I wanted to portray an image of this emerging athlete named Fred Moore. Namely, when people saw my seventh grade Baylor School football photo, I wanted them to think, “this is one tough guy.” I decided that this was going to be my personal “brand.”
When photo day came around, I made sure to look serious and a little mean when that camera shutter clicked. I had some dirt on the right shoulder of my jersey so folks knew I was no sissy. I had my helmet’s “bad to the bone” face-guard prominently displayed. (No one else on the team – not even the truly “bad” Vince Warrick – had this particularly intimidating face guard.)
Everything was perfect for this desired “fear this man” image, except for one thing. I had forgotten to take off my shiny gold watch for the photo.
That blew it. A gold Timex watch with a shiny flexible gold band for all the world to see. Not exactly the stuff of rough and tough football players.
One tiny oversight on my part. An inconsistency with brand alignment. My chances of being know as the “bad guy” football player had been shattered by one minuscule mistake.
I was just a mere babe when Don Draper, Roger, Peggy and Pete were doing their thing at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. (On a side note, why is the account guy always the dweeb in shows or films about advertising?!? Why can’t we ever have a stud like Don Draper play us?)
By the time I arrived in New York, I can confirm some vestiges of those Mad Men days were still evident. Continue reading →
Last week, my buddy and co-Virginia Council of CEO member, Elissa, sent an e-mail to all ten members of our roundtable with a video attached. Elissa noted in her e-mail that she especially wanted me to check out this comedic YouTube video resulting in four million views.
The video was a spot for the Dollar Shave Club that is making its rounds on the internet via YouTube. The Wall Street Journal did a story on the video and the Dollar Shave Club just last week entitled, “A David and Gillette Story.”
Elissa was marveling about how good the video was.
And, after viewing it, I totally agree. It is terrific, highly entertaining and engaging. Just the kind of quick, funny film that is perfect for sending virally around the internet – the holy grail of marketing tactics today.
Elissa went on to suggest that she was kicking herself for not doing this for her small business sooner. ”He [Michael Dubin, Dollar Shave Club founder] has 30,000 Facebook followers”, she states. Then Elissa adds, “I’m writing scripts for my own YouTube series.”
I can see why Elissa is excited. Afterall, in their article about Dollar Shave club, the Wall Street Journal made the comment, “Companies with no marketing budget can command attention with free video and quickly build a following on services like Facebook and Twitter.” (FMOL added all the bolding.)
The equation “no marketing budget” and “free” resulting in a huge business success can certainly grab the attention of many small business owners.
But, let’s hang on here for a second. The Dollar Shave stuff is great and apparently very effective. But cheap and done in a kind of ”by the seat of the pants” manner??????
I don’t think so.
I am a little surprised that the Wall Street Journal would so easily fall right in line with exactly what the Dollar Shave Club wanted them to think. And, it seems, the venerable WSJ business writers printed precisely what the seemingly “aw shucks” Dollar Shave guys wanted them to print.
The Dollar Shave boys must have been absolutely thrilled with the WSJ story’s headline, “A David and Gillette Story”.
My bet – the WSJ verbiage and approach to this story is perfectly in line with the underlying strategy of these Dollar Shave strategic marketers (and their agency). Namely, let’s strategically position a couple of “average Joe’s” with a good idea that solves the everyman frustration of paying too much in a category (like razors). Let’s demonstrate some real entrepreneurial, ‘just get it done’ drive. And, to make it even more effective, let’s find a real ‘Darth Vadar’ huge company villain, like Gillette, to position ourself against.
These aren’t any ‘fly by the night’ marketers here. These guys know exactly what they are doing and they are implementing a strong brand discipline to get them to where they need to go.
Obviously, this can work and can be a profitable, effective strategy.
But, “no budget” and “free video” – I think not.
Take a look at that video. It is really well shot ($$$), well written ($$$) and carefully directed ($$$). The one seamless edit ($$$) is awesome. Even if it is really just one shot – this requires some amazing choreography ($$$) and many hours of prep and shooting time($$$).
Then you are directed to a web site which is very well designed ($$$) and extremely functional ($$$).
I searched the Dollar Shave Club on Google and, low and behold, an ad for the Dollar Shave Club ($$) appeared at the top of my search. Then, for kicks, I Googled “cheap shave” and, wow, another ad ($$$) for Dollar Shave Club appears on the side “Google ads” bar. Seems like some effective SEO (search engine optimization) ($$$) on behalf of the upstart Dollar Shave gang.
“No marketing budget?”
Somehow they got a predominant featured business story in the WSJ. Do you think a PR firm ($$$) might have been involved?
One place where Dollar Shave Club may not have invested enough money is in social media management and responding quickly. While writing this piece, I went to the Dollar Shave Club Facebook site and here is the conversation that was happening:
Yikes! This is the real and authentic ‘people believe people’ stuff that can kill even the best marketed brands.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. The campaign is well done and they look like they will be very successful.
But, I just don’t think it happened cheaply or by chance. It rarely does.
This is a particular kind of strategy that requires strategic thinking, customer insight, and excellent execution to pull it off. It’s kind of Non-Authentic Authentic Branding. I have always been fascinated by it (Mentos was another great example of this tactic in the early 1990′s – even before the internet really was a factor).
