The idea was simple: Collaborate with Marvel to create a four part, exclusive series of custom comics using some of the most iconic comic book characters of the past 100 years, all while prominently and organically featuring Western Union customers accessing a variety of hand-picked products and services.

These true-to-their roots tales of action, adventure, and science-fiction included Captain America, Iron Man, and a variety of other familiar faces battling for the fate of humanity–often at or around a friendly neighborhood Western Union location.

Classic Marvel themes like the power of combining technology and tradition fit perfectly with Western Union’s core values, and with a penchant for innovation, being in the right place at the right time, and sticking up for the little guy, it turned out both brands share quite a bit of DNA in common. Needless to say, the stories practically told themselves.

Upon the release of these web-only custom comics, Western Union and Marvel combined for a blitz across the known media universe (so to speak). Let us explain:

First were four custom-illustrated back page ads heralding the new, web-only tales for hardcopy diehards to get on board.

This was followed with paid digital media that included a Facebook canvas ad and paid promotion on SnapChat and Instagram.

Then, we leveraged the influence of highly-popular social media celebrity Liane V. by sponsoring an in-person meet and greet with Liane at one of Western Union agent locations where she handed-out signed hard copies of the Western Union and Marvel mashup.

Our launch also coincided with two installments of Marvel’s highly popular “What The-?!” YouTube series—an irreverent and highly popular stop-motion release by Marvel.

The comics were downloaded over 120,000 times, and the activation campaign created more than 47 million media impressions.

On social media, Western Union created 9.6 million impressions, reaching 4.7 million people and generating more than a million video views in the process.

By delivering stories in an innovative, never-before-seen manner, Western Union was able to organically position itself as a modern brand with an understanding of millennial sensibilities in a multicultural context. Meanwhile, leveraging live events, strategic content placement, and social media celebrity endorsements proved Western Union to be a brand that communicates with new audiences in unexpected ways.

By telling all-new stories in the Marvel Universe while naturally featuring a variety of money transfer services in the process, Marvel was able to reach a target audience with timely content featuring a relatable, exciting, and familiar cast of characters.