The 91st Academy Awards telecast this past Sunday truly brought the red carpet home. From the live performances, dramatic introductions, and hilarious acceptance speeches it’s no surprise that this year’s viewership is up compared to last year’s awards. With Hollywood’s finest in attendance, there is always massive media buzz surrounding the night’s festivities. Especially when you take into consideration that ABC, who aired the award show, was charging as much as 2.2 million for just a 30 second commercial.
Even though most brands tend to stay away from spending millions on a measly 30 second snippet, there are obviously some lessons from the Oscars that can be taken away and applied to your own marketing ventures.
1) Be flexible when addressing problems.
Along your marketing career, you will encounter many setbacks and obstacles. When addressing these issues, being flexible will help relieve stress and will ultimately help you see the bigger picture of the problem you’re facing. The Oscars executed this perfectly when Kevin Hart, the intended host for the historical night, backed out with only six weeks to spare. Of course in the marketing realm, a six week deadline comes faster than you would think, especially when searching for a willing A-lister. Instead of locking down another host right away, the Academy viewed this set back as an opportunity to liven up the night. Nonetheless within six weeks, producers were able to recruit various stars in place of one marquee name and kicked things off in a monologue filled with Trump zingers like this quote from actress Maya Rudolph:
“Just a quick update, in case you’re confused: there is no host tonight, there won’t be a popular movie category, and Mexico is not paying for the wall.”
2) Connect authentically with your customers
When you get down to brass tacks, marketing essentially revolves around telling a story about a specific company or product. In essence, whoever tells the better story ends up reaping the most rewards. Free Solo, Green Book and Roma, were a few of the films that were awarded for their storytelling capabilities, but what exactly made them stand out among the others?
The answer?
These films didn’t only bring out overwhelming feelings and emotions with their viewers, but more importantly illustrated what their voice is, what the film stands for, and why it matters to the lives of the audience.
3) Look for an opportunity to stand out
No matter if you’re working on a social media campaign or managing an event, there is always something extra you or your organisation can do to get an edge over your competitors. From designer brands like Gucci capitalising on free advertising by posting pictures of celebrities wearing their clothing at the Oscars or something as simple as conducting a photo contest, there is always something extra that can be done to make yourself shine.
And that’s a wrap
By taking these lessons into your own marketing ventures, we hope you will be encouraged to stay nimble, connect with your customers and think beyond the obvious. Do this and hopefully some of that Hollywood magic will infuse into your marketing and you’ll emerge a winner in your category.
