The Marvel Marketing Method

This past weekend, Marvel Studios shattered all box office records with the opening weekend for its Avengers movie.

Yet, I don’t really remember seeing many ads for the movie. In fact, the only Avengers ads I remember were joint promotions from Dr. Pepper and Farmers.

So how do they do it? The latest Harry Potter movie (which was the previous record holder) seemed to be every prior to its release.

Marvel actually has a secret method to its success. It’s quite simple actually:

The Big Picture

I’m a strategy freak. Everything I do HAS to fit into a larger overall plan. Marvel’s success just shows how this plays out and benefits a company in the long run.

Since Iron Man came out (way back) in 2008, every Marvel movie has been leading into the Avengers. It’s beautiful the way in which everything has been fit together.

All the movies have had the same action-packed and graphically intense style. They’ve all shared an uncanny balance of serious and humor.

There have been cross-references and subtle hints at what’s to come all over the place. And then the Avengers picked up on all the pieces seamlessly.

The point is that the studio meticulously planned the entire sequence way back before they put anything into production.

They could have easily rushed into production and made a killing. But first, they built a solid platform that leaves them endless possibilities now (Iron Man 3 is rumored to be in the works, and I’m sure a second Avengers is in the cards).

The Side Effect

As a result of this strategic planning, every movie in the series has been of extraordinary quality. Each movie has felt incredibly well thought out, and that’s definitely a side effect of strategic thinking.

We should all take a page from Marvel’s marketing playbook, and start thinking about the big picture earlier on in our marketing process.

We entrepreneurs tend to rush into things way to much.

I challenge you to take a step back and look at the long-term story you’re trying to tell.