Wickedly Clever Marketing
How the Wicked (2024) movie is taking over the world.
The Wicked (2024) movie marketing campaign has set a new standard for film promotion, crafting a masterful strategy that draws on the lessons of recent blockbusters like Barbie (2023). Through a series of collaborations with international brands, immersive experiences and an international tour rollout, the campaign has captured attention and built anticipation for the film in an innovative way.
At its core, the strategy mirrors the cultural takeover approach seen in Barbie's 2023 campaign. Just as Barbie flooded the market with pink everything, Wicked has embraced its distinct visual and thematic identity - centred around the contrasting worlds of Glinda’s pink and Elphaba’s emerald - to inspire a cross-industry celebration of all things “Wicked.” This approach positions the movie not just as a cinematic event but as a cultural moment that transcends the screen.
What makes the Wicked campaign especially clever is its ability to tap into established fan bases across a wide range of industries. Partnering with international brands like MAC, Camilla, Lego, and Beis isn’t just about product placement, it’s about creating touchpoints that would resonate with wider audiences who might not know about, or be naturally drawn to the musical film. These partnerships align with the movie's themes (often of pink and green, good and bad, nice and wicked), offering consumers a chance to interact with the story through beauty, fashion, toys and lifestyle products.
The campaign leverages the inherent appeal of duality (embodied by Elphaba and Glinda) to appeal to a wide demographic. While Barbie's campaign capitalised on a single pink aesthetic, Wicked’s strategy invites audiences to choose between two distinct identities, adding a layer of personalisation and participation. This duality is echoed in the brand partnerships and the marketing assets, which celebrate the dichotomy of light and dark, nice and wicked, good and bad, pink and emerald.
Wicked also builds on the success of experiential marketing, another hallmark of Barbie's 2023 strategy. Instead of simply releasing branded products, the campaign integrates them into the movie’s narrative. Pop-up events, immersive exhibits, and a high-profile international campaign tour make the experience tactile and engaging. Social media and traditional news outlets amplify these events, sharing content that extends the campaign’s reach organically.
Wicked's marketing campaign is redefining what it means to launch a product into the global market. It’s not just about selling a blockbuster movie - it’s about creating a global phenomenon where every aspect of life feels a little more magical, a little more Wicked.