How Marvel Creates Customer Lifetime Value
By: Kimberly Grant
It was quite subtle. Picture it! It was May 2008 and I had only been a critic for a year. Okay, 11 months. I was invited to a movie screening (read: free movie that is seen before it’s official release) to cover a comic book film for my review. I was excited because the movie was free.
Then something happened in those two hours and six minutes (that were free to me). I had witnessed a comic book movie that didn’t make me roll my eyes. The movie I’m referring to is Iron Man. It was a time when comic book movies were just about dead and Marvel Comics was taking one last chance to cement itself as a leader into the big screen business. They even used the 4 Cs of marketing to a consumer:
- Consumer wants/needs: I (and Marvel fan boys) wanted to be entertained on the big screen (movies).
2. Cost: It was free since I was watching as a movie critic and movie theater tickets were a lot cheaper back then. (Ah! The good ole days!)
3. Convenience: Movie theaters are easily accessible in South Florida. (Although not as accessible as streaming movies at home during the COVID-19 pandemic!)
4. Communication: As a critic, I was there to watch and write a review, then my publication would act as a channel to promote the film ahead of its release.
Now, before this time, I was under the impression that I was above comic book fandom. After all, I had not considered myself to be a costume-wearing attendant at any of the Comic Cons. Not to mention, other comic book movies were not faring well at the box office at the time. But those two hours and six minutes changed me. I found something I could enjoy, the action sequences were great, and Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man, was superb. In other words, Marvel had produced a good product and I was a huge fan of Iron Man. (That was until Deadpool came onto the scene.)
Fast forward 13 years and many Marvel franchise movies (X-Men, Avengers, Deadpool, even Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on TV) later, I have bought into the brand that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’ve seen all of the movies (even X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which wasn’t that great) and watched all of the TV shows. I have T-shirts and I’ve even roped my niece into being a fan girl. I have bought into the brand or as marketers would say, I’ve become a part of the customer lifetime value system.
And, I’m never going back!
