Marketing Highlights: The Podcast

Here we will share marketing highlights from The Archives.

J&B On The Rocks

This series will feature marketing programs from our past, which we think you can still takeaway tidbits that apply to today's world. The first story takes us back to a traveling rock wall in the 1980s. Tune in to hear why Dill doesn't believe in taking no for an answer. There are no new ideas, but rather can you execute them and bring them to life in a way that's relevant in today's world. Listen Now

The Coca-Cola Road Trip

A program that gave out 600,000 samples, traveled 120,000 miles and made over 20 million impressions per year. This program started early in the game of understanding the importance of giving a creative experience that you can't get anywhere else - it married music and sport and gave everyone in the family something to get excited about.  The lessons include: the importance of longevity, the impact of a t-shirt, and how the human touch makes such a difference when selling your product. It's about connecting to the brand and bringing that brand to life in a meaningful way. So what's next? You've gotta be looking 1-5 years ahead.  Listen to the end to hear Dill's thought starter for the future! Listen Now

The Cherry Coke/Sega Sonic Shuttle

We never know where marketing lessons with Dill are going to go, but one thing is guaranteed - there will be takeaways that can be used in business today. The Cherry Coke/Sega Sonic Shuttle started in 1993 and was so successful that it was repeated the following two years, 1994 & 1995. 33 markets, 1.74 million samples, 800,000 Sega Sonic game plays, and over 1 million incremental media mentions. This marketing program is an old idea that would be great in today’s world as people are starving for human touch now more than ever. In this episode, we urge you to be creative about how you approach using physical marketing tools and where you find them - new is not always better, there are ways to bring old assets back to life that can be even more meaningful to audiences than something new. Listen Now

The PGA Tour Blitzed By Non-Alcoholic Beer

This marketing case study comes just in time for Master's week. We revisit Dill's days working with O'Doul's NA beer - long before NA beer was a "thing". Tune in to hear how the perfect serve idea was born and glean lessons on culture, quality control, and the idea that there are no new ideas. Listen Now

The Olympic Torch Relay

This marketing highlight is from one of the most monumental marketing programs that we were ever a part of, the Olympic Torch Relay. Tune in to hear the story of our first Relay, how we learned to pivot on the road, and the power of a simple media message. Listen Now

The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour

Music and Marketing - tune in to this episode to find our how Dill ends up on The Rolling Stone’s stage in Barcelona, Spain. Listen Now

Cheers

In 1984 we did the first Busch CitySki on the Boston Common. It would not have happened had we not met Tom Kershaw, the owner of the Hampshire House. A Restaurant across the street from the Boston Common. His basement bar became the location for a television show called “Cheers”.

The theme song is so appropriate for today so I thought we should share it:

Making your way in the world today

Takes everything you got

Taking a break from all your worries

It sure would help a lot

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name

And they’re always glad you came

You want to be where you can see

The troubles are all the same

You want to be where everyone knows your name.

It is our sincere hope that everyone is staying positive and healthy.

Know that we will all get through this as we have a place where everyone knows our name. Right here!

Let’s make it a great day.

Stay low...Keep moving...Dill

Intregrity

in·teg·ri·ty

/inˈteɡrədē/ noun

• the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

• The state of being whole and undivided
  

I’d like to tell you about my friend, Karl Eller. 

Karl started an outdoor billboard company in his early career and built it into a billion-dollar business. After this tremendous success, he started a new venture as the CEO of Circle K convenience stores. Within the seven years of his leadership, annual sales more than quadrupled to nearly $3.5 billion. Then came the unexpected - Circle K filed for bankruptcy. 

With bills that the company could no longer afford to pay, he returned to what he knew best: outdoor advertising. Once again, thanks to his hard work and dedication, he built a tremendously successful business and was able to pay back every vendor owed. He did the right thing and showed up for those who were relying on him.

In my mind, living up to commitments is one of the most important aspects of our integrity. If we say we are going to show up, we don’t just show up - we get there 15 minutes early. We show that we respect and value the time that others are giving us and hold ourselves accountable to giving them every ounce of our attention.This can be hard! But if we lose that trust, we lose everything. This can, and should, be applied to both our professional and personal lives. 

Integrity is all we got. Show up for your collaborators, your mentors, your friends, your students, your employees, and your family. Get there early. Listen. Make it a pattern, without exception, and you will inspire others to do the same.

