We’ve reached the end of the year, and 2019 was a big year in marketing - especially in the inbound world. Let’s take a journey through time and take a look at the top stories that shaped our profession and will influence the trends of 2020.

Episode Transcript

Jeff Lambert:                And happy new year, everybody. We have reached the end of 2019, and it has been a big year in marketing, especially in the Inbound world. So, we're going to take a journey through time. We're going to go through the past 12 months. We're going to take a look at the top stories that shaped our profession and things that are going to influence you in 2020.

Jeff Lambert:                Hey, everybody. Welcome to Inbound Academy brought to you by Rizen. I'm your host, Jeff Lambert. So, you know the podcast universe is just chock full of these year-end reviews. I'm sure your feed's already best movies of 2019, best foods in 2019, best politicians in 2019. Whatever you follow, there's going to be a best list that exists. But we're going to make a recap just for marketers because we deserve one too, right, Rod?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, we do.

Jeff Lambert:                Absolutely. So, to help me scroll through those biggest stories that we can recap and talk about how they changed our industry, I have invited Rogelio back into the studio. He is the CEO of Rizen. And Rod, thanks for coming by to take a walk through time with me.

Rod Rodriguez:             Thanks for having me, Jeff.

Jeff Lambert:                So, let's get to it. I picked out five stories that had a large impact on either how businesses fared in terms of their marketing campaigns in 2019, or marketing campaigns that really changed things up and are going to influence how marketing's done in 2020. So, we're going two ways with this.

Jeff Lambert:                So, I'm going to jump right into it. This story everybody knows about, because it's still in the news right now.

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure.

Jeff Lambert:                So, let's talk about it. Let's talk about the impact that it had on the marketing world and just take a minute to laugh a little bit at some of these stories. So, the first one we're going to start off with everybody knows is yours and my favorite low-key domestic abuse story of the year, the Peloton commercial where the wife gets a different Christmas gift?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                So, can you break this down for people that are unfamiliar with the commercial that Peloton just recently came out with?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure, sure. It's a commercial that shows the wife getting an exercise bike for Christmas from her partner or her...

Jeff Lambert:                We think it's her husband.

Rod Rodriguez:             Husband.

Jeff Lambert:                Because it could be a live-in situation.

Rod Rodriguez:             Could be her husband. Whichever it was.

Jeff Lambert:                We don't judge.

Rod Rodriguez:             Okay. She chronicles her year of using the bike in little video tidbits. And at the end, she takes one last thank you, probably to her partner, and saying, "I didn't realize how much this would change me."

Jeff Lambert:                And the ironic thing with this video, Rod, was this individual out of shape when she received the bike?

Rod Rodriguez:             No, she was not. She was in good shape when she received the bike.

Jeff Lambert:                She was gorgeous, actually.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                I had a little commercial crush on her. I'm not going to lie. So, her male partner gets her this gift. She works out every day, valiantly takes videos of it. And then at the end, she thanks him for getting her this machine that has transformed her life. So, we've talked about it a little bit already, but what was the backlash about?

Rod Rodriguez:             Well, it's a firestorm for the sexism that it displays. It showed a woman already in shape getting an exercise bike for Christmas. The result ended up being Peloton stock dropped more than 10%.

Jeff Lambert:                Ouch. And we're talking about less than 30 days here, right?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, yes. This was really recent.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                And I think the ironic thing about all this, the tagline for the commercial was, "The gift that gives back."

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                Which, I guess, it's not a bad thing. And I was thinking about this, Rod, could they... The message wasn't bad. Yes, buy your spouse or your partner an exercise bike for Christmas. Could they have done some things to maybe just tweak that a little bit to make it less offensive?

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely. I mean, from the lessons that we give every day, for staying with Inbound mindset, you have to pay attention to the tone of the message and ask for feedback from people of different perspectives, so that you can fine-tune your message. They may have been able to fine-tune it or tweak it to have him say something like, "Hey, I got you the Peloton bike you wanted, or you asked for," or even "I got you this and you can use it or you can sell it." For 2000 whatever, for 245, whatever the price of the Peloton bike is.

Jeff Lambert:                I think it's like $2,500.

Rod Rodriguez:             It is, it is.

Jeff Lambert:                For a new one. It's expensive.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, absolutely. But they do offer payment plans, so.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh, okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             That is affordable.

Jeff Lambert:                For those people that are still considering getting a bike.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. But something like, "I'm clearly not holding you hostage if you exercise," something that states that, right?

Jeff Lambert:                Sure.

Rod Rodriguez:             Or maybe a visual that states that.

Jeff Lambert:                Because it did have that kind of 1950s Mad Men kind of feel, right?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure.

