Three Ninja Marketing Techniques to “Keep it Fresh”
Last post we introduced Naruto Uzumaki, currently the world’s most popular anime ninja. His flexibility and ability to use a wide variety of different techniques and approaches is a defining part of his appeal and integral to his success as a ninja.
Let’s look specifically at three of Naruto’s favorite techniques or “jutsu”:
影分身術 (Kagebunshin) – Shadow Clone Technique
Using this technique, Naruto creates multiple replicas of himself to both attack from multiple angles and to confuse his enemies at the same time. When a marketer leverages resources, channels, alliances and technologies to appear to be in “more than one place at a time,” he or she keeps opponents on the defensive and off-guard, not knowing from which direction the next attack will come.
変り身術 (Kawarimi) — Substitution Technique
In the middle of a battle, Naruto will sometimes completely replaces himself with another object, leaving his enemy befuddled as their well timed and executed attack is utterly ineffective as gives them a ninja “head fake” and totally slips them. Few things are more satisfying for a marketing ninja than to know that an opponent’s best laid plans are going to fall flat because he or she has “changed the rules,” and has taken the battle into totally new arena where that opponent is at a distinct disadvantage.
変化術 (Henge) — Transformation Technique
When Naruto uses this jutsu (technique), he usually not only “substitutes” himself with another person or object, but actually transforms himself to appear as an ally to lull him into a false sense of security, and then attack when that enemy least expects it.
As Sun Tzu said, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” Sometimes the best way for a ninja marketer to attack a more powerful opponent is to find a way to align with them in the short term, realizing that the time and opportunity will present itself to blow by and dominate the situation.
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Sneaky? Yes. Unfair? You know what they say about “love and war…”
Surprising, isn’t it, how much you can learn from a Japanese children’s cartoon show?
Who is Naruto Uzumaki and what does he have to teach me about marketing?
Probably anyone in North America (probably the world) with preadolescent boys at home (or at least hard-core fans of the Cartoon Network) has heard about Naruto. The premier Japanese cartoon (“anime&rdquo
in production today, Naruto is the #1 brand/franchise of it’s kind in the world—surpassing the once mighty Pokemon.Long story short, Naruto is a young “ninja in training” with aspirations to become the next “hokage”—Master Ninja of his clan. Naruto is not the strongest, smartest or even most talented of his compatriots, but he IS, in a word, INDEFATIGUABLE.
When he undertakes a task, there is absolutely nothing that can get in the way of the triumphant completion of said task. Time and again, he pushes just 10% harder, digs 10% deeper than opponents and even partners. He never hesitates. He constantly and consistently keeps moving, switching techniques and trying new attacks. There is no question in the minds of the show’s fans that ultimately, he will achieve his goal.
So what can you learn from Naruto? Here are 5 quick lessons:
Lesson #1– Don’t Quit.
Winston Churchill might not have had the appearance of a ninja, but nevertheless understood and articulated this principle well when he said,
“Never give up. Never, never, never, never, never give up.”
Lesson #2– Dig Deep.
Deeper than your own known limits—or at the very least, the limits of your competitors. 90% of what anyone and everyone brings to a particular challenge is identical, exactly the same. The difference between success and failure is usually only found after the typical and common answers have all been explored (and found wanting), and the extraordinary, unique and highly personalized skills and characteristics of the “ninja” in question are brought to bear. If you stop where everyone else does, you’ll end up where everyone else is. Push beyond, and you will soar beyond.
Lesson #3– Do it hard, fast and NOW.
Ninja battles are won in the vast expanses between microseconds. Modern marketing history is replete with examples of those who missed the boat simply because the failed to grab the brass ring when it came their way. IBM vs. Univac (mainframe computers) Microsoft vs. Digital Research (microcomputer operating systems). Cable TV vs. the “big three” networks (television programming).
George W. Cecil said, “On the plains of hesitation, bleach the bones of countless thousands, who at the dawn of victory sat down to rest, and waiting died.”
In that situation, in that very moment—could the stakes be any higher?
Lesson #4—Be consistent.
Jim Rohn said that the primary challenge of marketing is to "have something good to say, say it well, and say it often.” In marketing, life, and ninja battle, victory is seldom achieved via a one-shot knockout punch. After 30 years and six films, Rocky is still the champ in the minds of millions.
Lesson #5—Mix it up.
You’ve heard the old saw, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Well, sort of. With a slight but significant variation:
“If at first you don’t succeed, try (SOMETHING DIFFERENT), try (SOMETHING NEW) again.”
