Brand New Inconsistency

John: 00:00:04

Welcome back.

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I hope.

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Welcome back to Snap Decisions, the

podcast that gives you a behind the scenes

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look at the decisions that shape how

products and brands and people present

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themselves to the world, hopefully with

some very interesting conversations

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along the way with interesting folks.

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Good morning, Brian.

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Brian: Hey John.

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John: So Brian, I have a, I have

something that's going today for you.

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Brian: What do you got?

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John: Christmas gift.

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Brian: Ooh.

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Wow.

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John: Take a minute.

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We'll wait.

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Brian: I'm gonna have to

say the original Nintendo,

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John: Okay.

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Brian: you know, I, uh, we were

desperate for it, um, my siblings.

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So,

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John: What was the number one game

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Brian: well, we played a lot

of, tech mobile and, paper boy.

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And obviously the Marrier Brothers stuff,

but, Tetris, Million Hours on Tetris.

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So we didn't have an Atari, and we

didn't have any of the other early

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video game consoles, so that one

was the, the life changer for us.

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I wish I could rip the

ones out of my kids.

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John: Yeah, I was never a big

gamer, probably because my parents

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would never buy any, any sort of

gaming system, or because they

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became popular after I was, grown.

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but yeah, I'm glad I haven't had to

have that debate too much with my kids.

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Brian: Okay, well, what was your,

your best, uh, Christmas gift?

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John: My best Christmas gift ever

was, uh, a slot car racing track.

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Brian: Oh, man,

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John: I mean, didn't come anywhere

near living up to the TV commercials.

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Brian: I can never keep the

darn thing on the track,

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John: the cars fall off the track

all the time, or there's always

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one car that didn't work, so you

couldn't actually race somebody.

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but I remember just being just

so thrilled to open that up.

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Brian: and put it together.

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It was like the, the, just the

intense, excitement to just actually

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get on there and play as you're

putting the slots together or, your

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dad helping you put it together.

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John: So good.

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Brian: Yeah.

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That's a, that's a good one.

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That's a good one.

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I remember that one as well.

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John: I, I got a, worse

Christmas gift experience.

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Wasn't mine, but my

sister's and my brother.

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Yeah.

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My brother came walking

into the living room.

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We were all in presence and he

walked in with this like aquarium.

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Brian: Yeah.

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John: My sister was getting

a teddy bear hamster.

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Brian: Yeah.

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John: It had crawled and pushed

up the wooden homemade lid.

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My brother made, but couldn't get out.

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So it was dangling near

the edge of the aquarium.

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So her Christmas gift was

just basically screaming.

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Brian: Tortured.

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John: It was terrible.

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Brian: My, my, my favorite story on

A Worst Gift was, uh, after I got out

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of college, I moved back home with my

family for, uh, about six to nine months.

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And for Christmas that year,

I got luggage, which was a

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signal, signal to move out.

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John: Wow.

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Not even sort of subtle luggage,

luggage and moving boxes.

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Brian: Now, as now I sit and wait

for my mom to explain that again.

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John: Uh, all right.

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Well, listen, uh, speaking of

the holiday season, let's talk

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about some retail shopping today.

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And in particular, I know you are a

digital marketing guru, but I want to talk

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about good old fashioned brick and mortar.

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Brian: Bring it.

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John: Uh, so to warm us up, remember

back when Barnes Noble was kind of being

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demonized as the 800 pound gorilla who

killed , the small local bookseller?

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Brian: Yes.

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How could it?

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Yeah,

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John: and now we're kind of cheering

for them as the underdog against Amazon.

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It's kind of amazing.

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Brian: it, right?

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John: Yeah, I wanted to talk to

you about the fact that Barnes

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Noble as this country's biggest

brick and mortar bookseller.

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part of their back to book

selling basic strategy.

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,They are redesigning a lot

of their individual stores

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to have an individual look.

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So, no longer requiring the green and

brown and the, you know, consistency.

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but letting stores reflect kind of

where they are and the type of shopper.

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This is on the heels of, the

decision to allow individual stores.

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Sell books that appealed

to their local market.

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So it's not the same books

in every Barnes and Noble.

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Well, now the stores get to be reflective

of a local community and no longer the

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same thing, store and stay were out very

different from what we've come to expect

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from a, you know, a large retail chain.

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So, this is led by a

CEO named James Daunt.

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He founded his own bookstore chain in the

UK, and then rescued Waterstones, which

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was Britain's largest bookstore chain.

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A hedge fund , Elliott

Advisors, , bought a majority

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stake on Waterstones back in 2018.

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And the next year it bought

Barnes Noble in: 2019

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Daunt in as the Barnes Noble CEO.

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Obviously this is really counter

to traditional retail strategy.

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So I have a snap decision for you, Brian.

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Good idea or bad idea.

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Brian: I mean, I think it's, I think

it's awesome just thinking completely

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different and saying, you know what,

everybody always tells us to do

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this and never, it's not working.