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah. "Honey, I got you a bike. I expect you to work out in it every year and stay fit."

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah. No, I mean, the time had to be, or at least try to mitigate the nefarious message of a man waiting, wanting a woman to change for him by plopping an exercise machine in front of her, right?

Jeff Lambert:                Sure, sure. So, it's really just about just being a little tone-deaf, I guess this is what the issue was with this commercial.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                So, just wheeling it back because you just said it. What's the lesson in that for marketers in terms of how we approach our messaging in the coming year?

Rod Rodriguez:             Make sure that you listen or you ask for feedback in order to fine-tune your messaging.

Jeff Lambert:                From different perspectives.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely. Different perspectives.

Jeff Lambert:                Because if it was a room full of guys that came up with that commercial, maybe if they had taken time to do a little bit of screening or asking different groups that might have come up and they're like, "Hey, this is a little sexist."

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely. Absolutely. Which just seems to me maybe a bunch of guys in the red room sat there and thought it up without consulting their wives.

Jeff Lambert:                A bunch of guys on exercise bikes just talking to each other while they're coming up with this commercial? Yeah, I can picture that too. Peloton, that's how your corporation works, I'm sure. Well, overall, we'll see if they can bounce back. It's still a popular item, an exercise bike item. We'll see how they respond. I know the actress has been on a lot of morning shows and talking about... I think she actually admitted too that she felt that it was a little off in terms of messaging. So, it'll be interesting to see what their next steps are to try and right the ship.

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure.

Jeff Lambert:                All right, so that finishes up story number one, probably the most recent we're going to go over.

Jeff Lambert:                Let's move into our second story, which talks about trolling, and how businesses can actually use that to their advantage and get some positive traction, whether it's on social media or just being a part of the cultural conversation. So there was a company that did this really well this year, and it's a name everybody knows, but they may not have heard about it except for our expansive listener base over in Sweden. I'm sure there's got to be a couple, right?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                So, can you tell us about what happened to McDonald's over in the European Union, and how that opened an opportunity for a good old-fashioned smear campaign out of good fun?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure. Well, in February, McDonald's lost its trademark for Big Mac in the European Union.

Jeff Lambert:                So they couldn't use the term Big Mac anymore?

Rod Rodriguez:             Right. Well, they didn't have it protected.

Jeff Lambert:                Ah, yes. And I remember reading the background in the story. There's another chain in Europe, I think it was specifically in England, where there was another regional chain there. And they also had stuff on the menu that used the term Big Mac. So it's kind of a win for the little guy, that they were able to keep that name open.

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure, absolutely. Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. Please continue.

Rod Rodriguez:             So, Burger King, a Miami-based chain.

Jeff Lambert:                Is it really?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, it is.

Jeff Lambert:                It is?

Rod Rodriguez:             It was born here in Miami. Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                Wow. I didn't know that. Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             So, across Sweden, they updated their in-restaurant menus to make fun of their competitor losing the name, losing the protection on the Big Mac.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh, this is good. Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah. So, the menus advertise BK items with the names grounded in Big Mac comparisons. So, "kind of like the Big Mac," is what it's saying.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             "But juicier and tastier." Or another one they use is "the Big Mac-ish but flame-grilled, of course."

Jeff Lambert:                Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             Other options were even more derogatory. They used "the burger Big Mac wished it was."

Jeff Lambert:                Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             And "anything but a Big Mac."

Jeff Lambert:                Ah.

Rod Rodriguez:             On their menu, yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                So they literally replaced... What is it for Burger King, the Whopper?

Rod Rodriguez:             The Whopper, yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                So instead of saying Whopper on the menu, it would say, "the burger Big Mac wished it was"?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. Or in the description. "Oh, the Whopper is the burger the Big Mac wished it was."

Jeff Lambert:                Ah, okay. I like it. So they just went crazy with using the name on their menu.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh, that's awesome.

Rod Rodriguez:             They used it everywhere on their menu to describe the items that they were selling. And to take advantage of the fact that they had lost the trademark for Big Mac.

Jeff Lambert:                I love it.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                What a great idea. Usually, when we talk about social media burns or just a good critical... Critical? Is that the word I want to use? Making fun of other bands?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                Trolling, thank you.

Jeff Lambert:                It's usually Wendy's that's really good at that.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. Wendy's is great at trolling, especially on their Twitter accounts, so.

Jeff Lambert:                The Burger King.

Rod Rodriguez:             Just follow them. But Burger King, I mean, they took advantage in a very different way, right?

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah.

Rod Rodriguez:             In-house, in-person, in the physical space that they control.

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah.

Rod Rodriguez:             So, they even offered a promotion where the customers could get a Whopper for a penny if they ordered through the Burger King app from the McDonald's parking lot. So you can imagine what that map looks like when they're pulled up on a geographic map.

