Here at The Content Engine, the week before Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Christmas movie season. This tradition started the minute my daughter was old enough to ask, “Can we watch a Christmas movie tonight?” Over the years, Christmas movies have grown from traditional cartoons and Claymation to more sophisticated stories. And this year’s lineup, because Netflix is hosting all of them, includes Hallmark Holiday movies.
As a marketer and content creator, I also consume a lot of content. After all, how do you get new ideas if your not sampling what’s around you. Marketing content is just storytelling and if all you’re doing all day is creating content, you’ll never find the inspiration to fuel the Content Engine for long.
So for the month of December, we’re taking you along to see what is and isn’t inspiring us here at the Content Engine. Each week, you’ll get a list of movies to watch – and ones you might just have on in the background during the infinite scroll.
Seen through the lens of a content creator and strategist – and recommended (or not) for their storytelling power and hooks. In order of date watched.
11/23 – The Knight Before Christmas. Here’s a new twist on the Hallmark Christmas movie. A young, headstrong woman is NOT looking for love in her small Ohio town. She’s busy. She runs a café. She’s got lots of customers. She has a family – she’s an auntie and a good friend. She does not have time for a man.
But, back in the 14th century, a knight is given a mission that takes him to the 21st century – to a town in Ohio.
I was surprised because the story premise is pretty corny – but it sucked me in. I wanted to know how a knight from the 14th century would handle the 21st century. How would he navigate an iPhone or give Alexa the right commands? Would he make a love connection?
The movie is as charming as you would expect a 14th century knight to be.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
11/24 – Falling for Christmas. Here is the classic rich girl meets poor guy story. Lindsey Lohan is a hotel heiress who is rescued by a competing B&B owner after falling off a mountain.
The B&B is in trouble because the resort owned by Lohan’s family is taking all of their business – but Lohan has amnesia from her fall and doesn’t know that. She starts helping out at the B&B and falling in love with the owner and his daughter.
Meanwhile, the funnier story – of her fiancé who’s rescued by a local hunter/trapper/ice fisherman after he gets lost in the woods is only revisited once or twice.
And the even funnier story – of the resort staff who’ve lost the heiress is only visited once.
There are several plotholes. How on earth did the lost and found at the B&B have stylish clothing that fit Lohan perfectly?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
11/25 – The Merry Gentlemen. Funny. Sort of a Christmas Magic Mike except the dancing wasn’t quite as good. A young woman forced to retire from her job as a dancer in a Rockette-style Christmas Spectacular in New York goes home and saves her parents’ nightclub by putting on an all-male revue – Chippendales Style.
And, of course, she falls for one of the dancers – who is also her parents’ handyman.
This one is funny. And the male dancers aren’t bad either.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
11/26 – Spirited. Imagine A Christmas Carol told from the point of view of the ghosts and done as a musical. This one has become a Christmas staple. Will Farrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer are brilliant. Seeing Octavia at her best inspired me to watch The Help on Thanksgiving.
Spirited is so good, that it’s become a part of our annual rotation – and we’ll probably watch it again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Like all stories, Christmas stories follow the same pattern: The main character has a problem they need solved and the story takes you on a journey of how they solve it (or how the supporting characters help them solve it. Variety comes from looking at the story from a different viewpoint, changing the characters slightly, or setting the story in a different town or a different time.
You can do this with marketing content too. Write a blog from the viewpoint of a product or service you sell. Get inside your customer’s head and understand what problem they’re trying to solve (hint there problem is not how to buy your product or service – they want to know how your product or service solves their problem). Write from the employee perspective.
Better yet, hire a team of marketing experts who can research your customer and develop content that will get them in the door – ready to do business with you. If you’d like to learn more about how the process works, reach out today.
The Content Engine - from Kim Funk Creative 
Leave a comment