Even if you aren’t exactly sure what cross-media marketing is, you’ve experienced it. Let’s take the latest Star Wars movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as our example. Before this movie was released to theaters all across the nation, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures disseminated branded promotional items to the public through a vast cross-media marketing campaign.
The movie, its characters, its music…essentially, its most recognizable characteristics were used to confront consumers with Star Wars wherever they went.
- Lunchboxes were branded with Star Wars themes
- Branded merchandise came in form of Star Wars t-shirts, board games, and children’s toys
- Soda cans had characters in action on them
- Billboards displayed epic lightsaber battles to come
- Trailers played before, during and after YouTube videos
- The release date appeared all throughout our social media feeds as ads
- McDonald’s gave away Star Wars toys in its happy meals
- Actors appeared on late-night talk shows
- City buses became marketing storefronts, displaying the brand proudly to all the passengers and bystanders they passed
- Covers of magazines even took up the charge
The list is too exhaustive to detail entirely, but we think you get the point.
How Does Cross-Media Marketing Impact Your Brand?
A cross-media marketing campaign spreads a brand’s marketing message through a multitude of mediums to ensure the target customer base is constantly seeing and therein thinking about the brand and brand message.
It can be subtly deceptive, like a character on a soda can you barely even give a second thought to, or it can be more obvious, like a billboard you pass on your drive to and from work. The power of cross-media marketing is how engrained the message and brand becomes. If you were a targeted viewer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, you likely could spout the date of the movie release to anyone who asked by the time November hit (December 20th, by the way).
Cross-media marketing also allows brands to capture pre-built and pre-loyal audiences. Take for instance the soda can. Brands like Pepsi and Coca-cola have a cult-like following of loyal customers. These customers WILL buy their brand’s soda, no doubt about it. Disney was able to present its marketing materials about Star Wars to a massive pre-built audience, by getting Pepsi to allow characters to appear on the cans. If Disney set out to capture an audience that mirrored the likeness of Pepsi’s audience but started building that following on their own, it would take them decades to build it.
Cross-Media Marketing Takes Advantage of Pre-Established Audiences
By utilizing a cross-media approach brands match their target customer without having to do the work or having to invest the time it would take to generate the same magnitude of reach.
One unexpected but coveted effect cross-media marketing has is its tendency to create and attract collectors. How many children want to collect EVERY Star Wars character McDonald’s offers in its happy meals? How many adults collect Pepsi cans so that they have every can released that promoted Star Wars?
Consumers become brand collectors. They must have the set and will pay the partnered company excessively more to complete their collections. A win for your company promoting its message and a win for the company you partnered with.
How To Run Your Own Cross-Media Marketing Strategy:
To effectively run your own cross-media marketing strategy follow these steps:
- Establish the message you wish to share with your audience to ensure consistency. What is it you are trying to promote? What should people know about you or your product?
- Determine who your ideal audience is. Who is it that you’re trying to attract? What makes them perfect targets for your brand and messaging?
- Determine where your targeted audience lives. What platforms do they use? What products do they buy? What blogs do they read? Where do they shop?
- Define your call to action. What do you want consumers to do or know after they’ve come in contact with your message?
- Identify and solidify partners that serve your targeted customers in the places they visit and shop from in step 3.
- Roll-out your cross-media marketing materials.
- Analyze results during and after your campaign to identify which partners were the most fruitful and which mediums were the most effective at presenting your marketing message.
Velocity Print is a partner you can rely on to create promotional materials and roll-out your cross-media marketing campaigns. Let’s talk strategy! Chat us using the chat feature on your screen or call or email us at 888.372.3487 | infoNY@velocityprint.com.