Looking Local - What We Can Learn from Red Wing Shoes

Over the memorial day weekend, I visited the Red Wing Shoe store, in Red Wing Minnesota. Red Wing might be famous for a number of things, but to the layman like me, the shoes are the first thing that come to mind. After all, they’re not just for people who build skyscrapers – they’re also popular with people like Drake. As I walked into the store and saw their enormously huge boot, I set out to find what makes Red Wing shoes so … cool.

(Caption: The boyfriend at the boot.)

Here are a few things I noticed that are contributing to Red Wing Shoes’ success:

• Craftsmanship is cool right now

We’ve been doing a lot of research on the psychological motivations behind fashion, and one insight we found is that men’s fashion is highly connected to quality, craftsmanship and the stories behind those elements. This has become especially pronounced after the recession hit, as the metrosexual trend faded and men’s fashion became more about traditional, workmanly functionalism. The industry has created an acceptable entry point for the common guy to participate in fashion, and that’s by making it an accessory that aids their connections to work, nature and career success. This is very different from the traditional view of fashion, which is connected more to vanity and wealth. Red Wing boots fits right into this new opportunity for men’s fashion.

• They give a surplus of information about how their products are made, and who is making them

Shoes are a rough category when it comes to transparency and consumer trust in manufacturing. When you picture a shoe being made, a sweat shop probably comes to mind. Red Wing Shoes, with its Minnesota-based manufacturing and wealth of videos showing how their shoes are made, creates the opposite impression. We see real hands making the shoes, and workers (who aren’t 12!) talking about the career they’ve built their life around. In a time when we’ve become disconnected from the products we wear, we get to see all the pieces that go into one shoe, and it’s fascinating.

• They don’t market differently for different demographics

There is no special “rapper” section at the Red Wing shoe store, although rappers may love their shoes. While Red Wing shoes is probably aware of their growing appeal, they don’t create different marketing messages based on who they think is listening where. Instead, they just present the shoes with information about how they enhance the type of work they were designed to aid. The impression you get is that they’re for people who do serious physical work, industrial, good-old American work, which is both aspirational and non-polarizing at the same time. A blogger at The Sartorialist might not be wearing the boots to construct a cabin in the north pole, but it probably makes a guy feel a little cooler to know that he could, if he wanted to.

• Their emphasis on heritage makes them feel timeless, not trendy

Their store in Red Wing isn’t just a store, it’s a museum, complete with old shoe design sketches and ad campaigns drawn up by Norman Rockwell. You get the sense that it’s a brand that stuck around because of its function and unparalleled ability to fulfill a societal need. This speaks louder than just “connecting with youth” by choosing the sexiest spokesperson. This authenticity is especially important to Gen Y, who actively police the authenticity of all things around them.

Red Wing Shoes is growing, but it’s done so by sticking to their roots, and re-imagining what they do best in new ways. There are still many opportunities for them to embrace digital and do even more, but there’s a lot we can learn from what they’re already doing right.

-Becky Lang

Are you a 3, 4 or fired? Thoughts on the modern performance review.

As part of our review process (in beta), we’re publishing our goals for the year. The intent of publishing our goals is to give everyone the proper context for giving feedback, but also open up opportunities for peer-teaching.

The goals I’m sharing here are informed by my latest performance review and conversations with my manager. The over arching ideas the summarize the focus of this coming year for me are leadership and performance.

Leadership – Just because we can’t attribute any idea to one specific person, doesn’t mean there wasn’t a person leading the charge on the project. Our flat hierarchy means that everyone is expected to take on the responsibility of leadership when it’s their time to do so.

I want to set my team up for success.

1. Set the tone for my projects and think beyond the deliverables. Every project should be viewed as an opportunity to learn something new about marketing, to make a contribution to culture, or discover a new way of working.
2. Experiment with processes that maximize the strengths of the team. A well-tuned team is capable of developing better ideas and are more productive.

I want to make my projects accessible to everyone.

1. Leverage the open spaces around the office as war rooms or project spaces. This kind of transparency will allow anyone to check in on my projects, and if they’re feeling generous, send a few thoughts my way.
2. Conduct and share post mortems for my projects.

Performance – I like to break down performance into parts that are inward and outwardly facing. For inwardly facing performance, I believe in modeling my skill sets after the T-shaped worker and want to extend the horizontal bar. For outwardly facing performance, I believe that it needs to be objectively validated by a third party. We can’t be the only ones drinking the Kool–Aid.

