8 Things Companies Can Learn From Their Couches
In his Fast Company article this week, Sam Ford used a quote about the death of the incomparable Capt. Lou Albano:
“Somebody once said that to understand America, you have to understand pro wrestling.”
Ford found
“wrestling often acts as a carnival mirror to our culture, stretching and magnifying the underlying fears, prejudices and tension points amongst us. However, I think wrestling provides all sorts of learning that corporate America should pay attention to as well.”
8 things companies can take away from Pro-Wrestling:
-An Appropriate Level of Spectacle Is Crucial: In pro wrestling, steel cages are always 15 feet high. Tall competitors are nearly 7 feet tall. Crowds are always “hanging from the rafters.” Wrestling shows pull out all the stops to make their shows as dramatic as possible. On the other hand, wrestling promoters can’t overdo it. Case-in-point: the now defunct-World Championship Wrestling put on a live three-hour television show every week, with the announcers constantly proclaiming it was “the biggest main event in the history of the show.” Eventually, nothing they did could feel special anymore. While corporate communicators may not want to be so guilty of exaggeration and hyperbole, big events should always be conducted with a dramatic flair. However, it’s also crucial to save that drama for the particularly “big” moments (in the case of the WWE, big pay-per-view events like Wrestlemania) so that it will be truly effective.
-Humor and Charisma Always Make a Connection: Many a wrestling villain has suddenly become a hero because of his gift of gab on the microphone. Even when audiences don’t want to, they often can’t help but be won over. Likewise, many wrestlers pushed to be fan favorites, or “faces” in wrestling parlance, are met with silence if they don’t have that natural connection. Corporate communicators have to value that human connection and cannot underestimate the importance of wit, charm and authenticity. As they say in WWE, the best performers are those who “play themselves, with the volume turned up.”
-Create a Serialized Connection with Your Audience
-Your Audience Uses You as an Excuse to Build Community
-Your Audience Is Always Performing
-Take Every Opportunity to Listen to Your Focus Group
-Your Audience Will Tell You What They Think
-Listening Could Lead to New Business Models
To see Ford’s full article click here
Point 1: I was reading about how the words amazing and a must read have lost meaning, have lost their meaning and are now just thrown out their. It is funny how we use these words to describe everything.
We can learn a lot from the strange and unusual…wrestling, discovery channel, marketing for indie concerts,etc.
I’ve been meaning to drop by and thank you for picking up on my Fast Company piece for a few days now. Appreciate your thoughts, and glad you found the article of interest. Too many of the things I know I’ve learned from pro wrestling. But, all kidding aside, I think there’s a lot companies can stand to learn from following popular culture.
I've been meaning to drop by and thank you for picking up on my Fast Company piece for a few days now. Appreciate your thoughts, and glad you found the article of interest. Too many of the things I know I've learned from pro wrestling. But, all kidding aside, I think there's a lot companies can stand to learn from following popular culture.