Wakanda forever! Even if you have never said these words, there is a 90% guarantee that you’ve heard them, especially now that the star actor of the Black Panther movie that made that phrase popular recently passed on.
Black Panther was more than an entertaining movie; it was also a movie that taught a lot of lessons that can apply to life and business, especially the marketing aspect. Below are five marketing lessons that Black Panther taught us.
1. Push your brand with a movement: “Black is king.” This movement was built around the Black Panther movie. It created so much buzz and got everyone talking. The Cocacola brand does the same, from the #shareacoke movement to #banterbetterwithCocacola and now #openlikeneverbefore.
Every brand that has successfully pushed a product into the market did so by promoting a movement. What other powerful way is there to plant your brand’s name in the mind of a consumer than with a movement?
2. Know your target audience: No matter how successful a brand is, it is important to know that your products are not for everyone. No product appeals to all classes of people equally. It is either the product appeals to one gender than the other or, it appeals to one age group than the other. So, it is very vital to identify your target audience and excellently appeal to them.
When you appeal to your target audience, they find a way to make your brand or product appealing to others, and that’s what happened with Black Panther. Even though Black Panther was targeted at the black race, everyone watched and enjoyed it.
3. Be Unique: Black Panther was a movie of many firsts. Be different, be unique, in whatever services you are rendering, make it a habit to stand out, especially if the market for your product is competitive. Identify an area you want to differentiate yourself. It could be price, quality, or even quantity. Why this is important is because even though “value” is relative, people would naturally go for what is most likely to give more value.
4. Creativity: Nothing sells faster than creativity. People get bored quickly; they want something that would excite them, keep them intrigued, and holding on to their seats. Any brand can advertise a product, but only a creative brand can advertise in such a way that the minds of people are stimulated. From the cast to the costumes, to the movie plot itself, Black Panther was an embodiment of creativity.
5. Let your product be worth the hype: No matter how successful your campaign is, if the product or services is unsatisfactory then, patronage cannot be sustained. It’s like this, a good campaign is a vehicle, but the quality of a product or service, is the fuel that the vehicle runs on. People trooped to the Cinema to see Black Panther more than once; nobody would do that if it wasn’t top-notch. People only spend on what they think is worth it.
In just four days into the Cinemas, Black Panther raked in 242 million dollars. It instantly became the top-grossing film of 2018. Aside from making so much profit, it was gained so much fame, Wakanda became a house-hold name.
Campaigns like this are not done with two or three people; they are usually thoughtfully brought forward by a skilled team. At Evaluate, we have a strong team of professionals more than willing to bring your brand dreams to reality. Contact us at @evaluate.ng.