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Like what's, what's flip it on its head

and say, let's try to go back to at

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least pretending we're an independent

bookstore or come off like that.

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John: And that's his ethos,

that's his ethos, right?

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He started like that and that's,

that's what he's trying to bring to,

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uh, the Barnes and Noble chain now.

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Brian: because, if you think of

what a bookstore is supposed to

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be, it's supposed to be that.

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Like, here's the books that we recommend,

we're book readers, we're putting the

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things in front of you that we know are

good, and you know, I was doing some

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research on this when you came up with

the idea, and the one funny quote was

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just like, they had people designing

the stores who've never read a book or

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helping them organize where to put books,

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John: Yeah.

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Brian: you know?

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And so, going back to the heart of who

they are and what they're supposed to be,

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I mean, it's, it's really interesting.

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I do find it ironic, I guess, is

the word on just the, you know,

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they're the corporate bad guys and

now they're trying to become the

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independent bookshop, that's kind of.

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John: And even more ironic that a

private equity company would come in

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and, you know, usually they're all about

efficiency and streamlining, right?

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This is the opposite, right?

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Brian: I'm just fascinated by this

because it really it's goes against

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every single thing that we've ever

learned and practiced as marketers.

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John: Exactly.

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Brian: you're trying, you're always

trying to find ways to especially with

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a brand be more consistent, and have

that pay off as an experiential thing.

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And in this case, it's

more about just the.

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Yeah.

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The idea of being that

thought leader in books.

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So, I give them a lot of credit for that.

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I mean, I want to go now and check

these out to see what they're like.

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John: Road trip.

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Brian: yeah, road trip, let's

report back on some of that.

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I, I did, I did read a funny quote

from an NPR article about this.

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And it was like, somebody was saying,

you know, they're trying to capture the

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more intimate independent bookstore feel

when it's still just a Barnes and Noble.

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But.

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John: Yeah,

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Brian: But I do love the, you know,

the CEO you mentioned, he said that

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they're not having any architects

doing any design at any stage.

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There's no interior designer.

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John: I know.

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Right.

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And they're great.

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I circled that quote too.

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And as a, brand marketer at heart.

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I'm with you.

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Like, you know, my initial reaction

was just wait, we always strive for

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consistency and especially at retail.

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and I love that.

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He said, you know, the identity people

would have a complete crisis kind of

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talking about brand consultants just

because it's breaking all the rules.

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And I think that's actually

one of the reasons.

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Maybe this is starting to work.

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Because it is starting to work.

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According to some Barnes and Noble

comments in the New York Times article

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renovation they did in the Upper

West Side of New York cost about

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4 million and it's on track to pay

for itself within a couple of years.

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Brian: Yeah, I mean, they're

looking at their sales like

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doubling this year in some of

their stores, which is fascinating.

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I think post pandemic and now that we're

in this digital first world, I think it

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really provides a lot of opportunities

for, the retail experience to be much more

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experiential and to try things out this

way and do it a little bit differently.

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I mean, honestly, some of these

places, you know, what else do

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they have to lose, especially a

brand like Barnes and Noble that.

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Yeah.

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Isn't never going to be out Amazon

online, but what they do have on

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them is space and an experience.

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So how do you use that to your advantage?

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, so it'll be interesting to see where

this goes and then, you know, two

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other brands kind of fall suit and

tries things like this, or just.

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Out of the box ideas, you know?

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John: I will use your last comments

there about the idea of creating retail

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experiences is a pivot to, maybe a little

bit of a holiday gift to anybody who's

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listening, which is some retail secrets,

you know, brick and mortar retail secrets

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that are designed to make you spend more.

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I think coming into the holiday season.

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It's a good conversation.

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Brian: Yeah, I love it.

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John: All right.

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So, so we all know some of

the standard tricks, right?

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Discounts on bulk buying, a bunch of stuff

you don't need, but you buy it anyway

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because it sounds like a good price.

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, Prices that end in, 0.

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95 or 0.

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99, you know, you, you,

you see the number before

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Brian: John.

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It's cheaper.

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John: It's cheaper, it's only 16, not 16.

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99.

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The idea of displaying complimentary

items next to each other, which is called

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cross merchandising, so you go and you

see the raspberries and oh look, there's

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cream and pastry shells right next to it.

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Those weren't on your list, but now

they're in your shopping basket.

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Brian: They have a way to do

that online, too, a little bit.

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John: Yes, they're great at it online.

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Like, so again, those are sort

of the standard tricks that

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I think we all know about.

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How about some of these that

people might not realize?

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placing expensive items at eye level.

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Brian: Interesting.

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John: Yep.

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You know, trying to save some money?

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Look down!

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or end caps just because there's a big

display of a lot of stuff at the end

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of the aisle doesn't mean it's on sale.

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It just means it's there and that,

you know, someone paid a slotting

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fee for it to show up there.

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here's one I didn't realize,

but now that I think about it,

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yeah, bigger shopping carts.

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Have you noticed this?

