Founders PLEASE stop your killing your brand. Just do this for one hour a week. Everything will change. Two Vital Lessons from PROPER CORN and Tenzing

Founders PLEASE stop your killing your brand. Just do this for one hour a week - Two Vital Lessons from PROPER CORN and Tenzing

You could spot him 10 miles off. Body language a theme park verbose, vibrant and vigorous movement. Arms hurling up and pointing and guiding and this-way and over-there and that-way-please, Sir.

Facial expressions hurling and bonking out his olive-skinned face like a Whacky Races Cartoon character on Speed.

“This way, this way, this way”

He was God-awfully proud. Far too many wooden bracelets crawled up his right arm. Tattoo sleeve covered his left arm. Petrol-black hair formed into perfect wet spikes with Brylcreme. Beard perfectly trimmed and kept like the Royal Gardens. River Island Ranger in Brogue and Chino combo.

A Yellow Walkie Talkie hung off his brown Next belt signalling. “Yup, I’m the General around here”.

He was a straight out the text book, South African Gym General Manager. A General Manager who drops the Manager, and calls himself The General.

Maybe an Affable Andre. Or Billtong Bill who calls himself BigDong Bill. A love of using the word “buddy”. Vitamin D. Probably, no definitely, called his Poodle “Creatine”.

The carpark in the gym was full.

But, this utter legend was out there going the extra mile and showing people to carpark spots.

He showed me to a carpark spot.

”Allwaaatt bruh, you ohkayy budd-ee, whadda fine day for some Vitamin D eyyy buddy… you’re training today buddy?”

His energy and passion for his job was truly infectious. I loved it. He’s not in the head office. He’s on the ground.

First lesson:

Passion is Leadership
Passion is Leadership
Passion is Leadership

Second lesson:

Brands are built Top Down and Bottom Up.

The Gym General Manager was not in the head office. He was on the ground. Grinding it out. Winning the battle from the Bottom Up.

Libby Gibson talked on the podcast about how brands are built TOP DOWN and BOTTOM UP.

TOP DOWN: founders and directors build relationships with buyers, schmooze category directors. Go to the Grocery Ball. All that nause-jazz.

BOTTOM UP: getting on the ground, pounding the streets, focus on building relationship with store managers, focus on speaking to consumers.

Libby talks about the importance of PROPERCORN building relationships all the way up i.e. bottom up and top down

PROPERCORN:

TOP DOWN: Cassandra and Ryan would go to all the fancy dinners with all the retailers. Etc. Etc. Etc.

BOTTOM UP: PROPER CORN focused on an insane outer packaging so it stood out in store rooms vs. other brands, they built relationships with store managers.

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, has a phrase “Walk The Floor”. It’s his version of Top Down and Bottom Up.

Starbucks is another darling example of bottom up and top down brand building

Top Down Innovation (head office) :

• the sizing of the cup i.e. changing the naming of from small and to Venti and Grand was top down.

• Changing the cup from those shitty polesterrian (fuck knows how you spell that) cups. Instead, they sourced their cups from the Chicago Paper Company

Bottom up Innovation (store level):

writing your name on cups was a bottom up innovation.

One brave store manager decides to write the names on the cups. “Gary” or “Sarah” or “Wendy” as the queues were getting so busy.

What transpired was a moment of personalisation and connection and brand depth. All started because someone on the ground noticed something.

Brands are built top down and bottom up

In our wonderful world of challenger food and drink:

Some founders see sampling as a tick the box exercise to drive trial.
Some founders think they don’t need to go to trade shows when they get bigger.

Get the intern to do it.
Get a field sales rep to do it.

And, even worse, outsource it to an agency.
Are you fucking joking me?

The first impression of your brand is EVERYTHING.

Would you rock up to a first date and let some agency choose what you wear and what your opening line is?

Would Sir Alex Ferguson let a Badminton coach do his team talk?

Of course not, that’d be fucking crazy.

You need to BE ALL OVER that first impression like a hot rash.

The battle is won on the ground.
Your job as a founder is to push from the top down and push from the bottom up.

And, this my friends, is why I believe every single founder should do 1 hour of sampling a week.

1. Sampling is your FIRST IMPRESSION and your Storytelling Theatre

• Your first brand impression is everything

• Sampling is where you build and spread your brand story

• You build your die hard fans one by one. Sample by sample.

• You create a unique connection with one consumer, they spread that connection

One thing we absolutely nailed at ManiLife. We had a relentless focus on doing amazing sampling sessions. I saw it as a Theatre and a Storytelling Machine creating brand depth and connection.

2. Checking Availability is like having a goal keeper on the road

In Grocery, not checking availability is like scoring an own goal. You’ve done all the work to win the listing. Not on shelf is literally ruining your rate of sale.

• People who can check availability whilst on the road - make sure you’re not screwing Rate of Sale.

• People who can see if the store manager can give them more facings or a cheeky bit of off-shelf in the indies

• People who can make store managers feel special - can wangle off shelf

I really believe founders and directors should do 1 x sampling session per week

Firstly, all your competition won’t do it. They’re too busy having languid luncheons at Soho. They’re too busy building Top Down.

Why?

1. You’ll be ALL OVER that first impression

2. You’ll inspire and show your team despite the size of the business you’re willing to roll your sleeves up get your hands dirty

3. Your competition won’t do it. So that’s an automatic edge.

4. You’ll spot things your competition cant because they’re not doing it.

5. Being incredibly close to the consumer will give you feedback you’ll never be able to get from pontificating in a board room.

6. You’ll set the pace for your brand - a la Giles Brook

If you’re reading this thinking: ”I just don’t have the time for a sampling session we’ve got a board meeting this week:

If you’re reading this thinking: “we’ve already got an amazing field sales person and I need to focus on this JBP”

That’s the problem looking at you right in the face.

This was a pic I found of Huib from Tenzing outside Waterloo train station this week.
Huib knows brands are built top down and bottom up.

It’s one hour a week.
Make the time.

fancy a free consultancy sesh from big fish?

Our wonderful sponsor big fish are responsible for the BIGGEST brands in the game. Charlie Bighams. GU. Tyrell’s. The Coconut Collaborative. Roda’s. RANA. Yeo Valley.

big fish has worked with pretty much EVERY single brand in your cupboard.

The TOTALLY-bloody amazing news?

We are offering one free consultancy session to one lucky brand… If you’re a Force for Good. Truly disruptive. Taste amazing.

Please feel free to reply to this email, we’d absolutely love to hear from you!

Still Hungry? Course you are…

Please feel free to gorge on the most downloaded podcast episodes of all time (these are CERTY: BANGERS)

1. Rory Sutherland: Why Challenger Brands Must Never Follow Logic to Truly Disrupt Categories 

2. Waitrose CEO: How Challenger Food & Drink Brands Can Win and Build Profitable Partnerships with Waitrose - James Baile

3. Spencer Matthews: How Spencer Matthews Built Unshakeable Resilience and Raised + £10m to Launch Clean Co. in Sainsbury's, Tesco and the U.S.A. 

4. How Grenade Exited to Mondelez for £200 Million and Lessons in Unapologetic Authenticity- Juliett Baratt

5. Tyrells Tycoon: How William Chase built and sold Tyrells for £50 million and sold Chase Distillery to DIAGEO 

Or read our most read articles of all time

1. Quick quick - we must escape the Middle

2. You moron you let the disease infect your mind

3. do you like bad sex?

4. raving in Ibiza taught me six brand building lessons