• by Tanya Gazdik , December 14, 2016

Lego and Nissan are the brands most associated with the Star Wars film “Rogue One,” according to Amobee.

The global marketing technology company looked at digital content engagement, which is a measure of what people are seeing, reading, interacting and engaging with on over 600,000 sites on mobile, video, the Web and social.

Lego was the brand most associated with Rogue One between September 13 and December 13, while Nissan generated 72% as much Rogue One related digital content engagement in the same time period. Rounding out the top 10, the brands most associated with Rogue One between September 13 and December 13 are Uber, Hasbro, Nerf, Verizon, Gillette, SoftBank, Hot Topic and O2.

Nissan, which already had a compact sport utility vehicle named the Nissan Rogue, went all out with its tie-ins including appearing at the Los Angeles Auto Show with a full-sized Imperial spaceship at its booth and selling a limited-edition 2017 Nissan Rogue to consumers that came with a full-sized Death Trooper helmet. The automaker also conducted a robust cross-promotional TV ad campaign featuring a Rogue One theme. 

The value proposition of marketing around a Star Wars movie is tapping into the childhood sense of excitement that Star Wars fans of all ages feel around the franchise, says Jonathan Cohen, principal brand analyst at Amobee.

“Brands like Nissan have been especially successful around their Rogue One campaign because they found fun, relevant ways to engage with the Star Wars fan base,” Cohen tells Marketing Daily.

The resulting awareness for the new Nissan Rogue set the nameplate on fire in November, delivering record sales of 24,682 units (+19% month-over-month) and share record: 10.6%. In addition, Rogue Web Traffic at ChooseNissan.com is up more than 300% year-over-year.

“Because we share more than the name Rogue, Nissan's promotional partnership with Lucasfilm has delivered epic innovation and excitement for fans of Star Wars,” Jeremy Tucker, VP, marketing communications and media, Nissan North America, tells Marketing Daily. “The full integration of this promotion throughout the Nissan organization -- from sales to marketing to dealers to engineering and manufacturing -- has been key to our success.”

During the Sept. 13 to Dec. 13 time frame, Uber had 43% as much Rogue One-related digital content engagement as Lego; Hasbro received 36% as much Rogue One related digital content engagement as Lego. Nerf generated 21% as much Rogue One-related digital content engagement as Lego, according to Amobee.

The Uber App offered an activation option that turns cars on their map into Rebellion spaceships; Hasbro is selling Rogue One action figures and an Imperial Stormtrooper Electronic Voice Changer Helmet; while Nerf (which is a Hasbro brand) is offering themed blaster guns. 

Proportionally, the new Star Wars movie is having the biggest digital awareness impact around the Nissan Rogue. Between Nov. 13 and Dec. 13, 44% of all Nissan Rogue digital content engagement has been Rogue One related, per Amobee.

Generally, when you think of Star Wars, you don't immediately think of automotive brands like Nissan and Uber, Amobee’s Cohen says. 

“So to see those brands having such high engagement in connection with the new film, we can attribute that to a strong experiential marketing campaign powered by truly impactful creative,” Cohen says. “Marketers should take note of the increase in awareness that can happen when brands are aligned with pop culture moments that are being widely spoken about. Nissan and Uber seized their opportunity and clearly it's paying off."