Branding Your Business: A Most Interesting Case Study

In my last post I talked about having a consistent brand – every experience your customer has with your business must send a consistent message in order for them to trust what you say about your business. Today I’d like to show you how one business is doing this while combining traditional advertising with social media.

If you watch television you may have seen the commercials for “the most interesting man alive.” These commercials feature a dapper, older gentleman leading an adventurous life surrounded by beautiful people. My favorite line is, “he lives vicariously … through himself.” The commercials end with the man saying, “I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, I prefer Dos Equis”.

Clearly Dos Equis is branding itself as a fun beverage offering a unique experience above and beyond your average brew.

To reinforce this quirky advertising campaign, Dos Equis has a website: The Most Interesting Academy with “courses” on how to be interesting.

The Dos Equis Facebook Fan Page includes the advertising spots, additional videos and a journal “written” by the Most Interesting Man Alive himself plus places for fans to add their own “facts” about him. As I write this, the fan page has over 172,000 fans. All for a fictitious person flogging beer.

To further promote the brand on Facebook, Dos Equis has run Facebook ads promoting their fan page. Didn’t see the Facebook ads even though you’re on Facebook regularly? Must be because you’re not in the target demographic.

The television commercials have been added to YouTube. At least one of these has had over a million views with the others in the hundreds of thousands range. People are surfing the web to watch a television commercial.

Even my mother – who doesn’t drink beer – loves the commercials. The Toronto Blue Jays created a commercial that spoofs the originals. Even Don Cherry spoofed it on Hockey Night in Canada.

Clearly the advertising campaign is creating a buzz and has gone viral online. But did they get results?

The word is, yes.

According to Macleans magazine, in the U.S., thanks to the economy, sales of imported beer are down four percent. However, Dos Equis has seen an increase in 22 percent. In Canada, sales have tripled.

How did they do this?

As a Mexican beer, Dos Equis is an imported beer, making it more expensive in Canada and the U.S. than domestic beers. To get people to pay extra for the beer, they had to turn a negative (higher price) into a positive. They had to convince people they were getting something extra for their money.

To do this Dos Equis created an advertising campaign that made them stand out from the crowd. The commercials don’t blend in with the usual busty babes and studly guys having fun while drinking beer. The commercials are unique, making people associate drinking the beer with being unique.

Second, they made sure all their other advertising worked in combination with the main television ads. Facebook, the website, YouTube all reinforced this image.

How can this work for your small business?

The Dos Equis campaign is what’s known as a “brand awareness” campaign. They’re not trying to get you to order as case of beer from their website. They’re not promoting a specific sale event. They’re trying to build awareness of their brand and hope they’ll be top-of-mind the next time you go to buy beer. That’s what Coke and Pepsi ads are about.

The average small business can’t afford this type of advertising. If you have a more limited advertising budget you need to make sure you have a specific call to action in your advertising. You want to get people to go to your website and make a purchase, or pick up the phone to get more information or got to your store and buy. You want them to take an action.

However, you can learn a few things from Dos Equis and apply them to your own marketing and promotion.

The first is to stand out.

Look at the advertising you do and compare it to your competitors. Does yours stand out or does it blend in with everyone else? Dos Equis made a conscious decision to make their ads look and feel different than other beer commercials. They are memorable and stand out from the crowd.

Second, accentuate your uniqueness.

Dos Equis took a potential negative (the higher price of imported beer) and turned it into their unique advantage. They present themselves as offering an above average experience as compared to regular brews.

Third, combine marketing methods.

Dos Equis took the main advertising campaign and incorporated an online and social media component. Adding the commercials they had already paid for to YouTube cost them virtually nothing. But by having them available online, Dos Equis is getting millions more viewers for free.

Fourth, be consistent.

The Most Interesting Man campaign wouldn’t be nearly as successful if their website was the standard stogy corporate site. But because the website reinforces the fun, quirky image they are further reinforcing their brand.

But advertising isn’t separate from the product. If the beer tasted like crap, it wouldn’t matter how well Dos Equis promoted themselves. After the first taste, drinkers would go back to their usual brand. I confess I’ve never tried the beer myself but I must assume that the taste of the beer must be consistent with the advertising.

In conclusion

Marketing, promoting and branding your business isn’t something you should do by accident. A deliberate and consistent effort can make sure you get more return for your marketing investment.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Andrea J. Stenberg