Latest / The CMO Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Leadership, Budgets, and Executive Strategy / How CMOs Use Brand Prequels to Build Launch Anticipation
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, I want to talk about something I've been noticing in a few big launches this year: the brand prequel. Not a teaser, not a countdown—but an actual piece of narrative content that sets up a product weeks before the product even exists in the public's mind. Luna: A prequel? Like, Star Wars prequels? Are we talking Jar Jar Binks or more of a Darth Vader origin story? Lucas: Ha, hopefully more Vader than Jar Jar. I'm talking about Apple's 'Prodigy' campaign for the Vision Pro—that filmic short they released a month before the headset actually shipped. It wasn't a spec sheet. It was a story about a daughter learning to see her father's world through his eyes. And it built more anticipation than any spec leak could. Luna: That was a gorgeous piece. I remember showing it to my team. But is that really a repeatable playbook for brands that don't have Apple's production budget? Or is this just a luxury tactic? Lucas: That's exactly the question I want to dig into. And honestly, if today's episode gives you one idea you actually use, that's the value. If it was worth a coffee to you, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Keeps the show ad-free and helps us keep exploring these rabbit holes. Luna: Yeah, absolutely. Every little bit helps. And hey, we don't say it enough—people who chime in are part of why we get to do this. Lucas: Right. So let's get into why prequels work, because it's not just about being cinematic. It taps into a psychological principle called the Zeigarnik effect—our brains hate open loops. When you present a story that's incomplete, your mind keeps working on it, keeps anticipating the resolution. That's what a prequel does: it opens a loop that only the actual product launch can close. Luna: So it's like a mental cliffhanger. But how do you do that without giving away the product? I mean, if you show too much, there's no mystery. If you show too little, people might not care. Lucas: Exactly. That's the tightrope. Apple's approach was to focus on the emotional outcome, not the product features. The Vision Pro was about presence, connection, memory. The film showed that, but you never saw the actual headset until the end. It was a masterclass in restraint. Luna: And that's been true in luxury automotive for a while. Porsche, Mercedes, they all do these cinematic teasers where you see silhouettes, hear engines, but never the full car. It's about desire, not information. Lucas: Right. And the data backs that up. I've seen internal studies from a couple of agencies—I won't name them—but launches that had a narrative prequel phase saw a significant lift in consideration and intent versus those that went straight from announcement to availability. We're talking double-digit percentages in some cases. Luna: Wow. But what's the cost? I mean, a film like Apple's probably costs millions. How can a mid-sized brand even approach this? Lucas: That's the beauty of the prequel—it's scalable. You don't need a Spielberg. You need a narrative arc and a single compelling character. For a software company, that could be a hero user's story. For a consumer goods brand, it could be a mini-documentary about the craft. The key is the story, not the production value. Luna: So you're saying a brand like, say, a specialty coffee roaster could do a prequel about the farmer who grows the beans, and then launch the new blend with that story already in people's heads? Lucas: Exactly. That's a perfect example. The prequel builds the context, the values, the human element. By the time the product drops, it's not a new SKU—it's a chapter in a story people already care about. And that's a huge shift in how we think about launch timing. Luna: But doesn't that extend your launch timeline? I mean, if you're a public company, you're under pressure to show quarterly results. Waiting weeks for a prequel might not fly. Lucas: That's a real tension. And it's one of the reasons we see more prequels in categories like tech and auto, where the launch is an event. But I'd argue you can compress the prequel into a week if you need to. The principle is still the same: open the loop, then close it. Luna: Okay, so let's talk about the actual mechanics. What does a prequel look like in practice? Is it always video, or can it be audio, written content, even AR filters? Lucas: Right, it's not just video. I've seen brands do prequel podcasts—episodes that explore the problem the product solves, narrated by the founder. Others do serialized email courses that build up to a reveal. Some do interactive experiences. The format should match your audience's media habits, not your production team's comfort zone. Luna: And what about measurement? How do you know a prequel is working before the actual launch? Are you tracking engagement, sentiment, intent surveys? Lucas: You should be tracking all of the above. But the most telling metric is what I'd call 'anticipation growth'—the rate at which conversation, search volume, and even saved content around your brand increase during the prequel phase. If that curve is sloping up, you're building a head of steam. If it's flat, you need to adjust the narrative. Luna: So you're basically treating the prequel like any other campaign, with KPIs and optimization cycles. Lucas: Exactly. It's not a vanity project. It's a strategic asset. And here's the thing—when the prequel works, you don't just get a successful launch. You get a brand story that persists. People remember the story long after they've forgotten the specs. Luna: That reminds me of something I read about Nike's 'Breaking2' project—the attempt to break the two-hour marathon. They released a documentary before the actual attempt, and it wasn't even a product launch, but it built an immense emotional connection to the brand. Lucas: Perfect example. That's a prequel to an event, not a product, but the principle is identical. It's about giving people a narrative to invest in before the climax. And that's why I think we'll see more prequels in the future—because in a world of information overload, stories cut through. Luna: But let's play devil's advocate. Could a prequel backfire? What if the story is so good that the product feels like a letdown? Or what if the prequel overshadows the actual product? Lucas: That's a real risk, and it's why the prequel has to be tightly integrated with the product. The story can't be generic—it has to be about the problem the product solves. If the narrative and the product feel disconnected, you get backlash. I've seen it happen with a few tech launches where the teaser promised revolutionary and the product delivered incremental. Luna: So the prequel sets expectations, and if you can't meet them, you're worse off than if you'd just launched quietly. Lucas: Exactly. That's the double-edged sword. You're amplifying the stakes. So you have to be confident in what you're launching. But if you are, the payoff is enormous. And that's why I think prequels are becoming a strategic imperative for CMOs who want to own the launch narrative, not just participate in it. Luna: I love that framing—'own the launch narrative.' Because if you don't, someone else will, and it'll probably be a leak or a competitor's comparison chart. Lucas: Right. And that's the thing—prequels aren't just about generating buzz; they're about controlling the frame. When you tell the story first, you get to define what matters about the product. If you wait for the press release, you're already on the back foot. Luna: So what's the first step for a CMO who wants to try this? Do you start with a big creative agency? A dedicated in-house team? What's the practical roadmap? Lucas: Start with a simple narrative workshop. Get your product team, your brand team, and your insights people in a room. Ask one question: 'What's the story that only this product can tell?' If you can't answer that in a sentence, you're not ready for a prequel. But if you can, then you map out the beats—the character, the conflict, the resolution—and you build your content plan around that. Luna: That's a great, low-cost starting point. And you don't need to commit to a full film right away. You can test the narrative with a blog post, a short video, or even a podcast episode. Lucas: Exactly. Test, learn, scale. And as you get more confident, you can invest more. But the core discipline is the same: open a loop, build anticipation, and deliver a satisfying close. That's the recipe. Luna: So, as we wrap up, what's the one takeaway you want our listeners to remember about brand prequels? Lucas: It's that a launch is a moment, but a prequel is a story. And stories are remembered far longer than moments. If you can shift your thinking from 'when do we announce' to 'what story do we tell first,' you'll change the game for your brand. Luna: That's a great note to end on. And maybe we'll see more prequels in our own future—who knows, maybe Fexingo will do a prequel for a future season. Lucas: I like that. And if we do, you'll be the first to know. But for now, this is Lucas and Luna, and we'll catch you in the next one.