Ep3 - The Heroine Behind Marvel's Marketing Super Powers

just through the usual billboards and travelers. Marvel gets the word out through what it calls partnerships, which is a kind of alliance between a piece of intellectual property and a consumer brand. I think, for instance of the quid pro quo promotion it might have spotted when Lexis showed up in Black Panther. There's a fine art to this little understood aspect of the industry. So we're going to talk to one of its master practitioners, Marvel's Mindy Hamilton's

senior VP and Global Partnerships. So let's just start with defining partnerships, what kind of deals you strike with brands. And I know it's not a cookie cutter thing. It is not, although sadly so many people do approach approach it that way, and I think hopefully by the end of this conversation, I will give some folks out there some tips on how to break through that. UM. I would say the dry definition of what I do is UM I developed third party partnerships, brands relationships UM in

order to UM amplify our our efforts. And what is entailed in partnerships can be the anything from product placement to sourcing to um CO branded marketing campaigns on the back end in the theatrical or in the home entertainment window for films, or to help launch a TV show, video game, UM or in the case of our digital content, ramping up our new studio and content engine. So can

you give a specific example. I know you guys just have this little movie out there called Black Panther and a little car company called Like So that came together in some interesting ways. Yeah, we did, UM I would say, that's the exciting part. I gave you the dry definition. The the exciting part of what we do is really it's all about adventizing our releases. It's about amplifying that

emotional connection. So we get to play in a space where UM, you know, people expect to see television spots, Outdoor magazine covers all of those things that um Our Genius marketing team has to get to. Those are the nuts and bolts of the campaign. Where I get to come in and play is I get to develop a campaign with a brand to pop up in an unexpected place,

in an unexpected way. It allows me to go deeper not only in a storyline or end in a character, but it also allows me to go deeper into target audiences and really funnel focus, so I can deal with the brand per se like a general Mills and target parents and kids, right, and then go over here and I want to hit millennials and above with say such

a Lexus UM. I think the genesis of Lexus was that was one of those beautiful things like this represented not just performance and luxury as far as in their DNA UM, but in addition to that, they were already speaking to multicultural audiences, right. It was just a part of their daily conversation UM and so it wasn't something that it was they needed to grow or needed to focus on, or something that was a new lever. So

that was really important. And the reason it's important is when you're doing partnerships authenticity, there has to be some authenticity to it. So UM, those conversations started a year and a half, two years out. UM. We had no idea the placement was going to be with The placement ended up being Ryan Coogler did, but he didn't tell us, which was great, Well, how do you navigate that part of it? Because I can imagine a Ryan Coogler saying, oh, Brands, that's this is a piece of art. So there's no

room for that. I will say that Ryan Coogler, who is a massive, massive Marvel fan, UM happily UM wanted to meet with Alexis folks Um when I came to him and he said, you know, I said, listen, there's certain placements are going to happen in this film. Auto is one of them. I didn't have all the details, and I said, I believe in this brand, Um, And he said, you know what, bring him in. I want to talk to them. I want to see the vehicle. I want to see if it fits UM. And it was.

It was literally lightning in a bottle from the very first moment he jumped on top of a million dollar prototype car and took the position that we now know and we see in film. Um. We had no idea what he was doing, and he went, Yep, this feels right, this is the one. And after talking to them and getting a sense of their DNA and what they wanted

to do. UM, I think it was really impressed that they wanted to start early out and build credibility and a mythology with the character long before the film got here, so that there was UM synergy and a built in audience. UM. So he was he was on board right from the get go. Well, I hear that, and it sounds like what we call product integration is a big piece of what partnerships is uh candidate is it more than that?

And Canada exist without that element? Do you have do do deals where the product doesn't necessarily end up in the movie. I would say we do more deals that have no product placement. And I would say probably the single biggest mistake that brands, unfortunately will make is thinking that they have to be in the film. UM. And and I get the attraction and when it's right, it's amazing. UM.

