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9 Things Superheroes Can Teach Marketers
Although superheroes are fictional characters, there's plenty we can learn from their magic and madness. 1. Your brand will have an Archenemy. Coke has Pepsi. Mac has PC. McDonald's has Burger King. Who is or might be your brand's competitor? Observe them well because you'll always need to stay a step ahead. 2. Trouble with super villains? Go regroup at the Batcave. If your brand is suffering blows from the competition, it's time to rethink your current marketing strategy. Do you remember the Crystal Pepsi fiasco—short lifespan, super expensive marketing campaign? Sometimes we need to pull the plug and live to fight another day.3. Never underestimate the power of a fictional character; they can deliver power brands. Would your brand benefit from a fictional character? Chester the Cheetah, Lucky the Leprechaun, the Phillsbury Doughboy, Mr. Clean, the Green Giant, and Captain Crunch all help build strong brands.4. Villains will try to foil your plans, so keep your secret plans secret. The automobile industry is fighting soaring gas prices on one front and battling the hybrid car race on the other front. Toyota, for example, must handle their Prius plans covertly and under the cloak of night, lest competitors make the first move.5. Define your brand's kryptonite and steer clear. Long-term price promotions can hurt brands. Just ask Kmart.
6. If your brand can't fly or throw lightening bolts, find a sidekick who can and partner up. NASCAR has all the seeds for good action: fast cars, tight curves, and rolling crashes. Still, NASCAR needs cozy relationships with lots of sponsors—Ford, Visa, Gillette, Goodyear, Budweiser, and so on—in order to remain at the top.7. Great powers can come from freak accidents. If you haven't heard of Dyson vacuums and the English guy who sells them, you haven't turned on your TV the past couple of years. The Dyson story goes something like this: Once there was an English guy who wanted to vacuum his house, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get enough suction power. So the English guy tinkered and twittered with vacuums until he built the Dyson.8. In Superhero world, villains switch alliances all the time. Nike and Apple: a symbiotic partnership, a marriage of convenience. Sports and music now dance to the same tune, but partnerships are cyclical, and who knows who will partner up the next time around.9. The way you package yourself, a.k.a., your costume, will say a lot about your brand identity. It's not just about your product; it's about the packaging. The appeal behind Method cleaning supplies has a great deal to do with how they've packaged their product and how that packaging reflects their brand message—efficacy, safety, environment, and design. Ever think mini-meals and compartments would excite kids? Kraft Lunchables did—and their smart packaging has driven sales and appealed to kids in ways formerly reserved for toys. |
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