Lessons from an old toy

eBay surprised me today.

When cleaning out a room we’re turning into our home library, we found a boxed/sealed toy I bought years ago but forgot about.

We were about to wholesale it away with some other items, but I checked eBay quickly on a hunch.

People were selling it for hundreds.

A Series 1 figure of a franchise that, to my knowledge, doesn’t exist anymore.

And it got me thinking: that is branding.

People on the internet, looking for — and buying — 22 year old boxed figurines of your thing. You wouldn’t know it by any MBA or economist’s definition of branding. Their cash register didn’t ring, so it didn’t happen.

But it did happen.

And so few brands optimize for it: of being sought after even after you’re gone, by a loyal fanbase who love what you’ve made, to adorn their places of meaning with a bit of your meaning, because of what they believe it says about them.

Put more succinctly, for people to love and look forward to more of your work.

Worth investing in, perhaps?