Social Media summed up in a cartoon.

“Help me bloggers. You’re my only hope.”

In the STAR WARS universe Jedi Masters are the most powerful and influential people. The have the ability to change people's thoughts and even move objects by using the force. No evil villain on the dark side can stop a Jedi, especially one as powerful as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Luke Skywalker. Now in the world of Lucasfilm, the Jedi do not have the same influence – the bloggers do.

Bloggers, and more specifically the fans, play a large role in the success of Lucasfilm and the STAR WARS franchise. Not many other brands have the dedication and following that of STAR WARS.

Don’t believe STAR WARS fans are completely devoted to the brand? Many fans flock every year to the Yoda statue at the Lucasfilm headquarters as stated in an article from the Huffington Post.

One visitor stated:

"Yoda is the source of wisdom and gravitas for the whole trilogy," said fan Dale Tolosa, 37, an underemployed actor who often dresses as a Star Wars biker scout with his chapter of the 501st Legion, an international, all-volunteer costuming group. "It's almost like he's a religious symbol or the Statue of Liberty, or a representation of all the positive fantasy that George Lucas has brought to the world since 1977."

So how do blogs work into the media relations of Lucasfilm? The company uses an external blog as means to reach fans and media outlets about anything from press releases to popular merchandise. This STAR WARS blog is a way for fans to connect with the brand while also having the option to share their own interactions. While someone within Lucasfilm writes the blog, it does share stories from its fans. Lucasfilm prides itself on its fan involvement with the brand. They even have a complete section on the starwars.com website where they dedicate space to fan sites.

Even though STAR WARS does invest in connecting with their public, the same cannot be said about Lucasfilm. As previously stated the main company of Lucasfilm does not have a blog or any presence in social media. It seems they only share the information they want known and that only includes major accomplishments by George Lucas and a timeline of the company. Perhaps this is because of the competition they have with other companies in the filmmaking industry. Similar to the royal family and their “image-control system” with a royal photographer, it appears Lucasfilm does not share much information through the parent company on a regular basis.

This also could be due to the founder George Lucas. Lucas has been the spokes person for the company since it’s beginnings in 1971, and yet not many people look at George Lucas in way that other founders/CEOs are viewed like Steve Jobs for Apple. Perhaps this is because he is not a very “likeable” character.

For STAR WARS the spokesperson(s) have morphed into being the characters from the movies, rather than George Lucas. The public doesn’t want to see George Lucas in commercials rather they would prefer some comical robots or perhaps a rambunctious wookie or  maybe the internet phenomenon known as Admiral Ackbar.  

Admiral Ackbar is a squid character from STAR WARS that has been taken from the shadows of anonymity and has been “trapped” in the spotlight for some time now. He has even commanded the attention of many people including the students of Ole Miss.

This is when the STAR WARS blog came in handy to the brand. Not only were they able to show support of their fans by posting pictures, comments, etc., but they also even posted a statement about the incident here.

Examples like Ackbar shows that corporate communications is constantly changing and evolving with the appearance of new technologies like social media. It also shows that companies like Lucasfilm have decided that "If you can't beat 'em. Join 'em."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family, friends, and LOTS of food!

“We can’t repel Social Media of this magnitude!”

"Social media is changing the way we communicate - if you're caught up in the argument of 'Is a blogger a journalist?' then you've missed the boat."

Among the many media outlets available in modern day advertising, a strategy is key to ensure consistent branding and maximum exposure.  Lucasfilm has adapted their strategies over the years to take advantage of emerging media and maintaining a strong presence among their target audiences.

While many brands have trusted media platforms like newspapers, magazines, and television, Lucasfilm has strived in concentrating a majority of their strategies on the Internet and more specifically social media.

For example, many of the press releases sent out from the company can be found in the Lucasfilm pressroom. Here journalists, competitors, and fans can find the latest news and updates from the company. If one was to look for past news releases the pressroom also features an online archive of all their news stories.

Author Deirdre Breckenridge discusses the changing times and how it affects Public Relations for companies. She emphasizes that not only is the use of an online newsroom important, but companies/brands need to be fast-paced and keep up with journalists needs. However what she does not discuss is the fact that many fans are now seen as journalists themselves.

In Digital Strategies For Powerful Corporate Communications, the authors stress just that. “The voice of ordinary people is increasingly as loud as that of mainstream media. Now everyone has the potential to influence a company’s reputation,” (pg. 75). This means that even though someone is not a writer for the New York Times, through social media platforms like Twitter one person has the ability to reach the masses, thus they have the power to either make or break a reputation of a company.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Lucasfilm does not have a Twitter page itself, but the company has several Twitter/Facebook pages for its divisions such as Industrial Light & Magic and STAR WARS. The benefit of these individual Twitter accounts is that they focus on the specific target audience. A fan of STAR WARS is able to get the latest news on the STAR WARS franchise without having to look through updates about Industrial Light & Magic special effects. STAR WARS also looks to fans to help the brand by promoting their own personal fan sites. Through their uses of social media, they show their fans and competition that they are always adapting and moving with the technologies of the time – just like STAR WARS was a film that was ahead of its time in the cinema industry.


Quoted Texts:

• Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications

• PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences

   

#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen George Lucas has a Twitter

 

A long time ago…in a time far far away…there was no social media. There were no trends on Twitter.  There were no Facebook “friends”. It was a simpler time.

