<\/p>\n
Picture it: <\/strong>a Los Angeles thrift store, 1985.<\/em><\/h3>\nEstelle Getty is putting together a costume for an audition for a new television series called The Golden Girls<\/em>. She shops through a thrift store in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles and, among other things, finds a kitschy woven straw handbag with cream colored plastic beads in great condition. What did she pay? Maybe a buck or two. Forty-one years later, that purse just sold at auction for $192,000. Now that\u2019s golden! <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/62cd74cfc9775329583d61d4\/4f18e6f2-9b75-439f-bf36-04123064e8e9\/Sophias_handbag.jpg?format=1000w\")
<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/62cd74cfc9775329583d61d4\/9b008a55-20ee-42ef-a979-91ab4a800cd8\/sophia_the_golden_girls-93746278.webp?format=1000w\")
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If you\u2019ve read my blog you know I\u2019m a huge Golden Girls fan<\/a> – I wrote and posted on social media about the 40th Anniversary of the show<\/a> last year pretty extensively. <\/p>\nSo this news about Sophia\u2019s bag that\u2019s going viral<\/span> really put me in a great mood this morning, and I just had to write down my 2-cents about it. <\/p>\nWhy did Sophia Petrillo\u2019s purse sell for $192,000?<\/strong> Because after seven seasons of The Golden Girls<\/em>, the handbag had become far more than a television prop. It was one of Sophia Petrillo\u2019s most recognizable visual signatures, carrying decades of nostalgia, character recognition and emotional attachment for fans.<\/p>\nJulien\u2019s Auctions<\/a> had estimated the handbag at $10,000 to $15,000, so when it sold to a Golden Girls super fan for an amount that could easily buy a house in <\/a>many areas of the country – it must have come as a surprise to just about everyone. <\/p>\nA few years back that same bag sold for $9,150 when items from Estelle\u2019s estate were auctioned in 2009 \u2192 NOTE: 2009 was during the <\/em>great recession<\/em><\/a> and big splashy purchases were frowned upon by many. It may have gone for more at the time had the financial climate been better. <\/em><\/p>\nHow Sophia Petrillo\u2019s Purse Became Part of Her Brand<\/h2>\n
As noted above, for the 40th anniversary of The Golden Girls<\/em><\/a>, I talked about the surprisingly useful marketing lessons hidden inside the show. And under Sophia Petrillo, one of those lessons was:<\/p>\nProtect your assets.<\/strong><\/p>\nI wrote that Sophia\u2019s wicker purse \u201cwasn’t just an accessory; it was her vault,\u201d and suggested brands identify and protect the things that become uniquely associated with them.<\/p>\n
Getty carried the precious bag throughout all 7 seasons of The Golden Girls<\/em> and later on The Golden Palace<\/em>. It made its dutiful debut on the show on Sophia\u2019s arm from her first scene (when she arrived at Dorothy\u2019s house after Shady Pines burned down \u2192 which interestingly included makeup and styling that would later be changed considerably, but the bag remained an integral part of Sophia\u2019s brand). Through repetition that bag became visual shorthand for Sophia. <\/p>\nThat visual shorthand for a brand (in this case Sophia) is something people often underestimate.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nA recognizable brand asset doesn’t always begin life as something strategic or focus-grouped into existence. It can be as simple as a color, a package shape, or a catch phrase a founder always uses. <\/p>\n
\u2192 The value comes from consistency + recognition + meaning accumulated over time.<\/strong><\/p>\nHere\u2019s the Most Important Takeaway \u2192 Nostalgia = Emotional Equity<\/h2>\n
If you read my post there\u2019s another Sophia lesson that is key: Leverage nostalgia.<\/strong><\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve read my blog you know I\u2019m a huge Golden Girls fan<\/a> – I wrote and posted on social media about the 40th Anniversary of the show<\/a> last year pretty extensively. <\/p>\n So this news about Sophia\u2019s bag that\u2019s going viral<\/span> really put me in a great mood this morning, and I just had to write down my 2-cents about it. <\/p>\n Why did Sophia Petrillo\u2019s purse sell for $192,000?<\/strong> Because after seven seasons of The Golden Girls<\/em>, the handbag had become far more than a television prop. It was one of Sophia Petrillo\u2019s most recognizable visual signatures, carrying decades of nostalgia, character recognition and emotional attachment for fans.<\/p>\n Julien\u2019s Auctions<\/a> had estimated the handbag at $10,000 to $15,000, so when it sold to a Golden Girls super fan for an amount that could easily buy a house in <\/a>many areas of the country – it must have come as a surprise to just about everyone. <\/p>\n A few years back that same bag sold for $9,150 when items from Estelle\u2019s estate were auctioned in 2009 \u2192 NOTE: 2009 was during the <\/em>great recession<\/em><\/a> and big splashy purchases were frowned upon by many. It may have gone for more at the time had the financial climate been better. <\/em><\/p>\n As noted above, for the 40th anniversary of The Golden Girls<\/em><\/a>, I talked about the surprisingly useful marketing lessons hidden inside the show. And under Sophia Petrillo, one of those lessons was:<\/p>\n Protect your assets.<\/strong><\/p>\n I wrote that Sophia\u2019s wicker purse \u201cwasn’t just an accessory; it was her vault,\u201d and suggested brands identify and protect the things that become uniquely associated with them.<\/p>\n Getty carried the precious bag throughout all 7 seasons of The Golden Girls<\/em> and later on The Golden Palace<\/em>. It made its dutiful debut on the show on Sophia\u2019s arm from her first scene (when she arrived at Dorothy\u2019s house after Shady Pines burned down \u2192 which interestingly included makeup and styling that would later be changed considerably, but the bag remained an integral part of Sophia\u2019s brand). Through repetition that bag became visual shorthand for Sophia. <\/p>\n That visual shorthand for a brand (in this case Sophia) is something people often underestimate.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n A recognizable brand asset doesn’t always begin life as something strategic or focus-grouped into existence. It can be as simple as a color, a package shape, or a catch phrase a founder always uses. <\/p>\n \u2192 The value comes from consistency + recognition + meaning accumulated over time.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you read my post there\u2019s another Sophia lesson that is key: Leverage nostalgia.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\nHow Sophia Petrillo\u2019s Purse Became Part of Her Brand<\/h2>\n
Here\u2019s the Most Important Takeaway \u2192 Nostalgia = Emotional Equity<\/h2>\n