When it's not, brands can be disappointed. I find it's usually checking a box with some executives to say, hey, I got us in the film, um, but really you have to understand like, what is this, what is the purpose? What is it serving? Right? Does it serve the storyline? Is it part of the character's DNA to have this product or to use or interact with this product? Then it makes sense. UM. But when we're looking at partnerships,

we're going even beyond that. So I would say beyond auto and tech categories, which you tend to find UM integrated into films more more than not. UM. But there are a lot of examples that aren't. One of the biggest UM examples I have of of a campaign where they just took controls to rid Us and Guardians of

the Galaxy. Um, they knew that music huge piece of that movie, right was it knew the soundtrack was going to be amazing UM, and they came up with a creative way to put the soundtrack on the bag of doritos, so literally, you could play the soundtrack off your bag of Doritos. They put it on sale, It's sold out in less than ten minutes on Amazon and was a huge darling of the overall Guardians of the Galaxy campaign.

No placement. It's it's about creativity, It's about what is making the property the I p. Why am I tying into it? Is it because it's music? Isn't because of the character, the storyline, what it represents. And I think that's another beautiful thing with Marvel and the ways you can play. When people come into deal with a Marvel partnership or coming to deal with a Marvel film, there are so many lovers. They come in because it's action adventure. They come in because of the humor, They come in

because of the heartfelt story. They come in because they've been a fan of the comic or the character for you know, decades and they want to now see it on the screen. So there are multiple entry points for brands to be able to play, and that's that's great for us, you know, to be able to carry that storyline and to be able to market those things outside of what maybe traditionally we need to do from a film traditional film marketing perspective with TV spots and outdoor

and things like that. Well, that's the thing. There was a day where you just as a marketer in the studio system worried about your billboards and your thirty second spots. I understand what partnership, what brands get out of partnerships is what you as a studio get out of it or a content company is Lexis for instance, or some other product allows you to reach an audience in a way that the traditional marketing mix does not. And and it's it's twofold. I mean brands, I mean Lexus got

a heck of a lot out of that. Undoubtedly, Um, we also got a lot from that partnership. So what are the things that we get. We're able to reach audiences and fans in an unexpected way or in an unexpected place, which adds to the tidal wave the aventization of things. Um, I think that's the first. I can't go buy a Cereal box, right, can't go buy media in an Alexis dealership. So when we're when we're in those places and we're popping up, it becomes a part

of fans daily's lives. That's incredibly valuable, not just for the film, but it's incredibly valuable for the overall franchise. The other thing that they bring to the table, every every partner is different, you know. Um, they bring a lot of media support, co branded media support, which is extremely valuable. Um. They may support our premiers, they may do experiential events, PR every single partner campaign. This high level macro way to think of it is a mini

marketing plan. So you've got your traditional film marketing plan of all the traditional disciplines that are film marketing. And then from a partnership perspective, every brand is doing media PR, digital, the whole, the whole suitet um creative and so you've got little amplifications and if you do it right, and you're doing it to specific target audiences or to give the campaign, help round out the campaign, Like the studio may want to focus on humor and we're like, great,

we've got a Geico over here. Geico does the most amazing creative humor spots. It'll round it out and like seeded into pop culture and just help elevate everything. So it's a very multifaceted mix. And from what I can see also is it's not just about something that appears in the movie or something that's immediately before the movie. You kind of have to take a longer term view. Yep,

you do have to take a longer term view. And I would say um in partnerships too, because you know, we want to make sure we hit those traditional windows, the theatrical window, which partnerships tend to happen anywhere from six to eight weeks within that theatrical release, and then again you replicate that same time frame in a home entertainment release. I think the art of partnership and helping build and supporting franchises and those film windows is operating

in between. So what do I mean by that? It could be doing a partnership with a video game UM that has similar characters or digital content, but it also may mean using that film I p out of window. Good example of that was a partnership that we did

with Cope. They came and they wanted to do a Super Bowl campaign that was long before we were launching Captain America Civil War, And happily filmmakers and marketing executives allowed me to take a risk, and I said, I think this is going to help not just from a franchise perspective, but it's actually gonna help seed some of that excitement for what they're going to see in the film later on UM And and it was a lightning rod and I it was huge for Coca Cola, was

huge for us. It electrified the fans because Hulk and ant Man met for the first time. So that was a huge conversation piece. So when when you're able to remain authentic, add something new and do it out of window, it's actually really really interesting um and and can help sort of lift not just those tentpole moments but overall franchise. So as you pursue these partnership deals, what is the dynamic?