Let’s make it a great week and look forward to making the world a better place.

Leadership

Leadership…but first, Followership.

10 years ago I met a young man who was an Annapolis graduate and became the Lt. Commander of DEVGRU or as most of us know it Seal Team Six. We spent a month walking from the Cemetery at West Point to Dallas, Texas.

We had a lot of time to talk about leadership. His thoughts have stuck with me for all these years as they are profound.

First... if you are going to be a leader you must learn to follow.

Second...you must learn to lead yourself. You must set a bar that you aspire to and  do your best to get over it.

Third...when you are in that foxhole with your teammates you must care about their success more than your own. When that truly happens you will know you are a leader.

So as we all have a little extra time to reflect on what we are going to do next lets think about how we move forward in our lives.

Lt. Commander Coleman Ruiz thank you for sharing this with me and Bridget Ruiz thank you Sharing Coleman with us as we Carried The Load in May of 2012. Oh and by the way Bridget is also a graduate of Annapolis.

Everything Communicates

Everything Communicates

Today as we navigate these difficult times it brings to mind an old adage...everything communicates. We find ourselves having to choose our words a little more carefully so as not to offend the person our audience we are speaking to. Our actions can actually speak louder than our words.

I find this refreshing actually. It is a time for us to reset a lot of our behaviors which we never thought of as offensive to some people which just might have been. 

This is a tall task but I know we are all to it if we put our hearts and souls into it. 

Treat everyone as you want to be treated and think how wonderful things would be.

Let’s make it a great day...Dill

Passion

Passion

It was the foundation of McWhorter Driscoll.

P oise ...an attitude of confidence which comes from complete honesty. A belief in what you are doing is good for you and the customer. It is complete trust in the mission.

A ttitude...P^6: Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. C^4: do not Critique, Condemn, Complain, Cuss.

S trategic… You must think of your strategy in everything you do.

S ubstance... You must have integrity and a personal style.

I nnovative... You must embrace new thinking and change.

O n time. On budget.

Non stop forward motion...things will be difficult...CARRY ON!

In today’s crazy world having passion is a great thing! Just take a moment to think about where you are heading today:

What is a your mission? How are you going to make a difference today in the world around you?

We know it sounds Polly Ann-ish but we really can make a difference One Person at a Time...Spreading Positive Human Energy.

Here is to making the world a better place today than it was yesterday...Dill

Poise

Poise

Poise is an attitude of confidence which comes from complete honesty. It is a belief in what you are doing is good for you and the customer. It is complete trust in the mission.

Tim Brennan and I wrote this late one Thursday evening in 1992, after spending a week working with a creative team that was just going around in circles. People were not telling the truth. The ideas just kept piling up. Most were not on strategy. Finally we had to make a stand. On that Friday morning I walked into the room read Poise and within four hours we had the idea.

Over the years we have seen Poise posted in offices all over the world. Every project team we have worked with starts with each Team member hearing the Team leader recite Poise. Trust me after over 2000 separate project teams around the globe it works.

Today as we move forward in these turbulent times and have the difficult conversations that must be had Poise is more important than ever.

Mcwhorter Driscoll’s mission has always been to make a positive difference in people’s lives. Today we propose to make a slight change. And add the following:

1. Set a goal of getting everyone to treat each other the same.

2. Declare first Tuesday of November a National Holiday.

   1. Everyone will have ample time to vote.

   2. Trust the system

   3. Support the outcome

This will take time to accomplish but it is a worthy goal and we must begin it now.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said it well...

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

So let’s get started!

We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

Let’s make it a great day...Dill

Go Small To Be Big

“The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.”

- Lao Tzu

There are times when issues and challenges appear too big to overcome. We are experiencing one of those times today.

So how do we do are part to help solve these challenges?

I truly believe if each person reaches out to ten people and has an honest and hard discussion with each one of them about what is truly right and just...to truly love one another...we as a global society can fix this.

It is terrible that something so horrible had to happen to George Floyd to wake us up.

As we think about what we can do, it starts with the smallest of gestures...a smile...helping someone unload a grocery cart...looking in your library and donating a book...offering to tutor those less fortunate...what all of these things come down to is just doing the right thing thing.

Kristoff Cohran spelled out many other tangible ways that we can all come together and make a difference. I urge you all to go rewatch his speech and read the answers to our questions in our Intrepid Spirits Huddle Archive.

