KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Powerful Storytelling

• The Integration of LEGO products

• Engagement with audiences and further promotion

The Powerful Storytelling

Its success is mainly reflected in its role as a toy company, which lets toys “tell” the story. The Lego Movie follows the story of Emmet, an ordinary construction worker, and how he discovers his extraordinary talent and defeats the bad guys. Moreover, The Lego Movie brings the characters to life through the familiar toy characters and the realistic feeling of the movie. Therefore, I would say its uniqueness attracted a large audience and increased the visibility of the LEGO brand.

In addition, I think there are two contradictions that run through the film: order and creation. In The Lego Movie, Emmet’s toy world and the human world has influenced each other. So having fallen into the abyss, Emmet also enters the human world and finds that his story is rooted in the fantasies of a young boy in a basement full of Legos. Like Emmet, the little boy breaks his father’s rules by sneaking into the basement and disrupting his father’s toys under the lure of Legos. But his father didn’t build his Legos at will, he just built them according to instructions.

So it seems to me that this movie is not just a movie to promote the LEGO brand. It uses an adventure story of good and bad to show us that there is nothing wrong with following the rules like the father in the movie, but that we also need imagination and creativity to change the world. That’s what Lego is all about: creativity. Scott Donaton (2004) mentioned that

“The Lego Movie made an intersection of content and commerce by transformational powers of new technologies”.

The Integration of LEGO products

The Lego Movie integrated the LEGO products and the film’s plot which its success. It doesn’t make the audience feel that it is a brand promotion film, but is treated as an independent film. However, the movie’s main character merchandise and character suits have achieved high sales after the movie’s release. For example, the characters and vehicles that appear in the movie have corresponding toys after the end of the movie. With the huge influence of LEGO toys, the next Lego Movie could be released. From Hardy‘s thesis (P6, 2018),

“A profound convergence is underway between media and marketing”

Importantly, the main characteristic of branded content is a form of integration without separation. The Lego brand doesn’t just sell its products. Instead, the movie tells the audience that Lego is coming out with a cool set of bricks. They have strengthened its connection with audiences through movies. So I think The Lego Movie enhances the personal connection between the toys and the audience. Show the audience that LEGO toys do not just build a model through the instructions. It can be transformed into different forms, just like people have all kinds of possibilities.

The brand as ‘an object or medium for the exchange of information between “producers” and “consumers”.

By Lury, 2004: 62

Engagement with audiences and further promotion

Like all toy companies, Lego knows they have two audiences. One is the child who wants to play with the toy, and the other is the parent who holds the purse. So The Lego Movie uses both father and child characters in the movie to tell the audience “Why is Lego worth buying?” . Because it can enhance the connection between the children and parent. As in the end of the film, the father and son break the order and build their own Lego, they enjoyed the time of themselves. So “The Lego Movie” as an animated film not only attracted children, but also attracted audiences of other ages. Moreover, LEGO products are also marked with different age groups on the packaging, which provides consumers with different choices. And also increases the number of consumers who buy LEGO products.

After the success of the first “The Lego Movie” in 2014, Lego has released many follow-up films. These include 2017’s “The Lego Batman Movie” and “The Lego Phantom Ninja Movie.” The successful launch of these films also helped LEGO brand do free brand publicity. The LEGO company doesn’t defining Lego products as “toys” alone, rather than as an expression of creativity. So I think The Lego Movie is a successful branded content.

Recommended Readings

Anand, V. (2022). The LEGO Movies – Great Examples of Branded Content Point of View. Point of View.

Donaton, S. (2004). Madison & Vine : why the entertainment and advertising industries must converge to survive. 

Hardy, J. (2018). STUDYING MEDIA AND ADVERTISING CONVERGENCE.

Lury, C. (2004). Brands. doi:https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203495025.

Smithson, P. (2014). The Lego Movie: content marketing at its finest. The Guardian.

The Guardian. (2014). The Lego Movie isn’t a great film, it’s a brilliant commercial , Noah Kristula-Green.

Wight, K. J. (2019)  The Lego Movies: The Building Blocks of Transbranding. The Transmedia Blueprint.

