AD87: Marvel's Marketing Mastery

30 March 2025 | Issue #87

In this issue:

Marvel's Marketing Mastery
Google's AI Overviews – How To
The Visual Marketer: Now on Amazon!
Design Quote of the Week

The Men Who Stare at Chairs

This was a big week if you're into entertainment distractions. Not only did we have the annual right of passage known as MLB's Opening Day (always a welcome sight for those of us who live in cold weather climates), but we also had the most interesting movie news reveal I've seen.

Marvel Studios unveiled a FIVE-AND-A-HALF-HOUR video to promote the actors who are scheduled to be in the next installment of the Avengers franchise, Doomsday.

Marvel knew thousands of articles and reaction videos would be created to capitalize on the news, so they made these people work for it.

I watched one reaction video, and you could tell the host was fried from sitting there glued to his computer screen for that long. It was asking a lot for people to devote that much time to discovering who will be in the biggest movie next year.

On the technical side, it tapped into the popularity of ASMR videos you've seen on social media. Someone at Marvel knows how to lean into the latest craze.

I'm looking forward to the eventual "Making of" video that will come out (probably on Disney+). My colleague, Alex Tourigny, assumes they filmed it backward (starting with Pedro Pascal) and then, after lengthening each chair shot to 20 minutes, added the music cues, and cut in the opening and Robert Downey Jr. parts afterward.

(BTW, if you're impressed by cinematic achievements, do not miss Adolescence on Netflix. Every episode was filmed in one take.)

Marvel knew this announcement would make headlines around the world. Four of the top-10 grossing movies of all time are Marvel films. After some critical disappointments (some of those critics could be classified as "butthurt"), Marvel knows that the next Avengers movie has to be bigger than ever. It has to deliver a big cast and an even bigger story.

This announcement was a marketing event. It also served as a secret marketing event for the next two Marvel films: Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four: First Steps. Because many of those actors are going to be in Avengers: Doomsday, it now becomes necessary to watch those two movies to be prepared.

Marvel, backed by Disney, is a powerhouse when it comes to marketing. This is the latest example of showing how to create demand for a product long before it's available.

NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF DESIGN AND MARKETING

🕵 What Makes Google’s AI Overviews Tick? Here’s What Our Experts Discovered

Brafton’s SEO team delves into the factors influencing Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) and their impact on organic traffic.

• Influence of Backlinks and Domain Authority: Pages featured in AIOs typically have 31% more backlinks and a 4-point higher Domain Rating compared to non-featured pages.

• Impact on Organic Traffic: The effect of AIOs on organic traffic is debated, with studies showing varying results from decreases to positive impacts.

• My Take: This is the new battlefield in search. Marketers, digital architects, and content managers need to structure their content so it can be ingested and be the best result for AI results.

Keep reading

NEW RESOURCES FOR YOU

The Visual Marketer

If you were waiting to buy the book on Amazon, now is your chance! https://amzn.to/3FKjCG1

But I have to warn you, the hardcover is much more expensive on Amazon than on my site. Amazon takes a big cut.

Design Quote of the Week

“I see design as a matter of solving problems; art as a matter of inventing them.”
– Karl Gerstner

My AI disclaimer: I write the main story. I find the news stories, and the summary is by ChatGPT. I write the My Takes bullet. If AI generates the images, I include the prompt so you can see how I got to that image. Nothing in this newsletter or anything I publish anywhere reflects the views of my employer.