It’s 75 years to the day since John Dillinger died outside a Chicago theatre in 1934!

For those not in the know, this is very topical given the recent release of “Public Enemies”, starring Johnny Depp as the aforementioned Dillinger. No doubt this is a film I’m soon to endure as my wife has had a crush on “Pretty boy” Depp ever since he played the leather-clad digitally-impaired hairdresser/topiarist in Edward Scissorhands. Hmph.

The latest Harry Potter romp, a rather dubious sounding “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” (half-blood always meant something else in my day..), was released recently too. Amazingly, just before the start of the summer holidays. Coincidence?

It’s not news that film companies time their release of films extremely well. Most films aimed primarily at children are released in the summer holidays or on the run up to Christmas. I seriously doubt the timing of the Dillinger movie is accidental either.

Even marketers without limitless budgets and access to Hollywood pin-ups can learn from this sense of timing. It all comes down to planning. Public holidays, construction projects, sporting events and even film releases can be spotted and jotted months or even years ahead.

So why is so much marketing reactive? It just piles the pressure on, leaves you wide open for mistakes and being ‘last minute’ often means concurrent campaigns are less integrated than they should be. One reason of course is that many firms notice what their competitors are doing and then want a piece of the action.

Why wait for your competitors?! Mr Dillinger waited for the FBI and look what happened to him! Oh I’m sorry, didn’t you know they shot and killed John Dillinger?!

No need to see the film now Selina…

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