Machiavelli’s Prince: the most relevant marketing manual ever written
Applying Machiavelli’s “The Prince” to marketing may seem like a risky move. However, those who have tried it have discovered how relevant his insights still are today. This is because great words cast long shadows that span centuries and land, with sure steps, in digital marketing. Those who control attention today control power, and no one better than the Florentine secretary understood that consensus never arises by chance, but is always the result of strategy, virtue, and a pinch of luck. And since “all times return, men are always the same,” it is good to reread history. Keeping Machiavelli’s The Prince on your bedside table, if you are a marketing professional, brand manager, or content creator, is not just a cultured choice: it is strategy!
Read on: his lessons could be the key to your success in the attention market.
Platforms are the new principalities
(Chapter I – “How many reasons there are for principalities”)
In the 15th century, Italy was a mosaic of different domains. Today, the digital world is fragmented in the same way: dozens of platforms are at war with each other.
In the first chapter of The Prince, Machiavelli writes, “All states are either republics or principalities, and these are acquired either by fortune or by virtue.” Today, digital platforms are divided between established ecosystems (Facebook, Google) and new territories to be conquered (TikTok, Threads, BeReal).
The question posed by The Prince 2.0 is: how can you conquer a new audience without being swallowed up by the complexity of the territory?
“It is easier to maintain a hereditary principality than to build a new one.”
In digital marketing, this translates to: it’s easier to work with an existing user base than to create a new one from scratch. That’s why strategies such as retargeting, customer lifetime value, and automation journeys are so valuable: they consolidate what has already been acquired.
That’s why if you have a dusty website or a community that’s barely breathing, maybe don’t throw it all in the trash and be smart about starting over from there.
But every marketer knows that ambition leads elsewhere, and not everyone is born Lorenzo De’ Medici. The thrill lies in colonizing new realms, in this case new platforms, or going to war with an army that is not yet loyal (community).
[Image taken from the advertisement A Game of Social]
Community & Reputation: the consent of the digital people
(Chapters IX, X, XVII)
Machiavelli warns us: “He who becomes prince by the favor of the people must therefore keep them as his friends.” Nowadays, those people do not march with pitchforks in Piazza della Signoria, but they comment on you, follow you, and review you.
Online reputation is the real political capital of our time. If you have a loyal and close-knit community, you have a strong brand, because “A prince who has a strong city and is not hated cannot be attacked.”
You are shitstorm-proof.
There is also the sometimes necessary appeal of fear. A brand, just like a prince, can choose whether to be loved or feared. For Machiavelli, the second path is often more effective, but in marketing, the reality is a little different.
A “feared” brand can generate attention, controversy, and visibility.
Ryanair, for example, uses sharp and sometimes provocative communication, trolling its competitors, and doesn’t worry too much about being likable, and it works because it is consistent with its positioning: direct, essential, no frills.
Talking about “fear” is useful because we are looking at everything through Machiavelli’s lens, abusing his pen to construct useful parallels. In reality, strategies such as Ryanair’s are more brazen than threatening.
By not trying to please everyone, it is irreverent, unconventional, like the Joker described in Jung’s archetypes. Ryanair breaks the rules of polite marketing and enjoys throwing people off balance. Jokers base their impact on irony, audacity, and communication that seeks attention rather than approval, just like Cesare Borgia.
Community management is not simply moderation: it is diplomacy, and listening is not a passive gesture but a political act in itself.
AI, SEO & tools for conquest
(Chapters X and XII – “How to measure forces”)
In today’s digital landscape, SEO, analytics, generative AI, automation, and social media are the new walls, bastions, and watchtowers of your brand palace.
Using AI to write content, refine strategies, read insights, and listen to your audience are essential skills today.
But that’s not enough, because true virtue, Machiavelli would say, lies not only in having weapons, but in knowing how to use them with timing, clarity, and vision.
The lesson we can learn from Machiavelli’s arguments about weapons is that we must know how to use and manage them with virtue and intelligence so as not to end up like Francesco Sforza, who “became prince by his own arms, but was then disarmed by his own creation.”
Tone of Voice: governing with words
(Chapter III – ‘Of Mixed Principalities’)
When governing new lands, says Machiavelli, it is necessary to mix the customs of the old domain with those of the new and adopt the same language, customs, and traditions of the people, “let them live by their own laws.”
In marketing, this translates into one key word: Tone of Voice.
Tone of Voice is the balance between identity and adaptability. It is the voice with which you present yourself to the world, the language with which you make yourself understood.
A brand that does not speak the same language as its audience or that does not change from one platform to another is like a prince speaking Latin among merchants: it risks appearing distant, if not ridiculous.
Ceres and Netflix, in the Italian market, have shown that a bold, consistent, and contextual TOV can become brand equity.
Defining an effective tone of voice requires an in-depth analysis of the target audience, communication objectives, and channels used. When Machiavelli invites the prince to “mingle” with the people, he does so with strategic clarity: only in this way can he truly understand their needs, emotions, and expectations, and respond accordingly. Ignoring this step means risking talking to no one.
Because if you don’t know your audience, sooner or later your audience will stop recognizing you.
Brand Authority: between Virtue and Fortune
(Chapters VI and XXV – “Of new principalities acquired by virtue”)
Virtue and Fortune: the great Machiavellian dichotomy. Virtue is strategic skill, the ability to govern change. Fortune is the sum of circumstances.
Marketing is no exception: you can have the perfect strategy, but if the trend shifts or the algorithm changes, you could lose everything.
But it’s not enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Just think of the failure of Boem, the drink created by Fedez and Lazza, which, despite being born with a silver spoon in its mouth, has not (yet) managed to take off.
Despite a sustained marketing campaign and a partnership with AC Milan, Boem closed its first financial year with a loss of around €1.9 million, against a turnover of just €235,000. Distribution remained limited to online channels and a few physical outlets, such as Esselunga and some Roman wine shops.
“If you want to maintain power, it is necessary that the prince himself be the architect of his own fortune.”
A statement that today translates into an uncomfortable truth for those involved in branding: initial visibility can open doors, but only conscious governance, rooted in strategy, listening to the market, and adaptability, builds lasting authority.
He who rules time rules everything
(Chapter XXV – “How much fortune can do in human affairs”)
“I judge this well: that fortune is the arbiter of half of our actions, but that she still leaves us to govern the other half.”
Success in marketing, as in politics, is a dance between adaptation and vision. It is knowing how to read the context, but also how to force it when necessary.
Brands that are destined to last are those that can change shape like water, without ever losing their substance. Whether you are planning an SEO strategy, designing a funnel campaign, or building a community, ask yourself: am I going with the flow or am I mastering it?
Because, in the end, “happy will be that prince who knows how to adapt his actions to the changing times.”
