Love Lego?

There is a global sub-culture of Lego with supportive films, games (on and offline), magazines and competitions.

Read this article by clicking on the brick here.

Task: Why do you think Lego has such a fan base? Complete some research looking at how Lego is celebrated as a brand. You could look at theme parks LegoLand, TV programmes such as Channel Four's Master Builder, any popular video games and how the Lego sets themselves are branded to link to films.

Collect your research on a Word document. Print it out and stick it in your book.

Extension Task: If you have completed this task, you can start considering how the Lego Movie builds on the idea of a shared childhood experience to attract mixed-age and gender groups for the audience. This resulted in whole family viewings and purchases on the film after its theatrical release. The film was aimed at both younger children who played with Lego and their parents who had in the past.

Read this film review by clicking on the brick here:

Film Marketing: The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie (2014) is a 'tent-pole' film production by media conglomerates Warner Bros. This means that its success was of major importance to the studio in terms of funding other projects. The film was a major motion picture which is expected to generate major income for a studio, which can be redistributed and used to support and find other releases. The film is also an example of how a global studio, like Warner Bros, releases a film in a specific national territory, the UK.

The marketing campaign for The Lego Movie was significantly important to Warner Bros because the film needed to generate a substantial profit. What are the key components of a marketing campaign of this kind?

Film Posters

Trailer

Looking at this marketing campaign, consider:

1. Who is the target audience? Who is the film designed to appeal to and how do you know?
2. How does Warner Bros target audiences through marketing?
3. What assumptions do companies make about their target audiences?
4. If there are different target audiences for the same film, how do you think the audiences interpret the same film very differently?

Task: Watch the film and complete the handout. You should be able to come back to these questions at the end.