Lego Movie Marketing

Ways a movie can be promoted:
Toys
Advertisement/trailers
posters
Merchandise
social media
actors and interviews
memes
video games

Merchandise for the lego movie:
17 Lego sets;

16 collectable minifigures;

The Lego Movie Video Game;

Range of school supplies;

Sticker & Activity Books;

Lego Movie Happy Meal;

Lego Movie Clothing;

Promotion:

The lego website promotes the Lego Movie as anyone who has access to the internet can easily look up the website to read about the movie
https://www.lego.com/en-gb/videos/themes/lego-movie##sp=212
The lego movie was also promoted at Legoland at the time of its release.
The poster was everywhere and quite iconic for the lego movie as it's been seen so much

production:

Pre-production: scripting/planning/organising shoots/casting actors/hiring crew etc.
Production: film the movie.
Post-production: editing.
Distribution: marketing/marketing campaigns distributed/advertisement.

Each week in January in 2014 a new character poster was released.
Lego stores scheduled linked events
Free accessory packs were available in stores after building creative models in-store.
Video Game released on 4th of February.
On 7th of February, McDonalds released collectable 3D cups with Happy Meals.
A website enabled fans to make versions of themselves.

Lego Movie Target Audience

The lego movie's target audience is a family.
The rating is U.
The target audience can be split into 3 categories:
Children who play with lego;
Parents who used to play with lego;
Young adult movie-goers.

Blumer and Katz (1973)
Blumer and Katz theorised there are 4 main reasons why consumers buy media products (magazines, VideoGames, etc.):
Diversion -
Escaping from everyday life into something more exciting.
Personal Relationships - 
Using the media to fulfil the need for companionship;
Using the media to form relationships with others or to be apart of a social group.
Personal Identity -
Using the media to find out about yourself.
Surveillance -
Using the media to find out about events going on around us.

The lego movie's target audience would be watching the movie for the reasons of diversion as it's an exciting  movie and a distractions from boring life. They would also watch it for the personal relationships of being closer as a family or a group of friends as well as personal identity as they may relate to the characters.

The movie appeals to the children in the lego movie because the entire movie is lego, the children get to see lego characters come to life on the screen and their favourite characters too. For example Batman is a main character and attracts the children as they look to him as a hero when in reality he plays the false hero and instead Emmet is the hero, this teaches children that the hero isn't always the one who you think and that anyone can be the hero if they try. This is a good message for children and would encourage adults to take the children to the cinema. The bright elements of the movie would also attract the children as children are attracted to bright pretty things.

The movie appeals to the adults in the audience as the adults would enjoy watching a family movie with their children, they'd also be drawn to the movie as the movie is made of lego which some of the adults may have played with as a child, the same with the teenagers who watch the movie, there are also some adult jokes in the movie which the adults and teenagers would understand whcih would draw the adults to the movie.