🦀 The Little Mermaid / Aladdin Podcast Marketing / PR Edition Nobody Asked For 🧞
🦀 The Little Mermaid / Aladdin Podcast Marketing / PR Edition Nobody Asked For 🧞
Sebastian's a marketer; Genie's a publicist. You need both.
Bonjour.
We weren’t going to have an issue today (I am in London at The Podcast Show, which has been great) but instead of leaving you all hanging, I will leave you with a marketing/PR observation I made on my Disney Cruise. Two highlights were live-stage performances of The Little Mermaid (I cried) and Aladdin (the Genie jokes were making the kids laugh their little asses off.) I am still trying to adjust to “life on the shore where they work all day.” And if you do not get that joke you are not going to like this issue of Podcast Marketing Magic.
🟡 If you only have time for ONE thing
If there’s one thing to learn from this magical metaphor it’s this: PR/marketing is about making people fall in love. You need both the marketing strategies and the buzz building ones. And you might not end up knowing which worked, or when. But you have to do everything.
Sebastian the Marketer
You see, that is a lyric from The Little Mermaid’s “Under the Sea,” which was nominated for (and won) an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1990, along with another iconic song from the film, "Kiss the Girl," also nominated, composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Howard Ashman and in the film performed by Sebastian the crab (Samuel E. Wright.)
ICYMI The Little Mermaid is about Ariel, a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince named Eric and gives up her voice to the sea witch Ursula in exchange for human legs, in order to be with him. The calypso-inspired song "Kiss the Girl" plays during a pivotal scene in which Ariel and Eric are in a boat on a moonlit lagoon. Sebastian and other sea creatures attempt to create a romantic atmosphere and encourage Eric to kiss Ariel before the sun sets on the third day, as it is the only way to break Ursula's spell. Sebastian, acting as the song's narrator, encourages Eric to take the initiative and "kiss the girl."
Eric is unaware that Sebastian is whisper-singing in his ear and that Sebastian has convinced his friends to help him set the mood for Eric to make a move. He can’t just tell Eric to kiss Ariel, he’s a crab and crabs can’t talk! He has to make it seem like it’s Eric’s idea. He has to be a (subtle) marketer.
The lyrics:
Are suggestive: “Yes, you want her…Look at her, you know you do. Possible she wants you too, there is one way to ask her.”
Make the ask seem simple: “It don't take a word.”
Are repetitive: “Not a single word.”
Sebastian relies on the power of FOMO: “Ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad, he gonna miss the girl. Boy, you better do it soon. No time will be better (ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya…)
And the call to action (CTA) is clear: “Go on and kiss the girl.”
Does Sebastian succeed? Let’s say no for now. Without getting into too much detail, Ursula sabotages the plan and Eric and Ariel are flipped in their boat only a moment before Eric lands the kiss. The plan almost worked.
Genie the master of PR
The next night on the ship, I saw a live-performance of Aladdin, and the song "Prince Ali" (1992, also composed by Alan Menken/ lyrics by Howard Ashman, but sung by Genie/Robin Williams) was a big number in the show. The song, which sets the stage for a grand parade, serves as an introduction to the flamboyant character, Prince Ali Ababwa, who is actually Aladdin in disguise. Genie is running the entire parade, showing off Aladdin as a prince so Aladdin can win the heart of Princess Jasmine and impress the people of Agrabah. The parade is chock full of exotic animals, colorful costumes, and choreographed dancers. It’s a spectacle. It must have been expensive. Genie pretends to be news anchors covering the parade, he pretends to be people gossiping about Price Ali. Ali is just Aladdin and this entire thing was set up by a genie. But nobody in Agrabah knows that. They are under the impression that everyone else is talking about Prince Ali, and that they should be, too. That’s because The Genie is master of PR and buzz-building.
The lyrics:
Make a splash: Hey you! Let us through! It's a bright new star! Oh Come! Be the first on your block to meet his eye!
Highlight Ali’s accomplishments: “Strong as ten regular men, definitely!”
Brag about how rich he is: “He's got seventy-five golden camels. Purple peacocks he's got fifty-three. When it comes to exotic-type mammals, has he got a zoo? I'm telling you, it's a world-class menagerie!”
Brag about how handsome he is: “That physique! How can I speak? Weak at the knee.”
Brag about how beloved he is, even by his slaves: “He's got slaves, he's got servants and flunkies (proud to work for him.) They bow to his whim love serving him. They're just lousy with loyalty to Ali! Prince Ali!”
Genie isn’t giving a CTA, he’s building buzz for Aladdin. He wants the people to know Aladdin is hot. Does Genie succeed? Not really. Princess Jasmine ends up getting pissed about this whole thing, anyway.
Maybe if Sebastian and Genie would have worked together, their plans would have worked the first time. But remember: in the end, each prince/princess gets what they wanted. We can’t tie it to one thing (just like in marketing and PR) but these songs were pieces of a larger campaign.
My takeaways from these musical segments: PR/marketing is about making people fall in love. You need to do both, and you might not end up knowing which worked, or when. You have to do everything. To reference another movie, you have to be “everything everywhere all at once.” Set the scene and make people feel like a magical crab is whispering your message into their ears, and build more buzz than a Prince Ali parade. Someone is gonna get kissed. Or whatever. You know what I mean.
📂From the desk of Tink
Unorthodox is the universe’s leading Jewish podcast. Each week they bring you News of the Jews, interesting guests—one Jewish and one gentile—and so much more. This week on Unorthodox hosts Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz officially welcomed their new co-host Joshua Malina! Joshua Malina is known for his roles in "The West Wing" and "Scandal," as well as a host of the podcasts The West Wing Weekly and Chutzpod.
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