Are you outside the door of Doritos or Lexus or the brands I would imagine Marvel must have a long line of brands waiting outside wanting to get into these movies and do other things. How do you sift? So? I think, um, there are usual suspects brands that play in this space um and and they are constantly they see the value in in film entertainment partnerships. And so there will be the usual suspects that you either go

to or that will be coming to you. That that just you know, the regular you know meetings, annual meetings. What I try to pride um ourselves on is you know, and I'm gonna say it, we we we like to do cool ships and sometimes that means unexpected brands um things that have never done a film partnership before. That's more important to me than going to the usual suspects, even if they are knocking on my door or even

if I'm knocking on their door for other things. Um it really I find that the things that the unexpected, like a Geico where you round it out, it's like you didn't see that coming. Um, I think those things are interesting. Going to a Google and and where they want to create in world content and they want to do it without any branding. That's cool, right, And the fans are trying to decipher my god, is this what is going on here? And who is putting this out

and how is this happening? Um? That creates a cultural conversation and undertow that just slapping my logo on something doesn't doesn't do any good. Um, package good partner that has been in this space doing something unexpected. Right, So they may be in this space, they may be usual suspect. How do I push them into doing something different? Um? This was they wanted to do. They wanted to be more immersive, and they said, we want to we want people to be able to step into a character's world.

So they created VR mask for Black Panther Captain America. Their sales went up fift Black Panther was off the shelves of walmartin less than a week. It was huge because fans wanted a way to immerse themselves. More so, for me, it's how do I get that immersion? How do I get that How do I electrify the fan base? And sometimes that means not dealing, um with some of

the usual suspects. How do you electrify within Marvel all the way up to it, Kevin Fight, I'm curious, like do they all think about partnerships or they're like, well, that's Mendy's things, She'll come to us. It is a collaborative effort. Um. You know, it will start with my team because that's what I'm tasked with doing at the company, and I will come to them with here's the way

I'm thinking about this movie. And it's critical for me to be a partner with Kevin and Lewis Um and whoever the executive producers, because I have to understand what is their vision, what is happening with this character, what's happening in the storyline, how are they feeling about it, how's it going to come to life on screen? Um?

Are there things that they need support from from a product placement or is there a story that they want to tell, you know, and that I can do that with brand so um collaborative from from that perspective, and once I've had that genius brain dump from them um and and know where they are intending to take it, then I sit down and start to construct what that looks like. Who can we go after? And it could be specific brands, it could be categories, and it could

be target audiences um. And then I let it breathe, right, I work with my team, We let it breathe, and we come in and there's always the conversation like, who haven't we thought of swing to the fences, what's the unexpected, what's the oh my god, I didn't see that coming. And then I go back to Kevin and Lewis and Assad and Ricky and and talk to them collectively and say here's what I'm thinking. They're like, go for it. Um. And then from there, you know, once we have the

partners on board, some real work begins. And that's the creative that that is the part that takes off. You know, UM. When when you know we did the deal with Alexis, when we did the deal with Torito's for guardians. They didn't come to me and say, hey, I want to do a partnership with you and I'm gonna put a soundtrack on the music back. That stuff evolves, that stuff comes out. That's when the magic happens. Is once you get on board and out of way, filmmakers start to

weigh in. They can you know, hey, if we thought about this, Um, it's real magic. It's it's a nice collaborative effort. Is there a way that being inside the Disney machinery helps what you do? You're able to perhaps take the brand to more places because Disney has all these touch points. Absolutely. Um. I think that's one of the things that we, you know, we've tried to accomplish. I think we've done it well. Is one stop shopping.

So I'm your brand ambassador as you navigate on all the Marvel touch points and and having um, you know, the Walt Disney Company, um, you know in support of Marvel and all the amazing things they're doing ing um just makes it that much more um, you know, attractive for brands because brands don't want to always just come in in one moment. They're like, how can I have a longer term relationship, how can I operate in between

those tentpole moments? And you know, having the support of the Walt Disney Company, i e. Parks, Live Entertainment, television networks, all of those things are able to were able to amplify how a partner is able to come in the door and and in the back end. That helps not just the tentpole release, but it also helps the franchise overall. So it's it's an amazing thing to have. I know, film is really the lions share of what you're doing,

