For nearly two decades, Marvel’s superhero pictures have often featured at the summer box office, which begins the first weekend in May. this year, Avengers: Doomsday The tradition was supposed to continue, but when it became clear that the tentpole wouldn’t be ready in time, top Disney film studio executives were in trouble as they met in a conference room at the Disney team building in the Burbank area known for supporting the Seven Dwarves. Who could be their new mainstay?
It was Alan Bergman, a Disney film director, who came up with a new idea: What if they turned conventional wisdom on its head and instead played 20 points?y Drama of the century The devil wears prada 2 To open summer? After all, the first The devil wears Prada He became a hero in the early summer of 2006 when he dared to open for DC and Bryan Singer Superman returns. Pradawhich cost only $40 million to produce, collected a staggering $326 million in ticket sales, while Superman Returns It topped $391 million worldwide against a massive $240 million budget.
Pradastarring Anne Hathaway as an ambitious young journalist who gets a job as assistant editor of a leading fashion magazine. RunwayIt has become a cultural touchstone. Moreover, it has been shown that Hollywood studio bosses who ignore female purchasing power do so at their own peril. The dismissive term “chick flake” was dropped from the lexicon, while Streep received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Miranda Priestly and Hathaway’s turn as Andy Sachs, which established her as a bona fide movie star. It also put Emily Blunt, who plays Assistant No. 1, on the map, while Stanley Tucci became another favorite.
But successfully selling the sequel 20 years after the events of the first film was going to be extremely difficult, even with Streep, Hathaway, Blunt and Tucci returning, along with director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna. A lot has changed in the intervening years. Old print media is an endangered species, including the once invincible empire of Condé Nast, which owns… Vogue magazine And many other leading publications.
However, Disney’s marketing team has succeeded in designing a next-level campaign that the studio says is one of the largest in the company’s history in terms of scope and the largest when it comes to the number of official brand partnerships, with contributions estimated at $250 million. THR I learned exclusively.
The campaign was led by Martha Morrison, President of Marketing, Disney Studios Entertainment, and Lyle Breyer, Executive Vice President of Partnerships, Promotions and Events. Both follow Asad Ayaz, who ran marketing at the film studio during its most successful period in the modern era before taking on additional duties when the pandemic devastated the box office. Earlier this year, after the film studio regained its position as a market leader, Ayaz was promoted to the C-Suite level, where he holds the position of Chief Brand and Marketing Officer for the entire group. At the same time, he remains closely involved in the cinematic side, including film Prada 2 campaign.
Breyer and Morrison recently introduced Hollywood Reporter An insider’s view on how to sell it Prada 2which quickly became the biggest female-fueled film since Warner Bros. Barbie in 2023. In less than two weeks, the $100 million sequel has already surpassed the entire lifetime of its 2006 predecessor after finishing the Mother’s Day weekend with a worldwide total through May 11 of $433.2 million, including $144.8 million domestic and $288.4 million at the foreign box office. To boot, he won Mortal Kombat II in a surprise upset domestically after falling just 43 percent in its second weekend. The decline was only 46 percent abroad. For any studio, a second weekend drop is the true indicator of whether a film has become a sensation.
For the marketing team PradaA May 1 release date couldn’t be more appropriate. Immediately following its opening weekend, the film’s stars and other actors featured in the film, including Lady Gaga, continued to make headlines around the world when they attended the Met Gala on May 4 (the famous annual gathering was featured in the first film, but not in the second). That Mother’s Day fell on the second weekend had another major advantage.
The 2006 film, from Elizabeth Gabler’s long-shuttered Fox 2000 production, was based on Lauren Weisberger’s book about her time at Fox 2000. Vogue magazine Editor Anna Wintour, who has no relation to the former Prada film; The same goes for most fashion houses or other luxury brands that were afraid to upset Wintour, the ultimate OG influencer.
That wasn’t the case this time, as Disney received an influx of requests from dozens of companies.
“The partnership campaigns are unlike anything we’ve done before,” says Breyer. This is a great statement considering Disney is the home of Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation, and 20th Century’s Avatar. She continued: “We made sure that it was the best marketing partnership program ever launched.”
Both Morrison and Breer say the biggest difference between a film like… Prada and Avengersor even Avataris that the story takes place in the current world. “This film lives at the intersection of fashion, media, and pop culture,” says Breyer. “So we were able to create a marketing program that celebrates that.” “Fashion is art and people love beautiful things.”
High impact Prada The partners ran the gamut, from Dior – which plays a major role in the sequel – to Google, the hugely successful Coca-Cola company. Prada Campaigns for Diet Coke and Smartwater, Gray Goose, Mercedes-Benz, cosmetics giant L’Oréal Paris and its luxury subsidiary line Lancôme, Zillow, TRESemmé, and United Airlines, among many others.
