Month: December 2022

As I write this Avatar 2 is a week from being released.

A video I watched the other night claims this movie is going to FLOP hard.

According to the guy behind the video, people have forgotten all about Avatar. There’s no buzz surrounding the movie. It’s too long. James Cameron is old, and has no idea what he’s doing. The last movie was too long ago, and no one cares anymore – especially younger people, who didn’t watch the original film.

(BTW, you’re probably wondering what the hell this has to do with marketing or copywriting. Well, keep reading, there are some subtle lessons here regarding psychology, business, and yes, marketing.)

You see, I’m fairly certain Avatar 2 is going to make at least a billion dollars.

Why?

IMHO there are several reasons.

1. Baby Boomers

Now, it’s true that younger people haven’t grown up with Avatar, and when I say young, I’m talking about really young people i.e. those who weren’t born when the last movie came out. These kids have no connection to the previous film, and no real reason to watch it. But what you have to understand is that this really doesn’t matter. It’s not important because – in today’s society – these aren’t the people with money. No, what you have to realize is that it’s older people (baby boomers) who have cash to spend, plus the time to go out and watch movies. Not only that, these are the people who actually saw the previous movie – and thus have a connection to it.

2. Foreign Markets

I’m fairly certain Avatar is going to do gangbusters in places like China and India. These markets are known for enjoying big-budget pop-corn movies. They’re the reason why franchises like The Avengers, Transformers, and Fast the Furious make so much money – and now you can add Avatar to the list.

3. Nostalgia

Avatar will forever be associated with the 3D movie craze. And although that trend has basically died, there’s a certain level of nostalgia involved. If you saw the original, you can probably remember the excitement of watching a movie in 3D for the first time. This experience made a big impact on people, and gives them yet another reason to watch the sequel.

4. Escapism

To put it bluntly, the world sucks right now. What this means is that people crave escapism, and this movie is perfect for that. Audiences want an escape from reality. They want to be transported to the bright blue world of Pandora, go on an amazing adventure, and forget about their troubles for a while.

5. Length

Apparently the new Avatar clocks in at around 3 hours. This is another reason why people think the movie will fail – it’s just too long. Unfortunately, these people are completely wrong. What it all comes down to is consumption. Basically, length = value for money. Imagine going to Burger King and getting a Whopper that is twice the size for the same amount of money (A good example of this is Stranger Things season 4, which was wildly popular with fans – despite its 13 hour run length.)

6. Christmas

This movie is releasing during Christmas, and right now there’s really nothing to watch – especially when it comes to big “tent pole” movies. Think about it, what else can you compare to Avatar? If you’re going to the movies, well, you’ll probably end up watching this film. There’s basically no other competition, which counts massively in its favor.

The final factor is James Cameron.

Quite simply, this guy is a genius and knows exactly what he’s doing.

(Especially when it comes to blockbuster movies.)

Anyway, let’s see how the film does…

Alastair Walton

P.S. How much will Avatar actually make? Who knows, but I’m fairly certain it’s going to break the billion dollar mark. In fact, I have a feeling it could even do 2 billion dollars.

By all accounts Amazon’s Rings of Power was a massive failure.

(Whether or not this is actually true, who knows, but that’s what I’ve heard.)

Every critic and their grandmother has a reason why.

This includes everything from people being unhappy with the casting. To the abysmal script and story (probably the biggest reason why it failed IMHO.) To over-usage of CGI, and angry Tolkien fans unhappy with the lore. Another big reason is because it was overshadowed by the vastly superior House of the Dragon, which was released at roughly the same time.

But this brings me to a very important point…

You see, according to rumors the team behind this show had a very specific mandate.

From what I’ve heard, Jeff Bezos basically commanded them to create the next GOT.

He wanted a mega successful fantasy series that would gain a world-wide audience.

And this is probably the biggest reason why it failed.

You see, when it comes to marketing, business, copywriting, or content you NEVER want to copy someone else. Now there are occasional exceptions, but for the most part you should avoiding attempting to “clone” someone else’s success.

There are dozens of reasons for this.

For starters, the biggest is that you’ll always be compared to the other person…

…meaning it’s unlikely that you’ll ever be as successful as them.

Even worse, you’ll have to play second fiddle and will always come off second best.

Not only that, you’ll probably end up looking like an idiot.

(After all, if you’re so great, then why did you need to copy someone else?)

The point is that it’s critical that you strive for originality.

The Rings of Power was NEVER going to be as successful as Game of Thrones…

…and this is mainly because it was always a poor imitator.

Alastair Walton

I recently worked for an ecommerce brand that sells watches.

During my research I discovered some interesting things.

Some of which may be useful to copywriters and marketers.

For example, why are Rolex watches so expensive? After all, there’s almost no functional difference between a $20 watch and a Rolex.

Both do exactly the same thing…

….so why does the Rolex go for $100,000 or more.

Before we can answer this question you have to understand the following.

You see, is a Rolex expensive, costly, or simply over-priced? People usually describe items with a high price point as being “expensive.” This generally refers to things which cost too much and do not justify their price. A lot of the time this is because people don’t know why that thing is expensive. If you don’t know why a Rolex goes for 6 figures, you’ll probably think that it costs too much. You may even see it as being “overpriced.” Not only that, you’ll view the price as a negative thing, and may even be put off from buying it. On the other hand, someone else may see that item as being cheap.

But why is this?

There are several reasons.

To start with, it mostly comes down to how someone perceives value.

If the person thinks the item will provide them with value, they will naturally see it as being cheap. The exact opposite is also true. If the person sees no value in the item they will view it as being expensive. For instance, some people won’t spend a thousand dollars on a watch, but will happily spend that same amount of money on wine.

Why?

Simply because they see value in the wine.

It ultimately comes down to this:

Does the person see value in the item…and…does this value reflect the price? If they don’t see any value in the item, they will see it as being expensive.  If they do see value, they will see it as being cheap and worth the cost.

So the real question is this…

How do you create this perception of value?

There are a few ways:

1. Time and effort

It takes watchmakers at Rolex 12 months to build one of their timepieces. This time and effort is reflected in the price. This is why you should always mention the time and effort that goes into building your product. If you’re a service provider, talk about the length of time that it took to learn your skills. After all, someone with decades of experience can always charge more than a rookie.

2. Availability

Rolex only produces a limited number of watches – around a million of each model. It’s this exclusivity and unavailability which really drives up the price. If you cannot have something, you simply want it more. This is why you should never seem too desperate to take on a job, or work with a client.

3. Complexity

Putting together a luxury watch is an extremely complex task. Some of these watches have more than a thousand parts. It takes a highly skilled person to perform this task. Once again this is why the price is so high. The lesson here, is that you should always talk about how difficult it is to build your product. Also talk about the quality of your materials and so on.  

4. Branding

You pay six figures for a Rolex because…well…it’s a Rolex. The fact is that Rolex has spent more than a 100 years building their brand. People know that it’s a high quality luxury watch, and that it will last forever.

This is also why you should work hard on building your own brand, and developing a reputation for quality and trust. A big part of this again, is exclusivity. Instead of focusing on selling as much as possible, you should concentrate on building your brand and making it more exclusive.

Ultimately, this will allow you to charge higher prices…

…and also make selling products straightforward, painless, and trouble-free.

Alastair Walton