May the 4th be with you! Star Wars wasn’t only one of the most well-known movies in history, but created an entire culture. When it comes to marketing, there are several marketing examples that can be seen in the first movie of the original Star Wars trilogy. Marketing that we can see in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope include: understanding your target audience, analyzing your product and services and creating a strong brand image.
Target Audience
Remember that time that Princess Leia was captured by the Galactic Empire? Do you recall how she shared her plans of the Death Star? Princess Leia knew that only Obi-Wan Kenobi could help her to disable the Death Star. She then used R2-D2 to plant the message. Though we aren’t in a galactic civil war, it’s easy to understand that as marketers if we keep our message simple and direct, using the right medium – we’ll reach our market. Obviously, it isn’t always this easy. With technology advancing every day we really need to understand who our target audiences are. Know who your target demographic is, and the best medium to reach them. Not only is this true for marketers but also for customer service and communications. For example, if you are in a healthcare industry and you know there has been a recent change affecting current patient coverage, why not include that as part of the voice prompt greeting? Since the change will be affecting current patients and people who are looking to be treated, why not get the message out at the earliest point of contact – when they are calling to make an appointment. By knowing your future and current patients will utilize the telephone to call and make thier appointment, we can narrow down the best way to communicate to them. Just as Princess Leia knew that the only way to reach people who could help her would be to implant her plans into R2-D2.
Product or Service
The Rebels analyzed the Death Star enabling them to find its weakness. By analyzing the enemies weapon they discovered that there was a vulnerable exhaust port that had connected to the main reactor. Just as the Death Star was analyzed, all products and services should be as well. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your product compared to the competition is a major part of marketing. Not only do we NEED to know the best part of our product, but we need to know the vulnerabilities. By understanding your product and your competitor’s product inside and out, you can select the best market strategy. You’ll have the ability to differentiate your product from competition and overcome any objections your clients may raise.
Your brand isn’t just your company name and logo. Brand is the feeling and personality that your organization creates. It can take years for your brand image to resonate with your target audience and fully develop. In Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope- the biggest battle is good versus evil. The evil of course being Darth Vader, the Stormtroopers, and anyone on the Galactic Empire. So what does the evil portrayal have to do with brand imaging? We didn’t just notice they were evil, everything they had done had created that image for us. Evil was their brand, as it was portrayed in all aspects of their characters from their actions, voice, and appearance. In almost every scene Darth Vader or Grand Moff Tarkin show just how heartless they all are. From the lifeless voices, to the evil laugh, to the choices they made. Every aspect of the character and personality reinforced the idea of evil. Just as your brand image should be reinforced by every aspect of your marketing strategy. Branding needs to be supported in appearance, actions, and voice.
Marketing is more than just creating products and getting people to buy them. Marketing is understanding your audience, having knowledge of your competition and product, and understanding that everything needs to align with your marketing image, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope demonstrates key aspects of any good marketing strategy… so find your force and use it!
{{cta(’04f277d4-151b-4dbe-98f0-46a43d7e31ee’)}}