I want to become a more well-rounded strategist.

1. Learn search engine marketing and how it can be leveraged for insights.
2. Develop a working knowledge of key UI/UX principles and best practices.
3. Develop an understanding of key public relations principles and best practices.
4. Evolve my perspective on marketing. This time next year, I want to have a different outlook on how I practice marketing and solve problems for out clients.

I want to perform at a high level.

1. Have at least one project that is worthy enough to be written up as a case study on the Zeus Jones website.
2. Have at least one project that can be submitted to the Fast Company Innovation By Design Awards.

While almost all of the people who stumble upon this blog can’t really give me feedback on my work, you could help me with the peer-teaching aspect of it. If there are any resources (blogs, articles, videos, or podcasts) that would help me reach my goals, please feel free to share it with me.

-Nien Liu

(Source: zeusjones.com)

Culture as a framework for invention.

Culture has been on my mind lately after having read Grant’s latest, and very useful, book and because we are working on a bunch of different projects at the moment where culture and the impact of culture play a very big role. Specifically, I have been thinking a lot about the fact that:

1. Culture is a framework for invention that inspires inventors
2. Culture is a framework that allows everyone else to evaluate the invention

Fashion is a good example of these dynamics in play. Most trends have their basis in a reaction to something that’s happening in culture. Becky pointed this out very recently in some research she did for a Nordstrom project. Pulling from lookbook.nu, she discovered a series of different trends:

View them all, in larger size, here:

All of these are commentaries upon culture or aspects of culture which are subtle, nuanced and depend entirely upon a subtle and nuanced understanding of culture in order to appreciate. Taken literally, many of them would be meaningless or would have an entirely different meaning than intended. Therefore, culture not only inspires these trends, it is also essential for appreciating these trends.

The Facebook phenomenon has reached fever pitch and one thread to have emerged is the introspection by global leaders from outside the US regarding the state of innovation in their countries. In particular, China has been in the news frequently, wondering whether and when she can produce innovation of Facebook magnitude. Characteristically, conversation has been confined to the impact of the political system, or the state of the educational system, or American Manifest Destiny, very little discussion has been given to culture.

American culture was exported and consumed long before Facebook. And American culture sowed both the seeds of Facebook’s creation, as well as its adoption by people all around the world. Were it not for our common reference points in American culture, Facebook might have seemed as impenetrable and alien as Sina Weibo is to us.

Nien, recently put together a brilliant presentation on how modern brands can change culture. One of his insights is that the structure of a modern brand – i.e. built around a purpose – is essentially a model of culture.

Therefore, when companies adopt a modern branding model they are also adopting a model of creating and disseminating a culture that is specific to themselves. In doing so, they are also sowing the seeds for invention and evaluation that favors them and their ideas.

Adrian

Marketers: When You Complain About How Facebook Doesn’t Pander to You, You’re Just Making it Look Cool

Facebook is going public, and many business publications are skeptical. How much can Facebook really be worth? Its main revenue is advertising, and it cares way more about its users than the marketers paying it. But what these people are really saying is, “This is scary because it’s different. Companies are getting rich and famous in a slower way, that’s not about the bottom line but about how important they are to culture. We don’t know how to measure that. That makes us nervous. Beyond that, advertising on the Internet is hard and strange, and we’re mad about that.”

To everyone who doesn’t work in advertising, these articles say one thing: Facebook still cares about its integrity. Look what happened when MySpace (My_____) pandered to advertisers. It died. Here is why the current conversations about Facebook are missing the point:

1. The conversation shouldn’t just be about click through rates

Marketers are mad because Facebook doesn’t seem to have designed a way for them to get higher click-through rates on their ads. Is this really the biggest deal here? Getting high click through rates, whether through takeover ads, pop-up ads, ads that freeze your browsing experience until you look, has been a fairly sad pursuit that has resulted in little more than interruptive ads that make people hate how advertising works online. Why should this be the main objective of Facebook?

2.  Facebook provides brands with something much more valuable than a space to advertise

Facebook allows brands to create conversations with their customers, to provide better customer service and to build a community of people loyal to their brand. Beyond that, it changes the way customers interact with brands and evaluate how much they care about them. It has raised the standards for how brand messaging works. That is valuable, but scary to brands that don’t want to make a change, or don’t how to make valuable content on Facebook. Instead of worrying about click through rate, make your page better. People will come.

