Solo: A Star Wars Story brand videos hint at the movie's locales

For anyone keen to chart the locales of the film before its launch, the ads are essential viewing after the latest trailer.

Irregardless of how the movie ranks in the series, there has been a stink around Alden Ehrenreich's need for an acting coach in addition to Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s departure from the project, it will likely cause enough buzz to be a worthwhile investment for brands.

In the UK, the official partners are as follows.

Renault

This ad sees a mother and her son thrown into the action (exclusive scenes shot for the ad). While Chewbacca fights off members of the Cloud-Rider gang from the back of a speeding Conveyex train, the Renault Kadjar keeps pace.

Xavier Martinet, senior vice president of marketing France at Renault, said: “We are very pleased about this partnership. Star Wars and Renault both had a major impact on many of our lives when we were young and strive to make everyday life as experiential as possible.

“For the Renault brand, this is an exciting opportunity to offer original experiences to the public both in our sales outlets and through our different communication media. Plus, it’s a long-term partnership, scheduled to last until the summer of 2018. Many surprises are in store for Star Wars and Renault fans."

LG

LG Electronics has released the LG G7 ThinkQ handset, and tying into Star Wars, the mobile firm claims its AI features serves as the perfect co-pilot, much liek Chewbacca.

There is video content to come from this partnership but at the moment the brand has put forth a digital ad.

The European-wide collaboration will run until the end of July with promotion across digital, cinema spots, out-of-home and in O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores.

Parcelforce Worldwide

Parcelforce is positioning itself as a firm that is “delivering across the galaxy”. In addition ot offering a discount on its services it has also launched a compeititon asking the public to build a scene from the movie in a showbox.

The winner will take home an official Lego playset of the Kessel Run, featuring a Millennium Falcon.

Further afield, there are a number of different partners jumping into the mix.

Denny’s

The fast food vendor has released a limited-edition menu themed on Solo.

Here’s the full SOLO Denny’s menu. I know what I have to do... pic.twitter.com/yLa9FQtlKG

— Matt Singer (@mattsinger) April 2, 2018

It also aired an ad.

Norton

Cybersecurity software Norton is putting forward its values of its LifeLock identity theft protection in a new slot that shows footage from a vivid space battle featuring Solo and the gang.

General Mills

General Mills has been a long time partner of the Star Wars brand, last year it rolled out colour changing spoons with The Last Jedi. This year it is offering free movie tickets in exchange for pack vouchers, a move that will drive sales.

Nissan

Nissan has been aboard with Disney's rebooted Star Wars series, and it reported sales growth with its Rogue One partnership. In the US, has partnered. It is running a sweepstakes competition as well as a line of themed cars, the Altima, the Rogue and the Titan.

Entrants can personalise the range at this microsite, some entrants will even win their motor.

Esurance

It wouldn't be a Star Wars film without the Millenium Falcon sustaining serious damage.

Car insurance firm Esurance is playing on this trope to inform viewers that it can fix their falcons too.

On getting these partnerships off the ground, Lylle Breier, senior vice president of global marketing partnerships at Walt Disney Studios, said: “Our six promotional partners for Solo: a Star Wars Story have done a fantastic job developing first-class, innovative campaigns in support of the film, we are excited to share the compelling experiences and relevant activations that our partners have created for our fans.”

The movie is set for release in the UK 25 May, after a premiere at Cannes. It marks a departure from the December releases Disney has favoured for Star Wars to Date with The Force Awakens, Rogue One and The Last Jedi.

As for May 4th, data analytics company Meltwater took a look at how the day was going. by 9.30am, there were more than 107,000 mentions of the event, distributed across UK (14%) of total mentions, USA (9%), Japan (4%), Australia (4%), India (2%).

The engagement was distributed across social as follows Twitter 78%, Instagram 21%, 1% across Facebook pages. These are some of the widest reaching brand posts.

The force is certainly strong with us right now - #MayThe4thBeWithYou on #StarWarsDay, Barça Fans! pic.twitter.com/DRSTreFNpM — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 4, 2018

#Maythe4th #StarWarsDay (#Badpungoodcause) https://t.co/pKUqQx4zVK pic.twitter.com/Irs34ahSX0

— Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) May 4, 2018

Vuestra fuerza nos acompaña, siempre. #StarWarsDay #AmuntValencia pic.twitter.com/CBVRM9uAF0 — Valencia CF (@valenciacf) May 4, 2018

Que la force du pad soit avec vous ! #StarWarsDay #MayThe4thBeWithYou #MayThe4th pic.twitter.com/Digt9keFPL

— Xbox FR (@XboxFR) May 4, 2018