There's more to Star Wars' success than Luke Skywalker, cool light sabre fights, and baby Grogu. Why? Nostalgia.
No matter what you think about the pop culture phenomenon, anything Star Wars-related will be highly anticipated and guaranteed to get eyeballs and wallets open wide.
Even if you’re not a fan, you’re likely to have grown up knowing the iconic story, characters, music, and imagery.
For some of us Star Wars simply feels like childhood.
What can education marketers learn from Star Wars and apply it to their own marketing to schools strategies?
"(Nostalgia) let’s us travel the way a child travels - around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know we are loved."
Star Wars has its own DAY
May the 4th be with you! It’s a straightforward play on the popular quote which uses hashtags and memes on social platforms to share its popularity.
My advice?
Owning a nostalgic trigger event will build brand awareness and engage fans with zero competition. Could you create and promote a unique national day dedicated to the problem you solve for schools?
Drip-feed, teaser campaigns
Production news, storylines, stars, and release dates will be published ahead of a film’s premiere.
Posters, teaser trailers, interviews, and press tours are also big events scheduled to retain interest, and gain maximum box office sales.
My advice?
How are you leveraging social and email campaigns to tease your audience before releasing a new product or leading up to an event? Start marketing months in advance by spinning up a pre-launch sign up page to build anticipation and start building your email list.
🧸Become a (Jedi) master of merchandise
Action figures, lunchboxes, mouse pads, bedsheets…there’s no end to how much Star Wars stuff you can collect (although the mega fans at Rancho Obi-wan have sure given it their best shot).
My advice?
What could you brand that teachers can physically hold to increase your brand salience whenever they see/use it? Think beyond stress balls, pens, stickers – everyone does these 
– and stand out with unique or custom items.
Nostalgia powers their community
The love of Star Wars is passed down through generations, like word-of-mouth marketing.
My advice?
When done right, nostalgia in marketing evokes a positive association with your brand. What will you do to make a teacher, parent, or student feel positive about 10 years later? Consider loyalty schemes, referral strategies, and customer champions.
After all, if you can find and nurture a Yoda figure for your product they could teach a few NQT padawans in the ways of your product.
📲 The Star Wars universe has many content mediums
It’s not just films; there are live-action TV series, animated series, books, video games, apps, fan sites, etc.
My advice?
Vary your marketing content. It’s similar to creating lead magnets, blogs, interactive videos, and webinars to engage leads with a variety of rich content pieces, and draw your prospects further along the sales funnel.
May the marketing force be with you!
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