Crisis to product: The Flatheads Edition
Hello folks. Looks like last week’s Substack delivery went off without a hitch (er, sorry that some email IDs got missed out). Onwards then!
One cool thing a brand did
I don’t watch Shark Tank India (though I respect its role in making startups a household conversation topic), but even I could not escape the Flatheads saga. For those who missed it, the shoe company failed to get funding, but the founder’s passion, honesty and emotion won many over. As he dried his moist eyes, one of the Sharks offered him a job, cinematically screaming into the camera that you, my friend, are down but not out. (It’s moments like these that the SET marketing team must be dreaming of)
The next couple of weeks was filled with LinkedIn hot takes, which I’ll spare you. But you should certainly see the founder’s post, and the shark (Aman Gupta)’s note of support. Before long, Down But Not Out became a hashtag, and then a product line. That, I thought, was genius.
There are shoes, and a ‘survivor’ t-shirt.
The run of 900 shoes even got sold out.
While all brands appearing on Shark Tank get a boost, and many are smart enough to have tailored products for the bump, I was massively impressed by how Flatheads turned that emotional moment into a ‘product’. TBH, I’d have loved to see some “Not Out” branding on the shoes. But hey, kudos for even this idea.
I can’t think of any other examples of how a moment of crisis manifested into a product per se. But remember how Liquid Death turned customer complaints / brand hate into… heavy metal songs?
Also, a few years back when a random teenager asked Wendy’s for free nuggets, it led to a viral campaign. Soon, #nuggsforcarter became a trend and a product line that was sold to raise money for charity.
My personal favourite example might be this t-shirt by rock band Portugal. The Man who handled criticism of selling out by just printing it. Making for a brilliant piece of ironic official merchandise.
I’m sure there are many such examples of crises being turned into opportunity a product. I think some brand even turned customer complaints into an ad campaign. If you remember any such examples, do send them across!
Updates
Startup funding in India fell 33% in 2022 (I’m surprised it was only that much, given all the headlines and layoffs).
JioCinema is telecasting IPL 2023 and might make a viewing tier free.
After chips, Apple is now making its own screens for iPhones. Speaking of Apple and screens, the company is adding touch functionality to Macbooks. Something which will no doubt send their fans into raptures, while Windows users roll their eyes.
We’ve hit peak podcast. New shows are slowing, ad rates are falling.
ChatGPT (and other aspects of AI) is a key talking point at Davos. Meanwhile, crypto’s shills are on a reputation-fixing tour.
Android keeps losing in an important Indian antitrust case. This means less preference for Google’s own apps, which the company argues means less
profits for themsafety for users.
Long time no taking a dump on Twitter x Musk
So let’s get it out of the way.
Very good long-read that covers everything that happened.
Elon needs to pay massive loan interest end of month - else he’ll have to either sell (more) Tesla shares, or declare bankruptcy. Poor fellow :’(
Perhaps having a garage sale of all the chairs and memorablia at HQ will help.
Moderation down, hate speech up (especially in India and Brazil, two geographies where the latter didn’t need more help anyway)
And of course, the headline: “Taliban start buying blue ticks on Twitter”.
And why not: Tesla’s 2016 self-driving video was doctored, apparently.
Reads
A good summation of Big Tech’s next big fights (with each other, mostly)
ChatGPT is finally forcing education to evolve.
Meet the tiny Indonesian village that makes YouTube stars.
In unlikely content success, meet the TikTok account that simulates shipwrecks.
Without Twitter, where do we go to ‘cancel’ erring celebs and brands?
Beautiful article about how the metaverse helps people grieve.
AI is now taking on even larger problems.
The internet’s short video creativity crisis.
How’s India’s ambitious telemedicine initiative, eSanjeevani, doing? Much promise, but many more things to fix.
AI engineers laid off by Big Tech are in big demand by traditional sectors. Case in point: Pharma.
A nuanced piece about tech layoffs - it’s more a stock price problem than a macroeconomic one.
Some good modern marketing insights from the founder of Red Antler, the branding agency behind some iconic D2C brands (including Allbirds, Casper). Ignore the headline that de-sells the article.
What the next generation of D2C startups (and how they do marketing) could look like.
Excellent read from Stoa Daily on how customer service can act as a moment of brand building.
Lots of tech promised to disrupt the smartphone. That never happened. Super read.
Can ChatGPT ever make money despite the hype (and recent funding)?
A Congolese national park uses hydroelectricity to mine Bitcoin! Fascinating long article.
What Indian advertising veterans would like to learn from their younger colleagues.
Chart of the week
It’s not just them - Apple and Meta have both fallen out of the Glassdoor 100 Best Places to Work list for the first time in a decade.
Non-dark patterns could help
I’ve written before about how some firms (ahem, Adobe) are notorious for making it difficult / expensive to cancel subscriptions. What if making it easy to cancel actually lead to more renewals? One newspaper tried it. (Er, also, you are not tied in to subscribe at Things of Internet!)
Where it all began
You probably know this meme.
Here’s the comic where it started! And a nice little article on its 10th year anniversary.
I came across this
Could your pet earn $10,000 a year by becoming PetSmart’s Chief Toy Tester?
Recommendation: On the internet
Taskmaster. A delightful English gameshow where comedians are made to do random tasks. It’s pointless, it’s sheer fun and it’s a comfort watch. Absolutely love this.
Find many seasons officially here. Once you’re done with those, well, you know where to find the rest.
Recommendation: Off the internet
For folks in Mumbai - Sanjay Gandhi National Park has official treks. It’s a great way to get to nature without going too far, and with guided expertise. Check itineraries here. Some pics from a recent trek to the highest point in Mumbai, below.
See you next week, with more things from the internet.
Chuck