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There can\u2019t be many kids from those days who didn\u2019t pretend to be Han Solo or Princess Leia (I was always more of a Boba Fett, myself), but we had to wait a year for the toys to come out after the film.When the studio realised it wouldn\u2019t have any toys ready in time for Christmas, it created an \u2018Early Bird\u2019 kit, basically an empty box (now on eBay for around $8,000) that could be wrapped up and stuck under the tree then redeemed for a set of figures a few months later.It was Andy Warhol who said that the idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting. Each successive Star Wars film has gone to great pains to monetise this phenomenon with energy and sophistication. Now the seventh film, The Force Awakens, is due for release in time for Christmas \u2013 and I find myself marveling at a behemoth of a campaign.The action in the new Star Wars film, #TheForceAwakens, almost plays second fiddle to the sheer scale of its media campaign.The first trailer has notched up well over 100 million views on YouTube, to say nothing of reposts and uploads, or fan films such as the priest who filmed himself almost in tears watching it for the first time (over a million views) and the excellent \u2018Wes Anderson\u2019 edit (two million views). Instagram has also teamed up with Star Wars, using its new landscape picture function to debut some new footage (over 200,000 likes).But for my money though, the really clever stuff is happening in the merchandise department, where they came up with the \u201cGlobal Toy Unboxing\u201d. For 18 hours in September \u2013 still a good three months before the film is due to come out \u2013 YouTube hosted an epic live stream from 15 cities in 12 countries in which fans (or rather, painstakingly curated key influencers) unboxed toys in advance of \u201cForce Friday\u201d, when the first officially licensed merchandise went on sale.This stuff is instantly collectable, combining nostalgia with on-demand consumption \u2013 and it\u2019s not just mini-figures, there\u2019s a ton of things to choose from, whether you want one of the new lightsabers, a Millenium Falcon rug or an official Star Wars bed.Consumers are forecast to spend $2bn at the box office and $3bn a year on Star Wars merchandise \u2013 and the film only cost $200 million to make. Tomorrow\u2019s land fill? It almost doesn\u2019t matter, though in some ways it does rather make the heart sink. I doubt we\u2019ve even hit the zenith (or nadir) of monetising our children\u2019s imaginations.I do know two things though. First is that this seamless blend of product, this crossing of media and platforms, real and virtual, licensing and merchandising \u2013 this is the new normal. It\u2019s not just media companies that need to sit up and take note. If you want to know what your customers expect from you, look what they are happy to spend money on. And second? Well, it\u2019s going to be an expensive Christmas.The Force is strong with this one:Get our brand-new trend reports HERE."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2015","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/\/10\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"12","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/\/10\/\/12\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Fit for engagement: The Force is strong in this brand","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2015\/10\/12\/star-wars-marketing-campaign\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]