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Brian: No,

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John: Yeah.

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So shopping carts have gotten

bigger over the past few years.

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Brian: I didn't know that.

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I thought it was going the other way.

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John: Nope.

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So if you want to save some money, grab

one of those hand baskets, although

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I've noticed my local grocery store.

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doesn't even have them anymore.

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Brian: Really?

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John: No more handbaskets.

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That was a COVID thing, I guess,

because we were touching stuff.

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I don't know why.

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but if there's those smaller carts

or handbasket, grab those, because if

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you've got the bigger cart, you're going

to see it look kind of empty and you're

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going to start to fill it with stuff.

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Brian: Interesting.

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John: essentials, the back of the store.

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There's a reason the milk and the butter

and the eggs are in the back of the store.

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Brian: Right.

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That's what I was going to go for.

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Yeah, the eggs and milk all

the way on the opposite side.

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John: Yep.

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Brian: My local supermarket during

COVID, they did a remodel and.

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The entrance changed to the other

side of the store and then they had to

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move everything in the store so that

the eggs and milk were in the back.

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John: Mm hmm.

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Brian: That's tried and

true right there, the

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John: Tried and true.

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Alright, so Brian, here's

a little pop quiz for you.

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Would you be more likely to buy a

product that has 50 percent more

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product for the same price, or

it's discounted as 33 percent off?

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Which one would you buy?

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Brian: probably the 50 percent more.

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John: Alright, well, you are like

71 percent of consumers according

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to the University of Minnesota.

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even though those two price constructs

are kind of the same in terms of a Price

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per unit, 71 percent of people would go

with buying something that was labeled

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as 50 percent more versus 33 percent off.

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Brian: Interesting.

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John: I'm no math major, so I can't

check that, but I do believe they are

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on a per unit basis about the same.

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I've got more on the grocery store

front because, um, oh, you know what?

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Here's a good tip.

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in addition to obviously just doing

math, , and looking for unit prices.

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If you use, , an app to

do your grocery shopping,

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Brian: Okay.

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John: usually, and I think I

mentioned this to her in my granola

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rant, it's easier to see the price

per ounce or pound or whatever.

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It's a lot easier to do your,

your comparison shopping if

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you're using a tool like that.

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So, related to that, Brian,

another quick question for you.

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Online grocery shopping.

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Including pickup and delivery, right?

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So you order at home, you

pick up or you get a delivery.

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Is that increasing or decreasing?

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Brian: Why do I feel like

this is a trick question?

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I mean, I would think

that it's increasing.

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John: Of course, you'd

think it's increasing

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Brian: It's not.

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John: because you're a digital guy,

and I would have thought so too.

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It's down 7%, July 2023 down

percent from July: 2022

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COVID, I think, got us all

thinking we'll do that forever.

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But it has gone down a little bit.

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Not for me, because I think it's the

greatest thing since sliced bread.

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Grocery

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Brian: Yeah.

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Words there.

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I would say that, you know, going

back to the post COVID type of

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conversation, I feel like COVID was

the final frontier on this almost like.

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Business first and now we're like

they went into the convenience for the

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customer, you know, and they put the

customer first and and you look at stores.

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And so in our region of the universe,

uh, while while the, um, convenience

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store, it took them forever to do pick

up in your car or delivery because they

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want you to walk through the store.

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And, you know, a lot of these stores.

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Didn't really put the resources to do it

right or to actually make it convenient.

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And , the positive thing coming out

of COVID is that they finally gave

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people the option to do it that

way and made it okay to do that.

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And, I don't know if, supermarkets

are going to bury the milk and the eggs

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and the digital app, but, I feel like.

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They've accepted that convenience is

good and, um, with so many options now

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to buy and, and to do things, they know

that they need to, you know, put the

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customer first, which I didn't feel like

they were fully doing that until COVID.

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John: I think you're right.

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And, you know, thinking about my use of

the grocery store app, they are getting

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better at that cross merchandising, you

know, putting some stuff in front of

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me before I get to my milk and my eggs.

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But, That's the biggest thing for

me is, well, in addition to the

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convenience and the experience is good

now, right, it's remained relatively

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strong, is I'm not falling prey to

those tricks we just ran through.

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I'm not buying random things that

I see because I went shopping

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when I'm hungry or whatever.

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I'm not doing those impulse buys.

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I'm not susceptible to the end

cap promotion because I've got a

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list in my head or written down.

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And then I go into that and I just buy

the things on that list and the kind of

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those ancillary purchases don't happen.

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And I think that saves me way

more than, even if I was paying

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for a fee, which I'm not, but

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: 00:13:54

Brian: Yeah.

321

: 00:13:55

You're, you're a showroom shopper, huh?

322

: 00:13:57

John: showroom shopper and PS, uh, I

really, when I do go to the grocery store,

323

: 00:14:01

I no longer remember where everything is

and it's a nightmare to do it manually.

324

: 00:14:05

So I'm like, I'm happy to have

someone else do that for me.

