Family Guy. It’s crude, rude, and, according to its detractors… badly drawn.
But the show has a rabid fan base that’s brought it back from the dead not once, but twice. And it’s the basis of a $2 billion empire for creator Seth McFarlane.
Whether you like the show or not, you can learn a lot about the business of creativity from peeking behind the scenes. Seth McFarlane was featured in a recent issue of Fast Company as an example of the new breed of creative entrepreneur who plays by a different set of rules.
Here are 5 areas where Family Guy can help you succeed with your own business:
1. Catering to the Core
Trying to appeal to everyone is the kiss of death in modern business. Family Guy goes to great lengths to demonstrate this edict better than just about any other example.
Not only does the show stick to pleasing the core fans, it delights in offending the non-core (mainly the easily offended). Having a relatively small group of rabid fans is so much more powerful that a larger group of lukewarm people who you carefully avoid offending. The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference… and indifference kills.
2. Selling the Free
The Family Guy story is instructive to every entrepreneur who is trying to attract attention online with free content. Family Guy was cancelled in 2000 and again in 2002, but Fox was convinced to bring the show back not once, but twice (most recently in 2005). Why?
Strong DVD sales of past episode compilations. Family Guy’s rabid fan base was more than willing to pay to own beloved episodes, which was too powerful for Fox to ignore. McFarlane used this as leverage to ink a record $100 million-plus contract with Fox last year.
3. Doing an End Around
With his show resurrected from the dead twice and a huge new contract, McFarlane was willing to trust Fox with his future, right? Not exactly. Shortly after the deal was cut, Seth sidestepped Hollywood and headed for Silicon Valley. Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy is distributed by Google via its AdSense network.
These 30-second to two-minute animated shorts are sponsored by advertisers and represent a new method of entertainment content distribution that demonstrates Google is not satisfied with its current level of domination. With social media, you can do an end around the traditional entertainment powers, the venture capitalists, and your competition. And, like McFarlane with Cavalcade, you retain ownership of your work.
4. Delegating the Un-fun
For years, Seth McFarlane involved himself in every aspect of Family Guy and his other animated projects. This led to a serious case of creative burnout that landed him in the hospital.
Now, McFarlane delegates much of the production of his shows, but stays deeply involved in what he loves—he voices three of the main characters on Family Guy, plus scores of supporting characters. He also obsessively coordinates the music for the show, which is powered by a full orchestra. It may take a while, but the best part of being a creative entrepreneur is focusing on the fun and letting go of stuff others can handle.
5. Exploiting Intellectual Property
Why is a successful animated series the most profitable for a network? In a word… merchandising.
T-shirts, action figures, stickers, posters, video games, song clips, ring tones… the core fans are hungry for it all. Fox owns the intellectual property rights to Family Guy, so McFarlane gets only a percentage of these sales. But even a solo entrepreneur with the right creative product can start thinking in lateral directions when it comes to her intellectual property. What can you give away in order to create desire for something related that sells?
The Business of Creativity… is Business
Perhaps you see parallels between your own ideas, art or business and an animated television series. If not, perhaps a shift in thinking will help you see that we’ve entered a phase of human history where all business is essentially a function of creativity.
Richard Florida said it best in The Rise of the Creative Class:
Today’s economy is fundamentally a Creative Economy. I certainly agree with those who say that the advanced nations are shifting to information-based, knowledge-driven economies… Yet I see creativity… as the key driver. In my formulation, ‘knowledge’ and ‘information’ are the tools and materials of creativity.
No matter your business model, you’re working with intangible information and knowledge to create value for others and wealth for yourself. If that’s not a creative function, I don’t know what is.
About the Author: Brian Clark is a new media entrepreneur and co-founder of Lateral Action. Subscribe today to get free updates by email or RSS.
I had never thought of Family Guy as a lesson in tightly targeting a niche audience – but here you go! You really hit this nail squarely upon the head!!!
It’s also great the other “business basics” one can learn from this incredibly successful “stupid” idea. (I mean -come on – a cartoon targeting 40 year old adults? It’s a winner though!)
Hey Brian,
You have drawn some great parallels here. I really enjoyed this post as a business owner first, and a Family Guy fan second 🙂
Cheers,
Conor
It also helps to be a creative genius which Seth happens to be!
Great points, man… the Family Guy model definitely speaks to a tenant of successful entrepreneurship – a willingness to say “fuck it” and “fuck you” in the spirit of creative freedom. That’s what builds the right type of communities, and the right type of companies. Family Guy is a win in that case.
