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What Does “Jaws” Have to Do with Copycat Marketing?
November 11, 2024
Every season has its traditions. This past summer, I decided to break with one of my own. Instead of watching the classic movie “Jaws,” I thought it would be cool to go to the source material – so I read the book by Peter Benchley.
Aside from being the least scary book I’ve ever read (“Salem’s Lot”…”It”…not even close!), it reminded me of something I do in my marketing and advertising career. Benchley created a book when the genre of shark attack thrillers didn’t exist. Even shark research didn’t exist. People thought his story would never work. That it wouldn’t sell. I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect Benchley knew something – if he wanted to make his mark, he couldn’t do what had already been done. He had to take a risk and create something entirely new.
Think about that for a second. Entirely new. Nothing like it. For Benchley, the closest comparison was Jules Verne and “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,” written about a century earlier. This mindset is where creative brilliance meets bravery; we’re all better off for it.
Fortunately, the world has had people like Peter Benchley, Steve Jobs, Oprah, and many others—the rule breakers, the leaders, the this-is-why-I’m-here visionaries.
What does that have to do with marketing? A lot. Companies that market themselves spend billions of dollars yearly to get their names out there for that ever-elusive awareness. The problem with a billion dollars is the risk that comes with it. Everyone wants a sure thing. So, most only take incremental risks or none at all. They direct agencies to do campaigns like the ones they’ve seen. It feels safe to do that.
Yes, but it’s wrong.
We call it the Sea of Sameness. When everything looks and sounds the same, nothing stands out. And when nothing stands out in your marketing, much of your spending is wasted. Customers love originals. They prefer them, and that loyalty is money in the bank.
Nevertheless, one of my earlier mentors told me, “Nobody is standing around waiting to see what [brand] will do next. They don’t care. Your job is to make people give a sh*t about your brand.”
Being an original helps people give a sh*t. Copycats are ridiculed, forgotten, or worse, remembered for their lame attempts to draft off an original. Let’s circle back to “Jaws” to see how this holds true. Benchley wrote the one and only “Jaws” novel. How many movie sequels were there? Four? Five? With profound apologies to “Jaws 3-D” and Michael Caine in “Jaws 4;” those were pale imitations of the original. Audiences treated them accordingly. But it doesn’t stop there. IMDB lists a crazy number of shark movies. Most are forgettable. You know what wasn’t?
“Sharknado.”
Stop your eye-rolling and go with me for a second. Was it campy? Yeah. Was it crazy and absurd? Yeah. I mean, they did pair sharks with friggin’ tornadoes for crying out loud. But it was original. And audiences noticed. A lot. As of April 2017, this franchise has brought in 4.503 billion dollars. Billion. For sharks and tornadoes. The budget for the first one was only $2 million. Even “The Meg” broke from the “Jaws” lineage in its own quirky and absurdist way. That movie made over four times its budget in total worldwide gross.
The point here isn’t about making a new shark movie that breaks from tradition. It’s about breaking from tradition, period. See what your brand looks like in the marketplace and what your competitor’s brands look and sound like. Then, if there’s any similarity, break away and carve a new path.
Still not convinced?
Then I’ll leave you with this other truth that should trouble copycats. If your brand copies the industry leader or largest spender, customers generally credit them for your work. Yes, your ad or campaign that copies someone else only helps the leader in the perception of the consumer’s eyes.
So, in the immortal words of Sheriff Brody at the end of “Jaws” (the movie, not the book): “Smile, you son of a bitch” and go make something original.
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