s Elphaba and Grande’s Glinda, to a Wicked brand store, a Seattle Amazon sphere activation, a push on Amazon music, Twitch influencer livestreams, Prime Member early screenings (which racked up $2.5M last Monday), as well as a Thursday Night Football custom pre-show integration.
Not only were there Lego toys, but also a “brickified trailer” playing to the whimsy of both singing sorceresses and toy bricks. And how can we forget Mattel, specifically a line of stunning dolls that can sing (lest we forget the toy brand listing the wrong URL on boxes, a destination for the porno studio Wicked Pictures). Still, no harm seen from that mishap as far as last weekend’s ticket sales go. Dolls of note are Glinda, Elphaba and Marissa Bode’s Nessarose.
The Google Android phone and Pixel had the coveted google Delight feature for Wicked among other pushes for the mobile device.
Hilton is offering up a spellbinding Wicked suite at New York Hilton Midtown, where guests can ‘Stay Like’ Wicked between November 21-January 5. The suite features an enchanting entrance with Emerald City-inspired wallpaper. There’s also a sophisticated living area styled after the Wizard’s Throne Room and the art deco aesthetic of the Land of Oz. The suite’s bedroom is decked out in Elphaba green and Glinda pink.
Other Wicked partners include cosmetic brands r.e.m beauty, OPI, Voluspa, Wella and Ulta stores. Yummies from Betty Crocker and KitKat, and fashion stores and lines like H&M, Aerie, Cotton On, Crocs, Aldo and Cambridge Satchel, as well as spirits such as Pernod Ricard and Absolut Vodka.
Such is par for the course for Universal, to be everywhere all at once around the globe with its marketing campaigns, whether it’s the first Jurassic Park back in 1993, Jim Carrey’s 2000 title How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the overseas push on No Time to Die, or the Despicable Me franchise. Back in the 1990s when the studios began folding into networks and creating bigger congloms, it was with the intention of capitalizing on promoting IP throughout all spectrums of an entertainment empire. When it comes to vertical integration, make no mistake, but NBCUniversal under Comcast is built better than a Swiss watch.
Adds Moses, “The world doesn’t operate like a monoculture any more, so you have to be everywhere.”
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