325

: 00:14:09

Brian: one, one thing I do not like

is when they're out of something

326

: 00:14:11

and then they automatically

327

: 00:14:13

John: Oh, yeah.

328

: 00:14:13

Brian: else and it's, you know, 90

percent it's not the right thing.

329

: 00:14:16

John: Yeah.

330

: 00:14:16

That is that the

331

: 00:14:18

Brian: I can't call, I can't quantify

that 90 percent stat I just threw out

332

: 00:14:20

there, but, uh, I'm going to call it 90%.

333

: 00:14:23

John: That's right.

334

: 00:14:23

Look, if anyone's checking

us, uh, I urge them not to.

335

: 00:14:27

Um, another, another trick is, this

is not grocery store specific,

336

: 00:14:31

but, some other things that I

uncovered getting ready to talk

337

: 00:14:35

about this topic is, removing dollar

signs, which happens in particular

338

: 00:14:40

if you go to restaurants on menus.

339

: 00:14:43

Guess what?

340

: 00:14:43

Makes us spend more.

341

: 00:14:44

Brian: no way.

342

: 00:14:45

John: Way.

343

: 00:14:46

Isn't that crazy?

344

: 00:14:47

Brian: I never, I would

never thought of that.

345

: 00:14:49

John: Yep.

346

: 00:14:49

some retailers, fashion retailers, , have

, distorted mirrors in dressing rooms to

347

: 00:14:55

make you look thinner because we tend to

buy things when they make us look good.

348

: 00:14:58

Brian: Yes, yes, yes.

349

: 00:15:00

I have heard that before.

350

: 00:15:01

John: I had not heard that.

351

: 00:15:02

I was, I probably shouldn't be so

naive, but I found that distressing.

352

: 00:15:06

so anyway, you know, I think, you know,

most people know that the best marketing

353

: 00:15:11

elicits some kind of emotional response.

354

: 00:15:14

and we also know that the five senses

are really good at triggering emotion.

355

: 00:15:18

in fact, do you know which, which

sense tends to trigger some of the most

356

: 00:15:21

powerful recollections and emotions?

357

: 00:15:23

Brian: I'm gonna say Smell?

358

: 00:15:25

John: Yeah.

359

: 00:15:26

Surprisingly smell.

360

: 00:15:27

and I think we've all seen that or

smelled that when we're in a retail

361

: 00:15:32

environment where smells can draw us in.

362

: 00:15:34

That's obvious, right?

363

: 00:15:35

You, I mean, good luck walking by

an Annie Ann or a Cinnabon, right?

364

: 00:15:39

, but there's a reason the bakeries

at the front of the grocery store.

365

: 00:15:41

So you walk in, you

smell, it smells amazing.

366

: 00:15:44

Now you're hungry, you walk

around the store and that scent

367

: 00:15:47

prompts you to spend more money.

368

: 00:15:49

Even simple smells are better than

complex smells . There is a study by

369

: 00:15:54

Washington State University that found

that like just a really simple smell

370

: 00:15:57

versus kind of like these layered and

kind of hard to identify smells had

371

: 00:16:00

people spending 20 percent more at a home

furnishings store, which is astounding to

372

: 00:16:05

Brian: I saw a wild stat by this thing

called the Scent Marketing Institute.

373

: 00:16:10

John: I want to talk about scent.

374

: 00:16:11

Brian: Here's a stat.

375

: 00:16:11

The smell of fresh baked bread

376

: 00:16:14

John: Yeah.

377

: 00:16:14

Brian: when it's pumped

into a grocery store.

378

: 00:16:16

this study found that sales in

the bakery department tripled.

379

: 00:16:19

John: Triple.

380

: 00:16:20

Brian: Tripled.

381

: 00:16:20

John: That's a pretty good jump.

382

: 00:16:21

Wow.

383

: 00:16:22

well, the whole scent, the

scent industrial complex,

384

: 00:16:26

it's big business, man.

385

: 00:16:28

I, you know, I don't think people

realize that there are scent machines,

386

: 00:16:32

retail stores all over the place

pumping in scents, sometimes to

387

: 00:16:36

create a buying experience like you

just talked about, but sometimes

388

: 00:16:40

just to create a brand experience.

389

: 00:16:41

For instance, a lot of hotel chains have a

custom scent that's piped into the lobby.

390

: 00:16:46

And I think Holiday Inn

might be one of them.

391

: 00:16:48

You walk into a Holiday Inn and

no matter where it is, it's going

392

: 00:16:51

to smell the same because that

scent's being pumped into the lobby.

393

: 00:16:54

may be why Doubletree has warm

baked cookies when you walk in too.

394

: 00:16:58

I wonder if that's part of it.

395

: 00:16:59

Brian: Hmm.

396

: 00:17:00

Well, what do we think about this?

397

: 00:17:01

Does it need to be real?

398

: 00:17:03

Is it okay that, that they're

doing this artificial smell?

