Yep, you guessed it – another film-related post. I can’t help it. I see something I like and I immediately want to tell everyone about it, encouraging them to hurry out and see whatever caught my fancy. In this case, it’s the new Batman (The Dark Knight). So…go see it. It’s terrific. The effects are great, storyline solid, villains eerie and new gadgets, well to sound like a teenager, awesome.
With that said, like any business owner, I couldn’t help but think about business while I was sitting in my seat trying to get away for a bit. In my case, it was discovering the strength of the Batman (the actual superhero, not the overall comic) brand. It’s all stuff that’s been in place since the POW! and BOOM! days of old, I just simply failed to realize until recently.
My realization came in the fact that Batman (again – the actual superhero, not the comic) is the perfect metaphor for a strong brand and strong marketing. He’s a culmination of so many important factors: a strong name, a strong logo, always has a finger on pulse of new technology, attentive to PR but not dedicated to it, etc.
But really, I think what should be most noted, is the attention to the Batman brand experience. He’s more than what’s mentioned in the paragraph above. Put simply, Batman’s cool, and he’s such by a perfect orchestration of intrinsic characteristics. Anything Batman puts his name on or uses is easily identified as being part of his brand. I guess the easiest comparison would be the classic Apple computer example. Everything from in-store experience to the actual use of their product feels the same – same with Batman.
He’s modern and edgy yet still leans to the conservative side. Anything he does is going to be strategic and smart. He’s effective and efficient in all of his efforts. He always utilizes the sleekest, most current technologies. All of these things build to create the perception of what we know as Batman.
Your brand is no different. You have a logo, tagline and website – great. But what kind of promotions do you have running? Do they line up with your brand platform? What about your ads? Do they have the same look and feel as other marketing pieces? It’s this idea of consistency and cohesion that makes for a strong and memorable brand – hence a classic “brand” like Batman.
Thanks for reading. And go see The Dark Knight.
Jon
