The Client: Target
Challenge: As the premiere of Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever approached, Target wanted to build an activation in the toy section that spoke to the innovation of the movie and the massive cultural unity Black Panther brought to audience. However, the team felt a disconnection with the original activation plans - requesting social listening to get a closer pulse on what audiences are most anticipating for the upcoming premiere.
The Approach: With the goal in mind, I centered my focus around three main questions; who is talking about it? What are they talking about? What cultural trends (past and present) has the Black Panther movie started or tapped into?
Tapping into related trending hashtags to track conversations on all main social platforms using Brandwatch and Hootsuite's social listening tools. In addition to tracking forum based platforms like Twitter and Reddit.
Through my research, I found Millennial women and Gen Z men were the center of most of the conversation. They spoke with high praise and admiration for the Wakanda Warrior wom en, anticipated whether T'Challa would be recasted after the passing of Chadwick Boseman, and could not wait to hear BP2's soundtrack - speculating what artists would be a a part.
These findings rerouted the concept of the toy section activation - focusing on the technology and the awe and admiration for the Warrior Women of Wakanda who were made the center focus of the full activation.
