So much for posting here more regularly.    The funny part of it is, I actually DID start writing more, I’ve just sold old my good ideas.

But back to fulfilling the promise of the subject line, I’m sure that now that Conan is off the air, a lot of the hubbub will die down.  But one of the most significant things I observed during last week’s scandal and turmoil over the NBC Tonight Show Host gig, is that NO ONE CARED until there was a villain.

Now, for the sake of disclosure, I’m with CoCo.  But for the sake of discussion, I think it’s crazy awesome how from a marketing standpoint, he got $32 million out of the deal by making his story have a villain.  Heck, he had 2: Leno AND NBC.  And what’s great about those villains is that they are GOLIATHS and everyone likes to come to defense of any Davids whose struggles are public ones.  Hence all the public support of Conan.

Everything is a story.  The best stories have dramatic tension.  The best way to get dramatic tension is to add a villain. So if you’re part of a story, or you’re creating a marketing story yourself, DON’T leave out the villain.  If you don’t have one, MAKE one.  If you want to be a hero, don’t wait around waiting for a tragedy to happen so you can be heroic then.  You can be a hero RIGHT NOW, simply by creating a villain you oppose.  You don’t even have to DEFEAT the villain to be the hero.

The ratings certainly prove that.

And I think it’s important to note that without Leno in the mix, if NBC would have just fired Conan outright, this would not have gone nearly as well in the public  eye.  There IS such a thing as the right villain at the right time.  Especially if the villain has a FACE.  You’ll notice that it wasn’t good enough for NBC as an organization to get slammed.  They very quickly gave it a face in Zucker, and of course, Leno.

So, note to self.  Your villains need a FACE.  The bigger the face the better.

Anyways, if you’re feeling so inclined, I’d love to hear your thoughts re: anything at all.  Leave a comment!