As I sat mindlessly watching television on Sunday evening, the most wonderful advert appeared on my screen bringing me almost to tears. The advert I speak of is the new Google Chrome ad featuring The Cambridge Satchel Company. It summed up within a minute exactly how online marketing and viral tactics can make the most minuscule idea a colossal success. And in essence, confirmed for me that I’m on the right career path.
It resonated with me on so many levels. The first level being as a twenty something woman I remember the lack of sleep I endured last summer trying to decide which satchel I needed, and the spent time ogling over neon batchels in Grazia. It made me wonder why a girl from Manchester would have the strongest urge to own a Cambridge satchel? I’d never even heard of the brand until that week so it wasn’t a trusted company or traditional fashion go to, so what was it that made me desire it so? Now I scan my mind back I can’t even remember where I heard or seen them first. I know it wasn’t in store as they aren’t readily available on the high street. I just know it was the first thing on my to buy list that month and The Cambridge Satchel Company website was bookmarked on my toolbar.
The second level is as I become increasingly obsessed with network science and viral marketing, the dissemination of the bag was epic. Targeting powerful hubs, in this case influential fashion bloggers giving them a free bag. The oldest trick in the book (and still the most successful) is a freebie. Not only was the bag a great product and a niche in the market, the fact it was a gift increased it’s value to the blogger; urging them to positively blog their little, bag loving hearts out. In the fashion world the select few people who were sent bags were the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that preach to the masses of devote apparel worshipers. This incredible step infected the masses and the media by spreading from person to person, company to company via social media with people across the globe liking and searching the now famous Cambridge Satchel Company. With the top fashion publications hearing the hot news of the product, they had no choice but to catch up to the rest of the online world and feature the bags. Making the company (that started out in a little village kitchen just outside of Cambridge with an investment of just £600) one of Britain’s biggest brands.
The thing that confirms the beauty of this story is had this product come about before the dawn of social and online, I sincerely doubt it would be the million making machine it is now, despite the unquestionable quality of the product. A fantastic idea is like a beautiful car, it will look nice and shiny but it won’t go anywhere unless it is fuelled by a great marketing strategy.