3. Facebook might find other ways to make money.

Facebook isn’t just an advertising platform. It’s a destination where people spend hours and hours of their day, one that was built on a technological innovation. With all the out-of-the-box thinkers and talent they’ve hired, it’s likely that they’ll find other ways to make money providing services, not just advertisements.

Mark Zuckerberg has shown a lot of reserve, patience and self-guidance in the way he’s run Facebook. He waited much longer than he was advised to put ads on the site, wanting to establish its social cachet first and foremost. He’s shown a lot of leadership, although in a non-traditional way. Let’s not use their public offering as a time to pressure the site to follow the will of advertisers alone.

-Becky Lang

Keeping Your Brand Purpose Credible

One of the first things we do at Zeus Jones is work with brands to nail down and articulate their core purpose. This helps their business become about more than just the products they make, but about a vision for their brand, and the impact they want to have on society. For example, Patagonia isn’t just about making coats, its mission is to “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, [and] use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” Working outward from this mission, they’ve raised the bar on their whole category, challenging their competitors to do better by the environment, and give back more.

It would seem that the formula for helping a brand find its core purpose is simple. You just dedicate yourself to the type of person who uses it, or make it about the broader lifestyle it’s a part of – and boom, there you are. A mop is all about helping busy moms be better, or a sexy car is all about inspiring people to take daring chances every day. But do those really sound convincing? Is that really what mops and cars are for? There is such a thing as having too broad and wide of a core purpose. Actions that come from these mission statements tend to feel like abstract campaigns rather than something that evidences the relevance of a business.

Look at Patagonia’s purpose. It dedicates itself to nature, which is connected to the lifestyle of its customers, but it expresses that through its environmental processes and transparency. It’s pretty evident why their purpose and actions are related to their business.

In the short time I’ve worked in marketing, I’ve noticed that communications that force customers to make a logical leap to connect them with their brand are less effective. People shouldn’t have to think, “Um, I guess I kinda see how Dr. Pepper is about declaring your individuality.” Because it’s not. It’s soda.

Here are two simple guidelines for creating a core purpose that leads to actions, communications and experiences that people will buy (figuratively).

1. It should have a clear implication on the way you do business.

Look at a brand like Warby Parker. Their mission is to create lenses at a revolutionary price point, and to act on their belief that everyone has the right to see. This is clearly evidenced to customers through their price point and the massive amounts of giving that they do. This makes it feel credible. Dr. Pepper may value individuality in their campaign messaging, but what are they really doing to promote this in the world? It would be hard to find evidence of that because it is so generally vague. Which leads to my next point …

2. It should be easily connected to your product or service.

The more abstract  you get with your core purpose, the more people are going to have a hard time grasping it. For example, I recently wrote about how bizarre Honda’s Pinterest campaign seemed to me. I got that it celebrated adventurous people, but I couldn’t figure out why it was supposed to make me want a Honda, other than out of the vague argument that Honda stands for adventure. Should a car company stand for just … adventure? Shouldn’t it stand for something more car-related?

Customers don’t expect brands to be poets. First and foremost – they want them to make an excellent product, educate them on why that product is so excellent, and do business in a way that empowers people and gives back to the world. If your core purpose leaves these elements behind, then people aren’t going to work hard to figure out why it makes sense.

-Becky Lang

image from Warby Parker

Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Put Your Brand on Pinterest

Today I caught wind of Honda’s new Pinterest campaign, which encouraged 6 people identified to be heavy Pinterest users to take a day away from the site to actually do some of the stuff they’ve been pinning about. It’s clear they believe that Pinterest is a place for people who don’t act on their desires, a distraction that keeps people from the real world. They believe people should instead go out and do things, preferably in their CR-V. Oh, and they should share their adventure … on Pinterest.

As Adfreak pointed out, “The campaign is nicely designed and executed, but somewhat frustrating. If the only way your brand can relate to Pinterest is by dissing it, isn’t it disingenuous to build a whole campaign around it?”

Seeing this was a bit of a mindwarp for me. First of all, I’ve always wanted a Honda. I grew up thinking that they were good cars. Second of all, I think often about how brands could use Pinterest in interesting ways. But seeing this, a campaign that is, in it’s own way, guided by a philosophy (do something in the real world!)  took me far away from how I’m used to thinking about cars and dropped me into a really uncomfortable place. In some ways, it seemed kind of sexist. Pinterest is notably used by a majority of female users, and their assumption that it’s a frivolous place but still worth using to spread a marketing message is insulting.

The point is, sometimes forcing your brand onto Pinterest can backfire. Pinterest is a place for creativity and idealism, not necessarily for all products everywhere. Here are a couple questions to ask yourself before going there with your marketing.