But there's other kinds of Marvel. There's TV, there's digital. Talk a bit about how that works in terms of partnerships because I tend to think more of just movies, but it really isn't that simple. So when it comes to two television shows, it depends on obviously where the show is on network. Um, if it's if it's you know, Agency SID, you know, I'll work very closely. Or if it's Cloaken Dagger, I'll work very closely with my friends over at the ABC, UM and free Form networks occasionally

you know, listen, they do what they do best. Um. But knowing that from a Marvel perspective, we may have a different lens, or we may have a different relationship. You know, we have those big relationships with partnerships on the film tip poles. They may come to me and say, hey, how can we how can we work collectively together? UM. Usually it's for Verse Engineered actually on the on the film side, we'll we'll try to add that UM level of synergy where we'll work across the aisles with all

those different teams. UM. But I would say if it's ABC, that's how it works. Netflix. My friends at Netflix, I've been working with them for two and a half years now, UM to get them to to believe in the power of partnerships. You know, they have come from UM. What they've been doing has been amazing UM. And now I'm happy to report that they're opening up UM their their you know breath and their vision on partnership. So I'm actually really excited to see where this will go. UM

remains TBD, but that's interesting. And those shows are a different side of Marvel, right. It's very monomamano, very UM vigilante Street based, a lot of grit, very adult UM. So it's an interesting area to explore and there are a lot of brands out there who need that, who need that type of content UM to be able to get whether it's a millennial or the gen z s

or what have you. So so Netflix change your heart with partnerships is interesting because it prompts me to ask, as you look at the growth of partnerships in the entertainment industry, beyond Marvel, beyond film, are we seeing more acceptance from whether it's streaming services brands. Do partnerships become a more important part of just about any marketing mix

out there? I think they have to be because they again, you're reaching places that you can't go by, and you are amplifying media right all the support levers that a brand can bring UM, So it gets your get your message out there in deeper ways and then the interaction and the adventization that happens with fans. So yeah, I think I think people are seeing that. I believe that

Netflix is starting to see the power of it. But compliments to them, and it's similar to our strategy has to be right again, it has to go back to it is it fit for the story or the character? Is it authentic? Um, it's being judicious about it. Surely you've had some moments in your otherwife Stellar career where despite the best analysis in the world, this brand, this movie, they're gonna be together, like where it just doesn't work. I mean, have you had those? How do you deal?

How do you deal? Um? I'd love to say you duck, tuck and roll, but that doesn't work. Um. I'm trying to think of you know, listen, I think there's some things where Um, I would use an example when I was working on teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles, everybody expects what pizza, right, so I had to go get a pizza partner. Uh. And I think there were a lot of things that

did work, and then there were a lot of missus right. Um, And I think some of it was the things that worked were when we stuck to what was authentic to the Turtles. One of the biggest pieces of success within that that particular promotion was actually they recreated an actual tank that throw pizza and it was amazing and you got to launch pizzas you know, at your at your villains. That took off like lightning. It was just you know,

ground swell. Um. You know, I would say the TV spot was a bit of a miss right and so I think, you know, there is always a delicate balance, you know, So that might be one that I would say, But so far at Marvel, Come Wood, We've we've done. Okay,

that's great. Do you do you get a sense though that in this day and age, particularly with regard to Marvel's Bread and Butter, these movies, do you get the sense that each of them has to come with, say, multiple partnerships from different categories, And is there any issues there in terms of getting brands to coexist within say one property. I would say, yeah, brands actually are getting very savvy about this space and what they don't want to do. And again, what we avoid at Marvel is

what we call the logo parade. It's a logo slab. Brands are not interested and I'm not interested in delivering a set bank of assets and saying here's your toolbox, don't stray from it, you know, use this and and a lot of unfortunately, a lot of studios are very prescriptive about that. And part of that comes from I want to see the sact same message, the exact same artwork, no matter who it is the art of partnerships is actually quite different. You've got to figure out Where is

that nuance? Where can I play that maybe is you know, a hair to the left or a hair to the right, or that is a reimagining UM so that it's not only appropriate for the brand, but appropriate for the fans. I mean that that's just one more thing that the fans like. That's cool. You know. I go back to UM. You know the coke cans that we did. It was not the traditional artwork that was you know that you would expect to see from a film. They were graphic,

they were high, they was just extremely graphic looking. Fans went crazy for it. UM And So I think it's those kinds of things, right, you know, Flexus wanted to do UM, you know, wanted to imagine a car. You know a lot of other places might say, oh, put the logos and put put you know, there are are our film artwork on top of the car. They're like no, no, no. If they had a vibranium tank in the background, three