The first trailer for The devil wears prada 2 The film achieved more than 222 million views in the first 24 hours of February, becoming the most viewed trailer in the history of the 20th century. While that was certainly cause for celebration, Morrison knew from the start that the biggest challenge in terms of reaching the widest possible audience was winning over members of Generation Z and younger millennials, who make up the two most important cinematic leads. “We’ve seen that there’s remarkably strong interest among those 35 and older. The goal of discovering the 18-to-24 and 25-to-34 age groups has been a priority, and I think from the beginning of tracking ‘until now, we’ve made an incredible amount of progress.’
She’s not wrong. On First Friday, the largest quarter of ticket buyers (29 percent) were between the ages of 25 and 34 — a group evenly split between older members of Generation Z and younger Millennials — while those ages 18 to 24 accounted for 11 percent.
In the language of film marketing, there is paid media, i.e. what the studio spends. Then there is “earned media,” meaning the value of the content created by brand partners and the advertising time they purchase. But it’s no longer just about product placement; This content can be used to launch or promote new marketing lines by customizing content or activations to target a specific demo. This is a double win for Disney, as Morrison was using publicity and the film’s stars to generate interest.
The parallel effort was on full display at this year’s 98th Academy Awards, where Hathaway and Wintour presented together and discussed the first film. L’Oreal Paris began its work Prada Campaign includes an Oscars ad featuring global brand ambassadors Kendall Jenner and Simone Ashley, who play Ms Return in Part Two. The spot, which Jenner jokingly mistook as Miranda Priestly’s new assistant candidate, went viral and was clearly aimed at the younger set.
Lancôme, which was the film’s official skincare partner, used the film to launch its new Longevity MD line, “Age is Nothing But a Number.” In a famous place now, Prada 2 Co-stars Caleb Heron and Pauline Chalamet — yes, she’s Timothée Chalamet’s sister and was his date at the Oscars — reprise their roles in the film as they desperately try to appease their boss and track down the new production line. In a second promotional spot, Chalamet meets Lancôme’s global brand ambassador Isabella Rossellini, who plays the character Amanda Priestley, and asks her if she is wearing the new product.
“We wanted everything to be funny and elaborate,” says Breyer, who worked closely with the brand partners on cross-promotions. “But again, one of the things we tried hard to do was not give away the film, or have the brand sites use a large amount of footage from the film, but instead be part of the world.”
Lancôme’s new line, which debuted on May 1, is not seen in the film even once. Product placement was not the goal; That wasn’t even guaranteed in the contract with Disney, Lancôme general manager Ramsey Burns said in a recent article. This is the first time that the luxury brand has been an official partner in a Hollywood picture. “What was important was the intellectual property we had [got] “For the use and ability to film on set, as well as behind the scenes,” Burns said. “It has to be inclusive of everything – the characters, the plots, the culture. The first The devil wears Prada It was about change, magic, and things like that. The second part focuses more on icons that have increased their power, importance, or vitality over decades.
Other brands who are not official partners were quick to hire the film’s participants to promote their own products Prada 2 Movie-related merchandise, such as J.Crew (they’re technically not supposed to sell such items until the movie starts and the exclusivity period ends). In early April, Streep appeared The Late Show with Stephen Colbertshe wore a blue cashmere sweater that was a reference to Priestley’s infamous lecture on the color sky blue in the first film. The custom piece was commissioned by J.Crew and created by Streep’s designer Micaela Erlanger. A version of the jacket costing $198 later went on sale, but sold out immediately, as did a more modest version costing $49.99.
Tucci recently assigned a location to TJ Maxx, which was also not an official partner.
For Disney, it’s all great as long as it doesn’t break the window of exclusivity that official partners enjoy until the film officially opens. (Ryan Reynolds and George Dewey’s ad agency Maximum Effort helped execute the spots for L’Oréal Paris, Lancôme, and TJ Maxx, and is among a cadre of savvy ad agencies that brands turn to when executing multi-faceted campaigns.)
Influencers are also angry now, and they were at every stop alongside the regular media during that time PradaExpanded world tour. Between them, Hathaway, Blunt and Tucci have toured the world, from Mexico City to Asia, then back to New York for the world premiere before heading to the London premiere and European tour.
One product from an official partner that was seen throughout the tour, and in the film, is a customized version of the luxurious 2026 edition of the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class also appeared in the first film, but that was probably a century earlier. Mercedes said the complementary partnership represents a new campaign that is the first of its kind from the brand. In addition to the vehicle, campaign assets included a custom spot featuring film footage and key visuals for print and digital advertising.
“Reminding people what they loved so much about the first film and asking them to come and revisit these characters and see where they are 20 years later was definitely a big factor in getting audiences of all ages excited,” Morrison says.
By all accounts, Disney’s marketing army succeeded. Campaign for Prada 2 It was widely praised, including its wittiest moments. Here are some examples of brand partnership content, as well as notable advertising wins.
That’s it.
