#MayTheFourthBeWithYou: Darth Vader’s Guide to Marketing

What can this infamous villain teach us about marketing?

From the first Star Wars movie in 1977 to today, Darth Vader is still a highly acclaimed character worldwide and across all ages. So highly celebrated that as of writing, there are already 545,000 posts with the hashtag #maythefourthbewithyou on Instagram.

Star Wars is indeed full of life lessons –over 8 episodes, it sharply defined what is right or wrong and what one has to endure to do good. Darth Vader is a self-starter in branding. His dark suit, black helmet, and intimidating figure got him his vicious brand. There is no doubt of his superb branding and marketing skills.

Now although it will be pretty difficult to reach the type of brand recognition Darth Vader holds, it is still a goal to aspire to, and one that should inspire some you in marketing your business.

Believe in Your Product

When Darth Vader tells Admiral Motti, “I find your lack of faith disturbing”, he was giving utterance to his philosophy: believe in yourself and in your message.

So how can you share beliefs with your customers? Clearly, you must do whatever it takes to authentically communicate the company’s core beliefs in every marketing channel, organizational function, and customer interaction. This means that all people in your team should be on the same page with those core beliefs. Why so? Because you have to be in a position to consistently and constantly communicate to customers not just what you do, but also what you stand for.

When you show others that you believe in your product, they will get the message right away, without you having to choke people in vain and desperation.

Take Advantage of Technology

The Death Star had only the newest technologies. It would have been the prime high-tech center of galactic operations for the Empire.

In much the same way, you can embrace technology by leveraging the latest online tools to ensure you are reaching a decent number of your target audience. You might not realize it until now but you can also monitor the social media of your competitors. Through social media monitoring, you will get to know the pulse of your competitor’s consumers and from there come up with new opportunities to get ahead of them.

Engage your audience

Throughout the Star Wars franchise, Darth Vader did not merely give orders –he also engaged in challenging dialogues with his former Jedi Master Obi Wan-Kenobi and son Luke Skywalker –provoking them by knowing just which buttons to push to get the optimum reaction.

You would want to engage your target audience by appealing to their interests, creating stimulating interactions with them. One way to do this is to post contests, surveys or question-and-answer sessions, either on your website or your social media pages. You can add in a moderate amount of live communication to create richer, more human relationships.

Value Feedback

Had Darth Vader asked for feedbacks in the Mos Eisley Cantina, they would have found out that the people are not too fond of the Emperor. Failure to open the door for response from people would not only lead to the downfall of an empire but also your business if you don’t value feedbacks.

Customer feedback is important because it provides insights which can be used to improve your products and services. It is also a great way to find out how to reach your audience in a more meaningful way. After all, the product is made for them, so it should be as close to what they desire as possible.

Behind all the technology that can move your marketing efforts forward, do not forget that you are trying to reach real people. After all, it was the human suffering of his son that aided Darth Vader to find his inner Anakin.

Vader was a superb strategist, which is the key quality of a good marketer. By utilizing these same strategies (in a positive, nonviolent way, of course) you can use Darth Vader’s own methods into a successful email marketing campaign that will stand above the crowd.

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