Yes, that’s right. You could have learned more about marketing from watching Seinfeld than the tens of thousands of dollars you spent on your marketing degree. Seriously, for any marketing topic, strategy or tactic you can think of, there’s a scene from Seinfeld that explains it better than any PowerPoint slide ever could.
To prove it, we’ve put together a collection of some of the most popular scenes and quotes from Seinfeld and how they relate to a wide range of marketing topics.
Branding
Jerry Seinfeld: “You know the message you’re sending out to the world with these sweatpants? You’re telling the world, ‘I give up. I can’t compete in normal society. I’m miserable, so I might as well be comfortable.’” – Jerry criticizing George’s outfit in “The Pilot”
Branding is all about establishing a specific image in your customer’s mind when they think of you. If your brand sells high-end products, you want everything from the packaging of the product to the design of the website to scream quality.
Your appearance is the message you’re sending out to the world. It’s a pretty straightforward idea, but thankfully, we have George Costanza to reinforce the perils of forgetting this fundamental principle of marketing.
Authenticity
People these days are so used to advertising that they can sense from a mile away whether or not your brand is authentic. This is especially true amongst millennials.
Don’t be afraid to open up to your audience and show them who you are.
Although, there is such a thing as being too “authentic”.
Market Research
George: “I am not giving you my code.”
Kramer: “I’ll bet I can guess it.”
George: “Yeah, right.”
Kramer: “Ah, alright, yeah…let’s see…Well, we can throw out birthdays immediately. That’s too obvious. And no numbers for you. You’re a word man. Let’s go deeper… What kind of man are you? Well, you’re weak, spineless, a man of temptations. But what tempts you? You’re a portly fellow. A bit long in the waistband. So what’s your pleasure? Is it the salty snacks you crave? No no no no… Yours is a sweet tooth. Oh, you may stray, but you’ll always return to your dark master… The cocoa bean! And only the purest syrup nectar can satisfy you. If you could, you’d guzzle it by the gallon… Ovaltine!? Hershey’s!? Nestle’s Quick!?” – Kramer attempting to figure out George’s bank code in “The Secret Code”
Market research is important because the more you know your customers, the more value you can provide.
Further, you also need to know how your competitors are attempting to reach those same consumers.
Use data along with interviews of your target market to get an accurate picture of the type of person you are trying to reach. Although you may think you know your audience, we recommend interacting with them personally to get an accurate representation of who they are.
The final step is to put yourself in their shoes and brainstorm content ideas that they would find useful and may ultimately lead to a sale.
Reaching Your Target Market
George:“It’s smart. It’s a smart line, and a smart crowd will appreciate it. And I’m not going to dumb it down for some bonehead mass audience!” – George discussing “Jerk Store” line in “The Comeback”
Identifying your target market is one of the first steps to developing a successful marketing campaign. You have to know their pain points and offer a solution that speaks to their specific needs.
This is one of those rare instances when it’s actually okay to be like George. Once you’ve got that thing that separates your product from the competition, don’t dumb it down!
Market Segmentation
Divide and conquer, right?
Segmenting your products/services based on the intended audience is a great way to expand your company’s potential market reach while also diversifying your product line.
We’ve seen Apple have great success with this approach, as they regularly offer multiple iPhone and Mac models for every type of consumer.
Just make sure that if you’re going to offer a new product to a segment, there is actually a demand for it.
Email Marketing
Newman: “Remember, when you control the mail…You control… information.” – Newman attempting to intimidate Jerry in “The Package”
We’re not in the 90’s anymore, so in this instance, let’s talk about email marketing. Compared to social media or out of home advertising, email marketing gives you greater control over your communication with customers. You don’t have to worry how many of your subscribers will actually receive your email like you do with a Facebook post. You can send an email as plain text or HTML, you can test subject lines and send times, and you can control how often people hear from you. You have complete control over your message and its presentation that you don’t get with other traditional marketing channels. Plus, over 90% of people say they check their email inbox daily.
You might not control “information”, but you do get more control over who, what, where and when people will see your brand.
