• by Steve Phillips , Columnist, February 23, 2018

Branding is an essential pillar of success for many marketers. It helps increase your company’s value and can lead to more customers and higher retention rates. Though many confuse brand with logo or company colors, that is not the true definition of brand. Your brand is a promise to your customer and defines their expectations of you, it is not merely the color palette you use or your visual identity.  

On average, five to seven brand impressions are necessary before someone will remember your brand, and brands that are consistently presented are three to four times are more likely to experience brand visibility. These numbers leave little doubt that branding is integral to the success of your company. 

Some of the most successful brands are those of the Marvel and DC Comics universes. Whether you’re thinking of the franchises themselves or super heroes like Superman and Iron Man, it’d be hard to argue that these iconic companies aren’t huge brands in the entertainment sector.

What’s more interesting, after years of struggle, Marvel is significantly outpacing DC in box office revenue each and every time. Our theory? This can largely be attributed to the branding work that Marvel has done over the past few decades. And that’s not about logos or visual identity, but it’s based on consistent characters. Whereas DC changes Batman every few films, Marvel, on the whole, keeps the same roster of actors with films that feed into a whole — the marvel universe. 

But what can the Marvel Universe teach us about branding? Through analysis of Marvel and DC movie trailers using facial coding software to gauge audience reaction, there are a few key takeaways. 

1. Emotional Engagement and Connectivity Is Key

A strong example of this is Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” trailer. It resonated the strongest with respondents, with the study finding 78% of viewers were “lovers” of the trailer. It’s set to a popular song, 1977 Fleetwood Mac classic “The Chain,” and features entertaining characters making wisecracks. There’s something here that attracts comic and non-comic book fans alike. And there’s still plenty of action.

2. When in Doubt, Make a Splash (or an Explosion)

The data shows the DC trailers received a positive response from their special effects and explosive action, rather than from their characters. However, fans show a strong affinity toward Marvel’s superheroes and react positively toward its trailers’ humor, driving the higher levels of emotional engagement with humor in Marvel than with explosions in DC.

3. Consistency is Key

Marvel trailers also index higher on the “brand linkage” score (how well they fit with a respondent’s image of the comics), indicating that inconsistent DC character connections could have a negative effect on the audience’s emotional engagement with its trailers.

The data not only indicates why Marvel consistently beats DC at the box office, but also offers an insight into brand consistency and messaging in entertainment advertising. Although set pieces, explosions and special effects in DC movie trailers do cause an uplift on the trailer success metrics, it’s Marvel’s consistency with brand affinity and character connection that drives a far higher level of emotional engagement and beats DC across all metrics.

The decades-old battle between Marvel and DC will certainly continue in movie theaters for the foreseeable future but right now Marvel is soaring above its competitor in terms of an emotional connection to its brand.