Season 5 of LOST starts tomorrow Wednesday, January 21 on ABC. I am excited. There are many reasons LOST has a cult-like following - brilliant writing, a diverse cast that so many people can relate to, a complex mythology, a bit of luck, and of course, cool marketing. The ABC team has done a great job to promote LOST and their work has paid off.
1. Listen to fans. LOST is known for its close interaction with its fan base. Have a question for the executive producers? Head on over to the ABC LOST message boards and ask. If its a good question they will probably talk about it on their weekly podcast. There have been a few times when a fan question actually lead the writers to better clarify something in the show. Every year, the LOST team also attends ComicCon, a multi-day fan convention in California to interact with their fan base.Are you interacting with your fans? They have a lot they want to say and listening could make your product or company feel more like a community.
2. Use marketing to enhance the story. Instead of just putting a campaign together that tells when the show is on, every year the LOST marketers create new ways to enhance the story. One of the first marketing campaigns was a book that was "written" by a passenger of the plane that crashed on the show (you know that guy who got sucked into the jet engine in the pilot epsisode? Yeah, that guy). The book contains vague clues and reference to the world of LOST. The marketers also have launched several fake websites for the different companies in the show (Oceanic Airlines, Hanso Foundation, Dharma Initiative) and interactive experiences that were built to make the show bigger and more real. These campaigns add to the experience of the show, making it feel real and alive.
What kind of stories are you telling? Chris Brogan had a good post recently about using stories to spread ideas. Instead of simply throwing your product out there, give people a reason to want to share it. Experiences impact us far longer than all of the advertisements we have become so used to filtering all day. People share experiences with each other, not advertisements.
3. Reward fans for digging. Not everyone is going to spend hours on all the extras that come with the show LOST, but some will. Since the storyline LOST is so surrounded by mystery and questions, the writers and marketers know that the fans will search for answers. This past summer, fans of LOST were able to participate in the interactive online simulation called DharmaWantsYou.com (which kicked off at the ComicCon conference, shown above) in which a fictional scientific research company from the show recruited new members to help them out. While everyone knows the company does not actually exist, the experience was run as if it were. Each week a set of tests and games came out and if participants scored well enough, they would gain access to exclusive content from the show. LOST fans spend hours online digging into the game and discussing. Another cool project the LOST creators came up with were the LOST puzzles. Not only were the puzzles fun to put together (who doesn't like a puzzle?), but there was more. If you put all 4 puzzles together and flipped them over, there was a secret image only visible with a black light. For those willing to take it even a step further, the image also contained several sets of codes that could only be translated using a specific book that was referenced in the show. When translated the clues revealed more secret insight into the show. There are a lot of LOST fans are very devoted to solving the mysteries of the island and regularly discuss theories behind the show.Are you giving your customers any reasons to invest more time in your product? People like to be rewarded when they invest more time into the product or brand that they love. If you can create a product with no end to the rewards gained from digging, you will hook people and create zealous brand evangelists.