Before Cruella, There Was Estella — A Marketing Plan for Disney’s Cruella
Who let the dogs out? The Walt Disney Company has, with a new live-action film. Hide your kids and hide your dogs, because Cruella de Vil is out for revenge. With a release date of May 28, 2021, Disney’s Cruella will be streaming on Disney+ Premier Access for $29.99, as well as in theaters starting the same day.
Disney+ Premier Access
The Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is still present after being introduced to the world in the early months of 2020. The current CDC Guidelines state that events with large crowds are not permitted. For several months, movie theaters around the world were shut down. Because of this, Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, has had to release several movies on their streaming platform that were originally made for a theatrical release.
Disney’s live-action version of Mulan was released in September 2020, which was Disney’s first Premier Access film. What “Premier Access” means is that the film is not available to stream with a Disney+ monthly subscription, but for an additional one-time fee of $29.99. Disney has also released Raya and the Last Dragon on Premier Access in early 2021. Disney’s Cruella will be the third film that will be released for an additional fee. As movie theaters are starting to open, Cruella will also be available in theaters.
Re-introducing Cruella
Cruella de Vil is known in the Disney Universe as the villain in Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, as well as Disney’s live-action 101 Dalmatians, and 102 Dalmatians. This live-action prequel tells the story of Young Cruella before she was evil. Growing up as an orphan in London, England, Estella had dreams of becoming a fashion designer. After catching the attention of Rockstar and fashion icon, Baroness von Hellman, it is then that Estella begins to embrace her wicked side and become the revenge-bent Cruella that we know today. (IMDb)
Target Audience
Disney’s Cruella has a PG-13 rating, automatically making this film geared towards young adults and their parents, but Disney says this is still a family film, made for wide audiences. The film received this rating due to “some violence and thematic elements.” Because this film is about Cruella’s backstory and how she came to be the evil character that she is, we are seeing more conversations about this film amongst an older audience who grew up with Cruella de Vil in the 1961 animated film, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, as well as the 1996 live-action remake, 101 Dalmatians.
According to The Observer, the current marketing tactics in place for this film are misleading and confusing. As of April 2021, with two different trailers out, both support two different moods, thus questioning who this film is targeting. (The Observer) When looking back at the previous ‘Dalmatian’ films that Disney has created, each of those were rated G, so it’s definitely surprising to see a PG-13 rating on this film. The only other Disney film that got the PG-13 stamp was Disney’s Mulan live-action remake last year, due to violence. (Cinema Blend) As Walt Disney once said, “You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.” (D23)
Campaign
In this marketing strategy, the goals for the pre-event, event, and post-event will be outlined and detailed. The goal for the pre-event is to spread the word and create a buzz surrounding Disney’s Cruella prior to the May 28, 2021 release date. In order to do this, Disney+ will be partnering with RunDisney to host a virtual running event called the One Hundred and Run Event. Disney+ will offer a discount code on their Instagram page that will allow runners to receive 10% off of their registration. In the event stage, there will be a Black and White Carpet Event at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California to kick off the premiere of the film. There will not be a live audience, as this will be pre-recorded and streamed exclusively on Disney+ for everyone to watch from the safety of their homes. In the post-event stage, Disney+ will be partnering with Target stores by doing a giveaway that features a Cruella t-shirt, an exclusive dalmatian popcorn bucket, as well as an official Disney’s Cruella movie poster signed by Emma Stone, and lastly, a Zoom call with Emma Stone.
SMART Goals
- In the pre-event stage, we will increase Disney+ subscriptions by 30% in the month leading up to the release of Disney’s Cruella.
- In the event stage, we will increase the number of Premier Access purchases of Disney’s Cruella on Disney+ by 30% in the first 30 days of being released.
- In the post-event stage, we will increase viewership of Disney’s Cruella an additional 15%, as well as sell 500,000 copies of Disney’s Cruella on Blu-Ray/DVD.
The SMART goals for this social media strategy have been formed by the information gathered from Cinema Blend, Variety, and Deadline when comparing two other films that Disney has released on the streaming platform, Disney’s Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon.
Partnerships
Throughout this campaign, Disney will be partnering with RunDisney and Target for two different events. Disney will be teaming up with RunDisney in the pre-event stage of this campaign for the One Hundred and Run Virutal Run Event, and teaming up with Target in the post-event stage for the Really Cruel Giveaway bundle. Disney will also be using Influencer Marketing throughout the entire campaign to promote the film by utilizing Disney’s Cruella’s very own, Emma Stone.
Visuals
Pre-Event Content Visuals
Event Content Visuals
Post-Event Content Visuals
#disneycruella #disneyplus #101dalmatians #instagramtakeover #disney
References:
1. Cruella. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3228774/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl
2. D’Alessandro, A. (2021, March 07). ‘Raya and the LAST Dragon’ Lacks fire with $8.6M debut As Pic Hits Disney+ & NYC Reopens: Why the industry is WORRIED — SUNDAY UPDATE. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://deadline.com/2021/03/raya-and-the-last-dragon-opening-weekend-box-office-new-york-city-disney-1234708406/
3. El-Mahmoud, S. (2021, March 27). Did Raya and Last DRAGON make money On Disney+? Here’s what the data suggests. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2564916/raya-and-last-dragon-make-money-disney-data-suggests-streaming-mulan
4. Katz, B. (2021, March 15). The dual identities of DISNEY’S ‘Cruella’ Marketing. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://observer.com/2021/03/disney-cruella-trailers-watch-video-identity-crisis/
5. Libbey, D. (2021, March 17). Why Disney’s Cruella WITH Emma Stone will Be PG-13. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2564487/why-disneys-cruella-with-emma-stone-will-be-pg-13/
6. Reynoso, M., Allen, K., & Coffey, K. (2020, December 13). Upcharges for films On Disney+ may last beyond the pandemic. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://insidethemagic.net/2020/12/disney-plus-premier-access-mr1/
7. Rubin, R. (2021, March 15). Box office: ‘Raya and the LAST Dragon’ REPEATS №1 with $5.5 million. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://variety.com/2021/film/box-office/box-office-raya-last-dragon-tom-jerry-coronavirus-1234930146/
8. Walt Disney Quotes archive — page 4 of 8. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2021, from https://d23.com/walt-disney-quote/page/4/
