Hi, Turtledove.
It's the holiday season! Do you know what that means?
Zoom happy hours...? Disinfecting the halls...? Hoping 2020 shuts its laptop down for the holidays and never again comes back to work?
Not today, friend!
It's time for the third annual retelling of the Marketing Holiday Classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Brand Storytelling Edition.
Why has a Rudolph retelling become an annual ritual for you and me (...and for CBS LOL?)
Because almost every holiday is attached to a story we retell, year after year.
Some of those stories are religious (the journey of Joseph and Mary toward Bethlehem; the oil kept the Maccabees' menorah lit for 8 days),
says Casper Ter Kuile. Some are secular. Like
Rudolph.
The best marketing strategy is also attached to a story: It makes our "solutions" more palpable and tangible; it makes big ideas accessible and human-sized. It lets us touch hearts and minds.
We need to tell stories externally—to customers, to prospects. And internally—to our staff, the people who matter most to the success of a business.
The challenge is, How to start? Enter
Rudolph. The seasonal symbol of light-in-the-darkness is here to literally illuminate your path forward, too. Use the fill-in-the-blank template below.
Or download the PDF here.
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The beloved American children's classic was published in 1939 by the Montgomery Ward department store. So it's tempting to think of it—like
Campbell's Green Bean Casserole—as yet another lasting example of seasonal content marketing.
Except Rudolph is so much more than that. Rudolph is actually the perfect storytelling framework for our own brands' stories in 2021.
Why? In the story, Rudolph's crazy-bright red nose is the "problem." Or is it?
It turns out... it's not: The problem is something much, much more threatening.
The simple framework of the story can also help you understand the actual problem you and your business solves for you customers—not the one you *think* you solve.
Gather 'round. Here we go...
A Brand Storytelling Framework from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
A quick recap of the plot for those who don't know the story (or for those of you who need a refresh):
Rudolph is a young buck born in the North Pole with an unusual attribute ("value proposition"): a glowing red nose. He's mocked by his peers; his flight coach casts him out of the squad; his parents are ashamed. Only a young doe named Clarice isn't a total jerk to him.
Rudolph runs away and in exile finds a new community of misfit toys and other psychologically broken people, animals.
Then one Christmas Eve, heavy fog threatens to ground Santa. As a cranky Santa delivers his plan to cancel Christmas, he's annoyed by the glow of Rudolph's bright nose. At which point he realizes that Rudolph's "problem" is actually a solution: Rudolph is the perfect lead for Santa's reindeer sleigh team.
"Sure," Rudolph says. (A little too willingly?) He saves Christmas for Santa (and globally).
Rudolph is a hero! He gets a song! Animated TV special! Movie! Franchise deal! Viral TikTok presence + a verified Instagram account!(Kidding on those last two.)
There are other details, but that's the gist.
So... what's that have to do with marketing?
Let's break it down.
🔴 NAME YOUR HERO + ENEMY.
Santa's reindeer A-team is Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen. "Recite those names and experience a little feast of sound imagery: including alliteration, assonance, meter, and rhyme,"
Roy Peter Clark writes.
"Rudolph" as a name describes an entirely different creature, Clark says: "The initial R and final F sounds find no connection with the others. Starting with his name, Rudolph is a creature set apart."
Takeaway for your own brand story: Name your enemy and your hero. Give them both a face and real personality. Set each apart from the other.
🔴 NAME THE PROBLEM.
The source of conflict is Rudolph's terrible, bright, cursed nose. Rudolph is bullied, cast out, excommunicated from the squad/community/herd.
🔴 NO! NAME THE ACTUAL PROBLEM FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS.
It's not the glowed-up nose that's the real problem here: It's the fog on Christmas Eve. And it's Santa's problem. Not Rudolph's.
Takeaway: Every story needs a problem to resolve—a conflict. What's the problem you need to address? Dig deep: What's the audience's problem... not your company's?
🔴 NAME THE INCIDENT.
What's your foggy Christmas Eve? The incident that brings the problem to the forefront? What makes you and the story relevant for those in need of a solution right here, right now?
