Snoop Dogg, Rice Cookers, Speakeasy Gyms – Sales Lead Digest
In this week’s edition of the sales lead digest, we’re finding inspiration from brands and services refusing to give up as the pandemic stretches on. We have Corona making a splashy ad with the D-O-double G, we are reminded that the value in a solution comes from the underlying problem, we imagine working remotely from new digs, and we hear about underground economies popping up. Enjoy the reads and have a great weekend!
Watch Snoop Dog’s First Corona Ads
“…the brand in a press release notes that ‘the campaign began to take shape earlier this year but was paused as unexpected cultural considerations came into play.’ But curiously the ads have not been adjusted for the social distancing reality of today. The aforementioned ad begins with a beach bar scene in which no one is wearing a mask or giving anyone six feet of space.”
Remember all the jokes about Corona beer suffering from an unlucky name? I guess the reports of their death are greatly exaggerated. Alcohol sales have been a highlight in the pandemic and serve as a reminder that even in the toughest of times people find a way. Too much of stretch? These days I’m looking for any glimmers of hope!
The Battle to Invent the Automatic Rice Cooker
“In the early 1950s, Shogo Yamada traveled Japan promoting Toshiba’s electric washing machine. Along the way, he asked housewives about their most onerous task. Their answer was cooking rice three times a day, which in some parts of the country was still undertaken with a kamado. When a down-on-his luck maker of water heaters, Yoshitada Minami, came to him looking for work, Yamada passed the project on to him. And since cooking rice was women’s work, Minami passed much of the research on to his wife, Fumiko.”
I love stories of perseverance and triumph and this one has it all. A big problem, smart people working on a solution, and the answer lying with the people dealing with it every day. It’s a reminder that we marketers benefit from time spent with end users, but sometimes we have to sweep our biases away to listen to them. Want to fix the rice cooker problem? Spend time with the rice cookers.
Why Work From Home When You Can Work From Barbados, Bermuda or … Estonia?
“…the international leverage of freelancers is increasing considerably. ‘We absolutely expect interest in becoming a digital nomad to spike among independent workers in the coming years. Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of widespread remote work, and independent workers will be among the first to take advantage of a location-independent, technology-enabled lifestyle,…”
Would you take a shot at island living if they paid you to give it a try? I used to dream of working from a beach hut and sunning myself in a tropical paradise, but let’s face it, getting this newsletter out on a regular basis is hard enough. This article reminds me to look up some results from small towns and cities trying the same thing stateside. The last I heard, Maine was aiming at young, mobile work enabled people too. Colder, but it looks like Estonia’s winter isn’t a walk in the park either.
Secret Gyms And The Economics Of Prohibition
“…But, with California outlawing indoor fitness centers during the pandemic, she also remarked she was surprised to see they were open. ‘Oh, we’re not open,’ said one of the trainers. What Evelyn uncovered can only be described as a speakeasy gym. You know, illegal, hush hush, like the underground bars during the Prohibition era. These underground gyms appear to be popping up everywhere, from LA to New Jersey.”
Commerce wants to happen and like those trees growing on the sides of cliffs, it will find a way. My neighbor’s house had an old side entrance to the basement speakeasy. These days he could be renting it out for Zumba or Piyo if he still lived there. There’s always someone, somewhere willing to sell you what you want. I guess we should prepare to get our hustle on as we go into fall and winter. Could be a long one.
