Fact or Fiction?

Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, there's no place like home.” Do you know where that quote is from?  

Exactly…The Wizard of Oz! 

 For those of you have not seen the Wizard of Oz, here is the quick version.  Dorothy and her dog Toto gets caught in a tornado and transported to Munchkinland where her house kills a wicked witch.  Another wicked witch and the good witch, Glinda flock to this incident and the war over the shoes begins because Glinda gave away the deceased witches shoes without permission.   

Dorothy meets a cowardly lion, a scare crow and a heartless tin man who all are off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz by using the yellow brick road.  The yellow brick road takes our characters through some mystical towns with wonderful singing and dance numbers until we eventually meet the wizard. The wizard tends to be a little upsetting as he is all smoke and no magic. Dorothy is obviously upset because now how will she get home to Kansas?  Glinda comes to the rescue and makes the plot come together by tying in the stolen shoes.

Dorothy wakes up from her dream never truly leaving Kansas.  The iconic red glittered heels on the other hand were transported throughout the ages being embodied from high fashion to social movements. 


Bloomingburg Business Week recently published an article entitled "Fictional Brands That Crossed Over to Reality". This article had many examples, but here are my top two. Can you guess where these fictional brands were first introduced? 

 To find the answer click here!  

Normally, the selling of product looks like this…

Product + Marketing = Sales

But for a few creative personalities, the selling of product looks like this…
                   free fictional product marketing =                                               
   creation of product =easy brand recognition sales

Now if you had the choice, which equation would you chose? The hardest part of communication is getting past your listener’s barriers which can be caused from biases to just plain physical noise.  Imagine, you were already being heard by the listeners maybe from their favorite television show such as the Simpsons which always refers to Duff Beer.  Then when you go to the store, you see Duff Beer; would you honestly not buy it at least once?  I know I would take the Duff Beer home and try it.

This idea of fictional band can even transcend into product placement as well.  Product placement is meant to be under the radar marketing.  For instance, what is Dorothy wore red sparkle Toms instead of slippers? You then would connect Dorothy to Toms shoes. In equation form, product placement would look something like this.

Tom Shoes +

“Dorothy wore red Toms that contrasted with the yellow bricks”

= You buy red Toms

I know you heads are spinning with the possibilities of creative marketing, but let’s hear the downside. Remember the implications that are attached to fictional items and location where product placement began.  If you are trying to sell a kid’s toy, you would not place it in X rated show.  In addition, the novelty of the item will quickly wear off and then your item will be judged based on how it compares in the market.

Make sure your product, like Dorothy’s shoes are in for the long walk to success.