(New Line Cinema)

The Oscar buzz over the weekend brought to mind the current email string and forum discussions highlighting startup marketing lessons gleaned from quotes from the movie Moneyball.  It also reminded us of one of our Israeli clients who start every Sales meeting with the Alec Baldwin scene from Glengarry Glen Ross.

Over the years, we’ve found that films, as well as television shows, often depict (and sometimes over-dramatize) important lessons that can be applied to various situations in startup marketing.  Just recently we had a difficult situation with one of our clients that reminded us of an old sitcom bit.  Our client was a founder with a difficult personality who didn’t know he was a difficult personality.  When he wanted to be the featured player on the Launch Tour, we sent him a link to the sitcom, where the boorish character was asking everyone for advice on how to be a better person.  Finally one of his ‘friends’ replied, “Okay, you know how you are?”  The boor nods eagerly.  “Don’t be that way,” his friend advises.

The client got the point and took media training, as well as accepted guidance from us and the PR agency.  And though our relations with the client were never quite the same, the launch ended up being a huge success.