The $30,000 Stanley

Last week, a video went viral on Tiktok when a woman shared the inside of her car after it caught on fire. Terrible. I can't think of too many things that would be worse.

I would lose so many coffee cups and virtually all of my kids' belongings in a car fire. You?

This sweet lady's car was torched. The only thing that remained?

HER STANLEY CUP….. STILL IN TACT…. WITH ICE IN IT.

I am audibly laughing. Stanley is about to ride that testimonial till the wheels fall off, AS THEY SHOULD.

The original video now has more than 17 MILLION views, and probably even more than that by the time you read this email.

Here’s my favorite part of the story:

The President of Stanley, Terrance Riley, stitched the TikTok (you know where you record your own ending to someone else’s video), offering to replace her Stanley cup………………… AND HER CAR.

Yep, you heard me. Watch it for yourself!

Makes little to no sense, except the company will now get upwards of 1 BILLION media impressions and positive brand awareness through this single 30 second video.

What’s the recipe they used for this marketing success?

1 cup of MOVING QUICKLY

3 tablespoons of KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD

3/4 cup of CARING ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS

Most important ingredient at play here in my personal and subjective opinion? Moving quickly.

Nothing would’ve made this more lame than the Stanley President saying he’d wait and record the video on Monday. The key to staying relevant and memorable is acting fast. 

Look for unique ways to create positive brand awareness, not knowing if anything will ever come from it. To be honest, nothing probably will. Until it does.

If you're thinking, "alright but I can't be out here buying folks cars. I NEED a car, lady." I hear you.

An example of what this principle can look like on a smaller scale: a follower tagged GUIDE Culture instagram after she bought herself flowers for passing her board exams. We asked for her address and sent her a bouquet too. Honestly, it makes no sense. Or does it?

Making one person feel warm and fuzzy when they think about your brand could lead to 1 of these 3 things:

1. They bring it up at their son’s football game where a totally qualified client hears her and looks you up

2. They tag you on IG with a picture of the flowers where 3 new prospects start following you

3. Absolutely nothing but you made someone’s day

$80 well spent for us. $30,000 well spent for Stanley. Nobody loses. Everyone wins. 

Xo, The Salesgirls