Whether you’re a George Lucas die-hard, a recent Star Wars dabbler, or a fan who eats up anything Star Wars-related, the final episode of the “Skywalker Saga” has likely been a highlight of your social media feed.
Since Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise from LucasFilm in 2012 for $4.05 billion (to the dismay of many George Lucas fans) Star Wars has become watchable for a wider audience, reaching an all-time high of $2 billion in box office sales in 2015.
However, this wasn’t just Disney’s doing.
Over the past 43 years, the brand has produced 9 films, developing an estimated franchise value of $63 billion as the fifth-highest-grossing media franchise in the known universe.
The truth is, Star Wars has been legendary for years.
In this article, we’ll outline how to reach a heightened place of influence with your brand, with Star Wars as our Jedi.
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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars made major headlines.
...Actually, it was only 1977, in a time when the first film tapped into audiences’ subconscious and unquestionable thirst for escapism and adventure.
From The Toronto Star’s 1977 review which claimed that "Star Wars is magnificent you'll pant for more" to National Public Radio’s (NPR) "U.F.O. - Ultra Far Out" write-up, Star Wars was obsessed over from day one.
Here, we’ll demystify how the Star Wars brand elicited this response, and how you and your brand can follow suit.
1. The Value (and Force) of Stories
Star Wars teaches us the value of storytelling.
We’ve all heard this one before – the necessity of developing a brand story in a way that resonates with your audience.
This tactic is not new.
However, when we look at how Star Wars cultivated and shared its story, this suggestion can be viewed in a much more detailed light.
Star Wars is one of the best examples of how a culture or brand can rewrite folk tales with new characters and visuals while riding the success of age-old storylines. George Lucas summed it up by saying:
“The story being told in Star Wars is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency to do the same things over and over again.”
George Lucas
Some of the main story themes that feature in Stars Wars include:
The premise of good vs evil
Power struggles