I have always been amazed with the pulsating world of Hollywood and its steady stream of movies in various genres catering to the world’s appetite for Fantasy, Drama, Romance and Action. What is commendable is the fact that their movies are created for global audiences. I don’t need to remind you of the struggle that marketers in India are facing to cut through the complexity of diverse cultures, languages and religious divides. Juxtapose that with Hollywood and imagine how their movies need to counter a similar scenario, albeit on the world stage.
What this goes to show is the success of such films in cutting through basic traits that drive humankind in general. Fundamentals of psychology will tell you that we are all driven by qualities such as passion, emotion, anger, pride, jealousy, etc.
Mapping this further give you the Five Personality Traits established by experts which include Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. These personality traits are also often referred to as the psyche of a human being. 
Successful movies in Hollywood cut through all the overlaying clutter to relate to these basic qualities. This no doubt requires ample skill, experience and insight in creating a winner despite the multifarious hurdles. Success can only come from clever scripting, exhaustive research, skillful direction and smart post production work among others to complete the complex formula.
Some Movies that stood out for me:
  • Action - Avengers, Die Hard, Terminator, Matrix, Bourne Series, Bond Series, etc.
  • Romance – Titanic, Pretty Woman, Gone with the Wind, Notting Hill, Pride and Prejudice, etc.
  • Science Fiction – Star Wars, Star Trek, Gravity, Martian, etc.
  • Animation – Madagascar Series, Nemo, Minions, Shrek, Despicable Me, Toy Story, Kung Fu Panda, Ice Age, etc.
  • Fantasy – Avatar, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Ho to tame your dragon, Narnia, Willy Wonka, etc.
The movies listed above give you a snapshot of the caliber of Hollywood films. Each movie on careful introspection will reveal how it successfully appeals to the five personality traits in different degrees, while remaining neutral enough to cut through languages and diverse cultures.
No doubt that the budgets for these films are on a much larger scale as compared to industries like Bollywood. However what it also mean is that the bigger the budget the bigger is the risk. Success eventually boils down to superior creativity and planning.
Approximate revenues generated by some of these blockbusters globally:
  • Star Wars: $12B
  • Cars: $10B
  • Transformers: $3B
  • Frozen: $5.3B
  • Toy Story: $2.4B
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: $450M
  • Batman: $2445M
  • Despicable Me: $230M
  • Spiderman: $155M
  • The Avengers: $150M
  • The Franchise Force of “Jurassic Park”: $65 Million, marketing campaign included licensing deals with 100 companies

Lessons for Marketers
Creativity
Creativity is at the heart of any successful rendition. Identifying a theme that relates to the larger audience and developing a plot that works for them is probably the biggest learning from Hollywood. How do you create a billion dollar film that goes on to become a brand is a fundamental question to be asked. Creativity naturally is pivotal to this success and every business must infuse creativity in its growth path.
Identify your audience
The huge budgets and the resultant revenue go to prove the successful audience targeting by the makers of the film. Every brand must have a methodic and scientific understanding of their customers and their preferences. It is also widely accepted that audiences are dynamic and there are several variables that influence them that can keep changing. Understanding and keeping in synch with these shifting paradigms is important for marketer.
Insights that appeal to distinct personality traits
It has been established that successful movies relate to distinct personality traits of their audiences. Successful marketing will also depend on the successful mapping of the personal traits of your model customer. Marketers have to therefore work hard in identifying these insights that drive their audiences. Products and Campaigns must be purposed to suit these traits that drive them.
Story Telling
The underlying secret for any Hollywood Blockbuster is successful story telling. It is no different for brands who need to use the art of storytelling through all their initiatives. It is a known fact that even a drab story when presented well will become engaging to its audiences. Storytelling applies to every instance of a brands journey starting from its vision, to the way it is marketed, to internal communication with employees, to product collateral and more. It is hence the onus of marketers to engage their audience through successful storytelling that in turn resonate the image of the brand and its offerings.
Setting
Each and every film has well planned scenes that sets the context for the presentation. Each film has a unique setting that correlates to its script and also lends into each of the characters and their role. Similarly I think each brand should be able to build a visual image of a brand and its environment in the customers head. Apparel brands in general rely on this medium extensively. Successful brands like Levis, Van Heusen or Louis Philippe recall distinctive settings and imagery when mentioned. Even telecom brands like Vodafone have managed to build on this over the years.
Casting
The importance of casting in a film to suit each role is no secret. Can you imagine the movie Rambo or Rocky without Sylvester Stallone or likewise Pretty Woman without Julia Roberts. Similarly the casting of key business representatives and drivers is crucial in building a business. In terms of a company this can be two fold, one in terms of the correct hires that can take the brand forward while instilling confidence in their peers. Secondly it could mean the individuals that you would want the brand to be associated with for the outside world.
For instant take a moment to think of who comes to mind when you hear of these Indian brands – Infosys, Wipro, Harpic Cleaner, Kent water purifier, BJP, Congress, etc. This goes to the show the importance of casting key heroes for any brand.
Struggle
Every blockbuster has a struggle that tugs at your heart. Take for instance Titanic and the spontaneous love affair that heads to tragedy or in the case of Avatar the struggle between the ethnic group and humans. While I do not mean that businesses should have tragedy to tell their story, what this means is that evergreen brands become relatable when there are human interest stories around it. This is possibly where PR can play a role in ensuring transparency for a brand.
One argument is that brand Maggi possibly emerged stronger from the controversy as consumers ended up empathizing with them. Crafting careful messages that tells a brands story that in turn relates to human emotions and struggles is another learning from Hollywood.
In Summary
Full credit to the Americans for having built a robust industry that rules the entertainment media world. Incidentally such films not only help with entertainment and money making, it is also a powerful tool for propaganda and strategic messaging. Setting aside the possible vested interest angle, the success of this industry can be simply attributed to superior film making.
Marketers at their end grapple with challenges every day and look forward to learning and adapting from industries around them. As is evident, there are ample learnings from Hollywood that can be applied to marketing challenges to suit any situation or environment.
In the words of the iconic Sir. Walt Disney – “Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.”
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Note: Information pertaining to Hollywood sourced from internet research
This article was first published on Marketing Buzzar.