Cris! Laugh! Magic! What brands can learn from gender entertainment

It is a question of strengthening your cultural connection and your customer relevance

In the entertainment industry, gender is fundamentally important for emerging production houses. Understanding and using gender can help creators sail in the complex industry landscape and stand out on a crowded market. He can help with a narrative, finance and marketing framework. The American organization of the film market, for example, estimates that Horror is one of the most profitable areas in the film.

But the value of the genre is not only for those of the industry. Understanding what makes the most popular with such a success also provides key dishes for non-divisional brands.

The best formats – whether in theaters or streaming – are being written because they offer more than just consumption. They bring people together and allow them to share cultural moments. Viewers get lost in captivating stories and explore wider worlds.

This is also true for the best brands. Building emotionally relatable stories and creating worlds beyond your product are essential to capture the attention of consumers and feed a real base of fans.

Be more horror and draw on the ready -to -use fandom

Horror is a genre with a strong culture of fans that easily migrates social platforms to the small and even large screen. Recent successes had a huge impact. Like the Kane Parson The Backrooms. Lo-Fi and Homespun, the offer of semi-anthological YouTube based on an urban legend has percolated and cultivated, attracting a base of passionate fans. Now in development as a feature film, it shows the power to recognize an existing interest and build a brand from there.

Like production companies looking for their first break, identifying a specific fans base and creating something new for this audience can work well for brands. Comparison with horror does not consist in creating something on a workshop, but to the attention, care and the development of an emotional response. The recent nosferatu, for example, was not based on jump fears. It is a beautifully evocative piece of cinema.

Dover Street Market in London is an excellent example of a brand that draws from a well -defined fans base in this way. He identified that gastronomic fashion buyers – those who follow the parades religiously and read fashion criticism – are not used well. By creating a high -level shopping experience that gave life to the track thanks to reflected conservation and immersive design, it essentially invented the concept store. Celebrating its 20th anniversary last year, there remains a bastion of innovation.

At another end of the scale, Zara Home is a masterclass of identifying and restoring a captive fans base. He understood the emerging fandom for interiors and now offers a one -stop shop for buyers aware of fashion who want the same level of quality for their homes as for their cabinets.

Imitate comedy to bring the public together

While horror exceeds to connect to pre -existing fans, comedy evokes social experiences. The success of today’s humor brings together the public of young people, providing flows of characters and liners which become of cultural currency. Programs such as what we do in the shadows have generated endless memes and slogans, engaging in a younger audience who wants to be aware.

The brand’s building also consists of connecting people and building culture, which was moving over time to feed the sustainable fandom. “Just do it” by Nike or “Whassup” to Budweiser are, in a sense, comparable to “d’Oh!” Homer Simpson – – Sustainable expressions of shared experience.

But comedy is not only to create shareable cultural moments. He also knows how to make social comments accessible. The Simpsons and South Park excels to tackle taboo subjects and the response to the feelings in force in almost real time. Authentic social comments can play an important role for brands. Think of United Colors of Benetton in his 1980s and 90s when he called racism, homophobia and world conflict through its graphic campaigns.

Follow the fantastic game book on transmedia narration

Fantasy offers an equally precious lesson in the construction of the brand. The most successful recent fantastic series are the ultimate examples of how to create immersive brand worlds. The last of us, for example, blurs the boundaries between entertainment, game and the brand as the ultimate in transmedia narration. Netflix, meanwhile, widens its extremely successful fantastic properties such as Stranger Things in real experiences, closing the screen loop to the immersive real world.

The possibilities of creative engagement are endless if you take your benchmarks of fantasy on its way. This approach gave rise to Mattel Barbie’s mastodon last year, reviving a brand that many thought obsolete. Balenciaga has also collaborated with Fortnite, LVMH opening a museum dedicated to Dior, and more recently Louis Vuitton launching an ice cream store in Italy. These are pure transmedia moments: marketing brands through cultural poles and creating a cultural and commercial impact.

The point to remember key is clear: the creation of emotional connections and cultural relevance is essential.

Brands must think strategically about how to create these moments. Having the magic of the genre at the rear of the mind can indicate the path.

Whether by explaining subcultures, by making ambitious stories or by building multidimensional brand worlds, taking a leaf of the best of entertainment can offer a real fandom and a lasting cultural relevance.

George Gottl

George Gottl is CCO from space design to Futurebrand.