Ideas are a dime a dime a dozen...Action is what makes ideas come to life...Let’s make a commitment to each other to truly make a positive difference in this world today...We can do this...One small step at a time.

Thank you for doing your part in making a positive difference in people’s lives today.

Plan the Work...Work the Plan

On this week’s episode of Intrepid Spirits Huddle (rewatch here), we had a chance to discuss the crazy times we are currently living in. Between COVID-19 and the George Floyd protests, many cities are turning riots into a theme: ”America, We Have A Problem!”  

We as a nation did not tune into the “Heartbeat of America”.  We carried on as if nothing was happening. Yet there were - and are - a lot of things happening under the surface. Today is not the day to talk about all the different factions that are at war in our streets. Today is a time to talk about the possible solutions to get us to a place where we all *honestly* discuss our true feelings of a way forward. A place where the truth is heard. A place where you are not judged on your beliefs but by your actions.

This is the perfect time to emphasize: Plan the Work...Work the Plan!

We have been blessed to have worked on several projects that have challenged people to think about things in a different way:

• Carry The Load: What is the True Meaning of Memorial Day?

• Coca-Cola’s Olympic Torch Relays: What do the Olympics Mean to the World?

• Girl Up, with the UN Foundation: Why is Speaking Up about Women’s Rights so Important?

• Live 8 with Bono/Geldoff: One Billion Dollars of Debt Relief to Struggling African Nations

• Blue Planet Run: Awareness for Safe Drinking Water

• Step With It: Six Million Pedometers to Middle School Students to Show How 10.000 Steps A Day Keeps Them Fit

• Live Earth with Al Gore: Global Warming!

• Coca-Cola and the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour: Sharing the Largest Sporting Event in the World with the World

So you could say we have been training to bring about Change in America...What this looks like, we are not sure, but we have a platform in the Music World Cup that may be *one* of the many necessary solutions....we do not know for sure.

But we do know one thing: we have been here before and we have come up with vehicles to make a difference thanks to the collective of out-of-the-box thinkers we were surrounded by at the time.  

We are asking for your help. If you have an idea: PLEASE SHARE! We will not rest till we have a society that truly communicates with one another with total honesty and POISE. With that, we can say we all live in a society where everyone has what we all truly desire: Peace. Joy. Contentment.

Look forward to seeing you on Monday at the Intrepid Spirits Huddle at 12h00 EST!

Let’s make it a wonderful day...Dill

Live on Purpose, With a Purpose

“In these trying times” . . .  Doesn’t that statement seem quite trite today.  But think about it, how do we fully describe life occurrences.  It drives me crazy to hear a news reporter say, “Isn’t that a great story!” about someone’s life event.  Aren’t these more than merely stories?  Aren’t these more than trying times, crazy times, new normal times, next normal times, even peaceful times?

I would suggest that we live each day one day at a time.  And not just waste that day, but live each day with a Purpose.  Or better yet, Live on Purpose, With a Purpose. I know it is hard to really figure out what our purpose is, but is that even really that hard?  Think about it. Make it simple. For me, my purpose is summed up in this equation:  

Poise + Passion = Purpose

I define Poise as an attitude of confidence which comes from complete honesty.  A belief in what you are doing is good for you and the other person involved.  Complete trust in the mission.  

Passion stands for a robust number of beliefs:

Poise - An attitude of confidence which comes from complete honesty.  A belief in what you are doing is good for you and the other person involved.  Complete trust in the mission.

Attitude - P6+D4-C3=Winner!

Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

Dedication, Discipline, Desire, Determination

Condemn, Complain, Criticize

Strategic - Be strategic in all you do

Substance AND Style

Innovative

On Time, On Budget

Non Stop Forward Motion

To summarize all of the above statements, when I live with Poise,  and I bring the elements of Passion to the table in everything I do, everyday, whatever I am doing that day is a contribution to my Purpose for that Day.  That then all accumulates to my Purpose for the week, the month, the year, my life! 

I add a little icing of a Mission to make a Positive Difference in People’s Lives Everyday, then I have the choice to live each day on Purpose...with a Purpose.

Ok, maybe my purpose appears a little complicated to you, but it makes sense to me.  And that is what your purpose should do...make sense to you so that you can live it each and every day.  Not tomorrow, not every other day, not in the future, but every single day.