1. Does your product fit with the mood of Pinterest?

What succeeds on Pinterest? Cute clothes. Recipes. Household items. This makes it perfect for retailers and many brands that work in consumer packaged goods and have lots of recipes at their disposal. Products that have a connection to the world of design, emotion, inspiration – those might have a chance. Products like, say – Aspirin, are going to feel out of place unless you get real creative.

2. Do you respect Pinterest and its users?

If you don’t, like Honda, don’t compound the annoyingess of condescending them by also clogging up their platform with your advertising messages.

3. Do you create media that might otherwise end up on Pinterest?

Maybe your product isn’t necessarily pin-worthy, but your brand has a connection with the design world, whether it’s through partnerships or empowering a creative consumer base. Look at Pantone – buckets of paint aren’t that sexy, but they are empowering people to create all kinds of media around something simple – colors. Whether it’s Pantone recipes or their dyed Easter eggs, they’re conquering Pinterest.

4. Is this just another house for your TV campaign?

If your TV campaign is all about adventure, you can extend that theme onto Pinterest. But it’s going to be more compelling if you use Pinterest in a way that doesn’t make your campaign the star, but your creative consumers. This means doing something more timeless and interactive, not something that needs a bunch of cultural context to make any sense.

A good rule is – if there’s no natural way for your brand to get on Pinterest, don’t worry about it. Happy pinning.

-Becky Lang

To Solve the World’s Biggest Problems, We Need to Become Better Translators

Recently, I was talking to someone who works in the field of child literacy. She’s constantly worried that her school’s program, where teachers work one-on-one with kids who are behind on reading, will get cut.

When you think about it, child literacy is one of the most important things in the world. It’s one of those ungreased wheels that allows generations held back by class, linguistic differences and poverty to grow up missing educational opportunities to escape those problems. If we dramatically improve children’s literacy, we could start to significantly reduce racial and class disparity in future generations. Yet programs to address this issue are constantly under threat of getting cut.

“So what do you think would help your program avoid getting cut?” I asked her.

“We would need to make them actually understand what we do and why*. And that’s impossible.”

This problem is one common for almost every industry. Physics. Legislature. Charity. Marketing. Something takes a lot of effort to understand, so people simply don’t try. But we need to stop waiting for them to try – we need to bring that information to life for them in new ways.

We live in a society where millions of complex systems run by highly-specialized people work together in unison every day. And we make big decisions about these systems without understanding them, because a) the outside world doesn’t bother to and b) people aren’t sure how to translate what they actually do to the outside world.

If we could all become better translators, the world would get better. And we are learning new ways to do this. While infographics are affectionally disdained, they have shown that we can get people to want to learn by making statistics more visually digestible. And digital culture is helping us share more information every day.

For marketers, translation should be at the center of helping good businesses gain the reputations they deserve. At the heart of every business is a product or service that is carefully designed and created. If businesses could find ways to translate all the thinking that goes into that product, whether it’s the physics that go into a car motor or the agriculture processes that go into orange juice, they could start to gain public trust.

Historically, brands haven’t talked much about any of that, other than just a euphemistic glaze in a commercial. But the Internet gives us a chance to really educate the public with the knowledge that businesses hold. And some are already doing this, like G.E.’s Ecomagination project.

Translating these complex processes isn’t just about helping a brand sell more product, it’s about being a responsible brand. Businesses can help the world get better if they give consumers the tools they need to make better choices. If we all step back and understand how big words like sustainability, education and innovation work on a specific, technical level, we can encourage systems that work and fight myths that prevent progress from moving forward.

-Becky Lang

* Like many industries, the forces at work in child literacy programs are not the ones you would expect.

The people controlling the budgets tend to blame schools for illiteracy, but according to this teacher, these programs are bandaging problems that started much sooner. In her opinion, the biggest reason kids get behind is because their parents didn’t read to them often as a child, usually because they’re working too many jobs to keep their family afloat. Without this experience, many kids don’t understand how a storybook works. How are the words on the page different from what’s in real life? How are they supposed to react to these words?

Beyond that, the kids also lose out on the emotional comfort most kids develop toward books when they are used to confronting them with their parents. The parent reading makes them feel safe and guided through the process, and only with a one-on-one teacher can they get a similar feeling of trust and comfort toward the written word. But explaining these problems opens up many discussions that go beyond reading. It’s complicated, but it’s worth understanding.