At our company, we try to encourage creativity with as few restraints as possible. Whenever we see something that is particularly creative or original, we can’t help but take note of it.
This post was inspired by the movie Belly, which is a gritty story about the lives of two rappers from Harlem. What makes this film so unique? For starters, it doesn’t feel like your typical “rapper movie.” It doesn’t show extravagant riches and gang violence; instead it presents a more realistic depiction of drug dealing in New York City and how poverty leads to violence and crime.
As you can see, Belly movie cast is not your standard “rapper movie”. In fact, aside from the hip hop culture, there isn’t much that makes this film stand out as a rapper movie at all. So what can we learn from Belly about being creative with our viral marketing efforts and social media campaigns? Before we get into it, let’s talk about some of the ways you can use Belly and its themes to inspire your social media marketing strategies.
1. Be As Original As The Film Itself:
Rather than trying to emulate what everyone else is doing on social media, you need to be original in everything that you do. “Be original, not clever,” I once heard the great Steve Jobs say. It’s important to think outside of the box and use your creativity to tackle any challenge that comes your way. In Belly, however, there is a scene where DMX is trying to fly out to Chicago with a large amount of cocaine in his bag without being caught by the police. He manages to get out of New York City by simply buying an overpriced ticket on an airplane and hiding the drugs in his shoe. In case you were wondering how he got that sort of money..
2. Use New Media to Your Advantage:
Rather than trying to use traditional advertising methods like radio or television, the rappers in the movie targeted specific neighborhoods and certain age groups by using a new form of communication: graffiti. Belly shows us that you can reach out to your audience through any means necessary. It reminds us how important it is to stay nimble when approaching your social media marketing strategy. In other words, be creative with your content and try to stay on top of what’s trending.
3. Stay Close With The People You Deal With:
In order for you and your company to succeed online, we need to stay close with our customers. Belly shows us that it is possible for you to succeed through your marketing efforts without being a celebrity or mega-celebrity. It’s all about building real, authentic relationships with your audience and fans.
Based on the above and the ideas in this article, here are some of my advice on how you can apply Belly to your own social media marketing strategy:
Better yet, there are plenty of other examples of social media campaigns that worked by using Belly’s methods. You only need to look at how U2 handled the release of their new album Songs Of Innocence , which was revealed to all iTunes users via the band members’ iCloud accounts.
4. Get Real With The Public:
In Belly, DMX and Nas actually have a few discussions about the rap game. When Nas is asked by his manager to do more commercial-sounding music, he fires back with a line I think all of us can relate to: “I’m not a realistic rapper. I’m too hardcore. I’ve been through too much.” That line, along with many others like it, remind us that if we want to succeed in our businesses we need to be authentic and true to ourselves. There are no shortcuts in life or business , so when it comes down to it, you have to be yourself .
5. Live on Your Achievements:
DMX is a former member of the notorious hood-rappers’ group, The Ruff Ryders. As a former member of this group, DMX has seen some success in his music career. In Belly, he successfully manages to get out of New York City by buying an overpriced ticket on an airplane and hiding the drugs in his shoe. However, as we all know, it all caught up with him later when he was under arrest for drug dealing .
6. Seek Out Good People:
In Belly, Nas starts off as a nice guy who is trying to make friends with members of the street community in order to make money illegally. Over time, he goes from being a nice guy and getting close to people to being a ruthless drug dealer who has no friends. Why? He doesn’t seek out good people in his community because: “I don’t need anybody’s help.” Of course, in the end, this ends up backfiring when his best friend/manager was murdered.
Conclusion:
By now, I hope that you have gotten some value out of this article and will be able to apply some of these lessons to your own life. Above all, I hope that the creative ideas and methods that Belly shows us will inspire you to be as original as possible in everything you do.
