Starting at midnight tonight, The Force Awakens will be hitting theatres with a power that may be unprecedented.

But the marketing force has been in motion for a long time. From a huge selection of themed merchandise to product tie-ins from everything from cars to sandwiches to appliances, the force has been hitting us for months and will likely continue to do so.

Advance sales for the movie are expected to shatter records, with some people buying tickets to see the film multiple times–before they even know how good it is or if they’ll really like it.

The force at work here has nothing to do with Jedi knights. It’s about branding. When you have a brand as powerful as Star Wars that engenders fierce loyalty from fans that lasts for decades, you can create this kind of all-encompassing fervor.

What are you doing to build this kind of loyalty? Is the force strong with your customers?