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Deadpool and Guerrilla Marketing Series

Introducing our new series on Marketing. Starting with Deadpool, the first movie, and how guerrilla marketing was used.


Part 1 – Guerrilla Marketing


Things Deadpool did:

  1. Set a standard that rated-R comic films work. But wasn’t the first. Anyone remember Judge Dredd? NOT the Sly Stallone version! What about Blade 2? The one that was not terrible. Disagree? Fight me.
  1. Viral Social Media Campaigns. More about Social media marketing next episode. 
guerrilla marketing
source Pinterest
  1. Rallied the fans to persuade a major studio to back, and release a rated-R comic-book movie. Fox had ZERO intentions of doing this, if not for leaked test footage.

Surpassed the “Force Awakens” on Twitter with most Tweets. (approx 90,000)

“Social media is obviously very important in this day and age for any movie,” BoxOffice.com senior analyst Shawn Robbins said. “Fox has actually been really championing it for quite a while and they’ve taken it to the next level with ‘Deadpool.’ ”

source: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/07/deadpools-secret-weapon-a-viral-social-media-campaign.html

Ryan Reynolds – Creative Director WUT?

Let’s talk about this trend. Celebrities that are creative directors now. Joining Mr. Alright Alright Alright, is now Ryan Reynolds for Aviation Gin.



The Ladies got in on it too. Lady Gaga once served as Creative Director of Polaroid and Alicia Keys was named Creative Director at Blackberry (2013).

Q: Why doesn’t it suffice anymore to have a celebrity as brand ambassador?

A: Blame Social Media. For the podcast, we discuss thoughts on why, other than celebrity sells.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/17/diageo-to-buy-ryan-reynolds-backed-aviation-gin-for-610-million.html

Takeaway about Guerrilla Marketing

Do you agree or disagree on these points?

  • Asking people to change their perception can be fun. But it may not actually lead to increased sales.
  • Sometimes what works in one market won’t work in another. Analyze the laws and public sentiment before launching any plans.
  • What was your favorite Guerrilla marketing stunt? Jason’s is AntMan with Ant-sized billboards. It’s hilarious, google it.

Part 2 – Social Media Marketing


Social Media Channels That Deadpool 2 Made Use Of

Mainly, Deadpool 2 made heavy use of Youtube and Twitter. Twitter was the primary channel they used to distribute their content, much of which evolved around YouTube videos.

You’ll find Ryan Reynolds himself on Twitter, along with the Deadpool character frequently poking fun in his usual, unique way. Deadpool 2 did a great job of “hijacking” trending hashtags on Twitter to repurpose the trend in a humorous, compelling way.

This activity on Twitter garnered tons of support from fans and platform users in general who appreciated the nuanced humor.


Part 3 – Marketing Terminology


What the hell is a marketing strategy? What’s the difference between strategy and tactics? What does a marketer truly do?

Bad marketing results in brand damage, PR disasters, more. 

One example: U2 and the free album debacle – when Apple decided to auto-load U2’s new album onto every users device without consent. The term MUSIC SPAM was coined.

What is digital marketing? 

So many places use buzzwords to sell services, because people LOOK for them. Or they grab your attention for a sale.

Customers often do not understand what they are buying. Simply selling without educating your customers can result in resentment, mistrust, and eventually collapse in the faith of an industry.

We’ve seen this significantly in the field of SEO, and marketing in general.