Wizard Pi’s Post

Lately, I've been all about spotlighting brands on my page that I believe are absolutely crushing it. In the tough industry that is retail – I think it’s incredibly important to acknowledge those that are doing incredibly well. Spreading some positivity on my feed feels like a small victory in itself! My absolute brand of the MOMENT, deserves a whole post dedicated to them I believe, which is SURREAL. I mean WHERE do I even start? Saying I'm obsessed would be an understatement, and I'm definitely not alone in noticing. SURREAL is everywhere on my feed, and for good reason! Their marketing is absolutely geniussssss! And that's coming from someone who doesn't have formal marketing experience. But, I'm deeply immersed in this sector, so I can definitely spot some next-level tactics when I see some… Everyone in the office has heard me talking about them, showing their witty yet engaging posts – I’ve practically forced everyone to follow them 😂 (so they definitely have gained a fan in myself for sure). From the ‘Deleted Tweet’ posts (hats off to the social team for that one) to their ‘effortless’ looking billboards that are actually hilarious – they have NAILED their marketing. This is the kind of brand I truly admire. They're not afraid to push the boundaries, almost tiptoeing right up to the line (but never crossing it). Their engagement with their audience is so captivating, you just can't tear your eyes away. It's honestly incredible. I can’t imagine the type of fun the team are – sound like my kinda people😎 SURREAL - keep smashing it, you guys are INCREDIBLE!!

Building a strong brand means building a strong community. What do I mean by that? …You’re creating a space where your audience feels connected and valued. …You’re adding value to your audience’s lives, beyond your product or service. …You’re showing up. Consistently. A good brand marketer knows we’re ultimately marketing in feelings and connection, not follower numbers and impressions. And yes, these things can be incredibly effective in driving business growth. Because building a community that feels connected to your brand is a powerful strategy for sustainable growth.

BRAND AWAKENING!! Now you are probably asking yourself... What is brand awakening? And how do we visualize that? A brand awakening video is a type of video content that aims to create an emotional connection between a brand and its audience. It's designed to "awaken" viewers to the brand's purpose, values, and mission, and to inspire them to take action or engage with the brand on a deeper level. A successful brand awakening videos should include customer testimonials, employee stories, or other narrative elements that showcase the brand's human side. The goal of a brand awakening video is to: 1. Create an emotional connection with the audience 2. Communicate the brand's purpose and values 3. Inspire viewers to take engage and take action! 4. Build brand awareness and loyalty These videos are great for social media as you connect with people than can hear first hand what you are about, your goals, your mission and your values; causing them to be emotionaly invested in you before you even make the sale! Is your brand still sleeping?

"Gone rogue" brand socials, yay or nay? More and more companies are taking this approach to social media, following the example of successes like Duolingo, Wendy's, and the like. But is it right for every org? I personally find the strategy not only lighthearted and goofy, but effective in the right market. If your brand lends itself to a playful, irreverent tone, give your team the freedom to experiment and push boundaries in their marketing strategies. Will every attempt hit the mark? Of course not. But as long as you're staying true to the brand identity, why not have a little fun?

Happy Tuesday all, and welcome back to BC’s Relative Advantage Heroes: our method of growing a brand by finding the clear spaces in audiences, media and culture that competitors have missed. Today, we’re talking about something that you’d think is pretty boring on the surface – water.  As this is Relative Advantage Heroes however, we’re taking a bit more of a deep dive (sorry). We’re not talking about any kind of water though. This is about a water brand you may or may not have heard of – Liquid Death. So, what makes Liquid Death a Relative Advantage hero? Before they arrived on the scene, thinking of a water brands marketing would have you imagining a clear plastic bottle, grassy mountains or crystal-clear reservoirs. Simplified, Liquid Death are a company devoted to changing the world’s use of plastic by changing the bottled water industry into a canned water industry, all whilst stepping out of the marketing box that we often find ourselves in. Their own website simply says ‘we’re just a funny beverage company who hates corporate marketing as much as you do’. Founded in 2019 by Mike Cessario – a ‘creative genius’ according to Forbes, Liquid Death’s water (from a spring in Switzerland) comes in a can instead of a plastic bottle, with Cessario coming up with the idea after attending a Warped x Vans tour in 2009 where he saw other attendees decanting water into empty Monster energy drink cans. Truth be told, it’s their wide variety of instantly viral campaigns that help to keep them in a league of their own. Cessario has said himself that Liquid Death wants to entertain, not market to people, and their zombie apocalypse TVC that sees zombified consumers cure their affliction by drinking Liquid Death does exactly that – alongside the soundtrack of a fun 80's jingle. Other examples of campaigns that embody Relative Advantage and exemplify Liquid Death’s commitment to standing out via the weird and wild include: ·      e.l.f x Liquid Death Corpse Paint beauty palette that sold out almost instantly ·      Tony Hawk's blood-infused $500 skateboard, with all profits going to charity. ·      Greatest Hates Vol. 1, 2 & 3 – full-length songs created using lyrics made up of their hate comments released as an 80's dance pop genre And this irreverent marketing strategy is working. In 2019, Liquid Death’s retail sales were $2.8m. Fast forward to 2024, and that number is now $263m, with the company valued at $1.4bn. Their approach isn’t just successful, but fast too. Leaning into the uniqueness of their offering of canned water and making that part of their marketing will keep Liquid Death’s well of creativity bubbling for many more years to come (that one I couldn’t resist). Even if canned water isn’t your thing, you can’t deny that Liquid Death’s irreverent yet sustainable approach have made something as boring as water not just unique – but cool. 

