After watching the latest movie about Hercules, I can’t help but notice (right away) the importance of marketing that this movie focused on.
The movie begins with his nephew telling what sounded like tall tales about Hercules and his victory against impossible opponents. Hercules’ nephew, Lolaus, was definitely the PR person of their group.
Lolaus was caught in a bind. Hands and feet tied up on a rope, above ground, with a sharp object right underneath ready to catch him when the rope snaps. The villains agonized him by burning the rope that’s supporting him from what looked like a painful death. While in agony, all he can talk about was his uncle’s godly strenght. That Hercules will kill them all in one blow.
Hercules finally comes from the shadows and kills many men by himself or so they thought. Hercules traveled with his team and they are all in tune with the marketing strategy of glorifying the tales about him in hopes that the word will spread across the seas and kingdoms will pay them a lot of money for their service. So you see, this approach is very similar to those of us who are building a celebrity brand a.k.a. a personal brand.You need people to speak about you in a way that will earn you respect even before you perform. And even if people doubt your capabilities, they will soon realize that you can deliver above and beyond.
One of Hercules’ fighter, Autolycus, even emphasized to Lolaus that the stories he tells needed to be grander so that when people hear about Hercules from across the seas, they will tremble in fear. This was how they made their fortune, by being independent contractors for kingdoms who needed a strong army of fighters to kill their oponents.
Hercules built a great team around him. His team believes in him more than he believes in himself and they all understood the importance of making him look and sound undefeated. The whole team understood that Hercules had to be the face of their group.Even during battles, Lolaus narrated every move that Hercules and his team made. I love the humor in it.
In building a strong brand, it’s important to be consistent and to tell stories in support of your brand. When the time comes for you to perform, make sure you over deliver. Having a great team is also beneficial but like most start ups, you are doing everything by yourself. Write stories or bios about yourself in third person perspective. That way it doesn’t feel like you’re bragging. Use those stories as content in your ‘about us’ section of your website. Book interviews on podcasts or stay active on social media so you can be first in mind when your services or products are needed. Ask your customers to write testimonials about you and utilize their point of view as a branding strategy.
If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s on Netflix. Tell me what you think about Hercules an his team’s marketing strategy on the comment box below.
Mae Day Marketing 