It’s hard to find a company today that doesn’t have a Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blog, etc. social media has supplied many companies with virtual gateways to their customers and fans, but the question is: When is Social Media too much?

Lucasfilm Ltd is a company that takes advantage of several social media platforms, but they use it minimally. First of all they do not advertise any social media involvement on their website. The user must go on a mission to find them.  While Lucasfilm has info Facebook pages (only supplies information on the company – it does not have a wall or any fan interaction), it uses Twitter and Facebook mostly for people looking to “Join The Force” at Lucasfilm.

Spanish George Lucas? WHAT?!

 Even though Lucasfilm Ltd. does not have a Twitter (this also includes George Lucas – this and this are fake), many of the divisions of Lucasfilm have a social presence. Industrial Light & Magic and Lucas Arts Games can both be found on Twitter and Facebook. Industrial Light & Magic uses these social media platforms to reach out to fans and other stakeholders to provide updates on their productions, while also gaining feedback on their web content.

The problem with web content, which is “the most important thing on the Web and the least cared for,” is that it doesn’t always represent companies in a professional manner. Authors and content strategy gurus Kristina Halvorson and Steven Rosenbaum discuss the importance of this topic in great detail. Halvorson expresses that “web content needs to meet users needs & support key business objectives,” (pg. 15).  She claims that since there tends to be no ownership of a majority of the content on the web, it is easy to have any project/website turn into the “wild west of content development.”

This “wild west” is attributed to many companies relying on users to produce content for their websites. The issue with relying on users, as said by Steven Rosenbaum, is “content isn’t the stuff you use to fill up your wonderfully designed website. It’s the voice, the message, the meaning that your customers come to engage in,” (pg. 200).

Which division of Lucasfilm is the Jedi master of controlling their content? STAR WARS. The website for STARWARS uses many different aspects of social media to expand their message while interacting with their fans. The homepage of starwars.com has several categories to engage the user: Explore, Play, Watch, Connect, Shop, and Search. Under the “Connect” tab the user can find the STAR WARS Blog, Around The Web, and Fan Sites. This is where Lucasfilm and STAR WARS take advantage of content created by users. Through Flickr pictures streams, users can send in their photos of STAR WARS related topics (like costumes) and the website with create albums to share with everyone. They also have a blog that discusses the latest happening of the STAR WARS franchise and even features a feed of the latest tweets from the STAR WARS twitter account and a link to their STAR WARS YouTube page. Through featuring fan sites, they no only include fan content in the STAR WARS website, but also show their fans that they can be involved in what they publish.

Quoted Texts:

• Content Strategy for the Web

• Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators  

May The Force Be With You – and You and You

“May The Force Be With You.”

It seems like just a simple line from STAR WARS, but it is so much more. It single handedly sums up the brand of Lucasfilm Ltd and proves that George Lucas is a force himself.

As stated in the previous blog post, Lucasfilm Ltd has many divisions including: Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, LucasArts, Lucas Licensing, Lucas Animation, Lucas Online, and Lucasfilm Singapore. These companies not only create their own individual products from websites to cinematic special effects, but also make up the brand of Lucasfilm itself.

The logo for Lucasfilm says a lot about the company. The name represents its founder George Lucas and the decades of hard work and accomplishments his company has seen. It is clean, futuristic, and yet simple. It is seen in all different colors throughout the website, but most of the time in the credits of movies it is seen in a shade of green. The word Lucasfilm is positioned in an arch over “Ltd” and includes some scientific detail that one might find inside a droid. The arch of Lucasfilm could be to represent the many divisions that fall under the main umbrella of Lucasfilm.

How is Lucasfilm the Jedi Master of brands? Well, Lucasfilm is unique, authentic, and talkable beyond comparison.

First of all – there has never been another STAR WARS. It stands alone as a powerhouse in movie sales, merchandise, and fan followers. Now someone might ask, “But Lacey isn’t STAR WARS just one of the films Lucasfilm has worked on?” Yes, it is, but STAR WARS is a constant theme seen throughout the companies website and has working into branding the company itself. From the Yoda that is seen on the main page to the “Join The Force” text on the employment page, it is clear that STAR WARS is an important part of Lucasfilm’s past, present, and future.

Director James Cameron (left) and George Lucas (right)

Lucasfilm has inspired many generations to get into film and start companies. With the help of films like STAR WARS, people have left the theater and joined the force. Don’t believe me?  Go ask Oscar-winning Director James Cameron. He had dreams of making movies, but it wasn’t until he saw STAR WARS that he stopped smoking pot and being a truck driver that he became determined to succeed. “From the moment he walked out of the theater, he was obsessed. This was the kind of movie he has always wanted to make,” (Rose 50). 

Lucasfilm succeeded because it created a product that people could believe and fall in love with. It is an "immaculate reality - entirely imaginary, and yet with such a level of detail as to feel instantly familiar," (Rose 72). STAR WARS has characters, plots, and special effects that pull people out of their seats and into the action. STAR WARS is a “media mix.” It has the ability to “be told through several different media at once,” (Rose 41). This transition to different media is what allowed for STAR WARS to gain such popularity over the years. Unlike other companies that have fought fan involvement with websites and fan fiction, George Lucas and Lucasfilm have embraced it. There have been thousands of fan sites created by those who can never get enough STAR WARS. What the fans don't realize is that not only are they helping the brand, but in a sense they're owning it too.

Quoted Texts: The Art of Immersion by Frank Rose