Events: The lifestyle marketer's secret weapon

In many ways, lifestyle brands are at a disadvantage relative to their traditional rivals: they have smaller budgets, a smaller consumer base, and usually can't take advantage of economies of scale like big, old school brands can. But they do have a few secret weapons of their own, and events are a big one.

Why lifestyle brands own events
It's very simple: Traditional brands can't do events because the people running the companies don't live the brand, and it will show. Events are easy for lifestyle brands because it's a natural extension of their culture. For example, the video above is the Zumiez Best Foot Forward skateboarding contest. It's super authentic and an easy move for them because tons of the kids that work at Zumiez stores (and headquarters, for that matter) are skateboarders, or at least fans of the sport. What would a department store like, say, Kohl's do for an event? Nothing comes to mind, because they're just a store, not a lifestyle.

There's no substitute for face time
The most successful lifestyle brands always the ones who hit the road and make face-to-face contact with consumers as often as possible. Events like contests and demos are unique opportunities for people to see that there are real people behind the brand. Unlike a traditional brand, which is just a logo on a box or billboard, lifestyle brands are run by people just like the kids who buy them, and you can be friends with them if you want.

Making a connection
Accessibility is a fundamental element of a lifestyle brand. When we actually know the people behind a brand, we're not just consumers, we're part of it. For example, go to Warped Tour and hang out for the afternoon and you'll literally run into tons of the athletes and musicians that were on stage a minute ago. You don't just buy the record and listen to it by yourself, you can go hang out with the guy who sang on it. This is what makes MMA so special, too. If you read the message boards at MMA.TV, you can talk to pretty much anybody in the sport. Joe Rogan, Dana White, Tito Ortiz, and tons of other big names are regulars. Because I grew up on punk rock and skateboarding, that's normal to me, but it's definitely not the way every sport works. You can't go watch a baseball game, then chill with the catcher afterwards, which is probably why I don't like ball and stick sports.

Conclusion
Companies like Red Bull, Vans, Zumiez, and Nike know how important events are to building lifestyle brands. But don't make the mistake of simply imitating what they do and hoping that you can "sprinkle magic branding dust" on yourself and become a lifestyle brand. Create an event that's an authentic, natural extension of your brand's culture.

A definition of lifestyle marketing

The phrase "lifestyle marketing" gets tossed around a lot, but I haven't seen a good definition of it. I figured the best way to kick off this blog and frame the posts to come is to offer my own working definition. I think this is a good start, but I'd like to revisit this definition in the future as my thinking becomes more refined.

Traditional brands
Traditional brands differentiate based on objective, quantifiable things like price, performance, and features. Their tactics are familiar: price promotions, ads boasting that they're "new and improved," and so forth. It's important to note that there's nothing inherently wrong with being a traditional brand. For example, Tide is a multi-billion dollar juggernaut of a brand that's been going strong for half a century. It differentiates primarily on performance, and and the results speak for themselves. A particular area of interest for me is traditional brands that become lifestyle brands, so expect to see lots of thinking around the intersection of the two worlds.

Lifestyle brands
Lifestyle brands, on the other hand, differentiate based on subjective, hard to quantify things like design. Lifestyle brands are fundamentally vehicles for self-expression. They don't play by the rules of old-school marketing. They don't try to be all things to all people. They simply are what they are, and in a world in which we're increasingly defined by the products we buy, they can be an important part of our lives. We buy them because it's a way to tell the world something about ourselves, not simply for a functional benefit. Perhaps the ultimate example of a lifestyle brand is Nike. Thanks to decades of brilliant marketing, they've made athletic shoes into the premier platform for self-expression in youth culture.

Hybrids
While it's usually obvious whether something is a traditional or lifestyle brand, there are areas in which the boundaries are blurry. For example, cars have characteristics of both traditional and lifestyle brands: performance is a big deal, but brand character and heritage also matter a lot. Shoppers spend a great deal of time comparing power, mileage, price, and other elements that are important to traditional brands, but they can also be passionate evangelists for a brand (see the Ford/Chevy rivalry).