Marketing Alchemy: How to Use Magic and Logic to Tell a Good Brand Story

How successful startup marketers use storytelling to create a unique, new-age brand.
Jerome Nadel

“Marketers have to bring magical enthusiasm and grounded logic” Jerome Nadel said. He gestured to the venn diagram pictured on dual screens. Founders in the Wearable IoT World accelerator lined either side of a long table. “That combination is a winning formula for success as a startup.”

I sat near the back typing notes on my laptop. Near me, a marketing associate made a small adjustment to the video camera. We were archiving this footage to be shared with other entrepreneurs when the company would open new labs in Hong Kong and later in Shenzhen. Nadel continued to speak, occasionally allowing a question from the crowd or inciting an outburst of laughter. I typed as fast as I could, taking everything in.

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I’m Esmé Brachmann. I’m a new Community Associate at Wearable Internet of Things World (WIoTW) in San Francisco, and I joined this company because I was interested in business and marketing. I haven’t had much experience in this field (coming from a biology-oriented family), but I already find it innovative — and a little scientific: marketing involves somewhat of a scientific method to understand customers, know the market, and find the perfect niche for your product.

A few days after meeting the team, I was thrown into the equivalent of a startup bootcamp next to the founders from their labs accelerator. I had the opportunity to listen to a high-ranking marketing executive: Jerome Nadel, CMO at Rambus. Nadel believes startups will succeed if they implement design thinking into their marketing, and if they tell a good story. I found his lecture fascinating, and wanted to share 4 of Nadel’s points that stuck with me the most:

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The Power of Story: Facts and Hope

Give your product a story.

Good marketing doesn’t just involve creating a product and hoping customers like it. Good marketing is understanding what customers need, telling customers a good story, and putting users in the story. Pitches in marketing should tell why you want to create this product, and what influence this product will have in customers’ lives. Include both your hope for this influential product, as well as facts that prove the product will have the desired result. Stories help users understand where this product will fit in their daily lives, and help users feel connected to the product. Stories give the product a personal, meaningful, and empathetic feel.

Be Unique!

Create a product that’s different, unique, and ownable.

Be aware of competing companies within your niche, and make sure that you have the edge–your product is more innovative, or your marketing strategies are new-age. Make a product that will last a long time on the market, that is in some way different than other products out there, and that customers really want. Be smart in your strategy and you will find success.

Don’t Be Safe

Be ready to change with the times.

Whether you are a member of an existing enterprise, or are thinking about initiating a startup, make sure you are aware of the current, ever-changing market; good marketing is being flexible. According to Nadel, many companies have failed by saying they only want to “do it the old way”–this is not a strategy that is viable in today’s business climate. With the help of technology, our world is ever-changing — and good entrepreneurs embrace and take advantage of this change as much as they can.

Magic and Logic: A Winning Combination

Combine magical enthusiasm and grounded logic for the essential winning startup combination.

Nadel also touched on what he believes are the essential attitudes of successful startups. Startups, or any company in general, will do well if they have both logic and magic:

  • Magic: The spark, enthusiasm, and desire to provide a product to better their consumers’ needs
  • Logic: The know-how required to actually market and sell this product well.

Nadel spoke about learning about this essential combination when Rambus wasn’t succeeding financially. Rambus was just about to start an entire re-branding campaign, including the changing of the company’s name, when one of his advisors told him, “There’s not enough magic here”. Nadel knew immediately that a rebranding was not what Rambus needed. What Rambus really needed was a rethinking in marketing strategies and overall attitude at the company; it needed both magic and logic.

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I hope you enjoyed these tips — big thanks to Mr. Nadel for stopping by WIoTW! Feel free to comment how you’ve implemented these ideas in your own business model, or if you’ve found success in other methods as well. Let me know!

Wearable IoT Labs is accepting applications for our Hong Kong Superhighway Accelerator. Check it out here.