Takeaway: Answer the important question: "Why now?" A lot of brand stories fail to do this. Not you, though, right?
🔴 FRAME THE PRODUCT SOLUTION ON A BIGGER CANVAS.
In the story, the cursed nose becomes the blessing. From Clark: "In the first 44 lines, the blessing of that wonderful nose becomes the curse of disfigurement and alienation. By the next 44 lines, Rudolph becomes a flying headlamp, the savior of Christmas."
Takeaway: Rudolph is the product or solution, of course. But resolution is framed not in how perfect the solution is... but in the good it does worldwide.
🔴 REPRESENT, SERVE A LIKE-MINDED COMMUNITY.
The Island of Misfit Toys is Siberia to all the weird and psychologically broken toys that aren't good enough to be delivered by Santa... Hermey is the Christmas elf who wants to ignore his toy-maker genetics and become a dentist... The Abominable Snowman is terrifying (and misunderstood).
All of those creatures together are a powerful metaphor for tribe, wherein likeminded people live and thrive. Rudolph becomes their rep. And he serves both Santa AND a bigger community of misfits and lovable weirdos.
(And of course, we are all weird.)
Takeaway: What's the story you can tell that elevates your community? What's a specific story you can tell that chronicles one person or idea... but also has broader, universal appeal?
🔴 RESOLUTION.
Rudolph saves Santa. He saves Christmas. He changes people's minds about scary snowmen and dentists. And Clarice kisses him.
Takeaway: We root for Rudolph the underdog (underdeer?). That's why we need to show the kiss Clarice gives him.
🔴 HOW DOES YOUR STORY NEVER END?
In the original 1964 ending, Rudolph doesn't make good on his promise to return to the Island of Misfit Toys and rescue them. He's helped Santa, but he ditched his community.
By 1965, the show's producers fixed that problematic issue, and Rudolph and Santa go on to rescue the toys. His community is what fuels the ongoing narrative by making it less about the reindeer and more about galvanizing and serving a group of likeminded people.
Takeaway: Your story doesn't end; it evolves. Keep adding chapters written by you, or contributed by others. (See the 2020 Cheerios example, below.)
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From a marketing POV, Santa is the real hero here. Santa gets the credit for recognizing Rudolph's special skill and tapping it. It's Santa who makes children worldwide happy when they wake up on Christmas morning. It's Santa who rescues the Misfits.
The product makes the customer the hero.
And the narrative unites a community.
The "product" is Rudolph.
The "customer" is Santa.
The "community" is the Misfit Toys and other weirdos.
Apply the Rudolph Framework to your Business
- Once upon a time, there was ____________ (your product).
- It has the capacity to _____________ (your product's unique power).
- Some people doubt it because __________ (what the doubters might claim).
- But one day, _____________ (something happens).
- Which means __________ (how your would-be customer now needs your product).
- To help ___________ (the people your customer serves).
- And that matters because _____________ (how you help your customer become the hero).
- In the process, you help coalesce a community of _____________ (the larger market of those whom your product serves and brings together).
- Someone gets a kiss.
Give it a go! I want to hear your stories!
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QUICKIES
Top 10 B2B Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2021: What's hot, what's not, in the New Year?
Lots of insights in here by some super smart people who represents all aspects of B2B marketing, including
Lee Odden, Kenda Macdonald, Andy Crestodina, Nancy Harhut, Chris Penn, and more.
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DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS: CEREAL SHOOTER
Today I'm hijacking the Department of Shenanigans space to serve up a heartwarming holiday brand story with bigger relevance for all marketers and creators.
In 1999, Cheerios produced an ad about a special moment between a grandma and a baby celebrating Christmas together. Peggy Miley (Star Trek, Stranger Things) was the grandma.
Here in 2020, the ad has a new sequel—with the grandma and baby roles reprised by Miley and Delfina Booth, the baby who is now a 21-year-old college student. Now, of course, the 2020 Cheerio/Christmas celebration occurs over Zoom.
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