Social Media Marketing
Did you know that Facebook posts with images see more than double the engagement of basic text posts?
Including images and videos in your social media posts is essential for catching people’s attention. Remember that the images and videos you post are an extension of your brand. Setting up a profile and posting doesn’t take too much time or effort, but whatever you do needs to fit in with your overall marketing strategy.
Just keep it safe for work (please).
Inbound Marketing
George Costanza: “I spend so much time trying to get their clothes off, I never thought of taking mine off.” – George strategizing for his next date in “The Stand-In”
Inbound Marketing is all about creating great content for your target audience. They are searching for answers to their questions online. Your content answers their questions and helps to solve their problems. Once you’ve demonstrated that your company is able to provide this value and demonstrate expertise, you’ll have a much easier time selling.
It’s a much more effective strategy in today’s information-on-demand digital world where the traditional outbound methods (TV, radio etc.) are being tuned out by consumers.
Evidently, this was already happening in the 90’s:
Jerry: “I can’t talk right now. Why don’t you give me your home number and I’ll call you later?”
Telemarketer: “Uh, sorry, we’re not allowed to do that.”
Jerry: “Oh I guess you don’t want people calling you at home?”
Telemarketer: “…No”
Jerry: “Now you know how I feel.” – Jerry dealing with a telemarketer in “The Pitch”
Inbound marketing is all about creating content that’s valuable to your target demographic so they can find you online.
However, we recommend keeping your clothes on when executing your inbound marketing strategy.
Content Creation
Kramer: “Hey, you know what would make a great coffee table book? A coffee table book about coffee tables…That turns into a coffee table!” – Kramer discussing the content for his book in “The Opposite”
Creating valuable content is key to attracting visitors to your website and developing a positive relationship with your target market. With everyone blogging these days, you need to think outside the box and offer something unique, just like Kramer.
You never know, you may end up on a popular talk show!
The Subtle Art of Positioning
Positioning is key in today’s oversaturated marketplace. As the saying goes “If you’re selling to everyone, you’re selling to no one.”
Don’t be like Kramer. Find your seat (in this case your target demographic) and focus all your marketing and sales effort on that one specific niche.
Content Strategy
George: “Every time I go to the bathroom, I pass her desk. I have to plan little patter. I spend half my day writing. Then afterward, I sit in my office and analyze how it went. If it was a good conversation, I don’t go to the bathroom for the rest of the day.” – George explaining his content creation process to Jerry in “The Stranded”
What can we say? Content strategy is all about planning, producing, and then analyzing the results.
Planning is essential so you can create a consistent content strategy and plan your posts in advance. This is important because chances are if don’t make content a priority, chances are you won’t follow through with it.
Once the content is produced and up on your blog and social pages, always monitor the traction the post receives to see what is resonating with your audience and what isn’t. This will help you determine what your future content efforts should be focused on.
A/B Split Testing
George: “Yeah, I’m a great quitter. It’s one of the few things I do well. I come from a long line of quitters. My father was a quitter, my grandfather was a quitter… I was raised to give up.” – George bragging about his ability to give up in “The Old Man”
When it comes to writing online advertisements or developing a landing page, one rule stays the same: Always test. Test different landing pages, ad copy, creative and CTA buttons to discover which ones work best.
And like George, don’t be afraid to quit. Yes, really. When it’s clear something will not perform like you hoped, don’t waste time trying to salvage it.
Public Relations
Public Relations is best defined as a continuous process by which a business attempts to develop and maintain a positive public image.
For the average consumer, their opinion of a company will likely come down to their personal interactions with the brand. Even if you have a great product (like the Soup Nazi did) you still have to treat your customers with respect and be as helpful as possible.
You Should Still Probably Go To College To Learn About Marketing…Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That.
There are tons of great scenes from Seinfeld that relate perfectly to marketing. The show about nothing is, in a weird way, a show about everything.
Now, we don’t necessarily recommend adding your love of Seinfeld to your resume. College and job experience are the best ways to learn about marketing. If you are in college and looking for that experience, we have internships you can apply to here.