It’s a win as much as that one time, when I won the popcorn-eating contest with Jesse Jackson (…cut to animated flashback…)
Great comparison and i hadnt heard about Cavalcade of Cartoon – nice one!
I probably offend people who don’t want to accept the possibility that there are other ways to think about the business I’m in — to the delight of those whom I’d like to think of as my core fans, those who do respond to the concept that things can be simpler than the ‘gurus’ would like you think they are.
Two big ideas really hit home: the end run (another “outside the box” concept) and merchandising. I have never seen either one of these concepts applied in my industry, but why not? I’m always up for a couple of new ways to promote our business &/or deliver revenue-generating content.
(Hmmm … how about a 30 second video about ‘how to make money in three minutes’? Or, what about a t-shirt with a graph of gold prices over the past 16 months, the tag line “Did You Go on This Ride?”, and our URL…)
I also read the article in Fast Company and was amazed by the entire enterprise. It is indeed a business model that needs to be studied, and deserves attention. Thanks, Brian, for sharing your thoughts.
This is a great article. It reminds me very much of a project I head called, The Meatgrinder Show (www.meatgrinder.tv). It has been slow going but we know it is possible.
Take a look at the show and provide feedback. It’s very welcome!
You wrote: “But even a solo entrepreneur with the right creative product can start thinking in lateral directions when it comes to her intellectual property.”
The use of “her” in that sentence is awful. It completely through my off while I was reading your otherwise well-written and highly entertaining article. Get over the silly urge to be PC. PC is such an enormous waste of time. Those how matter have enough self-respect to not care if you use he/she/it.
It’s not about thinking outside the box; it’s about realizing there is no box. Or maybe there is. Who cares? I just can’t wait to become enough of the rock star everyone says I am so I can delegate the un-fun. Now *that’s* the stuff. 🙂
BH, I’m the least PC person you’ll ever meet.
I chose “she” because I prefer women to wankers like you.
Is that non-PC enough?
Awesome! Great to read first thing in the morning. didn’t know it was cancelled that much> I know a FEW Family Guy fans… Let’s just say they have LOTS of family guy gear from pajamas to clocks on the wall.
Great article.
I am an animator myself with a show to sell. Many years ago I was editing a video in Santa Monica. Next to me was Seth with his agent working on the Family Guy demo. We talked, real nice guy. I said that football headed baby will really catch on. I guess I was right. I have always remembered that day and watched the Family Guy story from the beginning. True perseverance going through rejection. Seth stuck to his guns and did his story. I am truly impressed. I would like to pitch him my show. If anyone has information to get a hold of him I would appreciate it. [email protected]
This is encouraging stuff. I love to hear stories about failed, cut, ignored, neglected ideas that persevere and eventually pull it out. Never knew that about Family Guy.
G’day Brian, hilarious love that un-PC comment. That BH ‘wanker’ mispelt ‘threw’ as ‘through’. Anyhow! Thanks for writing this. Saw from Innovation.AllTop.com
Wish you had a Twitter account so I could keep up to date and read more of your insightful stuff. I had no idea for instance of the show being cancelled, as I don’t see the ads as I watch a recast in Australia. Now I understand Fox Network and the innovation of this media biz a bit better for you coining a phrase (to me it’s new) ‘Selling the Free’ about the DVD of the episodes. I’ve wanted to buy the DVD just to watch one episode again that was hilarious.
Absolutely fantastic analysis! Couple of months ago I found some things businesses could learn from MythBusters (on Discovery channel) and wrote an article about it on my blog (http://leanstartups.com/2008/10/what-can-startups-learn-from.html).
Sometimes you have to use analogies and non-business examples for people to get it.
Great job, really enjoyed the article and mentioned it on Twitter.
The fact that free really does work is very convincing evidence that we’re in a new economic age. I love seeing people implementing these strategies. I’ve also been very impressed with how readily entrepreneurs have taken to leveraging technology. This show is a perfect example of that. If Family Guy can get onboard, the model is surely applicable across the board!
Yeah, things like creativity, originality, and humor have no place in television, and certainly not in comedy.
“creativity”? most elements of this show were taken shamelessly from other, more well-established sources, the art is slapped together and poorly conceived, and the writing is neither compelling nor even *funny*.
this show is about as creative as a paint-by-numbers.
Madeline – ALL creativity relies on sources.
‘Slapped together and poorly conceived’ is about as vague as feedback gets.
And humour, as we all know, is a matter of personal taste.
You might find these tips helpful:
http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2007/08/20/too-many-notes-how-not-to-give-feedback-on-creative-work/
http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2007/08/22/5-tips-for-giving-feedback-on-creative-work/
The show is creative and we love it just keep it comming.
thanks for this share