Issue #1

What makes Deadpool's marketing so genius?

Deadpool and Wolverine are now in cinemas, and like the previous movies, they were a huge success. In my opinion, this is not surprising because the marketing campaign around this movie was also a huge success. The trailers and promotional clips gained millions of clicks on YouTube. But what makes Deadpool's marketing so successful, and what can we learn from that?

Reasons for the success

Let's start with the reasons for the success of Deadpool:

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1. The obvious reason: The characters are ungodly popular. Wolverine is one of the most famous comic book characters of all time, and Deadpool has been well-known since his debut film in 2016 (I am not counting his appearance in X-Men Origins Wolverine, and you know why). I am confident that more people around the world know Deadpool and Wolverine than the president of the European Union. By the way, I am proof of that, and I live in Europe. This popularity alone guarantees attention for the campaign. Because of that, the first trailer became the most-viewed movie trailer on the first day, reaching 365 million views. (https://screenrant.com/deadpool-3-trailer-viewership-record-mcu/)
2. Trust in the product: The two Deadpool movies became massive hits. The last Wolverine movie with Logan is highly regarded amongst viewers and critics. So we assume that the upcoming product must be good, or at least we are more willing to try. Think of a company you like, bringing out a new product; you would probably be more likely to try that. The same principle applies here. Even though movie sequels, more often than not, are no proof that the new product will be good.
3. The third reason is creativity. A video of Deadpool and Wolverine doing a podcast for a minute and a half? This is very creative and takes the consumers by surprise. But it is just as entertaining as it is imaginative. And it applies to something else that I will list later. The combination of creativity and humor makes it almost certain that the clips will go viral just because people share them. We can imagine those reasons speaking more to a warm audience already familiar with the product. But how do they market to a cold audience?
4. As with the video I mentioned in point 3. Deadpool clips did not just appear on the Deadpool channel but on other YouTube channels, like in this example, on the Spotify channel. This makes it fun for the warm audience because they must always look for the next clip. It gives some gamification to them. However, looking at the cold audience it introduces the character to an audience that may not be familiar with the existing trailers. But as they probably use and trust Spotify, they will likely watch the trailer.

But there is one more significant reason for the huge success:

5. It acts like a sample for the movie. The producers are basically showing a sample of the movie: “You find this funny? Then you will love our film.” It is comparable to a test package of cologne at the store. You get to take a smell and decide if the product fits you. The same applies here. It is a preview of the kind of humor to expect in the movie. So, even people who don’t care about the characters may want to visit the cinema.

Okay, okay. I have to stop myself. I have listed five reasons now. But let us get to the point. How can we use that for our campaigns? I mean, your product probably is not a multi-million dollar movie with two of the most famous and handsome actors alive. And if so, then congratulations!

The first lesson from this is leveraging popularity and trust. Just as Deadpool capitalized on the popularity of its characters and previous successes, brands can leverage their existing reputation and customer base. Exciting customers are more likely to try new products or respond positively to marketing campaigns. Apple did a great job with this. They hyped their existing fans with their keynotes, creating more popularity for their releases. Another way is to use the reputation of another brand. This is what collaboration is all about. Partnering with an influencer uses their popularity and trust to build trust in your product and ultimately sell more.

The second lesson: Creativity pays off if it aligns with the product. Nowadays, there is enormous competition on social media. Therefore, we have to be creative to stand out. So we got to get creative as Dr. Squatch did for their natural soaps. A funny commercial that is intentionally weird at times but still conveys the message. Of course, such a humorous approach would probably not work for a divorce lawyer cause it does not align with the product. But it offers other opportunities to get creative.

To round it up, the last lesson: Use samples. Show people how your product works, how it feels to use it, what the outcomes will be, and so on. Reviews can also work like this, but I personally prefer a sample. If you have a great product, people will be convinced to buy by trying it. Many software products operate like this. You can test the software for over a week, and then you have to make the decision. But it could also work for physical products. In my opinion, Whoop does a great job at this. You can test their product for one month because they are confident you will love it.

That does it for this week. I am now off to watch Logan …again. I wish you a great week, and see you next time!