Meet Genghis Khan: Your New Marketing Director
One way to get your product or service noticed is to do something unusual- or unexpected. If you have a small marketing budget, radical thinking is even more important.
In early 2023, many businesses are struggling. Inflation, supply chain problems, dogs and cats living together- it’s tough out there. So, what to do?
Which brings us to Genghis Khan.
If you ask most people about Genghis Khan, they might say: “Oh, the barbarian who attacked and pillaged cities, and was a monster. According to 23 and Me, everyone in the world is distantly related to Genghis Khan…”
Turns out that there’s far more to Khan, according to a brilliant book: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Here’s a quote from the introduction: “In 25 years, the Mongol (Khan’s) army subjugated more lands and people than the Romans had conquered in 400 years. At its zenith, the empire covered between 11 and 12 million contiguous square miles…”
How?
Well, Genghis Khan may be one of the greatest out-of-the-box thinkers ever. The Mongols are a nomadic people, and “their success arose from their cohesion and discipline.”
They specialized in confusing and disrupting the enemy. “Winning by clever deception or cruel trickery was still winning…”
Rather than gather all forces for a single attack they would split up, attack from all directions, and just as quickly withdraw. Mongols would pretend to withdraw from a city siege, leaving much of their equipment. When the enemy opened the gates to gather the Mongol equipment, Genghis Khan would attack the open city gates.
Finally, my personal favorite:
“If (Mongols) were surprised or overtaken on patrol, they usually carried some valuable items with them to strew on the ground as they escaped. The enemy invariably broke ranks to retrieve the goods, often fighting among themselves to do so, allowing the Mongols to escape.”
Pretty sneaky, huh?
OK, you still might need some inspiration to take a risk and get more attention on your business. Here are some creative examples from Marketing Dive:
Happy Meals for Adults
“Inspired by a viral tweet reflecting on how quickly time flies by, McDonald’s in September (of ’22) introduced Happy Meals for adults. The campaign came to be a poster child for a period when many brands have cranked up the nostalgia factor to provide weary consumers a reprieve.”
I have a strong memory of buying Happy Meals for the kids- great idea.
Leveraging Stranger Things
Am I the only human left on the planet that hasn’t watched all of Stanger Things? The constant tension got to me after awhile- but I loved the series.
“Stranger Things conquered culture earlier this year with its fourth season, which quickly rose to become the most-watched English-language series in Netflix history. With the return of the ’80s-crazed blockbuster came a slew of brand integrations, though none stood out more than Domino’s’ partnership with the streamer.
The QSR and agency WorkInProgress in May launched a ‘mind-ordering’ app meant to mimic the telekinetic powers of protagonist Eleven, leveraging a mix of facial- and eye-tracking technology to let customers request a pizza using gestures.”
Dolph Lundgren Deepfake
“Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice in February dropped a campaign that spoofs over-the-top action movies from the era with the help of Dolph Lundgren.
Well, sort of Dolph Lundgren. One reason the spots made an impact was their use of deepfake technology. In one commercial, a strikingly young Lundgren reaches out to save an adversary dangling from a pipe only to have buckets of sweat pour from his armpits — a sign he wasn’t using Old Spice’s new Sweat Defense Dry Spray antiperspirant.”
Don’t show up to a gunfight with just a knife. If you have a small (or shrinking) marketing budget and face heavy competition, do something new and different.
It worked for Genghis Khan.