Brand Strategy as Illustrated by Explosions in Movie Trailers

We’re currently working on a rebrand for a cool business, which means Kel and I are paying especially close attention to the nuances of of language, imagery, color, and tone to make sure that what we are creating speaks to the target audience and supports the overall strategic goals.

Sometimes these elements can feel a little abstract and difficult to articulate—ask any graphic designer if someone has ever asked them to “just make it look pretty”—so we work hard to make sure we deeply understand what the business wants to do in order to make good creative decisions.

And even though I believe that marketing is only occasionally scientific, it also presents a lot of opportunity for experiments and tests with controlled variables.

Here, let me show you a few explosions to illustrate my point:

One Movie, Three Trailers

Thunderbolts* is an upcoming Marvel movie that will be released on May 2. There are currently three official trailers for the film, and depending on which one you watch, it feels like you can expect an entirely different movie.

Personally I would see this movie based on any of the three. Whether you’re interested or not, I think it’s really interesting to see how different they are from each other, and if you prefer one over another. (It will only take about 6 minutes to watch them all, FYI for planning purposes.)

I love thinking about movie trailers from a storytelling perspective because there is a clear goal—get people to see a movie—but so many different ways to go about reaching that goal, and so many potential audiences to consider, that the decisions made often reveal more about the marketing strategy than they do about the film itself.

I’ve picked a few things to watch for in each trailer so you can think about choices of tone, music, storytelling goals, and how many things explode while you watch.

Trailer # 1: The Teaser

The first trailer released by Marvel Studios is the most broadly appealing. It’s structured around a few mostly self-contained scenes so anyone can pick up the story, and the main objective seems to be to let you know that Florence Pugh stars in it, which is smart given her visibility in recent blockbusters Oppenheimer and Dune 2.

Explosions: 3!!!

Action Style: Mostly hand-to-hand combat with knives and guns in the spirit of John Wick keeps the trailer more grounded in reality, with no supernatural elements to put non-superhero fans off.

Music: The Pixies’ “Where is My Mind” from 1988’s Surfer Rosa but chopped up to create a darker mood. While Surfer Rosa sold less than 1 million copies, this song has more than 1 billion streams on Spotify and a lot of visibility thanks to it’s famous usage at the end of Fight Club.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Menacing.

Trailer # 2: The Big Game

The second trailer is specifically named the “Big Game” trailer, ostensibly because it was prepared to be a Super Bowl ad. You’ve got a TV audience of an estimated 127 million people watching a football game. What do you think they want to see? Well, this, obviously:

What else does Marvel think you want to see? Superheroes, inspirational teamwork, and lots of things blowing up.

Explosions: 7!!!!!!!

Action Style: Spectacles and superpowers befitting of the biggest night of lowest common denominator entertainment on the planet, with every moment of action stylistically set to the beat of the soundtrack.

Music: Kenny Loggins’ 1982 jam “Heart to Heart” provides epic teammate vibes and evokes 1980’s blockbusters Footloose and Top Gun because of his past hits. This is also smart because 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick did almost $1.5 billion in worldwide box office.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: The hook up front, and some comic relief.

Trailer # 3: Absolute Cinema

With full self-awareness and a nod to recent Academy Awards’ celebration of craft and the many jobs that go into making movies, this latest trailer honestly makes the entire point of this blog. The way it cribs from the A24 playbook and eschews all explosions is presenting an entirely different feel than the previous trailers.

Explosions: ∅

Action Style: More heist-y, with cars crashing through things and a lot of people driving in cars.

Music: A wordless electronic beat from DJ Gesaffelstein, if the Internet is to be believed. This song choice is all about adding propulsion to the trailer, not seekng recognition or nostalgia.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Epically drinking water.

Wrapping It Up

As you surely can tell, each of these trailers displays a different “personality” crafted for an intended audience that ranges in specificity from avid moviegoers to anyone watching a football game.

If you can get very specific about your product and your audience, you can craft intelligent, creative marketing messages and brand vibes that speak to them in a language they understand (like the Absolute Cinema trailer).

If you can’t get very specific about your product or your audience, then you create broad, attention-grabbing messages, like a Super Bowl commercial where everything blows up.

If you don’t have $8 million to blow on a 30-second ad or your own pyrotechnics budget, then you’re going to have to be pretty smart and specific about your audience and how to reach them. If you need any help with that, Kind & Funny is here for you (though not on May 2, we’ll be watching Thunderbolts*).

Which one do you most want to see? Does your business or brand need a cohesive identity to inspire your audience? jed@kindandfunny.com.