It’s reported that Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting different results. Who can argue with logic like that? Especially when it’s coming from Albert Einstein.
A true marketing ninja not only keeps trying different attacks, techniques and approaches, but is also always thinking ahead instinctively, anticipating complete sequences of future moves based on the ever-changing realities of the here and now.
Next time we’ll look specifically at three of Naruto’s favorite ninja techniques for ideas of how a flexible ninja addresses changing battle realities.
Who Else Wants "Mad Ninja Skills?"
And yet the underlying principles of “Ninjutsu” have been passed on by secretive ninja “families” for hundreds of years and have alway been embraced by “shadow warriors” seeking an unfair advantage against opponents with seemingly vastly superior resources.
So what is “Ninja Marketing?”
Successful Ninja marketers leverage the three primary traits that define a “ninjutsu” philosophy (thus the 3-pointed shuriken in the Shuriken Systems logo):
1. Simplicity
2. Agility
3. Speed
Simplicity– the shortest distance between two points is still a straight line, regardless of how many committees, corporate gatekeepers and self-proclaimed gurus say otherwise. Common sense and the 80/20 rule– when combined with the other “mad ninja skills” of Agility and Speed– will almost always get you farther faster than any other approach. The key is determining and absolutely mastering those few things that will really make a difference in your business. Forget about all the rest. At least for now.
Speed– You’ve got to be able to move fast. One of the key advantages of smaller, more entrepreneurially-oriented organization is the ability to make decisions quickly. In the four-dimensional universe that Einstein introduced us to in the last century, TIMING is ironically the element that is often the most easily utilized in manipulating the physical world. Learn to leverage speed and you can “be there” and “do that” before your competition has a chance to even notice you’re in the room.
Agility– the ability to make immediate, even instantaneous, course corrections is a key advantage in the 21st century business world when your competition may need to convene multiple meetings and conference calls just to be able to identify a problem or opportunity– let alone get everyone to agree as to how to capitalize upon it. Focus on what you really need to accomplish without being married to how it gets done, and you’ll reinvent not only your own internal “business models,” but your entire industry as well.
Balancing your Mad Ninja Skills
Notice that all three characteristics are critical and keep each other in balance. The main reason to simplify is so that you can “lighten up” to improve agility, speed and focus. Speed is hardly an asset if you’re still carrying around too much baggage. And without agility and flexibility, “business at the speed of change” can be very brittle, indeed.
In future posts, I plan to comment in more detail about each of the three key aspects of a “Ninja Marketing”-focused enterprise.
But don’t expect me to share any of my sweet dance moves…
What IS Ninja Marketing?
“Shouninjutsu”
Ninja Marketing
You’ve heard of “ninjas,” right? The sneaky little assassins always creeping around silently in old Japanese movies. Typically they wait until their opponents least expect it– usually the middle of the night. Then they slip through the tightest defenses, glide to the private bedroom of their most powerful enemies, slide open the shoji paper-screened doors, slink across the tatami floor and slit their throats before the victim has time to even blink.
Or perhaps during the hanami festival they hide in a tree 50 yards from where the target is taking a pleasant stroll enjoying the sakura cherry blossoms, when they take a small disc the size of a coaster from their sleeve and hurl a spinning, razor sharp shuriken chinese throwing star, and in less time than it takes to inhale, the enemy falls dead with the blade buried an inch deep, right between the eyes.
They never even had a chance to see it coming.
Marketing Martial Arts for the Life and Death Struggle to Survive and THRIVE in a Brutal Business World
This is not the watered down “guerrilla marketing” techniques that might have been fresh twenty years ago when people first starting talking about them. These are NOT the principles you will learn in the Harvard or Stanford MBA programs. And guess what– these are not even the “flavor of the month” marketing platitudes you’ll get from the latest flock of so-called “gurus.”
It’s all about strategy and tactics– Your “weapons” and how to use them.
Samurai have their katana, and yari, and yukinoshita do-style armour. Ninja have their shinobi shozoku, nunchaku and shuriken.
In most cases, for individuals and aggressive, growing businesses, a ninja-like approach to decision-making and action-planning is far superior to a more “samurai-style” process. And perhaps the most effective of all ninja weapons is the shuriken.
Shuriken (and shaken) are sometimes called chinese throwing stars or throwing needles/daggers. The shuriken is a (relatively) long range weapon that is inexpensive, light, easily concealed, extremely accurate and fast. The target doesn’t even know what hit him until it’s already too late to react.
Simple, direct, powerful actions with maximum effectiveness.
So why do we call our company Shuriken Systems?
Think about it.
