What if you did zero marketing and still won an Oscar?

When Japanese audiences sat down for The Boy and the Heron in 2023 for the first time, they had no idea what they were about to watch.

The only thing that made them buy a ticket was one poster that told them the film is about a boy and a heron, which honestly gave no context at all.

At least the original Japanese title came as How Do You Live?, which made us question our own existence before we even walked through the theater doors. That title, combined with the simple fact that it’s a Miyazaki film, was all we had.

That was it. It was completely pure word of mouth over advertising, with maybe just a few minor exceptions along the way.

And look at what happened with that approach.

The film got massive critical acclaim and grossed 294 million dollars worldwide. It literally swept the global awards, taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and the Japan Academy Film Prize.

How does something like that even happen today with no marketing?

The answer is, because the audience they own is 40 years old, and these fans know exactly what they would receive from Studio Ghibli

Psychologists call this Brand Equity. In other words, it’s just uncompromised trust. It is something that must be developed carefully through your core values, mission, and the stories you tell. It means you are constantly in sync with what your audience cares about, which naturally sets you apart from everyone else.

We already know the running joke of Miyazaki telling us he’s going to retire—he’s been doing it all the way since 1997—but he just keeps working on his passion and making masterpieces like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo… you name it.

And we know the insane amount of hours that go into making these films. They mostly draw every single frame by hand to produce that incredible animation, down with details to the tiniest wave on the water.

For this specific movie, 60 animators working full-time could only finish one single minute of animation per month. It took them 7 long years just to put the final cut together.

Miyazaki also does this beautiful thing where he holds the frame on a character just doing ordinary, mundane tasks—like putting on a pair of shoes or getting dressed. He does it with so much care that it makes us feel like we’ve never truly looked at a pair of shoes or put them on our own feet before like that.

That’s what Studio Ghibli is.

They force the audience to sit, stew in the ideas, and connect with the characters on a deeper level. It's a style that demands engagement, and that is why his work sticks with us forever—and exactly why he can risk launching a movie with absolutely zero marketing.

This is your practice for the week:

Slow it down to double the quality instead. A bunch of shallow products or content do absolutely nothing compared to one truly valuable piece that connects deeply with people.

Focus entirely on building a product people will actually want to talk about on their own.

For writers, that means the actual writing. For animators, it's the care and feeling put into how characters move. For you, it's whatever core craft defines your quality.

The Genuine Rule: There is a completely different kind of value that comes with doing difficult work. It’s always quality over quantity. It may take years to build compared to the ones that just mass-produce everything, but it builds a level of trust that no amount of advertising money can ever buy.

If this helped, share it with a friend who is tired of screaming for attention online and wants to build something that speaks for itself.

Until next time,
With love❤️ ,

Thusharika

If you found this useful, pass The Genuine Rule to a friend who is still guessing.

Want to connect elsewhere? Say hi on LinkedIn.