Lucasfilm has announced partnerships with five of the biggest brands in the world - Duracell, General Mills, Gillette, Verizon and Nissan – for the launch of a large-scale and intensive promotional campaign in support of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”, scheduled to hit movie theatres on December 16th 2016.
It’s a safe bet that the Nissan Rogue will carry some Star Wars graphics when it hits the Car Shows and appears in Nissan dealerships; expect as well a prominent presence for the SUV as a featured vehicle outside movie theatres showing the highly anticipated next chapter in the Star Wars franchise. Perhaps Nissan will offer free tickets to see the film when consumers road test the new Rogue. The natural advantage the Rogue name confers on Nissan, particularly in North America, can only serve to propel sales of what is already one of Nissan’s top-selling vehicles on this side of the Atlantic even further upwards.
The cost of such a sponsorship is surely significant, but the sheer scale of the appeal of Star Wars films is such that the gambit is deemed well worth it on the part of the Japanese carmaker. With the natural synergy enjoyed between film and car due to the shared name, it was an opportunity too good to pass up. A natural and profitable fit!