In Hollywood, when someone pitches a new movie, they often anchor the elevator version of the pitch as a mashup. Star Wars meets The Simpsons. You collide two worlds together to help quickly explain the idea.
Brands need this type of shorthand too. It helps others understand how your idea is new, different and will challenge the status quo.
Smashing Brands and Products Together
Here are several mash-ups that explain the idea:
- Imagine a soup kitchen becomes a restaurant with volunteers serving the homeless. Soup kitchen meets restaurant.
- A wine bottle or wine label meets a novella. Gives you a reason to keep buying more for new chapters.
- Imagine using texting to connect with a therapist instead of in person meeting. Texting meets therapy.
- Imagine a bank merges with a spa. You get a relaxing environment to talk about money. Bank meets spa.
- Imagine a house key that works like a car key. Just click the button (or hold it near you) as you carry packages into the house. House key meets car key clicker.
- Imagine a personal trainer mashes up with an experienced cook. They bring the cooking school to your home, one on one. Exercise instructor meets chef.
- Imagine a multi-vitamin made into bread. Consume your daily dose with a piece of toast. Multi-vitamins meet toast.
- The yoga mat that infused with essential oil thus calming your senses as you stretch your body. Yoga meets aromatherapy.
- A pet store meets a senior citizen home. The pets are therapy for the seniors citizens and provide volunteer staff to take care of the animals.
- An art exhibit was transported out of a museum and brought into a subway. Art meets the people in transit.
- A donut shop that opens in a police station.
- A printed newspaper embedded with seeds that can be planted after you read it. Paper meets seeds.
- A financial services company creates comic books to educate children. Finance meets comic books.
The beauty for marketers to exercise their “mash-up brain muscle” is it helps you focus on bringing something inventive in from another world. If you work in product development or marketing, assemble a mash up/brainstorming session where everyone reinvents what you do by smashing it into another product, service or idea.
What products or business can you smash up with your brand?
__________
Need help to smash your brand? Let’s mash-up some ideas together. Email me at jeffreylynnslater@gmail.com
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1454.html
