Marvel is promoting its latest film, "The Incredible Hulk," with a website that uses rich media to engage fans in an entertaining and interactive way.

IN A NUTSHELL

With the lazy days of summer come baseball, barbecues, and of course, blockbuster movies.  With so many leisure activities vying for your time, we thought we’d examine how studios are promoting this season’s big movies online.

As a B2B Web marketer, you’re likely wondering, “what could I possibly learn from a Hollywood movie website?” Think engaging user experience, community, viral marketing, rich media, and emotional brand connections. And "The Incredible Hulk" site does all of these things well. 

BRAVO

"The Incredible Hulk" boasts one muscular site, with eye-catching trailers, multimedia, and much more—more interactive elements, more community features, and a more engaging experience overall than other movie sites.

For instance, “Hulk Connect” lets you quickly submit or access a slew of Hulk fan websites and bulletin boards. You can also download an array of viral media, such as Hulk instant messaging icons, Hulk wall paper and a Hulk desktop widget, which is basically a miniature version of the site that ensures your favorite hulking green giant and fellow fans are never far.

The widget is the coolest feature on the site. If you need a quick Hulk fix, you can view the trailer in the widget with one click. Other one-click options: posting the widget to your blog or logging in to Hulk destinations on social networking sites.

"The Incredible Hulk" site gets high marks on overall user experience, too. The navigational approach is unique, yet easy and intuitive. The site’s design is eerie and arresting. It’s backed by an ominous audio track and snippets of scenes fading in and out, scattered on the page. As a whole, you get a powerful glimpse of the film and the main character’s turmoil.

TRY AGAIN

The site’s stand-out attributes may also be its Achilles' heel. Even with a fast broadband connection, the image-heavy Flash site might be annoyingly slow for some. While its imagery is captivating and draws you in, the site's page introductions, loads, and transitions sometimes feel like they’re dragging. That said, we don’t think it happens enough to call it a bad experience.