399

: 00:17:06

I mean, I do like the anti

Barnes and Noble consistency

400

: 00:17:11

here, but, I don't know.

401

: 00:17:13

John: Do you feel manipulated?

402

: 00:17:14

What's, what's your, what's your

403

: 00:17:15

Brian: it just seems kind of cheesy, but

I guess you don't even think about it

404

: 00:17:18

because that's why we're talking about

it because we don't even think about it.

405

: 00:17:21

John: Well, here's a tip.

406

: 00:17:22

Here's a tip to counter to if you want to

make yourself a little more immune to, you

407

: 00:17:27

know, these scents being thrust upon you.

408

: 00:17:30

Chew gum.

409

: 00:17:31

While you're shopping.

410

: 00:17:31

Brian: Really?

411

: 00:17:32

John: Yeah, if you've got gum in your

mouth, it's harder for you to imagine

412

: 00:17:35

the taste and the flavor and the texture

of what it is you're smelling when

413

: 00:17:38

you walk by like a bakery or whatever.

414

: 00:17:39

So,

415

: 00:17:40

Brian: It's like the antidote.

416

: 00:17:41

John: yeah.

417

: 00:17:41

So, so, especially, you

know, some nice minty gum.

418

: 00:17:44

Next time you're going

through the mall, do that.

419

: 00:17:46

Maybe you'll be able to

walk by Auntie Anne's.

420

: 00:17:48

Whoa.

421

: 00:17:50

Brian: uh, they're known to have

an artificial grilled , scent,

422

: 00:17:53

uh, applied to their frozen

burgers to make them smell fresh.

423

: 00:17:56

And, uh, and then listen to this,

speaking of scent machines, they

424

: 00:18:00

strategically place them in bushes

that disperse scents of cotton

425

: 00:18:04

candy, popcorn, and caramel apples.

426

: 00:18:06

John: Okay, now I feel manipulated.

427

: 00:18:08

That does feel dirty.

428

: 00:18:11

Brian: So that's pretty nuts.

429

: 00:18:12

Um, so, so let's go beyond smell here.

430

: 00:18:15

John: Yeah.

431

: 00:18:16

Brian: And, you know, by the way, the 1

other example I did want to mention on

432

: 00:18:19

when it came to, um, to smell is that

Panera actually changed their whole

433

: 00:18:23

operations to bake their bread during

the day instead of at night, to make

434

: 00:18:27

sure it's not like fresh bread all the

435

: 00:18:28

John: Oh, wow.

436

: 00:18:30

Brian: that was a good 1.

437

: 00:18:31

Um, but the other sense here that we

should bring up is, um, is hearing.

438

: 00:18:36

John: Hearing.

439

: 00:18:36

Yeah.

440

: 00:18:37

Yeah.

441

: 00:18:37

Brian: music is obviously just part of the

same type of sensory type of experience.

442

: 00:18:41

I found an interesting report from

mood media, feeling type, company.

443

: 00:18:46

And so, they did a, 2019

survey of 10, 000 Consumers.

444

: 00:18:52

And, here's some interesting

stats that came out of that.

445

: 00:18:54

Nearly half of respondents spend longer

time in a store because they liked

446

: 00:18:58

what was playing on the speakers and.

447

: 00:19:00

57 percent said they'd be more likely

to ditch their shopping cart if a

448

: 00:19:04

store made questionable music choices.

449

: 00:19:07

John: Ooh.

450

: 00:19:07

Questionable music choices.

451

: 00:19:10

How's that defined?

452

: 00:19:11

Like what?

453

: 00:19:11

ABBA?

454

: 00:19:12

What are we talking

455

: 00:19:12

Brian: I don't know, I don't know, Slow

Jams, I don't know, but the uh, know,

456

: 00:19:16

you think, you think if you just go

with adult contemporary it'll work for

457

: 00:19:19

everybody, and not really have a, uh,

point of view up or down, but, Yeah, I

458

: 00:19:24

John: Well, I know music tempo can

have a big impact on turnover at

459

: 00:19:28

a, at a food establishment, right?

460

: 00:19:30

Brian: well, you would not be

shocked probably to know that music

461

: 00:19:33

is the number one factor in lifting

a shopper's mood in the store.

462

: 00:19:37

John: Really?

463

: 00:19:38

Number one.

464

: 00:19:39

Brian: Yep.

465

: 00:19:39

It

466

: 00:19:39

has an overall,

467

: 00:19:40

John: And wow.

468

: 00:19:41

Brian: yeah, it has an overall positive

impact on 85 percent of shoppers.

469

: 00:19:45

Here's another one.

470

: 00:19:46

Here's another one.

471

: 00:19:47

more than half of Gen Z.

472

: 00:19:48

So 59 percent say they've stayed in

a physical place longer because they

473

: 00:19:52

were enjoying the music and then,

other interesting thing to me was four

474

: 00:19:55

and 10 consumers around the globe,

say feeling, , like the experience

475

: 00:19:59

is personalized to them, makes them

more likely to purchase something.

