A Tale of 7 Marketing Lessons from The Gruffalo
See why mice are the real marketing MVPs, well, in The Gruffalo at least.
We’re back at it, uncovering workplace knowledge bombs in children’s stories. Turns out our Lessons in Leadership from the Unsung Hero in the Little Engine that Could was a major hit so we’ve got more hidden learnings from bedtime readings.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Gruffalo let me set the stage. The Gruffalo was first published in 1999, or “back in the 1900’s” as we like to say in our house. It’s got a great rhyming sing-song cadence. It’s about a mouse roaming through the woods trying to avoid being turned into a meal by the predators that he meets.
Unlike the Little Engine that Could I’m literally throwing high fives when called upon to read this little gem to my now 7-year-old when it’s time for lights out. Why do I love this book so much? Because the main character, a gutsy mouse, is totally a marketer in mouse clothing. For real. He’s like the Don Draper of the woods. A total boss rodent. So, I gargle some salt water, do some stretches, and get ready for a theatrical reading of…The Gruffalo. Here we go.
Lies on Lies from the Mouse.
“A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good. ‘Where are you going to, little brown mouse? Come and have lunch in my underground house.’”
This is how the story begins, and where we first meet our friend, the mouse. Upon being offered “lunch” by this sly fox the mouse responds…
“It’s terribly kind of you, Fox, but no—I’m going to have lunch with a Gruffalo.”
The fox doesn’t know what a Gruffalo is, so the mouse explains that the Gruffalo is a beast with terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws. He then doubles down and reveals that the Gruffalo’s favorite food is roasted fox. Bold move mouse. Bold move.
Clearly the fox wants nothing to do with becoming a roasted, sautéed, or otherwise ‘prepared’ for a Gruffalo feast, so he skitters off.
Let’s be clear—we’re not impressed that the mouse is lying, but our man is just trying to survive out there in the deep dark wood. We understand his situation, he’s not marketing right now, he’s surviving. We give him props for thinking on his paws, but this is not the “marketing lesson” we are here to tell. He’s giving off Tom Haverford vibes right now…but don’t worry, our Don Draper will emerge soon, like a beautiful butterfly.
Next, he sees and owl. Same situation, the owl is pretending to be friendly and offer the mouse tea. The mouse lets the owl know he’s meeting a Gruffalo who’s got knobby knees, turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of his nose whose favorite food is owl ice cream. Like the fox the owl is OUT. He flies off and the mouse chuckles, how is his made-up Gruffalo actually working? He pats himself on the furry little back and continues on his way.
Finally, he sees a snake who invites him to feast in his logpile house. Feeling more confident than before the mouse casually mentions that he’s meeting up with his buddy, the Grufflo, who has orange eyes, a black tongue, and purple prickles all over his back who likes to eat scrambled snake. Like the others, the snake slithers off in fear.
A Vision, Come to Life.
The mouse is 3 lies deep now. He’s still alive which is a plus. But suddenly, his vision of the Gruffalo comes to life.
Lesson’s 1-3:
Manifesting. The mouse manifested the Gruffalo. He talked about him. He gave detail to his form and bam, as he committed to his story the Gruffalo appeared. In his case he didn’t really want a Gruffalo, he wanted a protector, but regardless he manifested him. The mouse gained confidence the more he talked about the Gruffalo because that’s how manifesting works. Talking about something alone doesn’t get the job done of course, but it is a critical part in making your vision come to life. If you’ve got a great idea—talk about it. Think about it. Share details about it. It will influence other people to join your cause and can help you make connections that can make your idea a reality.
Product Definition. He spoke about his imaginary friend with such detail that it was believable to the animals he met in the woods. If the mouse had just said he was meeting a Gruffalo and didn’t include details about what he looked like and his food preferences the predators would likely have laughed at him, and he would have become a tasty snack. Instead, he built out the persona of the Gruffalo (who is his product in this example). By the time he met the Gruffalo he had a pretty deep understanding of who the Gruffalo was, and how to communicate with him.
