As a marketing professional, I have spent a good portion of my career thinking about building brands and telling brand stories. It was with some wonderment that I realized recently that my dog, Smooch, had created quite a personal brand for herself. Actually, someone made that observation to me and instantly, I knew it to be true. Now this is not some legacy brand that has been around for decades. This is a yellow Labrador retriever who was born on May 29 and did not arrive on our doorstep until August 25.
I, unwittingly had become her marketing agency when I began to share stories and photographs and videos of her. I did it not so much as a proud parent or dog owner; I mostly did it because I found her to be so utterly captivating and entertaining.
What are the five lessons?
- Show, don’t tell
- Be authentic
- Be surprising
- Be consistent
- Have an open heart
Let’s deconstruct the marketing campaign. It started with a simple photograph of her on the day we picked her out of her litter. What a face. I know, you’re probably thinking this is way too obvious. We all know that pictures of puppies and babies always get people’s attention, but there is something more going on here.
Her brand essence is that she exudes joy and love. We didn’t name her Smooch for nothing. When she meets anyone, human or canine, she kisses him/her almost immediately. If they’ll let her, she will slobber them with kisses for as long as they can stand it. At the dog park, she will stand in the center of a group of 8-10 dogs and kiss them one by one. She literally spins around in the center of the circle kissing everyone she can get her tongue on.
Brand marketers often strive to find their brand’s essence and hopefully find ways to allow prospects and customers to make a human connection with their brand.
But how did we invite people to get to know Smooch? Part of the campaign included a series of videos. One was on the day she got lost in the vegetable garden. We looked all over the garden until we found her hiding under the bean teepee in the center of the garden. She was happily chewing on beans and hiding from view.
Another video showed her removing hyacinth plants from our fishpond. She would systematically pull them out of the pond and munch on them, leaving leaves and stalks strewn across the lawn.
One of the earliest videos of her was of her first tractor ride with my husband. She was so tiny but she happily sat on his lap as he drove her around the yard in our bright red tractor.
Through each of these videos, she was her sweet self. She was consistent. There was nothing canned nor programmed about any of these moments. They were authentic and they all had an element of surprise.
How have we been able to measure the power of Smooch’s personal brand? She certainly didn’t set out in life to build one, nor did I set out to build one on her behalf. We can measure the power of her brand in 2 ways- by the sheer volume of social media interaction that happens on posts that are shared about her and by the word of mouth. The video titled "The Case of the Missing Puppy" garnered 789 views. Not bad for a simple video of a garden in Vermont. Another way that I can gauge the power of her personal brand is when I arrive at an event two states away and the first question everyone asks me is “How’s Smooch?” This dog has friends and fans all over the country, many of who have never met her.
So here’s the other very powerful marketing lesson. She has fans that, after meeting her, are spreading the word about her. The people that have met her, that have experienced her special slobbering kisses, are talking about her. They have learned firsthand that she is a lover. That’s who she is and brands that evoke love, are brands that people remember.
Sometimes as marketers our best work is the work that that we don’t labor over. It is the work that comes easily, unbidden. When the brand connection is real and authentic and consistent, and evokes feelings of love, that is when the magic happens.
Maybe it all comes down to the name- Smooch. We didn’t pay an expensive agency to come up with it. It was just the most natural and appropriate name for a lover.
