What can marketers learn from PS: I love you?

It is a rare occasion indeed for me to grab the tv all to myself for one whole evening.  No laptop on my lap - instead, glass of wine, roaring fire (well it was -3 outside) and cuddled up on the sofa - husband out (freezing) at the golf range, children snoring happily.  8pm is usually still pretty manic for me - but on this occasion, all was calm.  So I took the opportunity to see what was on the movie channel.  PS: I love you - (that's not me being overly friendly) it was the movie...  I had heard much about this from fellow girlfriends who had weeped gratuitously at the cinema - and so I thought I'd see what all the hype was about.

Well, re the movie, I liked it more than I thought I would.  But more importantly, it fuelled a passion for exploring Ireland.  I have already started researching options for camping, holiday cottages - and, what's key here' is the fact that I'm sure I was not alone in my new found drive to visit Ireland.

I'm not sure when the film was first released in the US - but I suspect that Ireland, and County Wicklow in particular, saw some pretty heavy footfall pretty shortly afterwards.

What a powerful medium film is - it enthused the personality of Ireland - or what people 'think' to expect from Ireland; the guiness, the pubs, the singing, the music, the people and the natural organic beauty of all things Irish.

The scale of a setting evoking the personality of a place or brand - is so much more powerful than product placement - which personally I feel makes a brand appear to be trying too hard.

I suppose this reminded me of the whole essense and background of corporate video (which whilst a hit in the 80s early 90's was mainly only accessible for large corps).  Corporate video is on the increase again that's for sure - hardly surprising with channels such as youtube and myspace - readily available for businesses to place 'video' - it's now accessible to the masses.

I think as marketers we can take lessons from PS: I love you.  There wasn't anyone selling anything - it was a film which for 50% of the time was set in Ireland.  Clever - the way it evoked that 'I must go to Ireland it's so amazing' quality.  So, what's important is not so much the 'products' that you sell and the overt message - but capturing the essence of your business's personality - getting clients / customers to provide insight, how it's changing their lives, businesses etc.  People do business with people they like.  Simple I know but a tricky thing to communicate to a mass audience - but with technology enabling a more 'conversational marketing' position, definitely worth thinking about...

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