And of course, we saw all that Seth was doing “wrong” and “inappropriate”
supposedly in the “future”. It was an entertaining show and definitely, as some will argue, a lot better than the recent, lacklustre (boring, actually) Grammy Awards.
Wouldn’t it be so amazing if this could actually happen?
That someone with the power to go into the future could tell us what not to do and show us what might happen if we did? As a race, we humans long to know what the egypt cell phone database future holds in store for us. From Nostradamus to the Mayans to the prophets in every major world religion, we want to know what’s going to happen. In reality, our best guide can be common sense. There are so many mistakes and failures one can avoid by just being plain and simple, sensible.
As incredible as it may seem, even the most glitzy, glamorous, star-studded night in Hollywood, the annual Academy Awards can teach us some truly valuable common sense lessons.
B2B Marketing…As If You Were on the Oscar Stage
Find a great story. Argo, Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Django Unchained, Lincoln—all of these are great stories and masterfully told or retold. With content marketing having taken its position as one of the most effective B2B marketing techniques, there is no under-estimating the power of a great story. I wrote earlier about Cisco’s successful approach to content marketing in the B2B world, a perfect example of compelling storytelling.
Pick the right cast.
If you heard Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar acceptance speech
he said, “I actually think if people are knowing my movies 30 or 50 years from now, it’s going to be because of the characters that I created. And I really get only one chance to get it right; I have to cast the right people to make those characters come alive and hopefully live for a long time. And boy, did I do it this time!” Your marketing story has to be acted out and relayed by the “actors” that your target audience will sit up and take notice of.
It doesn’t have to be your CEO who must become
the public voice of your brand. If your CMO is smart, savvy and has the capability to be a thought leader, cast her or him in the lead role. And the supporting actors are important too. These could be your customer-facing sales people from the field, your help desk support team, your IT manager, or anyone else within the organization who can contribute to your effective storytelling.
Take a risk. The team of Life of Pi when receiving their awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography, said something along the lines of “Sometimes to make a winner you’ve got to take a risk. This movie was the kind of risk worth taking.” In a post about B2B marketing innovation, I talked about how Seth Godin encourages marketers to start something “important, frightening and new”. If we do, we can hope to accomplish some memorable wins.