It doesn’t take a marketing masters degree to determine that the target market for a children’s animated movie such as Shrek is elementary-school children. With such a product, the advertising should be tailored in such a way to engage and enthrall young kids: bright colours, loud commercials and fun toys and merchandise. Who could resist a big stuffed Donkey? However, for the latest installment in the Shrek saga–Shrek Forever After–it seems that marketers are taking a new approach, one that is likely aimed towards an older crowd.
ibelieveinadv.com recently featured the new Shrek poster campaign. The posters feature neutral colours, large colour-blocked designs and vague proposals to “Join the Ogre Army”. This campaign leaves it up to the viewer to make the connection, as no direct mention of Shrek is made. This higher-level advertisement interpretation would not be expected of Shrek’s usual audience, the elementary school child.
Marketers are likely attempting to capitalize on a section of the market linked to that of their primary market: parents of schoolchildren. Parents likely spend almost just as much time watching kids movies as the actual kids do. Also, it is up to parents to take their children to the movies, buy merchandise and thus drive the success of the product. By using a tailored campaign to catch the attention of parents, marketers will likely succeed in planting the idea in parents heads, which will then be grown to fruition by nagging from their children.