How I Marketed Your Mother…

I’m a huge fan of the series “How I Met Your Mother” – not only because it’s so well written but also because it’s marketed so damned well. If you’ve ever doubted the power of content creating a profile for a brand, here’s the proof that it works.

It’s the small things from the show that find their way into real life, like the Slap Countdown Website, Barney’s Blog (sadly no longer in existence), The Bro Code Book (no, really…click here) and so on. And of course, who can forget International “Suit Up!” day? Yes, there are Facebook groups around it too. Come to think of it, Barney Stinson should be the poster child of “How To Create Awesome Content & Get People Talking About You…” or something…

Of course, this isn’t a new idea – but this is one of the best ways I’ve seen it executed.

It’s so damned simple and yet so damned effective. Create really awesome content and make it so everyone can play. If you’re in the zeitgeist you can’t fail. Ask Google. Ask Nike. Ask Starbucks.

And speaking of really awesome, here’s the king of awesome himself: Barney Stinson

Legen….dary! (sorry)

Once Upon A Time…

So yesterday was all about telling a story to make an impact. And quite serendipitously, this was delivered into my Inbox…

This disturbing “ad” is actually the new music video for a track by The Killers called “Good Night, Travel Well” – and is part of a collaborative effort between UNICEF, MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) and the US Agency for International Development for their campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking.

It’s quite chilling and I’ll bet watching it  made you a little uncomfortable. Pretty sure it won’t leave your memory anytime soon. In fact, I bet if you see this on TV or hear the track on radio, you’ll probably tell the folks with you about the background to this song.

And that’s the power of good story-telling.

Masters of Marketing…

Remember He-Man? You know, the guy in the furry loin-cloth with the oversized tiger and the really hot babe in the bird outift. Anyway…

The point I was getting at was that I still believe it’s one of the most excellent examples of marketing to kids:  kids wanted to own the toys because the cartoon was so cool.

Check this out:

Yeah. Ok. Nostalgia goggles aside, it’s still pretty cool. The formula for each episode worked and kids were really into the continuing adventures of He-Man – and his buddies.

And it’s this content that drove the sales. He-Man would never have sold without the cartoon series and its storylines. He would have just been some plastic over-muscled dweeb in a fuzzy Speedo.

If you’ve ever doubted that entertaining stories could make sales, He-Man is one of the strongest arguments to kill those doubts. Adults who were kids back then can still recall the characters and will probably have their own tales to tell about the toys or their favourite episodes.

Create content that’s relevant, that matters, that tells a story about your brand in terms of the consumer. Make them want your brand by giving it context that delights and surprises. That’s the knockout punch…