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5 Marketing Lessons to learn from Marvel's Spider-Man

Ask a 6 year old what his or her name is, and maybe they wouldn’t be so sure of it. Now ask them if they know Spider-Man, and they’ll scream YESSSS!

Any kid and any grown up would know Spider-Man. That is just how popular the character is!
 

Making his first appearance in the comic book titled Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962) this extremely popular fictional superhero was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko.

Ever since then, this has been a well known name around the world!

 

But the question is… does Spider-Man actually need marketing???

Spider-Man: There’s Marketing?

 

The role of Spider-Man was played by several actors over the years (in the movie adaptations of the comic). The most recent however, is Tom Holland. Well-known for his role as the spider-man in the movies Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019).

And now, the brand new Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) which is the talk of the town!
 

At this point, it is honestly shocking that anything related to Spider-Man needs marketing. But it does, like all other things!

So what are some of the marketing lessons that you could learn from Marvel’s Spider-Man?

 

5 Marketing Lessons to Learn

Brand Consistency

Forget about the movies, if you’ve watched the trailers of the 3 most recent Spider-Man movies alone, you’d see an interesting connection between them. From the way it starts, the intro, the music, to clips from funny, emotional, and intense scenes. It’s all quite similar!

It’s true that in order to capture attention, you must create something new. 

However, there’s a difference! All the Spider-Man fans are used to seeing what they see in every single movie. This is what they enjoy watching.  

 

For instance, take the “Princess Switch” movie sequel. You’d see that all the three movies are similar in many ways. For one, it’s always focused on the holiday season! Just like that, it’s important that whatever the message you are trying to tell your consumers through your brand, is consistent. 

 

And of course, Marvel’s Spider-Man is one of the best examples you could get!
 

Research and Development

Take a group of Marvel fans and ask them if they’ve read any novel at all. There’s a high chance that most of them would say “no”. Now ask them if they read comic books. They might say “yes”. Or at least some of them would!

Do comic books really sell? Well, not every marvel fan would end up reading a comic book. But, there’s a greater chance of them reading a comic than reading some very popular novel.

This is where R&D comes in handy!

Marvel continues to publish comic books.

But why comics?

 

Spider-Man is not based on real-life. It’s more of a fantasy and that’s why people love it! It’s an escape from reality. And even though there are many people who don't enjoy reading, comics are actually considered light reading, so anyone could actually enjoy reading them. 

Now assume, if Marvel released non-fictional novels. How many would actually purchase them? Probably not that many!
 

This is why it’s important to conduct research on your audience before anything else! 

 

Let’s assume that you are a beverage manufacturer and you decide to diversify into a new market with new products. For instance, apparel.

This is completely unrelated! Which is why you need to do research first.

 

Is there a gap in the market? Is it possible for my brand to grow? Will it succeed?

If you go ahead with your plan without doing any research first, you know that there’s a high chance of your business being led to failure. However, had you done your research first, you could’ve avoided this!

It’s just like how the Spider-Man movies focus on what its audience needs and wants to see!
 

Word of Mouth

Is word of mouth still a thing? Oh yes, it is!

You’d think that no one needs word of mouth anymore. But the truth is, word of mouth plays a major role in your marketing.

All the hype around Spider-Man did not build up overnight. 

 

Let’s take the new Spider-Man movie for instance. “No Way Home” is something everyone talks about! If you were trying to go watch the movie in a cinema, you would’ve seen that most seats are already booked!

But word of mouth is what builds the hype. “Are you gonna watch the movie?”, “Have you seen it yet?” 

It’s just like Squid Game (South-Korean drama) which rose to fame mostly because people started posting about it on social media. That’s the funny thing! 

You see, when there is a topic trending on social media, people show some interest. They want to become a part of the topic. 

 

And that’s what happened with Squid Game. After seeing all the posts on social media, people were actually interested in checking out the drama.

Same goes with Spider-Man! How many Spider-Man posts have you seen over the last few days? 

How many of your friends have shared posts or edits on social media?

For someone who may not be such a huge fan of the movies, this would be quite effective. They would want to know what the hype is all about. “Maybe, I should watch it too?”
 

Many brands have created customer curiosity successfully. This makes them show some interest in your brand, engage with your content, remember your brand, and most importantly, they’ll talk to their friends about it.

And that’s how effective and important word of mouth is!

According to Semrush, 90% of people are likely to trust a brand recommended by someone, even if they may be a stranger.  


 

Influencer Marketing

How many social media influencers and celebrities have shared Spider-Man related posts on their social media profiles over the last few days? 

Of course, any posts Zendaya and Tom Holland make about the movie would end up going viral! 

However, there could be some people who aren’t really interested! 

They aren’t interested, but once they see their favourite influencer post about the movie, they’ll immediately show some interest.

That's how huge influencer marketing is now!

People actually try dressing up like their favorite influencers, dining where they dine, shopping wherever they shop from. And even watching the same movies or listening to the same songs as them. 

 

Like said before, people trust a brand when it’s recommended by others.

Just how many brands promoted by influencers have you purchased from? I’m sure you at least checked the brand’s social media profiles! 
 

Most brands have moved to influencer marketing as a way of promoting their brands. And honestly, it does help you gain some effective results! So if you aren’t already using influencer marketing to promote your brand, you should probably give it a shot now!
 

Social Media Profiles

Spider-Man: Instagram

If you take movie franchises like Marvel, you’d see how great they are at creating a social presence online! The Instagram profile shown above was not created just for the new movie. However, the bio has been changed to the name of the new movie. 

 

If you check out their profile, you’d see just how many posts they have made. And these posts are exactly what the fans want to see. Pictures and videos of the casts, clips from the movie, trailers, and even behind the scenes.

 

Social media presence is so important that it is no longer an option but a must! Not just when it comes to movies or tv shows, but also for any brand at all. 
Based on the platforms your audience is likely to spend time on, you should grow your presence. Not only does this help increase awareness of your brand, but it also helps keep your audiences engaged with your content.

If you haven’t already got social media profiles for your brand, you are way behind!

 

Conclusion

Whether or not you are a fan of Spider-Man, you’ve obviously heard the name! Whether or not you watch the movies, you obviously know they exist too. And maybe you’ve even seen some of them!

From a business aspect, if you’re only starting or if you’re still growing, being as famous as Marvel’s Spider-Man probably seems impossible. But it’s not!

Remember, Spider-Man wasn’t always popular! They had to start somewhere too!
 

For your brand to grow, you should reach for new and greater opportunities. The above explained techniques we can take from Marvel’s Spider-Man could be a great start for you!



 

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