20 Nov Who’s doing content right?

These Guys. That’s who!

Used to be you needed to look to the big brands to learn how to do marketing and brand loyalty right. Aspire to be a brand juggernaut like Coke or a McDonald’s or a Martha Stewart.

But these days. The days where everybody wants to be an entrepreneur – ok, maybe not everybody, it just seems like everybody wants to be a startup.

These days, it’s important to look at some of the smaller guys who are doing it really right. These are the little guys who are getting noticed around the country from seemingly out of nowhere.

They are doing so much right. Branding. Content. Viral potential. Intrigue. And they are winning customers and getting noticed by media outlets, too.

Now, we here have nothing to do with these brands, as much as we’d like to. So we have no interest in mentioning these companies here other than we’ve been completely impressed with their work. They’re using cool, sleek and simple design. Direct messaging. Video. Humor. Personality. And shareable content. And it is getting them noticed. Get a glimpse here >>

The one connection we do have to these upstart brands is that we’ve used their products. And that is the common denominator here. They all have outstanding products. You should try them all.

DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB

If you follow viral marketing news at all, you’ve probably already seen this one. If you haven’t, it’s still f***ing GREAT! Watch the video. Then, watch the follow up video. Read about their approach. It’s smart, sharp, simple and really, really funny. Which makes it memorable. These guys don’t need to worry about their users jotting down the URL just to remember them. They’ll be talking about the video and sharing it with their friends on social media and email. The singular common response from everyone we’ve talked to about this video… “I thought this was a spoof, but it’s not. It’s for real!”

The next universal question is “wow, that’s a great price. I wonder if the blades are as good as they say?” Between you and me, they are. Visit the site and buy some.

CRIQUET POLO SHIRTS

These guys have created a brand world all their own. And it is truly impressive. And I’d LOVE to tee it up with them any time.

They use the Caddyshack world, but they don’t hijack it to draw interest to their products. It’s interpretation, not imitation. The movies vocabulary permeates their communications, but it isn’t a Caddyshack tribute band. It’s not even homage, really. It’s just honest. You get the feeling this is exactly who these guys are.

They have a clean, intuitive e-commerce site, but they intersperse great video content throughout and play on the golfer/caddie tradition in a way the illustrates not just how much they love their product, but how much they love their lives. Golf, baseball, the 19th hole and happy hour are their home. Check out their “Who’s Wearing Criquet” and the Texas Playboys Baseball Club for another way of showing what you’re about rather then telling. They’ve even named their products and colors with golf-coded language that only adds depth for true fans.

And on top of it all, they’re operating one seriously awesome referral program. I hope it works out for them.

HARRY’s RAZORS

Design is the key to these guys and they are utilizing Facebook ads in a very, very intriguing way. They have two main products. Both razors. The Winston and the Truman. Both named for famous Harrys and nowhere on the site or in their materials do they directly mention that fact. The Winston is highly polished, high-end, and beautiful. The Truman offers multiple color options and has a fun, yet utilitarian feel to go along with their tag line – “Great Shave. Fair Price. Simple.”

What’s more, they offer a full-featured digital magazine. This raises the bar on corporate blogging and it’s full of relevant stories, profiles and information. It’s connected to the brand, but not offensively salesy. In short, it’s pretty awesome.

The three brands I’m talking about here attack their content in three very different ways. Criquet adopted a real personality that meshes with the public personality, personae and names of their founders. They do personality with costumes and acting fiction in a way that’s a little bit silly that bring in specific references attractive to a cult audience – specifically Caddyshack. Dollar Shave Club has a very specific face of what appears to be a real guy – and as it turns out, it is the real guy. The founder of the company. Harry’s is more of a persona in the classic sense. There’s no real face on it, but there is a name and a feel of a personality.

What all of these brands do exceedingly well is personality. Yes, they are irreverent. Yes, they are challenging. Yes, they are unique and individual. Yes, they are outside the norm and outside many people’s comfort level for advertising.

But yes, they are warm. Yes, they are embraceable. Yes, they are fun. And that is what makes the difference in content marketing.

There are only two things in business that go viral. Funny and touching. And these guys hit mainly on fun, but they have something in there that’s truly embraceable that hits on “what am I like” or at least “what I want to be like.”

And that’s what they do well. They attack their audience from their guts.

Granted, the audience all of these brands are going after is smart, fun loving and probably a bit exclusive. But at this point, they are about creating their brand and getting traction in a highly targeted market. Once they establish themselves that way, they can start to expand their message to a larger base.

Irreverent. But not offensive. These guys all have GREAT products and they’re doing content right. You should take a lesson from them.

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