Marvel Just Broke Marketing
“I wish I could figure out what the algorithm wants!”
That is, by far, the woe I hear the most when I talk to folks overwhelmed by social media. There is this belief, nay, a misunderstanding, that the key to social success is posting the right thing. That, if one were to identify the perfect post, the views and engagement would come in droves. If you, dear reader, hold this belief, buckle the fuck up. I’m about to prove you wrong and blow your mind with the help of cinema giant, Marvel Studios. (Disclaimer: You do not need to be a Marvel fan or care about the MCU to read the rest of this blog.)
ICYMI, yesterday Marvel Studios announced the cast list for their next ensemble movie, Avengers: Doomsday. The way they made this announcement is what I want to talk about, because it was nothing short of astounding. Marvel didn’t send out a press release, post an epic video, or host a massive event. No, Marvel held a five and a half hour livestream where they silently revealed chairs. That’s it. 5.5hrs of chairs. Live viewership peaked at just under 200k and the VOD of the stream has just under 5 million view
That’s Insane
Can you imagine controlling 200k people’s viewership for 5+ hours? And can you imagine if the only overhead costs were chairs and five hours worth of contract labor to move the camera? For most, if not all of my clients, those numbers would be absolutely life changing. Marvel didn’t just rake in the views yesterday either. That VOD has over 4k comments and over 120k likes, so the views brought engagement as well.
I want to double down on how insane that is for just a second. Marvel somehow convinced more people than the largest sporting arena in the US can seat to spend 20% of their day watching a live stream of chairs. And with all that engagement, they convinced most of those people to buy the $8 beer and the $12 nachos. Oh, and I forgot to mention, this live stream wasn’t prescheduled and there was no warning. They just did it.
So What?
My long, drawn out point here is this: Marvel has access to more money and resources than you or I will ever see, and they did all this with chairs.
The constant search for the “perfect post” or “magic bullet” is Sisyphean. You will be driven mad before you ever nail down exactly what “the algorithm” wants. But what are you looking for? Do you think there’s a secret Instagram Reel or TikTok video that will net you 200k eyes for five hours on a Wednesday? Because Marvel did that with chairs (plus the names of 27 A-List celebrities), and no social media guru in the world saw that coming.
You can surf the waves of the algorithm, looking for your perfect moment to strike, or you can pull out all the chairs in the office and make a silly video. Either way, there’s no secret weapon or magic hack to generate views and engagement. What matters is the culture you build around your content and your brand.
“But I’m Not Marvel”
No, you’re not, but that changes the scale, not the ideology. Marvel didn’t just muscle together (if my math is correct) over 1 million hours of watchtime with a warehouse full of chairs. They have worked for nearly 20 years, through thick and thin, to develop the culture around those chairs. If you consider the history of Marvel Comics additive to the culture of those chairs, it’s actually been almost 90 years.
You (likely) haven’t spent 20 years building the culture around your brand, let alone 90 years. That said, I’m assuming you’ve put a great deal of effort into building that culture, and that effort pays dividends on your social engagement. You can spend the rest of your life trying to engineer the most algorithmically optimal post and still come up short. But, if you dedicate that much energy and effort into developing the culture around your brand, you too can captivate the world with chairs.
Oh, and if you are from Marvel, please call me.
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