7 Marketing Lessons from Jurassic Park
We’ll admit it: we’re massive nerds, and we love Jurassic Park.
Not the new films (meh), but the original, 1993 classic, with the undeniably stellar cast: Richard Attenborough, Samuel L. Jackson, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and, of course… Jeff Goldblum.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Crichton’s 1990 book, which was the inspiration for the film, we decided to dive into the top marketing lessons from Jurassic Park.
After all, John Hammond was a business owner, with a marketing strategy, so let’s see where he went wrong (and where he took the right steps) in launching Jurassic Park.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome… to 7 Marketing Lessons from Jurassic Park.
*cue theme music - here’s the full intro music to listen to whilst you read*
Image courtesy of @amy1401 via Unsplash.
Hunt for the right influencers
At the beginning of the film, John Hammond seeks out Dr Ellie Sattler and Dr Alan Grant, respected experts in their field, for their endorsement of his park.
Had Jurassic Park not been a total bloodbath, this would have been an excellent move on his part, approaching the experts for their recommendation.
He even goes about it in a pretty decent way, polite and straight to the point: "I mean, let's face it... in your particular field you're the top minds. And if I could just persuade you, to sign off on the park, give it your endorsement, maybe even pen a wee testimonial, I could get right back on schedule."
No matter what point you’re at with your business, approaching those that are known in the industry for testimonials or partnerships is a great way to build your following.
If you’re not at a place where you can afford to work with influencers, then use them as research for your target audience – their followers should be your customers.
Get involved with communities in your industry, not just to flat-out promote your business, but to build trust, authority and expertise in your field.
Image courtesy of @amy1401 via Unsplash.
Get feedback before launch
Another reason for John Hammond inviting Dr Sattler and Dr Grant (along with his grandchildren) is for customer feedback.
In theory, this is an essential part of any product launch – before you open it out to the public, test it with a smaller audience of your target audience for feedback and reactions.
His test audience is also a pretty good mix of experts and non-experts – that is, Drs Sattler and Grant, Ian Malcolm (a mathematician, for some reason), lawyer, and his grandchildren.
Of course, at the beginning of the film, a velociraptor ends up killing a worker, so maybe it was a sign that it was a little too early for John Hammond’s market test.
Image courtesy of @amy1401 via Unsplash.
Expect the unexpected
Even if your product isn’t meant to break, try to break it, and implement processes and procedures in the event of it breaking.
If there’s a 1% chance something could go wrong, you should still know exactly what to do if that happens – it could be something you’re applauded for, or it could be the end of your business…
It’s all about the Chaos Theory – something that Jeff Goldblum’s character, Ian Malcolm, seems obsessed with.
The dinosaurs are all created with female reproductive organs, on the reasonable assumption that they will be unable to breed, but as we all know “life, uh, finds a way”.
Even if it’s vastly unlikely that something could happen, you need to prepare for it, with failsafes, precautions and procedures in place on the event that it does happen.
It can even go so far as not relying on just one employee for certain business-critical processes, because if that person leaves,or anything else happens that limits their ability to work, your business could be minutes from shut-down.
Image courtesy of @amy1401 via Unsplash.
Share knowledge internally
Think about it: If Nedry (the programmer/hacker employed by John Hammond) had shared his knowledge of Jurassic Park’s security and infrastructure, a lot of people wouldn’t have been killed, and, who knows, maybe the park test would have been a success.
You need internal knowledge-sharing processes in place to ensure this sort of thing doesn’t happen.
This also ties in with ‘expecting the unexpected’, because even the happiest employee can suddenly leave with a moment’s notice – or a pandemic could hit, family member could get hurt… there are dozens of reasons why any employee might not be able to work.
A way to work around this is to host regular knowledge-sharing workshops, where an employee who is a champion in a certain area teaches your other employees how to do that process.
Creating detailed guides is another great way of knowledge-sharing, although you do have to make sure they’re updated with any procedural changes.
This can also make your process of hiring new staff much easier, and can help you to point out potential ways to improve your existing processes.
It can be time-consuming, but can ultimately save you a lot of money, time and hassle.
One employee as a champion in a specific area can also have a damaging effect on your company morale, and could impact their work/life balance – can they take time off without being called back to fix a problem only they can fix?
If not, your company is in trouble – but it’s not too late to fix it, so implement knowledge-sharing processes to avoid damaging your company culture.
Image courtesy of @amy1401 via Unsplash.
Merch isn’t #1 on your list
Before even doing proper product tests, John Hammond arranged for masses of branded merchandise: t-shirts, water bottles, lunch boxes... the works, all packed into a massive gift shop.
No doubt that was a waste of money after the product test proved it didn't work.
Sure, his branded merch looks great in the gift shop, and would be a brilliant addition to a theme park if it passed the market test.
But it didn’t.
Merchandise shouldn’t be a priority in your business, especially if your processes aren’t up to scratch, or tested thoroughly.
Sure, it’s exciting to wear your own brand’s merch, but you don’t need a branded t-shirt before your business has even launched.
Invest in the internal processes before the marketing
If your internal processes don’t work, there’s no point in marketing your product.
How John Hammond thought he could run an entire theme park with just two tech people still astounds me – clearly, infrastructure wasn’t that high on his list of priorities.
You need to test your customer journey from start to finish before you launch your business – several times.
It can highlight business-critical issues without disrupting and negatively impacting your customers’ experience with your brand, along with other ways that you can build up later on.
If you’re short on time and you’re keen to launch asap, consider hiring a consultant to review your processes to cut down time, but don’t skimp on proper procedural checks before launch.
Image courtesy of @amy1401 via Unsplash.
Respect your employees
A lot of the park’s failings were down to one disgruntled employee: Nedry.
John Hammond treated him with disdain, and he felt as though he wasn’t appreciated for his work. Your employees can make or break your product, so treat them with the respect they deserve, and hire the right people for the right job.
It’s totally backward to employ someone with such an important job – making sure the security is up to standard in a theme park where the attractions could kill the guests – and then demean and berate that person to the point that they hate you.
I’m not here to stick up for Nedry (the guy doesn’t seem to care if people die as a result of his actions, all for money), but to stress that you need to have a good working relationship with your employees in order for them to work to a reasonable standard.
Not only are unhappy employees more likely to leave, they’re also less productive than happy employees.
There’s also the chance they could pull a ‘Nedry’ and actively try to sabotage your business.
So treat your employees with the respect they deserve – if it’s not working, then they’re not the right employee for you, and there’s always someone out there who is a better fit.
Those are our top marketing lessons from Jurassic Park, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Michael Crichton’s original novel.
Let us know which tip is your favourite, or if there was anything else in Jurassic Park you thought we’d missed – or even if there’s another film you’d like us to do a marketing, branding or design-focused dive into.