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁. Let's compare two sports drink giants: Powerade: - 36 years in the market - No visible creators or founders - Faceless corporate brand Prime: - Founded by Logan Paul and KSI - Just 2 years old - Personality-driven marketing The result? Prime's audience is 17𝘅 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 than Powerade's... in a fraction of the time! How did Prime overtake a brand with a 36-year head start? Simple: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. In today's market, personality sells. ↳𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿.

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫. 🥃 Four Walls Whiskey understood this well. Instead of going the traditional route for their latest ad campaign, they took a different path: they listened to their community and discovered a powerful story — one shared by a fan about her 97 year old grandmother, a lifelong bartender named Rose. ⭐ What’s #inspiring about this isn’t just the collaborative approach, but the brand's ability to recognize something deeper in a simple idea. 💡 🗣️ In a world increasingly driven by community building, this collaboration reminds us of the immense value in #listening, tapping into the 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝, and finding the extraordinary in the everyday. How far are we willing to go with our ideas? 🚀 #Marketing #CommunityBuilding #Storytelling #Innovation #Advertising #UserGeneratedContent

The ‘done’ way of creating a brand voice is to build some sort of imaginary golem (or persona if you want a more business-y word) that has begun to speak for itself. There is no longer your or me – the ‘I’ has succumbed to the metaphysical ‘we’ that incorporates everyone from the interns to the CEO. That way, we make the voice cohesive and trick people into believing the brand golem is real. That means there’s no in-fighting, no matter how pugilistic your brand is – unless you're Surreal. Not living in the U.K., I can’t tell you how cohesive Surreal’s brand voice is across mediums, but I can tell you the ads on LinkedIn take aim at internal teams as much, if not more, than anything else. Take, for example, their post about the sales team actually selling cereal.  This is not a post from ‘Surreal’ the brand golem, it’s a post written from the P.O.V. of Surreal’s social media manager. And they’re not happy. Suddenly, all their content about a certain type of cereal is useless, because the cereal is sold out – and they blame it on the sales team. (Also, they bury the lede which is that the cereal is sold out, which is interesting in its own right and may be worth looking into closer in another post.) This is ‘internal infighting’ writ large against the backdrop of the professional, stuffed-suit background of LinkedIn. And it stands out. Post after post, Surreal writes with such a strong P.O.V. that it comes across as a single, often disgruntled, employee who works there (or perhaps ‘is employed there’ is a better descriptor as working doesn’t seem to be their forté) and not the response of a bunch of brand guidelines that have been scrubbed clean of any soul by risk- and creativity-averse upper-management. Or, to put it another way, even though it’s often dripping with irony and sarcasm, Surreal’s voice comes across as very personal and authentic. Isn’t that more interesting and eye-catching than claiming that ‘authenticity’ is one of your core values in an internal document? #advertising #branding #marketing

Building Brands that Last: The Power of Community 👥 All signs 🪧 point to consumers wanting to feel something – whether that's a sense of belonging to a community or the deep belly laugh from a meme their local coffee roaster posted. As brand and business owners, the goal in marketing is to craft real bonds with our guests, showing that we are humans too, all searching for our puzzle piece in this world, where we fit in to create a larger picture. Brands that realize this and capitalize on it are the ones that truly succeed. Marketing may be a slow burn, but the fire you can create once you have dedicated patrons is unmatched. These are the people who will forever give you bundles of wood, even in the coldest of winters.🪵 Because in our digital world, it's these human touches that truly drive success. When we create content that connects, we don't just build brands – we build movements. #CommunityBuilding #SocialMediaEngagement #BrandLoyalty

For the first time ever, the Brand Team at Zerorez, Inc. has created a marketing playbook! What is a marketing playbook you ask? Well, the idea came from SafeSplash Swim Schools (thank you!) who is also a franchisor. This comprehensive resource is designed to get everyone at Zerorez on the same page when it comes to messaging and marketing, with the goal that such unification will amplify our brand presence and sales. Here's What's Inside the Playbook: 📝Messaging Guidelines: Consistency is key! The playbook provides clear guidance on what messaging to use this quarter and where. This helps ensure that our brand voice remains strong and cohesive across all channels, as we repeatedly drive home our core messages. 📅Calendar Alignment: Say goodbye to confusion! Our playbook outlines key dates, campaigns, and initiatives planned for Quarter 2 and what to post or email on which days. 🗺️Social Media Strategy: No questioning what to post on Facebook, and how often! The playbook has promotion ideas, holiday-specific posts, and ideas on how to make it more local. 📺TV & Radio Script Ideas & Messaging: Easily share themed ideas with your radio DJs or TV hosts for how they can talk about Zerorez. Plus, it shares demonstration ideas for your live TV segments. 🙌Direct Links to Assets: Not only does the Playbook outline what to post, we share direct links to the content on Brandfolder so you can stop searching and guessing where to find things! 📣Big shout-out to Addi Perkins and Rebecca Ives for all their work putting this together with me and for Bill De Groot encouraging us to do it. We will be releasing a new playbook every quarter going forward and I am excited to see how its implementation helps grow our brand. #brand #branding #brandbuilding #brandstrategy #marketingplan #marketing