Content Marketing and Buyer Personas. Each time the mouse encountered a new “lunchmate” and announced that he could not join him because he had plans with the Gruffalo, he had to do some content marketing. The predator was unfamiliar with the Gruffalo, so the mouse had to educate them. Not only did he need a deep understanding of his product (the Gruffalo), but he also had to recognize the motivations of each mouse-hungry animal he encountered to provide a new value proposition that would speak to them. This is what led the mouse to share with the fox that the Gruffalo’s favorite food was roasted fox, and to the owl that the Gruffalo preferred owl ice cream, and to the snake that the Gruffalo enjoyed chowing down on scrambled snake. In reality the Gruffalo probably was hype to eat anything with a pulse, but the mouse carefully crafted his positioning statement to get the attention of each different audience. If he had tried to blast his message to all of the animals in the woods, he would have had a very difficult time influencing (or in this case—scaring) them.
The Mouse Adapts
Like any good marketer the mouse adapts his story to meet the moment. He’s standing in front of the Gruffalo who looks exactly as he described him, down to the purple prickles all over his back. The Gruffalo tells the mouse that he’d taste good on a slice of bread…ut oh.
At this point we’re worried for our buddy. He’s had a good run, but he’s now confronted with having all but created the most terrifying creature in the woods. His response…
“’Good?’ said the mouse. ‘Don’t call me good!’ I’m the scariest creature in this wood. Just walk behind me and soon you’ll see, everyone is afraid of me.’”
The Gruffalo is amused. He decides to play along. What’s the worst that can happen, he gets dinner and a show?
Brilliant! Our boy is back! He had a momentary set back. An “oh s*** moment”, but he took a beat, collected his thoughts, and pivoted. He’s taking a lesson from the Emily in Paris playbook, when life hands you grapes, make champagne!
Lesson 4 be flexible. Sure, the mouse could have thrown the towel in. Realized he literally created his worst nightmare and faced the music. Instead, he looked at his situation through a different lens and adapted. We’ve all done it—created something, a message, a campaign, an ad that we thought was so great and then the market didn’t respond. You can keep doing the same thing (but if the mouse did, he would have had an epic end), or you can change. We’d all rather change that get eaten by a Gruffalo—right? Even when things seem grim, there is always a move. Always a pivot that can save the day.
Back to our brave mouse friend…
First they encounter the snake. The mouse confidently says hello. One look at the Gruffalo and the snake retreats to his logpile house. The Gruffalo is impressed.
Next comes the owl. Making eyes at the Gruffalo the mouse says hello to the predator he should fear and off hoots the owl to his treetop house.
Finally, they meet the fox. The Gruffalo is starting to look a little unsure about his mouse pal. Maybe there is more to the mouse than meets the eye. The mouse greets the fox, hands on his hips looking calm and collected. The fox screams “oh help!” and bounds into his underground house.
At this point the Gruffalo is convinced. He’s made a mistake trapsing around the woods with this terrifying creature. The mouse turns to the Gruffalo and says…
“’Well, Gruffalo,’ said the mouse. ‘You see? Everyone is afraid of me! But now my tummy’s beginning to rumble. My favorite food is—Gruffalo crumble!’”
The Gruffalo flees in fear and the mouse relaxes on a rock to enjoy a nut, in peace.
Lessons 5-7
Just because your small doesn’t mean you can’t compete. It would have been easy for the mouse to spend his day hiding in the woods. Instead, he walked out in the open with confidence. He had a scrappy strategy that allowed him to compete. He kept things simple. One message “don’t mess with me”. Consistency and creative thinking are crucial when you’re a small mouse in a big forest.
Run it back. Multiple touches with your audience are key for solidifying your takeaways. The mouse went back to the predators in the woods and really locked in his message.
Consistent messaging for long-term success. Though there were variations to the mouse’s story depending on his audience, the core message was the same. The result? This guy is NOT going to have to worry about getting turned into a Hot Pocket afternoon snack in the woods anymore. He scared everyone, and you bet word of mouth spread about what happened.
In conclusion, use this little rhyme, fashioned after the beginning page of the Gruffalo to remember the takeaways you learned today:
If you take a stroll through the deep dark wood.
And you see competition that makes you feel “ungood”.
Instead of fleeing like a normal brown mouse.
Remember consistent messaging is the key to protecting your house.
If your campaign doesn’t hit, instead of digging in—
Search for an opportunity to pivot that lies within.
Don’t freak out. Keep a calm head.
And remember the mouse, and all that he said.
All will be quiet in the deep dark wood.
You’ll find a win and the win will be good.
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