Donny Deutsch has not so quietly crept into the role of entrepreneur’s champion with his CNBC show, ”The Big Idea,” which spotlights successful business concept generation and execution. In a recent episode he interviews Bert Jacobs, co-founder of Life is Good, and uncovers a gem of a focus group story that’s worth a revisit.
The quick synopsis:
It’s 1994. Bert and brother John are recent college grads that have spent a few years nomadically traveling, collecting stories, and occasionally returing to Boston. When home, they throw parties, share tales from the road, and collect feedback on ideas for t-shirts to sell in order to sustain the lifestyle (note: the official version sounds a little less fun). At one such party, a single piece of t-shirt art demands unusual attention. Bert puts it best (excerpted from the show):
We lived in an apartment that was enough of a dive that people could write all over the walls so they wrote a bunch of stuff: do this one, don’t do that, I like this artwork, blah, blah, blah. Around this character who now is known as Jake but at the time didn’t have a name, …this one girlfriend of ours, she wrote, “This guy’s got life figured out,” and that just hit us over the head.
That’s no ordinary focus group. Bert claims Jake, the now famed Life is Good design front-figure with a huge smile and a beret, commanded many times the wall comments of other designs. The Jacobs go on to print 48 sample shirts with Jake’s face and they quickly sell out to a surprisingly diverse demographic set, boding well. It was, according to Bert, slow and steady from there. From 1994 to October of last year the company went from zero to $80 million in revenue (run rate, I gather). And it all started with a simple strategy: use a focus group of friends at a party, test, and repeat ’til homerun.
Now, before you cover your walls with design options and invite your buddies (Facebook focus group app, anyone?), let’s keep a few notes in mind:
The design feedback mechanism is playing out everyday now on sites like Cafepress and Spreadshirt that give designers free reign to practice their art whilst avoiding the hassle of fulfillment (which the sites make a nice profit on). It’s also happening offline with brands like It’s Happy Bunny that make deals directly with retailers. The entire “independent” art licensing royalty market, however, is approximately $200 million a year according to The Wall Street Journal. So, nothing to sneeze at but a relatively small market. Obviously, it pays to sell end product sporting one’s designs. The trick is in developing distribution relationships, an art the Jacobs have now been practicing for more than a decade. I’d like to hear that story.
To finish, I’ll offer my own list of “behind the brand” retail business literature:
- In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and How Wal-Mart is Devouring America - I read this as backdrop for my senior thesis on Wal*Mart entry impact within metro areas; it predates most of the current Wal*Mart literature and gives a balanced history of the company. Somehow the title has changed since my reading (from “Devouring America” to “The World’s Most Powerful Retailer“)!
- Swoosh: The Unauthorized Story of Nike and the Men Who Played There - Who knew that Phil Knight nearly branded the company “Dimension Six”? This one’s a tome but offers insight into early global outsourcing efforts and the power of building into a movement (running, in this case).
- Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time - Notably, in the now wake of overseas tech company copycats (ie. take the Ebay, Amazon, Google, etc. model and replicate it), former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz took a classic Italian model - cappuccino cafes - and transformed the bean-only Seattle supplier into a “third place” away from home and work for folks to hang out and drink dark roast coffee.
- Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good: The Madcap Business Adventure by the Truly Oddest Couple - A quick read that covers Paul Newman’s unlikely retail role and philanthropic efforts. While many celebrity marketing assists generate a first buy, Newman’s deserving products kept selling on quality. A good read for the philanthropreneurs out there.
It’s enriching to hear the story behind a brand. Wikipedia has a nice compilation of brand etymologies for those interested.
And here’s the CNBC recap video of Bert Jacobs’ (transcribed above):
Photo credit: Life T-Shirt, originally uploaded by Bob.Fornal.
Matt, I really like your idea for the focus group app.