Art and marketing are made for each other, and this week’s Masters proves that.
He’s worked with brands like Nike, Heineken, Crocs and the NBA… But it’s not just about advertising.
He’s also a serious artist in his own right, a luminary at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and his work has been spotlighted from NBC to everywhere The Washington Post to Hypebeast.
In the Venn diagram of art, pop culture and marketing, Matt Zaremba lives right up to the mark.
And it makes me think that I should Really get a hobby.
1. Do you want to sell your product? Personalize it.
It feels like Matt Zaremba’s ghost is always in story mode.
Take a recent collaboration with ASICS on an older, previously archived running shoe: when asked how his team came up with the “Small Wins Add Up.” campaign To show off the shoe, Zaremba doesn’t even bat an eyelid.
“First of all, we know you can run in this thing, but 98% of the people who buy the shoe don’t run. They’re just trying to look cool, probably in a city somewhere… They want to be trendy,” he tells me, effortlessly spinning a story about who this coveted consumer would be. (He’s not wrong – I just bought $160 Cloudnova shoes to look cooler while running… Errands.)
“Then I ask myself: ‘What is the mood? This product enters a room…’ What does it look like and how does it sound? Does it have an accent? How can we personalize it??’”
From there, his team starts rambling – talking about the state of the world today and how everyone’s a little burnt out and how sometimes just getting up in the morning is a big accomplishment – and voilà. A campaign is born.
“From the beginning, we had the idea that small wins add up. Then we go back to the drawing board… How do we visually represent small successes? How can we put a little wink to running but keep the human element so people can celebrate all kinds of little successes?”
Zaremba does this for all of its marketing campaigns and it’s good advice: learn the ins and outs of your product and what story people tell themselves when they buy it.
And think outside the norm when it comes to this story: Are you? secure Are you selling a running shoe or are you actually conveying the message that small victories matter?
Because at the end of the day, a Stanley is just a water bottle with a really cool story.
2. Don’t use the first idea that comes to you – find the fresher angle.
One of Zaremba’s proudest campaigns is the one he did with Nike a few years ago. It was a big moment for him – Nike was one of the biggest brands he had ever worked with at the time.
Zaremba knew it would be easy to make a splash with a big celebrity. He could blame LeBron and call it a day. (Relatable, I know).
But he didn’t want to do that.
“The shoe reminded my team of our childhood – it was kind of reminiscent of Sandlot (the movie). That’s why we decided to take a moment to reflect on our own team. We did a yearbook photo shoot where all of our actual employees wore a special jacket we made along with the sneakers. And we had the background of a school picture cloud.”
“We presented the campaign as “This is who we are, and who we are is the same as you.”.’”
I admit that most marketers don’t regularly work with Lebron-sized budgets, but the insight is still important: your first idea is probably too obvious, and you should think about it further. Unexpected angles will surprise your audience and make them feel like they are seeing something new.
And ideally they see parts of it himself Then also in your marketing.
3. Marketing should make your buyers feel safe, not insecure.
Fashion is a notoriously trust-destroying industry. Many big fashion and beauty brands thrive on making their customers feel bad. They want you to know that you’re not cool stillbut you will be when you wear these jeans or this jacket.
But Zaremba calls this type of marketing “empty calories and empty suits.”
“Sure, you will find a cohort of people that you can grow with because you show them what they are not. But eventually they will find a brand that makes them feel like enough and they will switch to that brand,” he says.
His MO? Be as humble and personable as possible: “Fashion brands should bid.” Optimizations to your trip full of style and culture. I don’t want to condescend to people and say, “Oh, you don’t know this musician?” I’d rather say, “You have to check this out.” There shouldn’t be any ego in it.
Whether you’re a B2C or B2B marketer, the sentiment is the same – for some brands, personifying your brand as the “cool kid” works, but what works better for most is simply being helpful, curious, and encouraging to be.
