What can brands learn from Super Mario?

April 17, 2023

The new Super Mario movie, like any successful movie, will likely have a lot of valuable lessons for brands. Here's my takeaways:

_01

Stay true to your brand: Super Mario is a beloved and iconic video game character, and fans have certain expectations for how he should be portrayed. Brands can learn from this by staying true to their own brand identity and not straying too far from what their audience expects from them. The movie was a masterclass in this area even down to the emotive messaging hook "as long as we're together... everything is gonna be okay!"

_02

Build on existing fanbase: The Super Mario franchise has a huge and dedicated fanbase, which loved the film (more than the critics!). Brands can similarly focus on building a dedicated following and engaging with them to create a community that truly understands them.

_03

Embrace new mediums: The Super Mario movie is a departure from the traditional video game format, but it's still staying true to the brand. Brands can similarly explore new mediums and channels to reach their audience, as long as they maintain consistency in messaging and branding.

_04

Collaborate with other brands: The Super Mario movie showcased a huge amount of collaboration. Brands can similarly partner with other companies to create unique experiences that benefit both parties and appeal to a wider audience the highlight for me was seeing the Red Wing collaboration.

_05

Take risks: The Super Mario movie is a bold move for Nintendo, but it could pay off if done well. Brands can similarly take risks and experiment with new ideas, as long as they stay true to their brand and their audience. They basically killed it, making the Sonic series of films look pretty lame.

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James Clear's best selling book Atomic Habits outlines a beautifully simple way to change our personal behaviours by making incremental changes to our lifestyles. James Clear's best selling book Atomic Habits outlines a beautifully simple way to change our personal behaviours by making incremental changes to our lifestyles. One of the key lessons is the idea that small changes make a big difference. In life we often look for the game-changing moment or a short-cut hack. Atomic Habits are the small changes we can make that are known as the concept of marginal-gains, seeking small 1% improvements. Seemingly tiny increments have a major impact over time: 1% a day equates to a 37% improvement in a year. In marketing we are often looking for the single big event to make a difference. The game-changing next big thing. Quite often that comes in the form of a stunt brief - the quest for an idea that will grab the headlines and change the world. Go visit FamousCampaigns.com and ask yourself how many have you heard of? Are they actually famous? At Finn we advocate an atomic habits style approach for brands: define what you want to be and then make incremental steps to get there. Continuously test and learn, observe what the data are telling you and make small improvements. We have just deployed that approach for one of our clients and they have grown brand penetration a ridiculous 318% to become the number one in their category. Now to be clear that is mostly due to it being a brilliant product, perfectly positioned to capture unmet demand and it has grown a ton of distribution thanks to the herculean efforts of the sales team. However, a disciplined approach to delivering effective communications has made a significant and proven impact. Silver bullets and big bets are not healthy habits for brands.