Phase I of Superhero Marketing involved seducing the customer by appealing to their psychological desires. Once you've seduced them, the next step is to initiate them -- to convince them of your ideas, and to give them the message that they should spread to others.

In superhero stories throughout time, initiation usually involves giving the hero a gift that he can give to others. The gift has a transformative effect on the hero, and psychologically liberates him from a previous condition. You can apply this concept to your customer by asking: what can you give to the customer that will liberate him? As an example, perhaps you can make your offer more convenient, and liberate the customer from frustration and wasted time. Or perhaps you can liberate them from feelings of being unloved, feelings of inadequacy -- the latter being something everyone has -- even heroes. Understanding where your customer needs to experience psychological liberation can help you construct the right offer and present it in the right way.





This is the hardest part of superhero marketing, but if you can succeed in psychologically liberating and thus transforming your customer, then the customer becoming your evangelist is almost inevitable. More on that in the following post.

Other Posts in This Series

Phase I: Separation
Phase II: Initiating the Customer
Phase III: The Superhero's Return
Further Resources for Exploring Superhero Marketing