Welcome back folks!

Today’s 57th edition of The SEG3 Report will unpick Marvel’s strategic approach to multi-platform storytelling, and how that has helped them to become a cultural phenomenon.

Also included: Charlotte Tilbury teaming up with Genshin Impact for an astrological collection, and the continued crossover between gaming & beauty brands + Aston Martin Aramco F1 launch of a limited edition Rolling Stones collection, and the power in sports brands creating collaborations across music.

Before we dive in: a PSA for any of you planning to join SEG3 London this June - Super Early bird passes end tomorrow!

Enjoy…

Contents: Edition #57

• Medium Mapping: How Marvel Mastered Multi-Platform Growth

• Charlotte Tilbury expand gaming presence with Genshin Impact

• Aston Martin Aramco F1 & Rolling Stones drop limited edition merch

Medium Mapping: How Marvel Mastered Multi-Platform Growth

With Thunderbolts* opening this weekend and Fantastic Four: First Steps on the horizon, Marvel stands at a pivotal crossroads. After the uneven reception of the Multiverse Saga, signs suggest Marvel is course-correcting, refocusing on character-driven stories and emotional stakes as the franchise heads into Doomsday and Secret Wars.

Before Marvel charges forward, it’s worth stepping back to understand how they built one of the most successful transmedia ecosystems in entertainment, and why those lessons still matter today.

Why should you care?

TL;DR: Marvel’s cultural dominance wasn’t an accident, it was the result of methodical transmedia planning, or what I call Medium Mapping. By assigning each format a distinct strategic role — and carefully developing stories that played to each medium’s unique strengths — Marvel transformed its IP into an omnipresent but cohesive brand. As studios and IP owners chase multi-platform expansion, Marvel’s original playbook still holds the blueprint for long-term franchise health.

In full: Not all stories are created equal. And not all mediums should serve the same purpose. Yet too often, transmedia projects treat every platform like a dumping ground for the same material. The result? Scattered narratives that confuse audiences, fragment fandoms, and stall growth.

Great franchises don’t just expand across different formats—they design a specific function for each medium to serve within the larger IP ecosystem. Marvel exemplified this with one of the most sophisticated multi-tiered storytelling strategies in entertainment history.

Here’s how Medium Mapping fuelled Marvel’s dominance:

Films: The Core Experience

Theatrical films remained the centrepiece for Marvel—the cultural "main event" that introduced new heroes, advanced major arcs, and defined the Marvel brand around the world.

• Avengers: Endgame became a once-in-a-generation cinematic moment, grossing $2.8 billion worldwide while delivering emotional closure to a decade-long saga.
  

• Fantastic Four: First Steps aims to reintroduce Marvel’s First Family, setting the stage for a revitalised cosmic storytelling corner of the IP.

Key: Big-screen experiences crystallised the stakes and built emotional resonance and mythology that all other mediums orbit.

TV & Streaming: Character Depth and Worldbuilding

TV became Marvel’s platform for deepening character arcs, experimenting with different tones and genres, and building connective tissue.

• Loki expanded the MCU’s multiversal framework and introduced the TVA and Kang.
  

• WandaVision offered a character-driven narrative that expanded Marvel’s tone beyond standard superhero fare.

Key: Streaming allowed Marvel to tell slower-burn and more sprawling stories that wouldn’t fit into a two-hour blockbuster.

Comics: Expanding the Mythos and Testing New Ideas

Comics remain Marvel’s R&D lab—where new concepts, story arcs, and characters could be introduced, refined and tested for broader adoption.

• House of M and Secret Wars laid thematic foundations that could later inspire large-scale MCU narratives.

Key: Comics provide a living mythos—continually fuelling adaptation without exhausting the core movie storylines.

Games: Immersive Superhero Experiences

Marvel’s video games give fans a chance to live inside the universe, delivering interactive experiences that deepen emotional engagement.

• Marvel Rivals offers fast-paced, team-based battles featuring iconic heroes and villains—and smartly reintroduces the Fantastic Four, building visibility ahead of their big-screen return.
  

• Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra (upcoming) unites Black Panther and Captain America in WWII, giving both characters new layers while expanding historical dimensions of the Marvel franchise.

Key: Games give players agency—letting fans embody heroes instead of just watching them.

Digital & Mobile – Keeping the Brand Accessible

Mobile and digital content served as a lightweight way to keep Marvel relevant between tentpole releases.

• WHIH Newsfront created in-universe news content that bridged movies like Ant-Man and Civil War.
  

• Marvel Snap dominated mobile gaming charts by offering a snackable, collectible superhero experience.

Key: Mobile wasn’t about narrative depth—it was about adding low-friction touchpoints and building cultural omnipresence.

Brand Collaborations & Location-Based Entertainment – Extending Fandom into Real Life

Marvel didn’t just stay on screens—it extended into experiences, merchandise and lifestyle.

• Collaborations with Adidas, LEGO, Fortnite and more turned Marvel into a cross-cultural presence.
  

• Avengers Campus at Disneyland turned the Marvel Universe into a real-world destination.

Key: Brand extensions weren’t random—they were engineered to reinforce key themes and make the Marvel Universe feel tangible.

Why Medium Mapping Matters

Medium Mapping has allowed Marvel to:

• Build different entry points for different types of fans

• Deepen emotional engagement without exhausting the theatrical pipeline

• Create a self-reinforcing loop where each medium fuelled excitement for the others

• Expand the mythology without diluting the brand

This strategy is more important than ever today, as audience attention splinters and content overload looms.

The Road Ahead

Marvel’s next phase—with Thunderbolts*, Fantastic Four, Doomsday, and Secret Wars—will hinge on whether they can recapture the emotional, character-driven storytelling that made the Infinity Saga soar. 

By smartly applying Medium Mapping—choosing the right stories for the right platforms while keeping the precious human emotional core intact—Marvel can reignite its mythos and scale to new heights of fandom.

If Marvel gets it right, it won’t just endure—it will evolve into an even more immersive, interconnected mythology that defines the next generation.

[by Derick Tsai - Founder, Magnus Rex: An IP Development Studio | Prev: Riot Games, Bungie]

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Charlotte Tilbury launch collaboration with Genshin Impact

In the brands first major gaming move, Charlotte Tilbury has joined forces with Genshin Impact, one of the world’s most popular action RPGs, for a limited-edition, astrology-inspired beauty collection. The collaboration features their hero products like lipsticks and highlighters reimagined through the lens of Genshin’s characters. Alongside the physical products, the campaign will also feature makeup tutorials and in-game rewards.

Why should you care?

TL;DR: Charlotte Tilbury have been upping the ante from a digital perspective the last 6/12 months, flirting with gaming adjacent platforms like Twitch and immersive virtual stores with Disney. This partnership introduces Charlotte Tilbury to a Genshin Impact audience that clearly already has an appreciation for art & aesthetics, and incentivises them to engage to earn in-game rewards. And with 85% of consumers saying they’re willing to engage with brands if they’ll be rewarded, we’re going to see more and more campaigns like this that blend physical and digital engagement.

In full: And so another luxury brand enters gaming. This time, Charlotte Tilbury, and I have to say it feels pretty authentic and like the next natural step for them – here’s why.

The brand has just teamed up with Genshin Impact, one of the biggest RPGs in the world, with over 60 million monthly players. For avid readers, you’ll recall they also recently teamed up with McDonald’s (which we covered in Edition #27).

But despite Genshin’s numbers being incredible, it’s not just about that.

Genshin has become a cultural touchpoint, with an army of fans that are creating content across TikTok, arranging cosplay meetups and designing fan art. These are superfans who are deep in Genshin lore, and who treat their in-game characters with the same energy they bring to IRL style.

That’s what makes this collab so interesting. It’s not just one-dimensional, it’s connecting all IRL and digital touchpoints.

There’s physical product, yes, but that product also unlocks in-game rewards that mean something to Genshin players. For an audience that’s already moving between digital and real world self-expression every day, it makes sense that beauty brands like Charlotte Tilbury would want to meet them in both.

And better yet, to make the crossover feel as authentic as possible, fronting the campaign is a fan-favourite character from Genshin’s lore, Mona Megistus.

That’s a very smart decision. It shows they’re not just borrowing from gaming for aesthetics, but instead leaning into what makes the game tick. It gives the collab more weight with the players, who actually care about the game and its storylines.

And this step into games also fits with how Tilbury’s have been showing up in adjacent channels.

They launched a Twitch channel over a year ago, streaming live tutorials and product drops (not something you see many beauty brands doing), and launched a virtual store collab with Disney – focusing on gamified shopping, avatar guides and little quests - making it more of an experience rather than just a transaction.

So although Beauty x gaming isn’t new (we’ve of course seen everything from E.l.f. & NYX launching in Roblox & Zepeto, to Fenty showing up in League of Legends), this first step shows that Tilbury’s understand gaming culture, and that’s a pivotal first move, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing more on-brand gaming partnerships and integrations from them soon.

Aston Martin Aramco F1 & Rolling Stones drop limited edition merch

To celebrate the Miami Grand Prix, Aston Martin F1 has teamed up with the Rolling Stones and their fashion label RS No.9 Carnaby on a one-off collaboration. The partnership includes a limited capsule collection of clothing and accessories, as well as a special race livery for the AMR24 F1 car featuring the band’s iconic tongue-and-lips logo. The co-branded merch has already sold out, everywhere.

Why should you care?

TL;DR: Aston Martin’s sold-out collab with The Rolling Stones is a signal of how sport is merging with music, fashion and culture at large. Their new I / AM DROPS series taps into this shift, showing how smart brand crossovers can drive relevance, fandom and fresh revenue. In today’s landscape, the brands that win are the ones willing to play beyond their category.

In full: This is yet another sign of the lines blurring between sports and wider culture.

We all know Formula 1 has undergone a serious shift over the last decade. It’s no longer just about speed and competition, it’s become a global stage for music, fashion, tech and more. And Aston Martin F1 is leaning into that evolution with its new I / AM DROPS series.

And they kicked things off with a bang with a limited-edition collab with The Rolling Stones. Two iconic British brands coming together, tongue logo and racing green in tow - and it sold out almost instantly.

And it’s a great example of something bigger happening: the increasing importance of collaborating outside your traditional sphere to stay relevant.

Fashion and music are dominant forces in culture, and by aligning with these spheres, Aston Martin are doing much more than just selling merch - they’re also building new stories, new fans and of course creating fresh revenue streams (which is always helpful!).

And smartly, this is just step one of their broader plans, with the I / AM DROPS series featuring multiple drops - each one you’d imagine will be a chance to tap into different corners of culture, and to build something that feels collectible, desirable and ongoing.

So if you want to grow audience and IP in today’s landscape, staying in your lane won’t cut it. The brands that thrive will be the ones who can flex across culture, and by doing so, create richer, more layered stories that endure far beyond the track or the stadium.

In other news this week…

• OpenAI may be about to add a native Shopify checkout to ChatGPT: read here.

• NASCAR & Voldex launch Talledega Superspeedway into Driving Empire: read here.

• Stake launch remote gaming server: read here.

• Unidays becomes NFL’s ‘Official Student Partner of Choice’ for UK&I: read here.

• Pudgy Penguins launch Pudgy World beta: read here.

• Toys’R’Us to launch live action film: read here.

• It’s rumoured Pokemon will launch ‘tradable digital medals’ by leveraging Mysten Labs ecosystem: read here.

• Tether increases stake in Juventus to over 10%: read here.

• Sony & Lamborghini team up for Sonic & Knuckles supercars: read here.

• LEGO expand Fortnite collection: read here.

• Netflix acquires first two seasons of Paw Patrol: read here.

• Netflix launch Black Mirror game to accompany series launch: read here.

• Ndax becomes ‘Official Crypto Trading Platform’ partner of NHL: read here.

Working on anything cool, or have a press release you would like us to cover? Send it in for the chance for it to be covered in next week’s edition!

That’s all for now folks - thanks again for reading the latest edition of The SEG3 Report and if you found it of interest, do consider sharing with a friend!