A Day In The Sun® newsletter S3 V6
[Reading time: about 4 minutes; 2 minutes if you skim; 2+ hours if you just slammed one of those THC drinks]
Happy almost-end-of-summer (this is where I avoid the “boy, summer went by fast” cliché). In this edition of A Day In The Sun®, we cover a range of topics from being over a barrel, to rain, to pickles (the Portland variety), to the Police, to GOODLES going back to school, and beyond. And we’ll still keep it be short.
1. OBSERVATIONS FROM THE BRANDVERSE
Things I think I think
Going crackers
So, you may have heard that Cracker Barrel had the audacity to change their logo. Then a bunch of folks went, well, you know. I dislike this change, but not because it’s “woke” (it isn’t; lighten up, Francis). Rather, I dislike the change because it removed anything and everything that was interesting. “Blanding”: now that’s something worthy of outrage!
Ed.: Breaking news hit just moments before this publishes. They are changing it back and Uncle Herschel lives on. Maybe Cracker Barrel and I are connected through ESP…
Oh, Oko
Oko is one of the more exciting and inspired new brands that I have discovered lately. Just stunning—not just the graphic design but the food itself. Diane von Furstenburg and her chef whipped this up. Anything that blurs the line between art and product has its hooks into me, fast and furious. (Ed.: for all its splendor, Oko is only my second-favorite dip / spread brand. Buffy is #1, for many of the same reasons. Plus, I’m involved in it.)
Mumbo jumbo
I have no idea what HORMBLES CHORMBLES means. I just like it. It’s delightful, unique, and engaging AF. And that right there is one of the highest compliments one can pay to a name. Also: things that you don’t immediately understand are discoverable, which ups engagement even more. Stop trying to “solve” everything, please. Creative is not math.
What’s in a name?
Speaking of naming, the name must be a joy to utter. Or at least easy to. I can’t pronounce the name on the right. As for the name on the left, I’m sure it’s a surname… but that doesn’t excuse the choice. We have to consider how names actually play in the wild.
A whale of an idea
Thanks, Orka. You flipped something as banal as FAQs into something extremely awesome. I wish more brands did this. As I have preached forever: everything is a creative opportunity.
Are we there yet?
Look, I love most of the “oh no you didn’t!” brand collaborations. Two good ones appear above. But the zone is being flooded by others. Which begs a question: where are we in this game? 8th inning? 9th? At some point, out-of-left-field collabs will become invisible. What’s next? Working on that.
One, two, three, four!
The headline above is how “I Saw Her Standing There” begins—a historically great count in. And it’s an apt way to celebrate the upcoming fourth edition of the Beatles “Anthology” series, announced last week. Fab! An old college prof once told me: the best works, the best ideas, are great if—and only if—they withstand the test of time. Ponder that for a minute.
In a pickle
I had the best time at a Portland (Ore.) Pickles semipro league baseball game recently. It was campy marketing fun in potent concentrate form, a bash to the frontal lobe. I wish big brands could act like that. They would retort: “we can’t” blah blah blah. Yes you can; you can do anything. It’s a matter of will; a choice. (Ed.: I don’t think that was actually Bigfoot. Or was it?)
Singin’ in the rain
In an Uber home the other night through a ferocious you-have-got-to-be-expletive-kidding me deluge that would make Noah himself say “damn,” I got to thinking: as climate change advances and these severe weather events become more frequent, entrepreneurs have to—and will, because it’s what we do—develop more products to help us manage through.
Otherworldly
Surfing through my phone on the train recently, an algo pulled me into a vortex of all-time great album covers. I took an extra beat on this one. The design wowed me when it materialized in 1981, and still does. And I only grasped a few basics (until I caved, and searched it up. Turns out there is in fact some thinking behind this, but I’d hardly label it “brand strategy”). The lesson here, per the one above: stop trying to “solve” everything, please.