D paint imaging coming off the hood. So it's you know, again Darda's wanting to play the soundtrack on on that's not traditional. So it's being flexible UM And and that's where you're going to get fans to get excited because they're going to see something different, but it's going to feel connected and and to go back to part of your question, UM just a minute ago, you know, avoiding that logo prede also avoiding you know, the twelve of

the fifteen partners. I think a lot of people make the mistake that UM quantity over quality and and and partnerships. That can be a real mistake. It's a mistake because it's not done well usually and they are usually just using the bank of assets UM, and I think there's not as much flexibility to be able to create that magic within those campaigns. And quite frankly, brands hate it. You know, that's one of the things that they're getting smarter about their coming in And it's the same with

the ventures. It was one of the first questions I got asked when I was talking to people that are like, Okay, well, this is the biggest movie of the century. Let's be clear. You know, we know that this is your big one. You ten years we've been leading up to this moment. You know, the next two films back to back. I'm sure you have what partners you know? And the answers no, UM, we want the right partners. We want to be able

to tell the right story. So each partner has a different position, whether it's an audience driver, a story driver, a character driver, UM, or something that's just really super fun and pop culture. And with regard to partnerships for big franchises like The Avengers, you at the place now where a Marvel has to think of this more than one movie at a time, that you're signing up a brand for a three picture deal, just like a talent, you can be yes, I mean I would go back

to Audi as an example. Audi obviously, UM has been in the Marvel family for for some time. You know, Magic was created with the Tony Stark iron Man character back in you know, two thousand and whatever it was and not getting my ear right, UM, But so for them, they've been been been with the family. But I do think it's important, um again to keep a periscope up and really you know, figure out what is happening out in the landscape. UM, what are people, what are audiences

gravitating towards? And that includes you know, brands, platforms, ways that we're you know, doing things, whether it's experiential or PR or or or digital or mobile effort. And so I think you have to have a periscope up and you have to be able to make sure that you're looking as we're introducing new characters and new worlds like Guardians, right, or Black Panther or Doctor Strange. Um, those are outside of the core six avengers. UM. I think you want

to look at what brands are right. So yes, occasionally we'll have brands that will want to sign up for multiple picture because they want to tap into the franchise and they want to build it. And it's hard. Right when brands turn on that engine and and commit to that level of support, whether it's in the form of television and digital media and um, whatever is happening from a retail or a location brick and mortar perspective, that's

a lot for their organization to take on. And so they want they want to amplify it, they want to they want to extend their legs. So, yes, it is happening more and more. Um. But I would say we always want to be careful. It's it's not about just oh great, I've got somebody signed up for the next

three years or three pictures checkbox. It is is that the right brand to do it one last question in the year eighteen or there's still brands out there that don't quite get it when it comes to partnerships that still want to stick to the tried and true billboards and thirty second spots where you have to be in the position to evangelize the value of these things. I think, UM, I don't know that it's it's whether brands don't get it.

And I would never call anybody else specifically. What I would say is what's gotten difficult in this day and age when you have a saturated market with Facebook and Snapchat, on Instagram and all these other things in YouTube, and now you have influencers. Brands are looking at ways UM to make sure that they're relevant on a daily basis, right and UM two as I mentioned, to turn on the engine of all of their individual disciplines to point to something, whether it's for a product launch or just

a co branded message. UM. That's a lot for an internal organization. So it's become harder, I think to convince an organization. UM. And when it happens, it's magic and they turn it. They turn all that firepower on. But I would say brands are looking at other platforms. The marketplace has become saturated as far as the type of partnership. So, um, if you can't offer, which luckily we can, where I can say, I can work with you in a film window, I can work with you in between. I can work

with you in home entertainment. I can work with you on a film, on a television show, a video game, or I can create digital content, co branded content, a series, snack able, whatever it may be. I can reach a hundred and thirty one million of our fans that aren't live across those social platforms. That is the point of difference. Unfortunately not all of my fearless competitors can say that, but I think it's it's being able to offer those particular things keeps brands in the game. That's a good

note to end on. Thank you many of your time. Well that's another installment of Strictly Business next week. Catch me as I talk with Instagram's Charles Porch. You don't want to miss it.