I hope you didn’t think we’d miss the chance to talk about Wicked: For Good…

Not only will we dissect Wicked: For Good’s marketing campaign, but we’ll take a look at how it evolved from Wicked: Part I. The release of Wicked: Part I established a global reintroduction to Oz. Universal’s marketing leaned into scale, spectacle, and broad appeal: wide OOH placements, larger stunts, and trend-driven digital activity.

For Good took a different posture. Though still released in the holiday corridor, the campaign aimed to deliver closure and emotional continuity rather than pure worldbuilding.

The tone tightened, the narrative became more explicit, and the marketing leaned into reflection rather than novelty. This shift shaped nearly every element of the rollout.

One of the most significant pivots came through the prime-time broadcast special, Wicked: For Good, which served as the narrative spine of the campaign. For Part I, broadcast placements supported tentpole moments including trailer drops during major live events but were not the central storytelling device.

Part II used the special to:

The result was a more unified message across TV, theatrical trailers, and digital placements. Digital and broadcast played at near parity, a deliberate contrast with the more digitally driven Part I rollout.

Part I benefited from visible, high-energy moments including emerald drone activations, large-format projections, and high-traffic influencer stunts. It established tone and visual identity.

Part II scaled down physical spectacle and instead emphasized controlled environments:

The strategy balanced reach with tone. The marketing stayed present but avoided diluting the emotional message with overly playful stunts.

The licensing strategy for Part II is one of the clearest contrasts with Part I.

Instead of scale, Part II focused on pieces that reflected the film’s themes and character endpoints:

The merchandise aligned with the emotional tone: fewer novelty SKUs, more items meant to be kept.

Music shaped both campaigns, but the role shifted noticeably.

Part I held major showstoppers especially “Defying Gravity” until late in the promotion cycle. Nostalgia did much of the work. Part II introduced emotional anchors early to set the tone:

The music framed expectations: this chapter is heavier, more intimate, and more character-driven.

With audiences already embedded in the story world, Universal chose to reveal more plot detail in Part II. Trailers showed the political escalation in Oz, Fiyero’s transformation, and the shaping of the central conflict.

This clarity allowed the marketing to focus on emotional payoff rather than spectacle, positioning the film as the resolution fans had been anticipating.

Where Part I marketed Glinda and Elphaba as a unified duo, Part II embraced divergence.

Key art, microsites, and social drops split the campaign into two emotional perspectives: Glinda’s softness and duty versus Elphaba’s resolve and resistance. This segmentation created a more mature framing and broadened the emotional entry points for audiences.

Wicked’s multi-year marketing campaign is rearing to a close.

While every film will not be as big (or nearly have as big of a budget), there are still key takeaways in the tactics used to evolve its strategy from Part I to For Good:

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