Marketing through Anthropomorphism

ˌanTHrəpəˈmôrfizəm/

noun

the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know the meaning of this word even though you may not have known it, because you have chatted with my dragon, Farloft.

Throughout the world of marketing you will find talking animals or objects promoting products and causes. Smokey the Bear informs you, "Only you can prevent forest fires." Toucan Sam tells you "Follow your nose! It always knows," to the closest box of Fruit Loops. Charlie the Tuna, Tony the Tiger, Trix Rabbit, The M&Ms team, Chester Cheetah, Morris the cat, the list goes on and on, but you get the picture.

I didn't mean to create Farloft as the 'spokes dragon' for my series and yet he happened and he has become so much more. I have been wanting to tell this story for about two years now. So grab your cup of coffee or tea and sit back in your comfortable chair, and I will tell you how a Star was Born!

I published my first book in June 2013. It was James & the Dragon. Farloft is the main character in the book.

In October, and just after I got on Twitter, @damyantig contacted me to say she had a Review of my book on her blog. That was Monday. Being new, I read it and thanked her profusely, and then forgot about it. 

On Wednesday, @damyantig contacted me again and told me folks were commenting on the post she did on her blog and I was welcome to jump over and reply to the comments if I wished.

When I read them, they all asked about reading level and commented on how clever the book sounded. Farloft began to talk in my head. (OK folks, this is where it gets crazy if you are not a writer who can relate to this subconscious character intrusion of the mind.) Farloft wanted to answer these questions. He wanted to be proud of his book. He wanted to tell the parents it was 'for younglings 9 years and up.' He wanted to *stick out his chest with pride* and say 'thank you' for the compliment. So, by Jove, he did. And the folks ate it up.

On Sunday @damyantig (bless her) contacted me again via Twitter to say she really enjoyed the week on the blog and she would miss Farloft. She suggested Farfoft might have a Twitter account. I thanked her and thought secretly that I did not have time for two accounts. I was barely keeping up with one. At that point I was a new author, trying to get my name out there. Little did I know, @damyantig has just handed me the 'Keys to the Kingdom.'

I preface this by saying I had just bought a new iPad and after having this short conversation and extending my thanks, I closed with saying something like "wouldn't that be interesting" - regarding Farloft having an account of his own. I closed the iPad and headed off to prep for bed. I am in the Pacific Northwest, @damyantig is in Singapore. I came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and I heard the ping of the iPad's incoming Tweet message. I heard it repeatedly. Lots of pings.

When I opened it there were a slew of messages saying things like, "Yeah! Farloft should have an account!" "Yes, give Farloft his own Facebooks!" "Dragons RULE!" 

I spent until midnight on Sunday trying to calm folks down, thanking them for their enthusiasm, and saying Farloft really didn't have time for an account. And anyway, how would a 14'3" dragon work a keyboard. I finally told everyone I HAD to get to bed and closed off. The next morning when I opened the iPad it was full of the same pleas for Farloft having an account. When I checked my stream on my noon lunch break, it was more of the same, and that evening I was up until midnight yet again, when my normal time for bed is 10:00. 

At midnight on Monday, exhausted, I caved. I told everyone Farloft could NOT have his own Twitter account, but he could take over my account the last Friday of each month. Almost the moment I hit the 'send' button folks shot back tweets saying, "Wow! He'll have Follow Friday!" In my mind, Farloft launched into action. He replied that everyone was mistaken, that #FF was really Follow Farloft! A Star was Born!

Farloft overcame the keyboard dilemma by using a headset from 'Big and Tall Men' and the program 'Naturally Speaking Dragon.' After all, he reasoned, with a name like that the program had to be made for dragons to Tweet.

And so the Follow Farloft Fridays began. WE get up at midnight our time to start tweeting with the folks in England and Malta. We work out way around the globe and end sometime around 8-9:00 pm our time so we can catch the local West Coast folks who have been at work all day, but want to check in with Farloft. It is a long day for an old dragon of over 1,000 years. Recently, he backed it off to 8:00 am - 8:00 pm PST. 

But, Farloft has made a name for himself over the past two years. If you put his name into Google Images you will get endless pages of his image, both commissioned art and fanart. If you Google his name, he is pretty much the first five pages or so.

The advantage of having Farloft is he is old and wise and full of endless stories, and like an old person, he can get away with saying most anything and be considered either cute or quaint. Where my saying, "Pick up a copy of The Farloft Chronicles," sounds pushy, his suggestion of, "I will be doing the Happy Dance if you pick up a copy of my Farloft Chronicles," sounds cute. Especially, if I put a clever art piece with it.

He has established himself as the elder wise dragon and attracted many, many dragons on Twitter to follow and read him. I really do believe some folks save their problems for him to help solve. He has a bit of 'Dear Abby' in his genes. There was an editor who wanted him to help solve a argument with an author, there are folks who want him to take them for a flight. There are a lot of folks who just want a 'huggle' or a 'wing wave.' Dragon pile-ups run rampant. He is often conversing with up to eight people on separate streams during his Twitter days. He has overloaded, shut down, and stalled my Twitter page numerous times. He loves everyone and everyone seems to love him.

Farloft is everything an author could ever ask for. He inspires Fanart Fanart #Fanart and Poetry . He runs ColoringContest and his buttons (sent randomly at first as thank you gifts for participating on Follow Farloft Days) morphed on their own into TheTraveling Farloft Button Contest It became a twisted version of the traveling gnome experience. It happened all on its own. The contest came after the pictures started flooding in.

He has his own store Farloft's Hoard and his own Illustrations Site

One day I expect to have someone approach me to manufacture his image in a stuffed toy and put him in a comic book. His options and mine are endless. 

Farloft has been promoting the folks he calls, my "Space Guys" (TheStar Traveler Series) and the "Wolf Boy" (The Twin Cities Series) . Folks seem to listen to him better than to me. Who would have thought it?

I hope you all find your 'dragon.' If you do, don't let him slip away. Grab on and go for the ride of your life.