“Entertainment Marketing” has not been taken advantage of very much by many brands and companies.How To Fulfill A Human Need?Hook your customers’ attention and persuade them to consume your products by fulfilling the human’s needs for entertainment.Now what is “Entertainment Marketing?” Here is a simple definition:Entertainment marketing is the strategy of creating, associating with and promoting entertainment and entertaining activities to excite, then engage the customer, while forming a high-profile, positive affinity with the brand to drive continuous profitable customer action.Other Marketing ApproachesSome other marketing terms that have been used by marketers, for example, are:Retail Marketing: Retail marketing is the range of activities undertaken by a retailer to promote awareness and sales of the company’s products — Tracey Sandilands, Demand MediaContent Marketing: Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.When it comes to marketing and attracting more customers, I observe many businesses, especially retailers, hit the wall. Usually, the strategy being employed tends to be more of what I call “sales marketing” which is offering services such as “discount coupons, freebies, sales, ladies’ nights, happy hour, special packages, birthday specials… “Those are strategies a business should keep using regularly, but after awhile, it loses its lustre with customers and in the end, it doesn’t matter much to them if they get another discount. I know this is what happens with me.Why Does Entertainment Marketing Work?But on top of that, a business should really look into the immediate elevation of your brand or product in the minds of the customer by associating itself with an entertainment idea or activity, whether it be an event, a performance, a song, a movie, an entertaining video, a game or contest, celebrity or public figure endorsements and appearances.Now, “entertainment marketing” probably works best for retail businesses, but it is not only applicable to B to C’s (business to customer), but often, bosses find that they also need it in B to B’s (business to business).McDonald’s is a ready example of a business that has kept customers coming in for years with entertainment marketing. Rather than keep “pounding on” (no pun intended) the ingredients or value meals for their burgers, McDonald’s is often your source for the current box-office movie premiums. Remember the “Hello Kitty” or “Minions” soft toy craze which saw alarming lines at McDonald’s? Well, we don’t need to ask McDonald’s to show us their daily sales report in order to know that they would have had jackpot sales that day!If, as a business, you are expecting the media to give you some coverage — unless you are an NGO (non-governmental organization), political or governmental organization, social or charitable benefit, cultural or educational association — do not expect the media to give you much time of day unless you advertise hugely with them.Now, many small medium enterprises (SME) might lament that you could not possibly afford the licensing or cost of bringing entertainment to your premises, or even being associated with big-time Hollywood films, like the McDonald’s example.Believe it or not, your customers will still be entertained by cleverly-executed concepts at much lower budgets. Therefore, don’t worry if you cannot afford the licensing fees for hit movies such as Star Wars or engaging top Hollywood or K-Pop superstars!The keywords to remember are Excite, Entertain and Engage — conceptualized and customized for your needs.Once entertainment elements are used to market your business, product or brand, the opportunity is very much bigger for:1) the media to report your stories,2) the customers to run through your doors,3) customers to bring friends and family along to enjoy fresh offerings,4) elevating your brand into a premier, go-to position,5) more public relations and networking,6) collaborations with and third-party endorsements from the media, celebrities, public figures and customers.