Black 40. Immersion Diversion. Marathon MVP.
Well, last week was an eye-opening ride. We're back.
From London (Mia)
Talking about licking the competition. I’ve always thought the British paint company, Lick, which launched during lockdown, shows up more like a beauty brand. Think Glossier for decorating. So it makes sense that they teamed with M.A.C. to create a limited edition paint, Black 40, to celebrate M.A.C.’s 40th anniversary. I love that both brands came together to reframe a historically daunting colour in both beauty and interiors as something inspiring and accessible. This pitch perfect collaboration goes some way to explaining why Lick is still buzzing while sales at Little Greene– which gives a higher quality result from personal experience– are struggling. Sometimes different is better than better.
Tampon sales have dropped more than 12% in the U.K. since 2018. (No wonder: sales of cups and other alt period care are steadily growing). Tampon brand Lil-Lets made a smart incremental innovation play by extending its brand equity and supply chain resources in cotton. The company’s new Organic Cotton line enables Lil-Lets to stay on brand while taking steps into the categories of skincare, wound and babycare. Bet there are nappies in that pipeline.
File under off brand. Goldfish's temporary rebranding of its cheddar crackers to Chilean Sea Bass was supposedly a tongue-in-cheek approach to draw in an older Millennial audience. But, unlike goldfish, Chilean Sea Bass has a known flavour profile and the association just doesn’t land. Feels like a missed opportunity to play with something more evocative and relevant.
Michelin goes mainstream. As the first Indian restaurant in London to receive two Michelin stars, Gymkhana finally convinced Londoners to see the cuisine as a high-end option (I still dream about their gol guppas two years after my first visit). Now the company is expanding its presence through its well-tuned retail brand, Gymkhana Fine Foods. Since launching in Whole Foods, the brand’s velocity outpaced the overall cooking sauce category by 700%, driven by cross-merchandising beyond the ethnic aisle. The goal is to spark the same consumer enthusiasm when GFF forays into the US grocery towards the end of this year, bolstered by the sector’s strong upward trajectory.
From Chicago (Ellen)
In an effort to escape politics, I’m channeling COVID. No, I’m not talking about the global pandemic, COVID. I’m talking about the brief era in our lives when we hunkered down, got really into whiskey or wine, and picked-up bizarre hobbies like sourdough starter cultivation and knitting outfits for our sister’s neighbor’s cousin’s backyard wildlife. Yeah— that COVID— the one that we sometimes refer to nostalgically (as strange as that sounds).
It was a time of real immersive diversion therapy. We got deep into random stuff— a lot of offline stuff— as a way to block the incessant triggers of fear, anxiety, boredom, and hopelessness streaming from online media (namely social and news media). I hadn’t felt a need to return to this immersive offline behavior until recently, in the days leading up to and following the election. Turns out I wasn’t alone. I talked to people on both sides of the ticket who expressed overwhelming media exhaustion in the past few weeks and a desire to “give it a rest,” turning instead to punch-needling and making custom varieties of Chex Mix for every member of their family. Something tells me we’ll find ourselves in this position a lot over the next four years. For brands, that means having your offline marketing strategies ready to go.
Here are a few doing offline or “disconnected” marketing in creative ways and delivering their own kind of immersive diversion therapy at the same time.
Hinge x romance authors x Fable. The dating app, Hinge, teamed-up with 6 contemporary romance authors to write a series of binge-worthy stories based on real-life Hinge relationships. The series came out in print, ad-free digital (so more like Kindle vs. web reading material), and eventually on the Fable app. They took an immersive, non-doom-scroll behavior (reading romance) that’s been surging since the pandemic and connected it to their brand. Or rather, hitched their brand to it! Although the success of this campaign is not as trackable as conventional digital or social media marketing, it sure seems like it’s been a hit. Since, the brand has been expanding its out-of-home billboard presence and— according to Hinge CMO, Jackie Jantos— leaning-in to more in-person, offline connections via its “One More Hour” platform.
Family night brought to you by Chick-fil-A. Although not entirely offline, Chick-fil-A is getting close with the release of its new family fun app called “Play” later this month. With one download and periodic updates, families will have access to original programming and tutorials for offline games, cooking, and crafts. You might be wondering, “What business does a fast food company have launching a family programming app?” Well, it’s not far off from the “Family Fun Hub” on McD’s site— just better protected from other online distractions and with what appears to be far more immersive and entertaining content. What a way to build brand association with positive memory structures, huh? Pretty genius if they successfully summit the adoption curve.
Nike’s race route takeover at the Chicago marathon. Many of you probably saw the funny and relatable digital ad “Stairs” that went viral right after the race, but it doesn’t hold a candle to what the brand did offline along the race route. For 26.2 miles every billboard, bus shelter, and building scape seemed to be blanketed in the Chicago-beloved red-and-black color scheme made famous by Nike and our very own athletic G.O.A.T. #23. The messages weren’t at all sales-y— a combination of heavy and light-hearted words of encouragement that stopped runners in their tracks (literally! See below.) and had them reminiscing about it for days to come. It was spectacular. Right message, right moment in only the way offline can be.
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