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Now That Nemo Is Found....
By Darmeny Jones
Through all the glitz and glamour we have discovered a gem of a movie that was released this year. Not since Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Monsters, Inc. have we had such an impactful family movie in the box office or in society as a whole. Now I know some of you are wondering why I failed to mention other relatively recent family movies such as The Lion King or The Prince of Egypt. Most will agree that these are all great movies. I, however, am supremely impressed and excited about Finding Nemo because of the great plot, fun concept, high theme, and quality animations done by Pixar.
When it comes to good marketing techniques and pure sales numbers, Finding Nemo is second to none in the year 2003. Not only is this movie the number one grossing movie when it comes to box office ticket sales, but it is also the number one grossing movie internationally as well. And just in case that wasn’t enough, “Finding Nemo has vaulted past Spider-Man to become the top-selling DVD in the home video format’s six-year history. In its first two weeks in stores, Finding Nemo sold 15 million DVDs, surpassing two top sellers from last year, Spider-Man (12.6-plus million units in the USA) and another Disney-Pixar collaboration, Monster’s Inc., (12 million units in the USA).” That’s according to the November 27 edition of USA Today, from an article by Mike Snider.
More from that article: “Still in theaters, Finding Nemo has taken in nearly $340 million at U.S. theaters and is the top grossing film of the year. As with Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo benefits from a broader buying audience than traditional Disney fare. ‘Pixar films always have a very broad appeal and a higher percentage of the purchasing audience comes from non-parent adults,’ Bob Chapek {president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment} says. ‘To hit these types of numbers you have to have a very broad audience.’ Chapek also said.”
It is not just dumb luck that Finding Nemo is the biggest money-making movie in so many categories. There were great marketing practices put in place to insure the success of this movie. Unlike previous releases, the home version of Finding Nemo was sold in many non-traditional sales outlets. It wasn’t just sold in the local Blockbuster or Wal-Mart; Finding Nemo was sold in drug stores, grocery stores and Sears department stores. This is totally different from previous mentalities when it came to distribution and marketing of home releases of films. You have to remember, as these marketing gurus did, that if you want extraordinary results you must consider extraordinary practices. We might think it is a given that what the marketers of Finding Nemo did was the norm. However, that is far from the truth. Consider all of the other great Disney-Pixar movies that did well in the theater but didn’t exactly break records in the home release sector. With Finding Nemo, they tried something different… and it worked. The lesson? We must do the one extra thing that others don’t do in order to be great. You must make that one extra phone call in order to close the deal or distribute in that one extra retail chain in order to sell that extra million.
Now that we have talked about some of the good things this movie has done in the box office and on the home video side, let’s talk about the great things this movie stands for. When it comes to leadership, what can we take from this movie? What life lessons are there to be learned from Finding Nemo? The more I watch the movie, the more leadership traits are revealed to me… valuable lessons I’d like to share with you.
Finding Nemo is a compelling story of an over-protective father searching for his prodigal son. When Nemo is “fish”-napped by a diver, Marlin, Nemo’s father begins an ocean-wide search to rescue his son. Along the way he is joined by a seriously impeded blue tang fish named Dory. Together they battle numerous challenges and make many discoveries about themselves along the way, until they are finally reunited with Nemo after “going through the fire.”
There are some great lessons that we can learn from key moments in the movie. The overall premise of the film is that parents must learn their hardest lesson… which is to let go of the kids and let them grow up. So now what does that mean for you as students? Here are a few little nuggets you should get from this:
1. Have Fun! You only live once. This is best exemplified by Crush, who is the “leader” of the fun-seeking sea turtles. He lives every day to its fullest. Not only does he live for his own thrills, but he also makes sure that others (his followers!) have fun in the process.
2. Don’t stress over the little things. Nemo never used the fact that he had a “little fin” as an excuse to not try. Many times in life we use little things as excuses to not attempt to do great things. It was told to me once that we spend 80% of our time on things that equate to 20% of our output, of what we actually get from our work. Prioritize and focus on the things that mean the most.
3. The hardest thing to do is trust. Marlin learns a valuable lesson about trusting others as he learns to rely on Dory. He realizes that he can’t do it all himself. Many times in life we make attempts to do things on our own that we can do much faster working together. The greatest example of this is the flight of the Canada Geese. They fly in a V formation using the draft created by the lead goose to fly farther. It is proven that geese can increase their flight range by 71% by simply working together in the V formation. Imagine how much more we can do if we all just work together.
4. Never give up. If Nemo had decided to give up when he was caught in the fishing net, he would have been shark bait (I couldn’t resist). Even when times are rough, don’t give up, keep pressing on and pushing towards the goal. Obviously that is easier said than done, but the toughest part is deciding in your own mind to keep going. The rest is just routine. Dory said it best…”just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Just keep swimming….etc.”
5. Protect your surroundings, but be careful what you wish for. Films like Finding Nemo can cause an increased awareness of other cultures, creatures, and environmental causes. However, be careful what you ask for: environmentalists are reporting a decrease in coral reef growth since the release of Finding Nemo. Why? Because now everyone wants a little Nemo fish of their own, and everybody wants an authentic Nemo-style aquarium to put the new fish in. Increased demand for reef in aquariums and a huge leap in sales of tropical fish have harmed the very same cultures that you’d think the movie would protect! So yes, success can be fruitful. Be sure you have supply to meet the demand.
The next time you are looking for a great time at the video store, rent Finding Nemo; a great movie that will make you smile. But don’t just watch it for the great humor and fun plot… keep an eye out for a few great lessons along the way.
Darmeny Jones, known as "The Emperor of Energy," is a Senior Trainer with TRI and a frequent contributor to the Leadership Solutions Network. Click here to learn more about Darmeny and how to contact him!
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