Marketing Lessons From the Prince of Denmark

Picture this: Your dad, the King, is sleeping in the castle garden. His brother creeps into the garden, kills Dad by pouring poison in his ear, marries the Queen, and takes the throne.

So it went for Prince Hamlet of Denmark – at least in William Shakespeare’s version of the story. 

At first, Hamlet thought Dad died accidentally. A venomous snake bite. 

But Dad’s ghost drops by the castle, reveals all to Hamlet, and prods Junior to avenge his death. 

Hamlet processes this all with his pal, Horatio…

Hamlet: My father—methinks I see my father.

Horatio: Where, my lord? 

Hamlet: In my mind’s eye.

Ahhh…the “mind’s eye.” A powerful thing. 

Hamlet says he SAW Dad in his mind, in his imagination. 

Shakespeare leaves us wondering, though. 

Is the ghost real or imagined? 

Horatio saw the ghost before Hamlet. Others saw the ghost, too.

So maybe the ghost is REAL, not imagined. Not merely a vision in the “mind’s eye.” 

But here’s the thing: It doesn’t matter. Whether seen through the “mind’s eye” or through a real, flesh-and-blood, lens-and-pupil eye…

…the image sticks. And that’s why…

Metaphors, and stories and other forms of VISUAL communication are so powerful. They paint a picture in the mind’s eye. They stick. 

Whether you’re a leader aiming to inspire a team, or a marketing hoping to inspire prospects to buy…

You have to think and communicate visually if you want your message to stick.

Todd Cherches has literally written the book on visual thinking and leadership. It’s called “VisuaLeadership: Leveraging the Power of Visual Thinking in Leadership and in Life” (published by Post Hill Press/Simon & Schuster).

In the latest episode of my podcast, The Story Power Marketing Show, Todd and I discuss how business leaders and marketers can harness the power of visual thinking and communication to get your ideas across. So your ideas will stick. 

Todd says there are four ways to think and communicate more visually. Storytelling is one of the four. In this excerpt from the podcast, he shares all four…

You can listen to the entire episode anywhere you find your favorite podcasts (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.). Just search “Story Power Marketing Show,” and you’ll find it. Or you can see the videos and download the audio from our website: StoryPowerMarketing.show

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