Projects.
The Lion King
The project
SBM’S design work yields success for the blockbuster cinematic release of The Lion King.
The puzzle
The SBM team was given the mission of handling a full Australian marketing campaign for Disney’s The Lion King in Australia. As one of the most heavily promoted and anticipated remakes of a Disney classic, the film would need a holistic advertising push across all of the most effective marketing avenues. The full advertising campaign would include the repurposing and localisation of artwork provided from the USA, repurposed for an Australian audience. The goal was to keep the designs consistent, while still making a wide appeal to a local audience.
The solution
As with all similar projects from Disney, the localisation of promo materials was a deceptively massive task. Sticking closely to strict brand guidelines, the Design team began work on social campaigns that would be displayed across a huge swathe of public spaces: public transport, billboards, interactive web banners and cinema posters, all in a vast range of sizes and shapes. Along with sticking closely to the brand guidelines and keeping consistency at the forefront of all design, a strong call to action and compelling message would be vital for encouraging ticket sales.
The results
The Lion King was an enormous box office hit, earning over $14 million upon opening in Australia, and finishing its cinematic run earning $44 million domestically. It was difficult to escape advertising in the run-up to the film’s release, with SBM-designed ads plastered across major public spaces, garnering millions of impressions every single day and majorly contributing to ticket sales. The film was also an international success, earning over $1.6 billion by the end of its run.