10 Marketing Lessons I Learned from Super Mario Bros.

My resolution for the new year was to post here at least once a week, and I’m already down by one. 

Time to fix that.   Here’s something I actually wrote one afternoon during the holidays, and never did get around to posting.  I guess the point of it is, if you’re stuck, you can find inspiration for your marketing anywhere you look.  And in fact, cultivating this “holistic” approach will help make sure you never get stuck again.

So here we go: 10 Marketing (and business) Lessons I learned Playing Super Mario Bros.

1. You can only move forward, never back, so don’t worry about the things that you missed and accidentally let pass you by.  You can’t go back, but it’s okay.  There are always more opportunities ahead, so keep your eyes open and looking forward so you can continue moving forward, doing better next time.

2. In Super Mario Bros, the finish line for a given level is a flagpole.  The higher you jump when you cross it, the higher you score.   So since you’re not in a race against anyone but yourself, you should pause, reflect, and aim high.  When you work hard to accomplish something and the end is in sight, and there’s no more danger or risk involved, don’t rush it just to be done.  Go for the gusto, take a moment to aim, and get the maximum reward for your efforts.  No need to rush right at the very end.

3. Invincibility is always temporary – In the game, if you collect a star power-up, you’re invincible, and no enemies can hurt you or knock you off the screen.  But it’s only temporary, so you have to be careful and listen for the sound that indicates that time is up, or else you could get a nasty surprise.  The lesson is, don’t get cocky.   Even if it seems like you’re effortlessly succeeding at what others find challenging, success breeds competition.   Enjoy any periods of seeming invulnerability, but assume they are temporary.   Pay attention to what’s happening around you to keep your advantage, even when you’re vulnerable.   Just as in the game, it’s probably always best to approach a problem cautiously – as if you’re vulnerable, even if you’re feeling invincible.

4. Be mindful what you send out because it may come back to bite you.   Just like those ricocheting turtle shells in the game, the content and products you produce and release are going to take on a life of their own once they’re in the wild.  Once you send it out, be prepared to jump on top of it if it comes back and becomes an issue.  Be responsible and aware of what you put out there.

5. In any level of the game, there’s always an easy path and a hard path.  The hard path is more rewarding, but the easy path is faster.   However, experienced players often discover that the “best” path is the middle – don’t bother conquering obstacles can avoid altogether, and focus your best efforts on the opportunities that are right in front of you.   Instead of puzzling over some unknown reward that may not be worth the challenge it takes to get, get as much of the easy pickings as you can in your market and power forward.

6. If you skip ahead, you might be woefully unprepared for the challenges you’ll face.  In Super Mario, Warp Zones allow you to advance through the game quickly by skipping levels.  But when you do that, you miss out on the gradual escalation of challenge, and you don’t get to hone your skills to match.  You can quickly find yourself completely out of your element and be doomed to fail.  That’s pretty much true of all shortcuts in business and in life.  There ARE shortcuts, but you may not be ready to handle what’s on the other side if you’ve never been there before.  Doing it the hard way the first time often gives you the experience you need anyway.  Take the shortcut the next time, but not the first.

7. You should only allow yourself to fail at something once before you adjust your approach for the second try.  You can’t expect to get a different result if you keep trying the same things.  In the game, you have a limited number of chances (lives) to finish the game before it’s over and you have to start all over.  So if you approach a particular obstacle and miss the mark, you really don’t have the luxury of making small adjustments until you get it just right.  However, in life, people seem to fall in love with a plan abd become dedicated to it, even when it’s not performing as hoped.  Don’t let that happen.  There are no 1-Ups in real life.  If you’re failing, adjust your strategy.

8. When opportunity presents itself, if you don’t act fast and deliberately, you won’t get the maximum reward.  Think of the multi-coin boxes Mario encounters.  When you find one, you need to keep bashing it until you get ALL the coins out of it.  But if you hesitate, they freeze, and you don’t get every coin you could have.  In business, when you discover an opportunity, quickly and thoroughly maximize it before you move on.  But referring back to the earlier lesson, if you do miss it, don’t sweat it.  Let it go and be ready for the next one (and there WILL be a next one).

9. Essentially, the entire game of Super Mario Brothers is a big pattern puzzle.  Every obstacle is defeatable if you learn the pattern, and the best way to learn the pattern is through practice.  I remember the game being incredibly difficult for me when I was a kid, but now, when I play as an adult, I find that I have little difficulty in getting a pretty high score and advancing pretty far.  That comes from many many years playing this and similar games, putting in lots and lots of practice.  If you hit a tough spot, back up, look at the big picture.  If you’re caught up in details, re-visit some fundamentals, focus on those, and then come back to the problem fresh.  A lot of times, it’s a LOT easier the second time around.

10. I’m sure if you played the game, you remember this.  So you get to the final castle, you defeat the villain, and you THINK you’ve rescued your beloved princess, only to see the message “Your princess is in another castle”.  The final lesson here is that any sense of accomplishment is fleeting, satisfaction is temporary, so always be ready to pursue the next challenge.  When you succeed at what you strove for so long, you may discover that you need to go even further – and that’s okay too.  Feel good about the journey, and think of every accomplishment as a milestone towards bigger and better goals.

Well that’s all for now – hopefully more things to come soon.  If you like this and comment to tell me so, maybe I’ll do a continuing series on marketing lessons from obscure places.  So if you dig it, let me know with a comment below.  Thanks!

Tagged as: business lessons, inspiration, Marketing, super mario bros