Otherworldly II
This hereby establishes a newsletter record for number of references to the intersection of ghosts and trains. Just yesterday I noticed this bit of graffiti at our local train station. I love it because it is so engaging. A good lesson for any comms, whatever the medium. By the way: what do you think, yes or no? (Me: absolutely yes, and I’m certain)
It’s no use
I’m on a mission to retire the word “user” from business lexicon. It should never be used (pun not intended) anywhere, especially externally. Raise your hand if you’re psyched to be openly labeled as someone’s “user.” The term “target” is almost as bad and I’m trying to cancel that one too.
Spaceman
RIP Jim Lovell, who passed away on August 7. One of our most consequential Astronauts, Capt. Lovell was a pivotal figure in the Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 missions… and lived a wonderfully productive earthbound life for decades afterwards. Capt. Lovell was a Chicago guy, so news of his going “over the horizon” landed especially hard around here.
When I think about what “patriotism” means, I think of endeavors like our original space program, and heroes like Jim Lovell. Innovation. Exploration. Creativity. Honor. Principle. Service. Unimaginable bravery. Progress. That is the very best of who we are, and is deserving of patriotic fervor.
Ed.: Tom Hanks, who played Lovell in the movie Apollo 13 and got to know him well during the process, wrote a moving tribute to him after his passing. I’m running it in full in the “Rabbit Hole” postscript below. I can’t get through it with a dry eye.
Doggone it
Now that I’ve collected myself after honoring Jim Lovell, it’s time to discuss signs designed to deter dog owners from allowing their pooches to pee where they shouldn’t. The one above that asks for a little respect is 100x more effective than the simple “No!” In a battle of real insight vs. brute force, I’ll take the one with insight every time.
2. INSIDE THE ROPES
A quick look at some design thinking doing
Toga toga toga!
GOODLES continues to thrive on seemingly every dimension. One discovery of late: we seem to be emerging as a go-to for college kids stocking up for their return to campus. GOODLES really popped on TikTok this summer, and I suspect the two phenomena may be related. Winning the college audience is huge, for all the obvious reasons… and many non-obvious ones.
Ay Okaji
Big Nose Kate was the “Belle of the Ball” at an important spirits industry conference in Louisville a few weeks ago, in part because our CEO Melissa “Mel” Heim sneak previewed our soon-to-be-released expression of Kate aged in Tokaji dessert wine barrels. We’re calling this new product PREQUEL™ because Tokaji’s provenance is Hungary, which also happens to have been Kate’s birthplace (yes, this important icon of the American west was an immigrant; reportedly, she spoke English with an Eastern European accent to the very end). BNK Prequel was such a smash that the liquid was compared to the rare, exalted, coveted, nearly mythological Glenmorangie “Cake.” There may have been a transaction involving the remnants of the sample bottle for a four-figure price. Hihetetlen!
PS regarding immigrants: dammit, the Golden Rule must preside. “Golden”… isn’t that rich?
That’s big
Small Wonder powder concentrate shampoo just closed on a not-small and quite wondrous financing round, quite a feat in today’s climate by the way. The dry powder (see what I did there?) will, in part, allow the company to up its game in marketing. All I’ll say is, look out!
Aside: the incredible creature blow is what Google Gemini produced when prompted with “Small Wonder” (thank you, David). Anyone who knows me will not be surprised by the fact that (1) I love this and (2) I can’t help but think, okay what can we do here? The answer to (2) is probably nothing; for one, a seahorse is already in place as our small wondrous brand icon.
What have we here?
As an advisor, I’m working on an initiative to help a large CPG company stay true to the purpose, essence, positioning et al of a brand they acquired a few years ago—because, to the acquiring company’s everlasting credit, they don’t want to screw it up. The work has afforded me the opportunity to spend lots of time with the cofounder of the acquired company, something I love doing. Because, regarding founders, “it takes one to know one.”
TO THE FUTURE
I’ll close by reprising the sign-off line of the great Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News fame: “That’s it for now. Take care of yourselves, and each other.” Well put, Lester. We miss you by the way!
Get in touch:
A Day In The Sun
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Evanston, Illinois 60201
paul@ADayInTheSun.com
Below: post by Tom Hanks following the passing of Captain Jim Lovell, astronaut, whom he knew and played in Apollo 13. You might want some Kleenex.