476

: 00:20:02

So connecting the music to the way

that, you know, you'd like , , to

477

: 00:20:05

listen or, or things that are more

personal to you, uh, has an impact too.

478

: 00:20:09

So.

479

: 00:20:09

John: Fascinating.

480

: 00:20:10

Brian: So, uh, really interesting topic.

481

: 00:20:12

And I'm sure, as we're interacting

with things around the holidays,

482

: 00:20:15

we'll see a lot of that stuff.

483

: 00:20:16

John: So if we want to shop at

a store, but we don't like their

484

: 00:20:19

music, I mean, just abandoning the

cart and running out seems extreme.

485

: 00:20:22

I mean, should we wear earphones?

486

: 00:20:25

We're chewing gum.

487

: 00:20:26

We are wearing earphones.

488

: 00:20:28

Maybe you should put blinders on.

489

: 00:20:30

What do we do?

490

: 00:20:31

How do we stay more

491

: 00:20:31

Brian: know, I don't know about you,

but when I'm shopping, there definitely

492

: 00:20:34

becomes a point where I, uh, I'm done,

493

: 00:20:38

John: Yeah,

494

: 00:20:38

Brian: I've checked out.

495

: 00:20:39

And so maybe that happens sooner if

it's music, isn't something that I like.

496

: 00:20:42

But maybe if it puts me in a good

mood, I'm sticking around longer.

497

: 00:20:45

But I definitely hit a wall.

498

: 00:20:46

I don't, you know, especially if I'm

shopping with my spouse or something.

499

: 00:20:49

So

500

: 00:20:50

John: Yes.

501

: 00:20:51

Okay.

502

: 00:20:51

We'll leave that alone.

503

: 00:20:52

And, uh, yeah, I think also, I think

we've covered most of the census, uh,

504

: 00:20:57

and pretty good conversation on retail.

505

: 00:20:59

What else you got today?

506

: 00:21:00

Brian: All right.

507

: 00:21:00

So I have a lightning round for you.

508

: 00:21:02

John: Ooh, yay.

509

: 00:21:03

Brian: it was a nice little

segment we started last, last time.

510

: 00:21:07

Uh, so I thought I'd keep it going.

511

: 00:21:09

John: Okay, I'm ready.

512

: 00:21:11

Brian: quick questions I want

on the spot decisions here.

513

: 00:21:14

These questions have not been

revealed to John, so he's not aware

514

: 00:21:17

of what I'm going to ask him here.

515

: 00:21:18

So let's get, let's get going.

516

: 00:21:19

All

517

: 00:21:19

John: Are there any, are there

any right wrong questions here?

518

: 00:21:22

Brian: There's only

judgment, not right or wrong.

519

: 00:21:24

John: Okay, great.

520

: 00:21:25

Um, strong, strong on judgment.

521

: 00:21:27

Brian: This is a judgment,

all judgment zone.

522

: 00:21:29

Okay.

523

: 00:21:30

So number one, I got to give

credit to some of my friends

524

: 00:21:32

who came up with this one.

525

: 00:21:33

home jerseys and a sporting event.

526

: 00:21:36

Should they be wearing

traditional home white jerseys or

527

: 00:21:39

whatever looks best on TV?

528

: 00:21:40

John: Whatever looks best.

529

: 00:21:42

Brian: Okay, wrong answer,

but let's go to the next one.

530

: 00:21:44

All

531

: 00:21:44

John: Wait, you gotta wear white at home?

532

: 00:21:45

Brian: Yes, it's tradition.

533

: 00:21:46

It's always, it's been

happening since the, the dawn

534

: 00:21:49

of sports, your home weights.

535

: 00:21:51

John: Nonsense.

536

: 00:21:52

Nonsense, I say.

537

: 00:21:53

Brian: I don't know.

538

: 00:21:54

That's

539

: 00:21:54

John: All right, so, so how do you, so

is it, are like these blackout games when

540

: 00:21:57

everyone wears the black uniform that the

541

: 00:21:59

Brian: about sensory overload.

542

: 00:22:01

John: yeah, okay.

543

: 00:22:02

Keep going.

544

: 00:22:03

Brian: And now, you know, a lot of

the, there's like second, third,

545

: 00:22:06

17th jerseys that teams have.

546

: 00:22:09

John: Oh, it's a money making machine.

547

: 00:22:11

Brian: All right.

548

: 00:22:12

So 2nd question.

549

: 00:22:14

NFL Black Friday, came and went and

Amazon did a, , a game, , which.

550

: 00:22:19

Really took marketing to another level.

551

: 00:22:21

Um, but my question for you is, is the

NFL a genius and Amazon or, are we getting

552

: 00:22:27

too greedy with taking over all these

days that, other sports might have an

553

: 00:22:31

John: I think both things can be true.

554

: 00:22:33

Yes.

555

: 00:22:33

And yes.

556

: 00:22:34

Brian: Oh, look at you.

