Jul 01, 2016 By Alexa Schirtzinger

Sharketing 101: 8 lessons — from sharks! — on how to create a killer marketing strategy and devour your competition

in Marketing

Sharks have come a long way.

The earliest sharks evolved more than 400 million years ago — before insects, mammals, or dinosaurs.

They survived five mass extinctions and looked pretty weird (image credit: Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images via Discovery.com):

But longevity has made the shark brand anything but stale. Today, sharks rule the news cycle. Recent white shark sightings in California have led to “shark selfies” (mostly in aquariums). Time Magazine recently called Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, “the movie that changed Hollywood.” And Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, which premiered in 1988, has ushered in an area of cultish shark fandom.

Thus, in honor of Shark Week 2016 (it's going on now!)— we examine what may be the best marketing strategy to evolve since the Paleozoic Era: sharketing.

Note: While we don’t intend to diminish the seriousness of a recent spate of shark attacks in North Carolina, according to the Washington Post, sharks kill an average of 1 person per year — compared to cows, which kill around 20 people annually — so for the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on shark marketing, not shark deadliness.

So, without further ado, the 8 principles of sharketing:

1. Be iconic

Maybe we’d all get there if we had 400 million years to evolve, or maybe sharks are just smarter — but either way, what’s more iconic than this?

You recognize it immediately — and maybe even feel an involuntary twinge of fear as the Jaws theme lodges in your head for the rest of the day.

Sharketing Lesson #1: Find a way to make your brand instantly recognizable and emotionally stimulating.

2. To win the game, make the rules

If you’ve ever been on a shark dive, you know that sharks have rules — and if you play by them, you’re usually safe. What rules? Well, for example: Don’t wave your tasty little fingers in front of their faces. Don’t freak out. Respect the shark’s space. Oh, and they even have rules for people who lack all inklings of common sense: Don’t chase the sharks.

Sharks, obviously, are in a position to enforce these rules in a potentially permanent way. But the lesson itself stands: he who defines the rules owns the game.

Sharketing Lesson #2: Whether you’re defining a market or launching a campaign, think about how you can set the rules by which everyone else learns to play.

3. Diversify

Sure, it helps if you started hundreds of millions of years ago, but diversifying your product, message, and approach to marketing can go a long way in connecting you to new audiences and customers. Sharks come in hundreds of shapes and sizes, ranging from six inches to 60 feet long and from fierce to docile.

The whale shark is huge — roughly the size of a bus — but eats only plankton and hangs out with divers. And that’s just the beginning; check out Discovery’s video of the top 10 weirdest sharks.

Sharketing Lesson #3: Just because you’re iconic doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up. Iterate on your product and message to find new ways to approach new audiences.

4. Get a killer theme song…

…and then put it in a Bill Murray movie.

Sharketing Lesson #4: Stop at nothing to get Bill Murray involved.

5. Find a friendly brand ambassador

Although sharks weren’t the focus of Finding Nemo, they scored an important cameo in Bruce, the leader of the Fish-Friendly Sharks. In the movie, Bruce recites the group’s credo:

“I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food.”

Sharketing Lesson #5: Use brand ambassadors (like Bruce) to show your brand’s softer side — or whatever side you don’t usually get to reveal.

6. Leverage partnerships for cross-promotion

On the long list of scary things humans don’t really understand: aliens, earthquakes, fiscal policy, sharks, tornadoes. Sharks took this lack of understanding and raised the bar with Sharknado, a campy triumph that shows the power of sharks + tornadoes (and, more importantly, that sharks have a sense of humor).

Sharketing Lesson #6: Find partners who help you build on your strengths and reputation (ideally, while highlighting your ability to laugh at yourself).

7. Subtly sandbag your rivals

Just kidding…sort of. Compared to dolphins — which are seen almost universally as smart, friendly, wholesome creatures that are kid-safe and even therapeutic — sharks have a bad rap with humans. So consider it a marketing victory when sharks successfully got their unlikely competitors portrayed as villains in “The Simpsons”: