Mulan, James Bond, and Flexible Marketing in the Era of Covid-19

Traditionally, some of the biggest marketing vehicles across the globe are Hollywood movies. Not only are there commercials, billboards, and talk-show appearances for the film itself, but the marketing for a film permeates itself across industries and to other products. Look no further than McDonald's Happy Meal toys if you are in need of an example.

However, like so many things in our lives, this traditional model has been chucked out the window by the changes and challenges of Covid-19. Since about March, films slated to be released have taken different approaches to their marketing, as well as where/if they are distributed.

Disney's live-action Mulan, for example, was originally scheduled to be released in March. But now, after multiple delays, it has been released on Disney+. Obviously, delays and a new destination impacted how Disney marketed the film. New ads had to be made informing the audience that the film would no longer be released in theaters (in many countries). The amount spent on marketing by Disney also took a hit. According to one report, pushing Mulan back could've cost Disney at least $200,000 in marketing fees.

However, not all film studios have the luxury of their own streaming service. Some films, like Christopher Nolan's Tenet, have released in theaters and have been screened for limited audiences. Other films have gone straight to streaming platforms like Amazon Prime (The King of Staten Island and The Tax Collector).

Other films that were supposed to come out in the past seven months have simply given up on 2020 release dates. Perhaps the most high-profile example of such an instance would be the newest James Bond film, No Time to Die. Bond's newest outing has been pushed back all the way to April 2, 2o21. Obviously, such a delay has caused strange effects in the marketing and rollout of the film. No Time to Die's theme song, for instance, was released all the way back in February. And now, the films star, Daniel Craig, is appearing on talk shows promoting a film that is now six months away from release.

As human beings, we have learned over the past seven months that Covid-19 can cause just about anything to change — this is nothing new. But, as marketers and creatives, we must learn to be flexible and be ready to change our approach with the drop of a hat. The days of hard deadlines and specific roll-outs could be gone; replaced with flexible timelines and the newly-developed skill to sense and feel out  a moment in time.

Whether such a shift in approach is the future of marketing or not, we certainly need to learn to be a little more fluid with our approach to marketing for the foreseeable future.