557

: 00:22:35

John: They are genius and greedy.

558

: 00:22:38

Brian: Okay.

559

: 00:22:39

All right.

560

: 00:22:40

Daylight savings or no daylight savings?

561

: 00:22:42

John: I, I've never understood

why people get their knickers in

562

: 00:22:45

such a knot over daily savings.

563

: 00:22:47

It's not that big a deal.

564

: 00:22:48

Just change the clocks and

move on with your life.

565

: 00:22:50

Brian: Okay.

566

: 00:22:51

Okay.

567

: 00:22:51

I can live with that.

568

: 00:22:52

Coffee as soon as you wake up or

when you're starting to do stuff?

569

: 00:22:55

Can

570

: 00:22:57

John: I wake up.

571

: 00:22:59

Brian: you start a drip into your,

into your veins as you're waking up?

572

: 00:23:03

John: Uh, this is not

an arbitrary figure.

573

: 00:23:05

I have coffee brewing within nine

minutes of getting out of bed.

574

: 00:23:08

Brian: Really?

575

: 00:23:09

Do you set an alarm on

or you do it yourself

576

: 00:23:11

John: Uh, it's a long story why I

know that, but I do know that if

577

: 00:23:14

I wake up at 6 o'clock before 6.

578

: 00:23:16

10, the coffee is dripping.

579

: 00:23:18

Brian: We should do a data

report on this for both of us.

580

: 00:23:21

All right.

581

: 00:23:22

Interesting.

582

: 00:23:22

I don't want to drink a sip

of coffee until I'm ready to

583

: 00:23:24

do something because I love.

584

: 00:23:26

John: Mm.

585

: 00:23:27

Brian: Drinking coffee while I'm, it's, I

love it to kick in while I'm doing stuff.

586

: 00:23:31

It just, it makes everything,

uh, it makes everything right.

587

: 00:23:33

Okay.

588

: 00:23:34

John: Again, both things can be true.

589

: 00:23:37

Brian: Joe as well.

590

: 00:23:38

All right.

591

: 00:23:39

Best music period, seventies,

eighties, or nineties.

592

: 00:23:41

John: Ooh, yeah, that's a hard one.

593

: 00:23:44

I'm, I'm gonna, this is

gonna be controversial.

594

: 00:23:46

Um, I'm gonna say 90s just for sheer fun.

595

: 00:23:49

Not quality of music, but for fun.

596

: 00:23:51

Brian: Okay, I can live with

that, uh, since I'm a 90s kid,

597

: 00:23:54

but I think 70s are the best.

598

: 00:23:56

Alright.

599

: 00:23:57

John: Quality wise, you're probably right.

600

: 00:23:58

Brian: Alright.

601

: 00:23:58

Favorite physical marketing tactic?

602

: 00:24:01

Direct mail or vehicle wraps.

603

: 00:24:04

John: Oh, I love a vehicle wrap.

604

: 00:24:06

Brian: Yeah.

605

: 00:24:06

John: Mostly because, uh,

again, I'm using a statistic, 90

606

: 00:24:10

percent of them are god awful.

607

: 00:24:14

And I love it.

608

: 00:24:19

Brian: is nice to sit

around and watch those,

609

: 00:24:20

John: The bad vehicle

rap gives me great glee.

610

: 00:24:25

Brian: Good.

611

: 00:24:25

Alright.

612

: 00:24:26

That's all I got.

613

: 00:24:26

John: Okay, okay, this is good.

614

: 00:24:28

I feel like there were not a whole

lot of right wrong in there, but, but

615

: 00:24:31

like you said, a high judgment zone.

616

: 00:24:33

Judgment only zone.

617

: 00:24:34

Brian: Judgment only zone.

618

: 00:24:35

Yes.

619

: 00:24:36

John: I feel like it might be

time for my favorite segment, Dear

620

: 00:24:40

Hopelessly Unattainable Guest.

621

: 00:24:41

True.

622

: 00:24:42

Brian: Yes, this is true.

623

: 00:24:43

I got one.

624

: 00:24:44

John: Okay, your turn.

625

: 00:24:45

Brian: we,

626

: 00:24:46

John: Ring it.

627

: 00:24:47

Brian: I've been seeing what we've

been doing to try to get a star and get

628

: 00:24:50

somebody that's Hopelessly unattainable.

629

: 00:24:53

And, I don't know where

this came from, but, uh, I'm

630

: 00:24:56

inspired to talk to this artist.

631

: 00:24:57

Um, her name is Jennifer Lopez,

632

: 00:25:00

John: Ooh.

633

: 00:25:01

Brian: So here we go.

634

: 00:25:01

I thought, uh, really interesting figure

and, uh, let's see if we can get her.

635

: 00:25:05

Okay.

636

: 00:25:06

All right.

637

: 00:25:07

So I wrote her a letter and dear Jennifer.

638

: 00:25:12

J Lo.

639

: 00:25:13

Jenny from the block.

