Spider-Man: Homecoming
Columbia Pictures
Multicultural Publicity + Promotions
The MRKT
Challenge
Reintroduce a second reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, and the first within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to multigenerational Hispanic and African-American consumers, with an emphasis on millennials, teens and families
Solution
Crafted a robust Hispanic- and African-American-targeted campaign anchored in the following key strategies:
- Created Hispanic and African-American media champions early on via exclusive set visits, Free Comic Book Day press mailers, various trailer placements and long-lead inclusion in top monthly magazines
- Capitalized on the film’s diverse cast via interviews with key Hispanic and African-American outlets at the New York junket; dedicated Hispanic press days with Tony Revolori and Selenis Leyva in Miami and Los Angeles, respectively; in-studio interviews with African-American female leads Zendaya and Laura Harrier on women’s lifestyle web show Essence Live and FanBrosShow podcast, respectively; and additional phone interviews with African-American actors Bokeem Woodbine and Garcelle Beauvais
- Brought the resonant everyday hero theme to the forefront by orchestrating a “Local Hero to Super Hero” activation in Miami complete with a ceremony, featuring co-star Tony Revolori honoring a 19-year-old local Latino hero, which was covered by Un Nuevo Día (Telemundo), Suelta la Sopa (Telemundo), Ventaneando (Azteca América) and Yahoo en Español (espanol.yahoo.com), among others
- Secured Hispanic and African-American media coverage and celebrity influencers for the world premiere, which included a specialty platform for leading national morning show ¡Despierta América! (Univision)
- Created one-on-one word-of-mouth engagement with Hispanic and African-American consumers via prime placement at several key events, including the largest Latino event in Los Angeles, Fiesta Broadway, which featured a larger-than-life climbing wall for an audience of 300,000; and BET Experience, which drew a crowd of more 350,000 African-American attendees
- Executed a 12-market Hispanic and 5-market African-American hot-ticket screening program promoted on top-tier broadcast, online and print media
Results
Sony’s highest-grossing 2017 film, with Hispanics and African-Americans representing 37% of the box office