Thinker Tool: Movie Metaphor

#ThinkerTool: Tonight’s movie is a jump-point for analysing your business. Protagonist = you. Antagonist = your customers. Discuss.

Last night I watched Cate Blanchett in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. No, you’re right. It’s not a film. It was a production of the Sydney Theatre Company. But I’m using artistic license to interpret this Thinker Tool and hoping the fresh inspiration will get me into the swing of it.

Protagonist = Me. Discuss:

“Streetcar’ was written in 1947. At the time I’m sure its protaganist, Blanche Dubois’, antics would have been considered extremely risqué. In today’s world however, a little indiscretion is almost a rite of passage. When undertaken while suffering personal tragedy, I would say almost mandatory. So the potential disgust its original audiences may have felt for Blanche’s sexual behaviour has become somewhat muted through today’s lens.

Metaphor for my business:

2) It’s not Blanche’s sexual antics that are the main issue. It’s her delusions of grandeur and pretence that so antagonise Stanley and lead to his maltreatment of her. This is also true for today’s consumers. Transparency and authenticity are key in building loyal customer relationships. Social media is forcing short, accurate sound-bites so long, waffly, literary and padded commentary are considered distasteful. Be succinct. Make sense. Be honest.

Antagonist = My competitors. Discuss:

Blanche’s antagonist, Stanley Kowalski, is a confident, swaggering 2nd generation immigrant on the rise. She describes him as “survivor of the Stone Age” and he displays uncivilized manners, demanding and forceful behavior, lack of empathy, crass selfishness, and a chauvinistic attitude towards women.

Yet, he is the ‘winner’ at the play’s denoument. As Blanche is led away to a mental institution, his wife (Blanche’s sister) and his friend (Blanche’s almost-fiance, Mitch) choose to believe his stories over hers. His boldness and cruelty are rewarded.

Metaphor for my competitors:

3) If you are a truth-sayer your indiscretions will be forgiven. We all make mistakes but if you are known for your honesty, bad behaviours will be accepted as part of your personality and perhaps even become part of your raw appeal.

Real life case studies

Take Naomi Dunford for instance. Her USP is built on ‘hating people’ and swearing. Yet she is making a fortune as a small business coach. People come back time and time again though she prides herself on being slow to return email and ignoring people. Truth is, Naomi does look after her flock. By showing ‘deliberate cruelty’ to those outside the circle, it makes customers want to join her inner ranks. Once there, they still forgive the odd latent reply as ‘forewarned is forearmed’ and yet the in reality, Naomi is generally excellent at making her loyal fans feel loved.

Closer to home, Vince Frost, has made a huge name for himself as a premium brand designer. Frost is the master of self-promotion. He has never been afraid of public speaking and talks at any and every event he can. Frost Design enters (and wins) numerous awards, endlessly spades (and so gets) press in high-end design magazines and is a prolific generator of its own self-promotional content including blogs, EDMs, Twitter and Facebook. The relentlessness of his chest-beating is paying huge dividends. And furthermore, noone sees this as gauche. Frost is considered the epitome of design success in Australia and is paid handsomely for it.

Final Takeout
You can find inspiration in everything you do. Even (perhaps especially) in sideline past-times. If you’d like to read more on that, I’ve a whole blog post on ‘When Procrastination Works Best’. In the meantime, enjoy your movie tonight then analyse it for inspiration on how you can move your business forward.

Get those thinking hats on,
Charlotte