Business

Report Shows Disney Dethrones Apple as the Most Intimate Brand in the World

Published

7 years ago

May 20, 2019

Every year MBLM does a Brand Intimacy Study to find which brands customers are most loyal to. It is the largest study of its kind, surveying 6,000 consumers. Participants are asked questions about which brands they use regularly, how they feel about those brands, and if they feel that they could live without the brands’ products.

This year, Disney managed to top Apple for the first time ever. Other brands in the top ten list included Amazon, Chevrolet, Netflix, Harley Davidson, Playstation, and YouTube. To see all of the details, you can download the full Brand Intimacy Study on MBLM’s website.

It’s not surprising that Disney has built such a strong following. With the Avengers and the Marvel Universe rocking the box office, related merchandise, shows, and events are drawing in record-breaking crowds. And, this is only the cherry on top of the Disney empire.

Disney has been a household name for generations. From Mickey Mouse to Disneyland to the Disney Channel to Star Wars and on and on. Disney has been on a solid growth trajectory for years and there’s no end in sight. Part of the reason that Disney is so successful is that it prioritized its relationship with consumers.

Brand intimacy has a significant impact on a company’s ability to survive and thrive.

According to MBLM’s Brand Intimacy Study, building brand intimacy creates price resilience and builds customer loyalty.

According to Digital Authority Partners, when consumers feel a bond with a brand, they are willing to pay more for their product than the product of a competitor. MBLM says that many of these consumers are willing to pay up to 20% more.

This willingness stems from an emotion-centered marketing strategy. For Disney in particular, nostalgia plays a big part in their marketing campaigns. The longevity of the brand has allowed for devoted consumers to pass their favorite movies or toys on to their children through multiple generations. The desire to purchase a product is pursued by a child and a parent.

The ability to pass on this brand intimacy to the next generation is made possible by a willingness to keep up with new technology. If Disney still produced the same sketch-cartoons of Steamboat Willie, the company would have died out decades ago. However, Disney is always looking for ways to stay in the spotlight.

A great example of this is Disney’s upcoming streaming service, Disney+.

The way that we view movies and TV shows is changing. Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu have paved the way for others. Disney, seeing this opportunity, has opted to remove their content from these streaming services so that they can remain exclusive to their own service.

Judging by the results of the Brand Intimacy Study, this will be a successful venture.

With big brands like Disney or Amazon, it can be extremely difficult to build a name for yourself as an emerging business. But, brand intimacy may be the answer to this problem.

It’s not enough anymore to have a good product. It’s so easy for another, bigger company to come along and start selling a similar product–and they already have the customer loyalty to back it up.

One great way for businesses to differentiate is to start building that emotional attachment with their customers by adopting a data-driven marketing approach. Business can build a connection by gauging customers’ interests with regards to what matter the most to them.

One strategy that has been leveraged more and more in recent years is the practice of giving back to a cause that a company’s target audience is passionate about. That is in line with recent report findings which show that Generation Z (young people aged 16 to 30) are particularly interested in giving back to the community according to a recent study.

To that effect, for example, Kool8, a company in Chicago that produces water bottles, has put in place a very clear give-back policy for their products. For every bottle that is sold, 20% of the profit will go towards providing clean drinking water for underprivileged areas of the world.

Another example is the Tiesta Tea Foundation. They work to support people in economic hardship, raise awareness and acceptance for people with special needs or disabilities, and also work to bring clean drinking water to developing countries.

These businesses go above and beyond distributing their product to help others in need and build brand intimacy. By working to solve problems that consumers care about, they earn their business and their loyalty. These tactics create an emotional bond with the product that the consumer would not typically feel with a new business or product.

Focusing on brand intimacy is a new norm for successful businesses. We’ve seen the success of a good brand intimacy building campaign from Disney, and you can bet that they are not going anywhere any time soon.

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

4 weeks ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.