 Brand Case Study (2018): How Lego Built Its Content Empire – HeadsUp Marketing.

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Featured Products

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Media challenge or subvert the stereotypes of women

• The marketed feminism of popular culture

• Neoliberalism and commodification

Media challenge or subvert the stereotypes of women

In the past decades, traditional media have conveyed traditional images of women on television, such as housewives and damsels in distress （Basaran, 2023）. In the present, popular media have redefined women’s identity and they are portrayed as independent and strong individuals.

HM also offers a new interpretation of the word ‘Lady‘ and a new way of presenting it in their latest autumn and winter advert in 2016. This one-minute advert shows women of different races, body types wearing HM’s latest styles of the season. Most importantly, the advert is shot from an everyday perspective, with the models doing daily things. It reduces the sense of detachment from the audience. This also reflects the core of HM’s Autumn 2016 collection:

Make beauty not unattainable, and different types of ‘Lady’ have the right to pursue it.

And the music used for this advert is a remix of Tom Jones’ ‘She’s a Lady‘. It expresses a man’s appreciation for the woman he loves and the honour of having her. For instance, ‘What she’s got is hard to find, and I don’t wanna lose her’. And the chorus of the song keeps repeating ‘She’s a lady’, emphasising the author’s respect for women. This emphasis shows the independence of a woman with a distinctive personal character. Therefore, I would say the choice of the background music in this advert linked with the theme.

Pay more attention on the model choices in this advert, it uses many different angles to show the diversity and possibilities of women. For example, photographed the famous British model Adwoa Aboah with a buzz cut; a muscular woman; and a women who is not slender enough. It shows that women should not have so many constraints and requirements, they can be all kinds of characteristics of themselves.

The marketed feminism of popular culture

In the context of neoliberal capitalism, pop culture’s marketised feminism is strong through digital media (p18,Banet-Weiser,2019). For example, these are reflected in films (eg. Barbie) as well as in pop music (eg. Doja Cat’s “Women”), etc. At the aim of these pop culture displays of popular feminism is the need for young girls to be confident（Chapter 3,Banet-Weiser,2019).

“Emerges forcefully in a neoliberal capitalist context and via networked digital media.”

“Popular feminism associated with discourses of ‘empowerment’ and consumption.”

Banet-Weiser, 2019

In this HM advert, the content shot is based on this core. It conveys to the female audience an attitude of being confident to be themselves. For example, ‘a young girl unzips her trousers and eats a plate of fries alone on her bed’, the act of unzipping her trousers is more daily and breaks the stereotype that women should eat less.

As well as the fact that the advert also features this model’s armpit hair, it shows that women can be more diverse. So I think this advert is more of a pop-feminism campaign to appeal to a wider female audience. With HM appropriately portraying women as ‘special‘, ‘independent‘, ‘fearless‘, ‘confident’, etc. having a sense of freedom.

Neoliberalism and commodification

Banat-Weiser (2019) has mentioned feminism is the easiest ‘item’ to sell as a commodity and the easiest concept to brand in a capitalist economy.HM uses this concept to brand  feminism, hitting women emotionally while promoting the product.

“In a capitalist, corporate economy of visibility, those feminisms that are most easily commodified and branded are those that become most visible”

Banat-Weiser, 2019

So that you end up near the emotional effect to the product and the emotional value of the purchase outweighs the product value. The advert also depicts neo-liberal and individualistic ideas.

From my perspective, it emphasises that everyone should strongly express their own characteristics and personal values. This in itself is a very subjective realisation as everyone has their own different characteristics. The bravery of the ladies in the film to be what they want themselves to be to infect every audience. Therefore in the context of neo-liberal capitalism, this advert’s strong rise on popular feminism through online digital media has the help of each of the ‘Ladies’.

Recommended Readings

Banet-Weiser, S. (2018) ‘Introduction’, Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny. Durham, NC: Duke.

Başaran, B. (2023). Women on screen: How TV shows redefine modern femininity. Daily Sabah.

Gilliland, N. (2016). Why women are talking about H&M’s latest ad campaign, Econsultancy.

