"Walking The Dog" Marketing Strategy
Jo Malone paid people in NY to carry empty branded shopping bags to spark FOMO. Red Bull littered bins outside clubs with empty cans, so people would think thatās what was sold in the clubs.
I was listening to the podcast āHow I Built Thisā by Guy Raz. One of the 3 podcast I often listen to as it has many uplifting stories of how entrepreneurs created successful businesses.
On an episode featuring Jo Malone, founder of a luxurious multinational fragrance brand, she talks about her experience launching the brand in the United States with no real marketing budget.
Before that letās quickly take a tour of how a dyslexic girl worked tirelessly from an early age to create her iconic global brand, initially from her house in Bexleyheath, southeast London.
Itās a story of success against the odds.
Click the Spotify link below to listen to it when you have time
( Prefer reading, hereās the entire script )
As a girl in 1970s London, Jo Malone learned how to make face creams by going to work with her mom at a private skin care clinic.
She had to drop out from school and take care of her little sis & $40,000 debt after her mother passed & father had left them long back.
By the time she was in her 20's, Jo was running her own skin care and cosmetics business, which eventually grew to include bath oils, scented candles, and fragrances under the brand Jo Malone London.
Jo sold the brand to EstƩe Lauder in 1999 and then left the business after a life-changing breast-cancer diagnosis.
One interesting excerpt from the conversation
But the guy that took us over the million was, he said, I want the cheapest thing you've got so I can put it in her stocking. And it was an 8.95 shower gel. I shall never, ever forget it. And as I wrapped it, I handed it back to him and gave him a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne. And I said, Merry Christmas. And he looked and he said, you're never going to make a great businesswoman by doing that to everybody. He had no idea, but it was him that took us over the million. That's why.
She now has a fragrance company called Jo Loves, where she innovates with new kinds of scents and explores new ways to present them.
Back to walking the dog strategyā¦
What happens when you have amazing products that need to be sold, no money, and yet a luxury store has allowed you to space in their store?
Jo was allowed to open a Jo Malone concession in the luxury Manhattan store Bergdorf Goodman.
It was her big break and a chance to crack the US market.Ā
She had no money but needed this launch to succeed.
It was Joās husband Gary who came up with this brilliant idea, which she called āwalking the dogsā.
He employed people to walk around New York City holding 10 empty Jo Malone bags for the month and the six weeks run up to opening in Bergdorf Goodman.
And by the time they launched, everybody had seen these Jo Malone bags, which had nothing in them.
And everybody thought that it was a much more successful brand than it was
This simple idea paid off.
It built curiosity and intrigue around the brand which led to people flooding the Jo Malone store when it eventually opened shop.
It was the beginning of a success story, but it started with (almost) zero advertising budget and a clever idea.Ā
A year later, EstƩe Lauder bought the brand.
"If you canāt out-spend your competition, out-think them"
Other brands which used āwalk the dogā marketing strategy
Red Bull ā¦
in the night littered bins outside locations frequented by Londoners: clubs, footpaths, outside stations & near entrance of colleges, schools & universities with empty cans. When people woke up, they saw these cans everywhere & a subtle sub-liminal impression was created in their mind that everyone was drinking Red Bull, its demand was really high & THEY were missing out.
Pinterest ā¦
did the same thing when they first launched. They went into Apple stores and made the homepage Pinterest.com so anyone trying out the computer would see their page. They also did another campaign together called āApp pinsā
Spanx
Founder Sara Blakely got her friends to go to department stores to request Spanx too. Infact, Sara- the youngest female self-made billionaire - may have also invented influencer marketing when she sent Oprah a gift basket with a prototype and a note asking her to try on some SPANX & rest is history.
Indians brands using āwalking the dogā marketing
I can recall launch of popular review site Mouthshut.com in 2000.
Faisal Farooqui hired an elephant, wrapped big banners with his logo and made it do a city walk. Now you canāt stop but notice it & get all the buzz. So more like āwalking the elephantā marketing. He did get lot of flak from animal rights organisation but you canāt stop a genius mindā¦can you?
Faisal is also credited with introducing the concept of Auto rickshaw marketing that you see everywhere today. He used the back of the hoods of auto-rickshaws to advertise his startup Mouthshut.com in 2001.
These stories teach us an important lesson: to succeed, we need a determined and positive "Let's do this!" mindset.
Even when we don't have a lot of money or face tough problems, we can find clever ways to tackle them.
Remember, there's always a solution waiting for us, and most of the time, it's all about going against the popular trends and doing things differently. So, let's Buck The Fad :)
Buck-The-Fad insights
1) CONSTRAINT BREEDS CREATIVITY
If theyād had access to copious funds, Jo Malone & Spanx would probably have resorted to more conventional forms of advertising. Instead, their lack of cash forced them to think differently. To think creatively. All great entrepreneurs donāt let their constraints hold them back. They thrive in these situations.
Maintain this frugal, DIY mindset even if you do have money to spend.Ā
2) ASK FOR āFREEā HELP
People are generous. True friends and family are keen to see you do well. If you need help with your business, ask for it. This could be professional advice from an āexpertā friend. Practical help to do a specific job. An introduction to someone influential.
Most entrepreneurial stories involve friends, family & often strangers helping out in the early days. Donāt be afraid to ask.
However, there are 2 golden rules.
1)Ā Ā Donāt exploit. Ask once, but be wary of asking twice. Goodwill can easily become exhausted and you may lose friendships. Itās not worth it.
2)Ā Pay it back. If youāve got no cash, offer something in exchange. As a favour, I once helped a friend with her bakery business plan. She keeps sending cakes for our special occasions as a thank you.
Also, If you borrow money, pay it back when you become successful. With interest.Ā
3) EXPERIMENT
Some ideas work, some donāt. Youāll never know unless you give it a go. Have courage.
Put stuff out there. If it gains traction, great. If not, move onto something else.
In another podcast story, the founders of Headspace, the meditation app, originally started with meditation events before they decided to create their app. They learnt and then moved on to something more successful.
4) STEAL IDEAS
As I keep saying thereās no such thing as an original idea. Whilst Iāve never seen the āwalking the dogsā idea before, the idea of people displaying ads on the streets is not new. We can all recall the āsandwich boardā ads ā people acting as āwalking billboardsā, in the early days of advertising.Ā
Jo Malone was simply an updated (albeit brilliant) version of the walking billboard.
And, if you think the Jo Malone idea could work for your business, simply copy it.