Some Not-so-Obvious Marketing Decisions the Deadpool & Wolverine Movie Excelled at!

I am trying to break through a writer's block, so to get the writing going, I decided to write a small article on some aspects of why the Deadpool & Wolverine movie is a hit in a time of super-hero movie fatigue! Consider this as a not-so-serious, but still a marginally academic take on the same.

1. Lets analyse the situation first: A lot of talk about superhero fatigue and recent superhero movies didn't fare well. In a way, its a symptom of an arguably declining marketplace where products have become too commoditised and consumers have lost interest due to a lack of innovation.

Here's how you have most of your superhero movies: There's a superhero, there's a villain, there's an encounter between the two, there's an initial failure, there's a moral resolution, the hero's journey, blah blah blah, the hero emerges the champion, and there's some cameo or post-credit that ties into a future film.

Does the above snippet sound very familiar to you? Of course it should, this is what superhero movies have become nowadays, akin to what we can refer to as a hybrid 'narrative prototype' with regards to how we store and process routine information from memory. You just need to add in a few context specific details to the prototype and you have the full detailed movie!

We already do this type of 'filling up' of prototypes and schemas stored in memory when we process common day to day objects and ideas. So, considering superhero movies can also be simplified to such an extent tells you the extent of commoditization here, and the downward marketplace standing of the product in the marketplace of the movies.

2. What sets the Deadpool & Wolverine (abbreviated as D&W here forth) movie apart in this supposed swansong-era of superhero movies? I am glad you asked. I believe it is because the movie gets its marketing and communication strategy on point, particularly with regards to the core 'product'. Let us start with the most basic of the considerations- the target demographic. This is an area most recent products (superhero movies) have struggled with!

D&W gets its target demographic spot-on. It knows what the product is and who it is meant for. The uncompromising nature of sticking to the gritty adult theme while embracing the 'R' rating (or its equivalent) gives a clear signal about who it is intended for, and it delivers the product to cater to that demographic. So, they got their Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) spot on.

3. Because it knows its target audience so well, the movie-team is able to communicate properly with the audience using the narrative within the movie, as well as the narrative in the marketplace.

Within the movie: This movie is a great example of an entity following Gricean norms of Communication excellently. To those who don't know, Gricean norms are the generally accepted expectations we follow when communicating with each other, that help us to make sense of abstract or generic descriptives along with any missing information, so that we can make contextual sense in a concrete manner despite any shortcomings in the content shared. As such, we rely on several mutually understood signals and implications privy to past interactions. Think of it as knowing a sort of a common language between each other beyond the mere universally common language.

D&W did this excellently by using ideas, language, and callbacks in the movie, that the movie-maker and its audience would understand very well. While others beyond-the-know would not get what is happening, those privy to the same norms would be able to understand very well. D&W knew people who had followed the X-Men (Wolverine) franchise, the Deadpool franchise, and the previous FOX studio franchises, would be the core audience, and it spoke the language and used the norms particularly catered to the target audience.

This is why (SPOILER) when you saw cameos of Human-Torch, Elektra and Blade, the more the audience were in line with the target demographic- the one's who are in-the-know, the more they appreciated it! Considering movies are products that rely heavily on narrative tools, getting the communication norms correct with the target audience was a great move! This also leads to point 5 in the list later on.

Outside the movie: The narrative in the trailers and promo materials were in line with expectations of audience. Its a tricky situation here- the trailers need to show what the audience get, while not fully revealing what they get. Considering the unique positioning the D&W movie had compared to competing products (other established friendly-superhero movies), this was able to be done with just signalling the distinct narrative tone used, without actually needing to dip into the core features of the product (the story content)!

4. Unique positioning not only within the marketplace due to following the R-rating decisions, but also a unique positioning within the narrative by deviating from the established narrative prototypes in the superhero-movie marketplace. Deadpool is not your usual hero. The typical moral resolution and hero's journey, while present, are unique to Deadpool because of the deviation from being a typical hero. This 'point of difference' sets off a cascade of narrative deviation from the typical narrative prototype, which is what draws interest to the novel and innovative product in the currently declining market for stereotypical superhero movies.

In fact, given what we know of successfully innovative products introduced to a declining marketplace being a catalyst to spur a possible increased re-interest or renewed interest in the product category, further innovative encouragement among other companies, possible novelty as well as renewed vigor in investment, it may be possible that this movie may re-invigorate the superhero movie marketplace at least in the short-term, provided other companies (studios) consider this as an inflection point to change course and learn from the market as well.

5. The unique communicative signals used, particularly the narrative devices of surprise cameos and insider knowledge (the one with the 'Layfield's Just Feet'made me laugh out loud; I'm not sure if I got the spelling right though..) spurs those in-the-know to engage in signalling their 'insider' status to chase social clout. Particularly among fandoms and brand communities, social clout by being an insider or 'belonging' by signalling insider-information is very important. By enabling the same, in addition to endearing itself to its target demographic by the use of the same, D&W also ensured organic word of mouth purely due to the fans impression management and signalling tendencies! It is a win-win situation. Such nuggets are also pay-offs or rewards for long-term fans for their enduring loyalty to the product. Such signals of care and concern for involved audiences is sure to increase the audience's already high self-brand connection even further!

6. Brand Power and Successful Brand-Collaboration. There's a reason why so many past X-Men movies have relied on Hugh Jackman's Wolverine character to raise their movies' profiles. Over the past two decades, the Wolverine character has garnered the most brand value among the X-Men movie characters and is instantly recognisable. Keep in mind, the past runaway hit 'Logan' was also a Wolverine movie that positioned itself apart from other superhero flicks of the time with its raw emotion and down to earth grittiness. Deadpool franchise has also been unique and has its own brand power thanks to Ryan Reynolds' impressive branding and marketing efforts in the past for the franchise. D&W is a great case of two brands collaborating successfully to launch a product that maintains the original essence of the two brands while creating something new and unique. D&W is not a downplayed version of brand D or brand W, but can be considered to have the original essences of what makes them individually unique, to give raise to something new! The successful collaboration of two brands, especially those which have their own following based on unique original nuances, is very hard to achieve, but by respecting the same and incorporating them without compromise, D&W managed to get it right!

Of course there are further layers with regards to the many marketing ads, tie-ins, and promotions for the movie, that have also played a part in its success, but I believe the focus on getting the basic product related decisions correct from the start, set up D&W for a win even before the promotions started in earnest.

Anyway, this is a quick write up and is just my personal opinion and take on the situation at the moment. Pardon any typos, and pardon me if your opinions don't necessarily agree with my snippets here. There are many ways to look at a problem and approach the same! You do you!

Cheers! Now its back to what I was trying to write before I got started on this piece!