At Big River, we do something different. We start with organizations that in reality are authentic at their core. Then, we help them develop their authentic brand. We help their people live more into their authenticity. And then, we find ways for the world to see our clients’ authentic self. That’s how we see true authentic brands being built.
Different strokes for different folks.
Michael Dubin, Dollar Shave Club’s founder, is really a gifted person. Obviously, in the video, he is incredibly good on camera. And, he totally understands his brand and the strategic line that the company must maintain to continue its success.
His quote to the WSJ is perfect … and appropriately, a little Forest Gump-like,
“Keeping it simple is the name of the game….we don’t want to complicate it.”
As Forest himself says, ‘simple is as simple does’… all the way to the bank.
The award-winning banner makes a return trip to Atlanta Fulton County stadium in August of 1973. After the game, my mother and I stand in the left field bleachers above the infamous sign.
It’s that time of year.
Opening day – baseball. Love it.
Those who know me know that I am an original Atlanta Braves fan dating back to their inaugural season in the South – 1966.
And, believe it or not, baseball is what first brought about my interest… and eventual passion… for advertising.
The year was 1973.
The event – the annual Atlanta Braves banner contest.
The judges – a group of advertising professionals from the Atlanta Advertising Association.
I was 14 years old. In early July, I grabbed my best friend Clay Crumbliss and we headed over to the Lookout Mountain elementary school gymnasium to begin development of a huge, special banner that would pay tribute to our hero, Hank Aaron. That summer Hammerin’ Hank was in hot pursuit of Babe Ruth’s legendary 714 lifetime home run record. The gym was the only place big enough to house the huge 12 foot by 12 foot banner that we envisioned as our banner contest entry. Continue reading →
Isn’t it strange? You can just feel when a brand is truly authentic.
Take Tabasco.
I have always felt Tabasco was just one of those truly genuine brands down to its core.
Now, I know it is.
My wife Beth and I just had the wonderful experience last weekend of visiting the truly special world of Tabasco. Our great friend Lilo had us down to Avery Island, Louisiana to fully take in the culture that her Great Great Grandfather started in 1864 with the introduction of the first bottle of Tabasco. Continue reading →
I thought the people at Goldman Sachs were supposed to be really smart.
Yet, they have just been publicly ‘outed’ by breaking one of my principal rules of successful branding. And, boy, they are paying a hefty price.
Successful branding today is all about “walking your talk.” Never, never push some “talk” that you think customers will buy when the “walk” (your company’s actions) is not really there.
You can’t fool people today. If you try, you will be publicly ‘outed’ like Goldman Sachs was.
“Talk” (exterior branding) that is out of alignment with “walk” (interior culture) is a monumental mistake. Yet, some institutions still believe that branding is just about spending money to get their message out — what they want customers to hear and believe about them. As I’ve said many times, this “we’ll tell you” approach may have worked marginally in previous eras, but not today. People can see inside your company like never before. Playing by the old rules can be costly and highly damaging – just ask Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs started a very expensive ad campaign last fall that touted how great they are, and how they do so much to help our world. This sudden appearance of this multi- media campaign by this previous “we’re above marketing,” somewhat smug organization was a little startling. But, given the all-time low perception levels of financial institutions these days, it was fairly obvious why Goldman Sachs suddenly decided that this multi-million dollar branding/advertising investment was a really wise idea.
And their approach broke another basic advertising rule: ”don’t let your strategy show.” Their strategy was embarrassingly evident and the campaign was not effective nor authentically engaging by any means.
Well, one of my professional dreams has come true. Big River is going to take the reigns of MoonPie’s social media efforts.
Cowabunga. Now I know my mother on Lookout Mountain has to be proud of her youngest son.
My other investment and lawyer friends may have slightly different professional dreams and ambitions such as arguing before the Supreme Court, or being involved in the acquisition or the IPO of Google or some trivial thing like that.
But, for me, managing the brand voice for a treasured icon like MoonPie – it just doesn’t get much better. Continue reading →
You remember those classic Reese’s Peanut Butter commercials? ”Hey, you got peanut butter in my chocolate.” ”No, you got chocolate in my peanut butter.”
This tug of war between chocolate and peanut butter continues in Reese’s highly effective advertising. And you are about to see a lot more of Reese’s as their successful sponsorship of March Madness and the NCAA tournament starts soon.
The campaign is based on a simple premise of close competition among equal forces (chocolate vs. peanut butter). They have done a brilliant job with this long-running ad campaign focused on a simple, razor-sharp strategy.
Similar to this Reese’s debate, I would contend that the ultimate success of modern American businesses depends on the effective balance of two critical organizational forces – brand and culture – and understanding the relationship between the two. The companies that are thriving today certainly understand this equation and how both brand and culture must be intentionally led. Continue reading →
More importantly, four promising kids in the roughest part of Richmond need your help.
Let’s prove that this social media thing can lead to great results for a great cause.
Let’s also prove that FMOL readers are compassionate people who will take a couple seconds to help four aspiring kids achieve their dreams. Continue reading →
I recall my seventh grade football year.
