TALKING POINT
What We Can Learn From Tom & Jerry @ 76
By Boniface Ngahu
Recently there were memes doing rounds celebrating Tom & Jerry at 76 years and thanking the duo for long live childhood and even adult entertainment . The memes were appropriately timed around the same date as the international day for grandparents and the elderly . The one I remember very well had Tom and Jerry using walking sticks looking elderly enough to qualify for what tourism marketers call the grey segment which is more about pensioners touring the world in search of fun and warm weather among other equal value entertainments .
Freemiumization and the Grey Market Segment
The grey market reminds of a conversation I had with a chairman of one of the bluechip companies in the Nairobi Stocks Exchange ( NSE ). He asked me what executives should do with millions of online followers who were not making any sense to the bottom-line .
I told him that one of the ways to ride on that trend was to use the free business model where freemium service or content available to many is paid for by a few like Wikipedia content is paid for by a few donors . Freemium is derived from combining free and premium .
He didn ’ t ask me any other question about it but he commented in a “ if you know , you know ” kind of way that he is a grandfather and he has been paying for many luxuries for his grandchildren where he was not the user . So , if you think the grey market is not your target , maybe their money should be .
How to Play Cat and Mouse Games with Your Product Life Cycles
Coca-Cola executives say that you can extend the growth stage of your product ’ s life cycle indefinitely through marketing . This is achieved through continuous reinvention of brands through what one of their vice presidents was quoted terming as , changing while remaining the same . The new clear Sprite bottle that is more recyclable in line with the Coca- Cola vision of a world without waste is a good example of such initiatives .
Talking cat and mouse games as a
Over the years of their lifetimes , brands have to take risks , probably make mistakes and pick up quickly from such mistakes . The tolerance for mistakes is an indicator of a positive innovation climate matter of seriousness , we can get some inspiration from one Winston Churchill who said that , “ a joke is a very serious thing ”. It follows that for Tom & Jerry to have entertained people for all those years and to continue doing the same now or into the future is not a laughing matter .
The lessons for branding cannot be wished away . History shows that the cartoon used to be featured in movie theatres before the advent of TV , it got several academy awards and won many Oscars in the animation category as a result . Later on , it became a TV product going on to thrive in sitting rooms forever .
By the Way , Tom & Jerry was Rebranded During Early Days
In my usual kind of business , I am severally asked to speak about the meaning of rebranded entities or even completely new brands . This sometimes comes from the brand owners or those in my company during launches . I remember explaining to guests around me at the launch of Tusker Cider that it seemed to be a drink targeted at slay queens to be paid for by Tusker larger drinking sponsors , we had a good laugh as we enjoyed the full mouth taste of the new drink .
The creators of Tom & Jerry , William Hanna and Joseph Berbera are not the ones who came up with the name of the pair . Their first cartoon in the 40s “ Puss Gets the Boot ” was Jasper and Jinx with the earlier being the cat and the later the mouse . As they co-created with their
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