640

: 00:25:15

You're an icon, a legend, a star.

641

: 00:25:17

You've worn so many hats in your career.

642

: 00:25:19

A fly girl dancer on the legendary

sketch comedy In Living Color.

643

: 00:25:22

A singer that has won Grammys and about

every other musical award possible.

644

: 00:25:27

A top flight actress that has broken

through in dramas and comedies.

645

: 00:25:30

How about we complete your career

headdress with an appearance on our

646

: 00:25:33

exploding podcast, Snap Decisions.

647

: 00:25:35

I loved you in Out of

Sight with George Clooney.

648

: 00:25:38

You were amazing in Selina.

649

: 00:25:40

Who doesn't love guilty pleasures like

the wedding planner or Made in Manhattan?

650

: 00:25:43

I listened to Love Doesn't Cost a

Thing to get juiced for this podcast.

651

: 00:25:47

You're the perfect guest for our show,

someone whose life has no straight

652

: 00:25:50

paths and always reinvents themselves.

653

: 00:25:52

Our recent guest, Chris Waddell,

like you, has been named to the famed

654

: 00:25:56

People's Most Beautiful People list.

655

: 00:25:58

You actually won the award in 2011.

656

: 00:26:00

Let's talk about that.

657

: 00:26:01

And maybe you can provide tips on how

to get my co host John Young, also

658

: 00:26:04

known on Twitter as Philly JO on a, on

a future list, we're a serious podcast,

659

: 00:26:10

but for you, we're willing to talk

about your personal life, Mark Anthony.

660

: 00:26:13

A Rod, and of course Ben Affleck.

661

: 00:26:15

So much Ben.

662

: 00:26:16

Do you know Matt Damon?

663

: 00:26:18

How many times have you

watched Good Will Hunting?

664

: 00:26:20

In closing, we're here

to tell your story, Jen.

665

: 00:26:23

There's no better place than

Snap Decisions, and our forum

666

: 00:26:25

of middle aged white marketers.

667

: 00:26:27

Sincerely, Snap Decisions.

668

: 00:26:29

audioJohnYoung42615626252:

All right, nice.

669

: 00:26:31

I really like your close

there in particular.

670

: 00:26:33

audioBrianMarks32615626252:

Yeah, thank you.

671

: 00:26:34

I think, uh, I think we got a shot.

672

: 00:26:36

John: I mean, listen, she,

uh, she's already proved she's

673

: 00:26:39

got dubious taste in men.

674

: 00:26:40

So why not join us for this podcast to me?

675

: 00:26:44

Brian: We're the podcast for the stars.

676

: 00:26:46

audioJohnYoung42615626252: just need

that one star to get that going, right?

677

: 00:26:50

audioBrianMarks32615626252: It'll

just feed off of each other.

678

: 00:26:51

Once we start getting some advertising,

maybe it'll pay for our talent recruiting

679

: 00:26:54

firm and we'll start going after the Tim

Cooks and Michael Jordans and JLo's.

680

: 00:27:00

audioJohnYoung42615626252: Why not?

681

: 00:27:00

I mean,

682

: 00:27:01

audioBrianMarks32615626252:

Hey, and we'll come to you.

683

: 00:27:02

We'll come to you.

684

: 00:27:02

We can do it.

685

: 00:27:03

We'll do it live in person

686

: 00:27:05

audioJohnYoung42615626252: Absolutely.

687

: 00:27:05

I think we, I think we offered

to go visit Necker Island to

688

: 00:27:08

interview Sir Richard Branson.

689

: 00:27:10

So yeah, wherever J Lo happens

to be, that's where I'll show up.

690

: 00:27:14

audioBrianMarks32615626252: Yeah,

hey and nothing against our guests.

691

: 00:27:17

Our guests are uh, barely attainable

as it is and we love them and so I

692

: 00:27:23

will do a little tease on next episode.

693

: 00:27:25

We got a friend of the program coming

on , and , we're gonna have a great

694

: 00:27:28

episode talk About their background,

but also get them a little bit more

695

: 00:27:32

involved in some of our snap decisions.

696

: 00:27:33

So looking forward to that.

697

: 00:27:34

audioJohnYoung42615626252: Same.

698

: 00:27:35

Yeah.

699

: 00:27:35

And that'll be good.

700

: 00:27:36

That'll be, uh, it'll pick up on

where we left off with the idea of,

701

: 00:27:38

uh, scent marketing a little bit

702

: 00:27:41

audioBrianMarks32615626252: Oh, good plug.

703

: 00:27:42

Good plug.

704

: 00:27:42

audioJohnYoung42615626252: easier.

705

: 00:27:43

All right.

706

: 00:27:44

Thanks, Brian.

707

: 00:27:44

Good seeing you.

708

: 00:27:45

audioBrianMarks32615626252:

Good to see you.

709

: 00:27:46

Shut it down.

710

: 00:27:47

audioJohnYoung42615626252:

Take care, everybody.

711

: 00:27:48

John: Shop smart.