This newsletter contains three “meditations”: something to think about, a “how-to” resource, and a marketing deep dive. Ommmmmm.
Something to Think About
“How-To”
The Psychology of Brand Names: A Step-By-Step Guide for Product and Business Names from Nick Kolenda
Thinking about a rebrand—or stuck on what to name your startup?
It’s easy to agonize over names: company names, product names, secret stealth code names, whatever.
This excellent guide from Nick Kolenda breaks down the science behind name choices. It is a helpful resource as you try to align your name with your brand’s strategy and audience.
Whether you’re naming something new or evaluating what you’ve got, it’s a smart 5-minute read.
A Marketing Deep Dive
3 Insights into Minecraft Marketing Magic
Maybe I’m the only one.
But I feel like giving an extended slow-clap to Jared Hess and friends for crushing it with A Minecraft Movie.
I love an underdog story.
And this was supposed to be a train wreck.
The news leading up to the release of A Minecraft Movie had the film dead and buried before launch:
The First ‘Minecraft’ Movie Trailer Is Here, And It Is Horrifying —Forbes Sep 4, 2024
The ‘Minecraft’ Movie Is an Absolute Disaster Even Gaming Fans Will Hate —Apr 2, 2025
A Minecraft Movie reviews are in — and it’s a dud —Apr 3, 2025
The Minecraft Movie reviews are rolling in, and it’s not looking good — “You will want to block your memory.” —Apr 3, 2025
Then it was Apr 4
The movie came out and blew everybody’s mind (at least in terms of exceeding expectations).
A Minecraft Movie became the highest-grossing film of 2025. It nearly wiped out the 10+% shortfall for the entire film industry YOY.
It will likely be the first film of 2025 to break $1 billion (it’s currently at about $550 million worldwide in its second week).
In fact, there is an entire deadline article listing over 30 records broken by this film.
When something hits a nerve with customers like this—defying all expectations—I can’t help but dig for marketing gold.
Check out these classic marketing principles that helped launch the Minecraft movie to the stratosphere:
1. PMF – The movie knew its audience better than critics did.
Startups sometimes view PMF as a stage of development instead of discovery.
Yet sometimes there’s no market.
You can’t find it, and it’s not something you can just manufacture.
But Minecraft? Has a HUGE market.
Consider this. Minecraft was launched in May of 2009 and has sold more than 300 million units.
It is the highest-selling video game of all time and one of the most popular and most played.
It has 204.33 million monthly active players.
In 2014, it was sold to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.
43% of players are from age 15-21, and within that range, with a male/female player ratio of about 5:3.
(See this list for more Minecraft game stats: https://www.demandsage.com/minecraft-statistics/ )
Both the film and the game are global industries.
In the olden days, films could do well in the U.S., and nobody cared much for international.
Those days are gone. International is a gigantic portion of the haul for big films.
This can make it tough on comedies. I was just lamenting about this with brilliant comedic actor Charan Prabhakar(Silicon Valley) last week.
Comedies are tricky because different
✅ regions
✅ cultures
✅ languages
… all affect the audience’s sense of humor
But the Minecraft community has something most comedies don’t.
700 million Chinese players!
For every man, woman, and child in the U.S. there are nearly two Chinese Minecraft players. 👀👀👀
2. Prime the audience for connections.
In-group bias triggers affinity, trust, and esteem for those we view as belonging to the same group as us.
Brand affinity trades heavily on this.
“You like Liquid Death? You must be a smart person with good taste.”
We’re constantly on the hunt for signs that someone is like us.
When that’s coupled with nostalgia from our formative years, it’s a powerful cocktail.
The marketers for The Minecraft Movie pulled a master move here.
In the trailers, they released punchlines for jokes—essentially giving away spoilers.
But since the audience already knew the lines from the trailers… when the setups occurred in the movie, fans just shouted them along with Jack Black!
Priming is giving the audience 2+2 instead of 4.
It’s the type of psychological ninjutsu that makes the audience feel like the answer came from them. Which it did, right after it was planted there.
More examples of priming were things like:
The opening scene emulates the Minecraft loading screen.
The music and sound effects were taken directly from the game.
Pigstep on the jukebox.
Cameos from famous Minecraft YouTubers like Aphmau, DanTDM, LDShadowLady, Mumbo Jumbo, and Technoblade. Technoblade sadly passed away from cancer in 2022 at the young age of 23.
The tribute involved a pig wearing a crown, an homage to Technoblade’s Minecraft skin. Someone asks, “Is that a pig?” and Steve (Jack Black) replies, “That’s not a pig. That’s a legend.”
The movie is one massive easter egg hunt.
All of which makes fans feel seen and loved as members of the in-group.
3. Great teams make great work
In development, this movie was falsely started multiple times.
Warner Brothers started developing it over 10 years ago!
By the time the final product emerged, the movie had gone through several directors and at least 28 writers.
It was a mess.
Warner Brothers finally took a chance with Jared Hess.
Hess said, “Cale Boyter and Mary Parent at Legendary Pictures first approached me, and they were wondering, ‘Hey, are you into the game? Do you know what this is?’ I’m thinking, Say no more! I love Minecraft.”
It’s a no-risk, no-reward proposition; just like all great marketing.
Hess had worked with Jack Black on Nacho Libre.
“We kind of have a shorthand when we work together. There was nobody better for this film.” Hess told one news outlet.
Jared Hess was hailed for creating the accidental success that was Napoleon Dynamite. It was a nostalgia-fest for a particular audience who grew up knowing what a bo-dagget was.
Then he made Nacho Libre. Now he has given us Minecraft.
Crazy nostalgia vibes from an audience are a lightning strike. Three times? It’s lightning in a bottle.
Perhaps execution finally caught up with a solid strategy.
I encourage you to consider how the marketing magic of A Minecraft Movie might apply to you: Market, Psychology and Connection, Team, and Execution.
All of these are dimensions we can improve regardless of whether we’re marketing a tiny, inexpensive product or a $200 million movie.
Namaste.
Chad Jardine, CEO
CMO Zen
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