So what makes email marketing successful? And why should you bother to make changes to what you’re doing now? Believe it or not, James Bond is going to help us understand how to better use email marketing. We’re going to find out the reasons why we want to approach email marketing with The Journey Factor.
So let’s take a look at some James Bond history.
How James Bond has been portrayed throughout the years
Looking at the pictures above we notice a distinct difference between the present day James Bond, played by Daniel Craig (bottom right), and every James Bond incarnation before him.
All Bonds before Craig were presented as this romanticized, womanizing super-spy.
But when producers decided to reboot the franchise with Craig, something very different happened. Instead of this unemotional, debonair character, Craig plays Bond with this realistic, rugged humanity.
Film critic, Roger Ebert wrote…
“Craig makes a superb Bond…who gives the sense of a hard man, wounded by life and his job, who nevertheless cares about people and right and wrong”, and that the film “has the answers to all my complaints about the 45-year-old James Bond series”, specifically “why nobody in a Bond movie ever seems to have any real emotions.”
Even former Bond, Roger Moore wrote…
“The script showed him as a vulnerable, troubled and flawed character. Quite the opposite of my Bond! …it was the Bond that the public wanted.”
So why exactly was it a Bond the public wanted?
To put this in perspective I’ll reference a Publishing 2.0 workshop I attended.
In what the presenters dubbed “The Pendulum” presentation, they pointed to the book, Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069 (Amazon affiliate link) by Neil Howe and William Strauss.
The theory behind this “Pendulum” concept is that our culture swings between generational cycles.
At one end of the Pendulum people are attracted to and idolize the individual–the romanticized figure.
At the other end of the Pendulum people look for a deeper connection with a real person, or group.
This cycle shifts over time.
What cycle do you think we’re in now?
Let’s see…
There’s a new Bond who has rebooted an over 40-year-old franchise, a former community organizer is now President of the United States, and everyday millions of people are connecting with one another on the internet using blogs, and sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Communications have become more personal
More conversational. It’s about connecting with real people instead of an idolized figure. It’s about allowing people to see the human side of you and your company.
This is the approach we’ll explore as we move forward.
We’ll take a look at:
- What the old Bond would have done with email marketing
- How the new Bond would do email marketing
- What simple changes you can make to your email marketing for better results
So watchya waitin’ for? Click the link below to read the next post!
Questions? Thoughts? Feedback? Comment below.
Next Post in Series: Email Marketing by the Old James Bond
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