Three Minute Happiness

James Cooper

We’ve been working a fair bit with record companies over here at Another Anomaly. The same questions arise over and over again as they did when working with any other brand, say an airline. What to do in this crazy digital age? How open to be? How to create ‘the buzz’? Having been to a few festivals this year and just returned from the Virgin Mobile Festival it occurred to me that any brand could do a lot worse than copy Dave Grohl’s alt rock band, The Foo Fighters’ strategy.

Make it easy to be likeable.

I don’t really know anyone who actually loves The Foo Fighters. Most people think they are ‘ok’. When I said I was going to see them at VFest my cool music friends said, ‘oh, they will put on a good show’. I don’t think this is exactly the same as saying a girl has a ‘nice personality’ but perhaps close. They are just a band like any other band they have some good songs some not so good songs. Like brands, there are plusses and minuses. But they really work those plusses so that it’s very hard to dislike them.

Be on time.

There is nothing worse than bands turning up late. The crowd get antsy, some of them weren’t even there to see your crappy band anyway. And there has been a lot of bad press lately about being late – why get off on the wrong foot and consistently have to win back favor? Be aware of negative press and avoid any potential pitfalls. The brand equivalent is easy when one thinks of something like an airline but what of something like a chocolate bar? I would say the basics are making sure it’s in stock and in a semi-prominent position on the shelf. Don’t fall at the first hurdle.

Be clear.

Dave Grohl mapped out his intentions for the set after the first song. He said something like, ‘We are gonna completely f**kin rock out for at least fifteen songs.’ He also, very smartly in the context of a 10pm curfew, said, ‘We will keep rocking until they tell us to stop’. Again this is all about knowing the audience and putting they’re minds at rest. There is no debate. Joe Public thinks, ‘ok, they are gonna rock until the end, they would go for more if they could, they are on my side. They are a little controversial, anti-authority. I like this guy!’ This is just managing expectations but so many brands just don’t do it, leading to disappointment.

Stand for Something.

Music people know that the Foo Fighters stand for post-grunge FUN. That in itself would seem like an oxymoron but I would suggest that they created this niche and have creamed it. They are primarily there to entertain and have fun while doing it. They don’t ever stray from that. Every concert is fun. Every video is fun. The best brands, Nike, for example, have a great handle on this. Other brands are all over the shop – look what a mess Starbucks has made from moving away from just making good (better than a normal café) coffee.

Interact more than anyone else.

So all brands interact these days. Well, most at least try to. Not enough I’m afraid. Most singers will talk to the audience, even Thom Yorke said a few things on Friday night when I saw Radiohead in New Jersey. But Dave Grohl kept talking to the audience. He kept running to the very far edges of the stage. No one else did that. He went further, he tried to interact with as many people as possible. He’s not going to get paid any more for that, he doesn’t have to do that - he could just stand there. He could just act like a brand and expect people to come to him, but he doesn’t he goes to them. And he goes demonstratively further than anyone else.  Does your brand do that?

Be enthusiastic

This is a little like the above. But I do feel that so many brands and bands could be more positive in their outlook in life. Look what happened when Dove were positive about real women. Dave Grohl seems like he is one of the happiest men alive (and remember that he was about to give up music completely after Kurt Cobain committed suicide). Happiness is contagious – the flipside is of course that being a miserable so-and-so is also contagious. Being happy is also free.  

Be Collaborative

This is fundamental. Dave Grohl does stuff with other bands – with potential competitors. He plays drums with the Queens of the Stones Age, he gets other people, like Lemmy from Motorhead and Brian May (!) to come up on stage. He’s not afraid to mix it up. He’s open source. This works in two ways. He gains credibility in some circles for playing with QOTSA and Lemmy and other people know he can’t be taking himself too seriously if he starts playing with Brian May. From day one he has always said that Abba were as important to him (and Nirvana) as Black Flag. In their videos they always collaborate with the right people too, whether it be a director or an actor like Jack Black – it’s on brand. Some brands get it right, Puma are a great example but most are too precious thinking they either don’t need to collaborate or it’s beneath them. Wrong.

Be Flexible

Flexibility is also part of this. Different members of the bands play different instruments. Other bands would probably say, ‘we can do that’, but the point is they don’t. The Foo Fighters do and make sure you know about it. Everyone expects companies to be more flexible these days from how you get your coffee to customizing your car on a website before you buy it. This is not a fad, it won’t go away, it will only increase.  So do something about it before it’s too late. Also if flexibility is in your brand’s blood it’s so much easier to react when things go wrong.

Be useful.

Weird one for a rock band but stay with me. At one point Dave Grohl was given a set of keys that someone in the audience had lost. He did a very funny monologue going through what was on the keyring, like a library card and what sort of guy comes to a Foo Fighters gig with their library card and that he was gonna steal his truck and f**k it up etc. Everyone thought it was hilarious (remember – stand for something – FUN) but I bet the guy that lost his keys got them back in the end. So a simple lost and found message, something essentially useful, becomes entertainment. Most brands are terrible at this. I think Virgin Atlantic are the only airline I can think of that at least make an effort in this area.

Leave something extra for real fans.

Much has been written about Easter Eggs – little bits of funs in computer games that the coders make that only die hard fans find out or get access too. Bands can be a little like this too. At one point in the set The Foo Fighters covered ‘Young Man Blues’ by The Who. Taylor Hawkins, the drummer was wearing the same mod target t-shirt that Kieth Moon used to wear. No mention was made of it. They didn’t say it was a Who track but for a few music geeks out there they make the connection which makes them feel special for knowing stuff that other people don’t but also makes the band seem cool. Great brands should reward real fans in unexpected ways and then not make a big deal about it. Random acts of goodness create special bonds that are more likely to last.

Do it all (to be memorable)

My last point. If the Foo Fighters had done just one of the above things I wouldn’t be writing about them. If they had done three I might have maybe told a few people about it. But because they did them all it becomes something special – something memorable, something worth talking about. It’s difficult to do it all. Brand mangers have not been trained this way – they like an easy life (as do agencies). So it’s easier to spend a million bucks on one TV shoot or even a web site than do lots of smaller initiatives, even if together they are cheaper and more effective – look at Red Bull. This is the tanker that needs to be turned around in our business. It’s easy to blame clients but I suspect it’s as much the agencies as anyone else.

Will it work? Well who knows, but what I would say is that every single person I met after the show said they loved it. And I was converted. The Foo Fighters are not a ‘great band’. They are not really critically acclaimed and yet every one of their six albums has been up for a Grammy. So how does that work? They give people more reasons to like them than dislike them and they work hard at it. They may not win every award but they are always in contention. The cumulative effect is that they have longevity. And in this day that’s incredibly important for any brand. Anyone remember The Darkness?