Ilyashov, A. (2016). This Fashion Ad Completely Rethinks What A ‘Lady’ Acts (& Looks) Like.

Liu, R. (2019). Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny – Book Review. LSE Business Review

Logan, E. (2016). Watch H&M’s Stunning, Relatable, Subtly Feminist New ‘She’s a Lady’ Ad. Glamour.

Rottenberg, C. (2018). How neoliberalism colonised feminism – and what you can do about it. The Conversation.

Featured Products

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Aerie – #AerieReal Campaign

• The Creators of UGC (User-Generated Content)

• Consumers of Aerie’s product

• Who’s the biggest “winner”? 

Aerie – #AerieReal Campaign

The #AerieReal Campaign was launched in 2014 owned by American Eagle outfitters. It has been prompted by the intimate apparel brand in order to challenge traditional beauty and encourage inside authenticity. The aim of this campaign used to promote realistic which has attracted a lot of audiences post their “no filter” selfies on the social media.

The #AerieReal campaign was a major turning point in the brand’s growth. American Eagle’s stock is up 114% year-over-year, and Aerie’s growth has been even faster. Just last year, Aerie was valued at $500 million, $200 million higher compared to 2017.

The Creators of UGC (User-Generated Content)

The #AerieReal campaign was able to attract highly discussion needs to thank to the positive publicity it received from users. Jennifer Foyle, head of Aerie, said after the campaign’s success, “The #AerieReal campaign was very real, and that’s what attracted the resonance of a number of young women “. And the idea of the #AerieReal campaign was to capture the reality in reaction and create an unpolished aesthetic.

The #AerieReal campaign provides a platform for users to showcase their beauty and encourages them to post their unique beauty. Even now, #AerieReal is still very popular on Instagram, for example. It has 395,901 posts under the hashtag #aeriereal. So #AerieReal and UGC creators are a mutually beneficial relationship.

And on Twitter, the #AerieReal campaign continues. More users are now choosing to post about their daily lives and add the hashtag #AerieReal to express their daily life.

So #AerieReal is not just a perfect campaign, but turning #AerieReal into a life attitude. I certainly can see that participants in this event not only just share photos of themselves, but also brought their own heat and exposure. In the meantime, it also encouraged other participants to have a try. Finally, I would like to say it enhances Aerie’s sense of community connection.

“#AerieReal was rooted in the community from the beginning, and as Aerie grew, those customers grew with us”.

As Stacey McCormick, VP of marketing at #AerieReal, 2021

Consumers of Aerie’s product

Therefore, a successful product cannot be separated from the right campaign promotion. After the launch of the #AerieReal campaign, American Eagle also successfully expanded into the swimwear and casual wear categories. And also got a good response.

For example, TikTok user Hannah Schlenker once posted a video of her 30s wearing a pair of cross-leggings from Aerie. In the video, she simply wiggles her body to the music. But so far it has 7.8 million views and more than 8710,000 likes. And after the video went viral, the leggings sold out six times, with more than 100,000 people signing up to receive restocking notices. 

@hannahschlenker

Yes queen give us nothing (dc: @rianneneill)

♬ Drummer Boy – Justin Bieber

In the end, she quickly became a spokesperson for the Aerie brand. Subsequently, Aerie also successfully launched the cross belt flared pants, tennis wear and swimwear and so on. These derivative products have also been promoted and advertised at Hannah Schlenker.

Who’s the biggest “winner”? 

In the case of the #AerieReal Campaign, it’s hard to define who benefited the most from the campaign. Because the success of this activity is multifaceted and involves multiple interests. But I would like to say consumers of Aerie’s products and brands can be the big winners. Because both prompted the brand influence and popularity of Aerie. Derivative products were also released after the success of this event. 

The brand itself has benefited from the #AerieReal Campaign. Because meaningful marketing resonates with consumers and increases customer stickiness. At last, the main aim of #AerieReal is the biggest winner from my perspective. Because its authenticity made a contrast to other brands used models who has near-perfect bodies (eg. Victoria’s Secret). Let consumers want to buy at the same time will not be doubted themselves  “They are suitable?” “Will it be very different from models?”.