Melisandre’s Secret Beauty Potion: How to Build a Brand that Lasts Forever?

The night is dark and full of terrors and so is the business world. It is no wonder, therefore, that many business owners look for inspiration in numerous sources. One of these shiny examples can be found in Game of Thrones’ latest plot twist, when everyone’s favorite Red Priestess uncovered her dark secret.

By now, you are probably wondering: “Ok, but what does this have to do with my business?” Well, quite a bit, actually. Although 400 years old or more (fan speculation), Melisandre managed to preserve both her physical appearance and her ideals through all this time. It is definitely a brief lesson a lot of businesses could benefit from. With this in mind, here are a few tips on how to build a brand that lasts forever.

1. Make your business decisions based on data

It would be illogical to assume that all that it takes for your brand to succeed is to take random business moves and hope for the best. Leading a business is more of a science than a gamble, so in order to make a hypothesis you need to have some valid data. Martin’s Melisandre uses her magic to look into the future. You will be doing exactly the same thing, only instead of fire you will turn to data.

Now, some may say that this is not exactly the same thing. After all, Melisandre can actually see the future. Or can she? In both the show and the book, it is described that all she can see are fragments and random scenes, thus she has to deduce on her own what they represent. Looking at the data about your target market is pretty much the same. You will get seemingly unrelated facts on your key demographic and it will be up to you to draw the bigger picture.

However, going through this data is not much easier than looking into the flames. So, here are a few pointers:

– There are two different types of market research information. The first one is primary information – those resources you gathered yourself or had someone else do that for you specifically. The other type is secondary information, which means that you’re using a survey someone else conducted. It goes without saying that the first type is much more reliable and usable. The research you formulated and conducted yourself should tell you exactly what you wanted to know, while secondary sources don’t come with similar guarantees. In Game of Thrones terminology, the difference between them is analogous to looking into the flames yourself and having someone else tell you what they saw.

– Creating a survey for gathering primary information can be a bit tricky. Still, if you do your magic right (pun intended), it shouldn’t be too difficult. Guided questions can sometimes seem insulting to the people tested. After all, why would you ask them something if you already expect what their answers should be? When you ask a multiple choice question, use a bit of creativity to make every answer seem valid. Forming a question like “Would you use a device that will make your life easier?” can make any answer other than yes quite improbable. Unfortunately, a lot of affirmative answers to this kind of questions don’t give you any real insight. Alternatively, it is always a good idea to put a blank space, where the testees will be able to write down their own ideas. This way, you will know for sure that the test wasn’t leading them on. Some other things you need to watch out for are:

• short and to-the-point questions
• the questionnaire shouldn’t be too long (no more than two pages)
• the explanation of why the questionnaire was made
• incentive for the participants, such as “10 percent off your next purchase”

– For secondary information, all you need to do is find it. The only thing you need to look out for is their credibility. This is why you should always turn to reliable sources such as government agencies, trade associations or other businesses within your line of work.

2. Never be too scared (or too proud) to adapt.

The words of house Stark are never wrong and the winter is indeed coming. What it brings are uncertainty and hazards. All the rules that were made in the long summer will no longer be valid. You must take this approach to your business and never be too scared (or too proud) to adapt.

Your most faithful customers may abandon you, your best product may falter, but this is not the end of the road. After all, Melisandre herself served Stannis first and now she serves (spoiler alert) Jon. Knowing that she is several hundred years old, it wouldn’t be a wild guess to assume that Stannis was not her first master. As TJ Miller said in an old “.ME” ad – “It is not a problem. It is a problopportunity”.

3. Think globally, act locally

If there is one thing we can deduce about the faith of the Red God is that it is a global one. Priests of R’hllor preach in Westeros, Volantis and Braavos alike. The same thing should apply to your brand. Today, the world is more connected than it ever was. This means that your brand should also be available to various cultures. However, these cultures may need a different approach than your native one.

The first barrier that you will have to overcome is the language. This obstacle can be breached by either turning to bilingual employees or outsourcing to a local customer service. When it comes to your website, since having a site with multiple languages can be a bit of a nightmare, effective solution would be to use as many images as you possibly can. They say for a reason that a picture paints a thousand words. With this in mind, it might also be a good idea to make your logo as picturesque (or symbolic) as possible.

4. Learn to reinvent yourself

If there is one thing that Melisandre taught us, it would be that nothing is impossible. Seeing the future, giving birth to a shadow assassin (this might not be as applicable to your business :)) and even (spoiler alert) bringing Jon back from the dead are just some of the miracles she presented to us.

In the world of business, we have numerous examples of this as well. Surely, one of them is rebranding. As we have already mentioned in one of our previous articles, even though it might not seem so to you right now, pivot is not a failure. After all, Churchill once said that:

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

In fact, some of the greatest world’s corporations and conglomerates were forced to pivot at least once in their history. For example, before it became a tech giant, Nokia was a paper factory. In order to fight against the rising amount of Asian products to their market, they pivoted by acquiring several Scandinavian electronics companies. Another example is Starbucks, which started off as a coffee makers’ retailer only to repurpose itself as a chain of coffee houses, modeled by European ones.

On the contrary, it’s a real-life version of bringing someone (or something) back to life. After all, numerous famous brands like Lego, Nintendo and Volkswagen also faced the brink of death, but managed to come back from it just because they had a solid marketing strategy. This is exactly what you need to have in order to be able to readapt and address the current needs of the market. So, whether you have to redefine your market, alter the nature of your product or even to create a completely new business plan, you should always keep in mind that making such changes is vital for the future of your business.

5. Have a successor

No matter how brilliant a king/CEO may be, all men must die/retire. Valar morghulis. After they are gone, someone will have to take their place. Their entire legacy, as well as the future of the company will depend on the skills of their successors.

If Rob had a little more time or mentorship on being a leader and a warrior, perhaps the Red Wedding would never had happen. Aa successful conglomerate, Toyota is a family business, passed down for many generations. This means that the future board of directors in Toyota has been prepared for their position since their earliest childhood. Now, this may be applicable for young companies, but it might be a good idea to start training some of your most promising employees to take your spot one day.

Securing the spot on the Iron Throne for your business will not be easy. A lot of sacrifices will have to be made. Most days, it will be you that is being poked by the old swords. Still, the goal is more than worth it. As Frank Ocean once said: “Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise,” or, in the words of the Lord Tywin Lannister, until you no longer have to remind people that you are the king.