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah.

Rod Rodriguez:             What that looks like. Everybody ordering on the Burger King app inside a McDonald's parking lot.

Jeff Lambert:                And you have to think about that from McDonald's perspective if they didn't know at first. If they're looking outside in a parking lot like, "Wow, we're getting a lot of traffic, I wonder what's going on." But it was all destined for Burger King.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                Wow.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely. So yeah, the company's marketing team, the Stockholm-based agency INGO, they're killing it by using snarky humor to get attention. Right?

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah. Yeah. It's a different take. It was very creative. I have to give them credit. Absolutely. So, if we can internalize that as marketers, what's the lesson here for us in 2020?

Rod Rodriguez:             It's a fine line between trademark bullying and good-natured fun. Search for it. You got to search for ways to create friendly competition with the competitors, where you'll gain an audience's attention without really coming off as evil or pretentious. They weren't really trying to be harmful to them. They were just like, "Hey, look, we're going to take advantage of this momentary lapse or this loss and use that to our advantage."

Jeff Lambert:                That's true. It wasn't so much critical in the sense of, "Hey, Big Macs are made from horse food."

Rod Rodriguez:             Right.

Jeff Lambert:                Something like that.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                Just good-natured. "Hey, you lost your trademark. We're going to take advantage of that."

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                Good story. I like it. And I should mention this for our listeners. I'll make sure to post links in the show notes for each of these stories, so you can go and share them with your friends and family over Christmas or whatever holiday celebration that you celebrate. We are all-inclusive here at Rizen.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. Customers.

Jeff Lambert:                Speaking of all-inclusive, let's talk about sex.

Rod Rodriguez:             All right.

Jeff Lambert:                Story number three. Sex Still Sells was the title I gave this and I'm trying to remember exactly what the story was. Hopefully... Do parents have to send their kids out of the room for this one?

Rod Rodriguez:             No, no, no.

Jeff Lambert:                We're good?

Rod Rodriguez:             I think it's good. It's safe.

Jeff Lambert:                All right, so-

Rod Rodriguez:             Everybody can hear it.

Jeff Lambert:                Moms in the car, turn it up a little louder.

Jeff Lambert:                All right, so tell me about this. How did a brand in 2019 use sex to help their marketing efforts?

Rod Rodriguez:             Creatively, I think. In March, Ikea unveiled an online catalog promoting better layouts of their furniture.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. Sounds innocent.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, I mean, pretty innocent, I think. But the catch. It was written and illustrated to look like the classic Kama Sutra text.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh. And for our Amish listeners out there, can you explain what the Kama Sutra in a brief overview is? I didn't include this in our notes, but.

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure.

Jeff Lambert:                Why would this be racy?

Rod Rodriguez:             Well, it is an ancient Indian manual on sexual positions.

Jeff Lambert:                Ah, okay. So, they showed positions for bedroom furniture?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, positions for bedroom furniture.

Jeff Lambert:                In the same kind of layout.

Rod Rodriguez:             Similarly, yes. That included the text and the verbiage to make a, I guess, sexy bedroom.

Jeff Lambert:                Huh.

Rod Rodriguez:             Not... They didn't show any people, they just showed bedroom furniture.

Jeff Lambert:                Right, right. So what was the... Can you paint me a picture of what the catalog actually looked like?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure. The catalog included illustrations of 20 bedroom furniture positions, they called them, that showcased room layout tips, design inspiration, and decor recommendations. So, it featured positions including The Busy Hands for customers seeking efficient studio space, and The Doggy Style for pet owners.

Jeff Lambert:                So, they designed the whole thing to look like the actual counterpart, the actual Kama Sutra.

Rod Rodriguez:             The room layouts, yes.

Jeff Lambert:                The room layouts.

Rod Rodriguez:             And they used the language of that text.

Jeff Lambert:                Got it.

Rod Rodriguez:             To emphasize that those were the, that was related to the Kama Sutra books.

Jeff Lambert:                That is brilliant. So obviously, that would catch people's attention.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                Just because everybody, "Hey, what is this?" What was the angle? Why did they start this campaign?

Rod Rodriguez:             So, they had recently announced that they were cutting physical catalog production in half, which originally had gotten some negative feedback from the fans. From their customers. So this campaign aimed to show that the digital alternatives to be worth switching to.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh. That's brilliant. I mean, I love Ikea and I do like my catalog that I get every year. But yeah, if you can be a little bit more creative and catch my attention with the digital version, then hey, why not?

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                What a great idea.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                So, I guess taking that into account and using, I guess, a riskier approach to marketing. What's the lesson here for us?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sex is a common human experience and it can be used tastefully to grab attention.

Jeff Lambert:                Sure.

Rod Rodriguez:             And you can, using quirky and unexpected offset bad news can be an excellent strategy to deflect potential negative responses.

Jeff Lambert:                You don't always have to take yourself too seriously, I guess?

Rod Rodriguez:             Right.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. Interesting. So, I mean, I guess if this goes back to number one though, because with Peloton, they didn't listen to their audience and they didn't get feedback before releasing it. So is there a connection here? Using sex can be a way to market your product, but you probably want to screen it pretty heavily, right?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure. And they thought, well, they thought it through a lot. I think they saw the big picture in a way to offset that, the negative response, and get a better response by using something that they understood would connect them better to their customers.

Jeff Lambert:                Sure, sure. I mean, it does tie in directly to bedroom furniture.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                I think it's creative. I like it.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah. It softens the news that people weren't going to get a physical copy of their book anymore.

Jeff Lambert:                So, they needed a way to get people to flock to the digital version. Well done, Ikea. All right, let's move on to story number four.

Jeff Lambert:                Let's talk about how brands used pop culture to be able to market their products in 2019. So, Game of Thrones.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                I know that this is a tough one, especially for fans like me who just really are still hurting from season eight and the ending and the questionable decisions. I'm not going to get into it because I could start a whole nother podcast on that. But there was a company that capitalized on the Game of Thrones craze before the crash and burn ending of the series, correct?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure. Yep.

Jeff Lambert:                So, can you tell us a little bit about that marketing campaign?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure. So, back when everybody adored Game of Thrones, Oreo released a commercial mirroring the iconic opening credits scene but cookies replaced the models of castles and fortresses.

Jeff Lambert:                So, this is the beginning where they're like, something like machinery kind of popping up with the castles and with the bridges and everything.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                And they used Oreos for that?

Rod Rodriguez:             Oreos. Cookies, yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                Great idea.

Rod Rodriguez:             So, they made the commercial to promote a limited edition Thrones packaging.

Jeff Lambert:                Hmm.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                And how did that do for them?

Rod Rodriguez:             So, the video had over a million views on YouTube at launch. And Oreo also saw the biggest lift in positive discussions or buzz among brands associated with the show, according to YouGov.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. So, they actually did a study to see how much of an impact they were, how much they were fitting into the cultural conversation.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. Now, I wonder if that's selling as well now as compared to eight months ago but.

Rod Rodriguez:             You mean, after the ending?

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah. But I digress. They released it at the right time.

Rod Rodriguez:             Maybe they should put a commercial with cookies crumbling.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh, I like that.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                Hey, Oreo CEO, if you're listening to the podcast, we want credit for that one.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. So, that is a very creative way to be able to use your product and tie it into a cultural phenomenon. Because everybody was watching Game of Thrones. People I didn't even think were watching Game of Thrones were watching Game of Thrones. And everybody knows that iconic music at the beginning of the show. So, if you hear that, you're going to look at, "Oh, it's Oreos, what is this?" So, I like it. Can you break it down a little bit for us, how we could practically use that strategy in 2020?

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure. I mean, cash in on hot topics of discussion and then find a way to insert your brand into the conversation.

Jeff Lambert:                Sure.

Rod Rodriguez:             That's what Oreo did with that video.

Jeff Lambert:                Pay attention to those trending topics.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                See how you can get involved.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                I'm trying to think what would be a good trending topic right now?

Jeff Lambert:                Maybe something about impeachment?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, impeachment. Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                If I was selling canned peaches?

Rod Rodriguez:             Maybe.

Jeff Lambert:                Find a way to work that in.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, maybe.

Jeff Lambert:                If I sold artificial tan lotion?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. Artificial tan lotion.

Jeff Lambert:                You have any other hot ideas?

Rod Rodriguez:             Oh, man, I can't think of any. No. No, no, no. No, I can't think of any.

Jeff Lambert:                Well, we have to keep our secrets.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                We can't give them all away.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                So. Okay, so we talked about pop culture. Let's go to, I believe it's our final story, which is an overall view of using social media. So, we talked about this in a previous episode with Nicole. It's important to use social media and we talked about how you can more effectively use Instagram by using carousels. This ties into it a little bit. How can brands use social media to drive sales? And there's a good example of this, I think.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. In April, Twix gave fans an entirely new way to enjoy the candy bar.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             They released Twix Meltdown.

Jeff Lambert:                Ooh.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes. A device that lets you combine your coffee and Twix bar by melting it into your coffee, leaving just the cookie to eat.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. Hold on.

Jeff Lambert:                You're saying to me that Twix came up with a device that lets me safely dip my Twix bar into my coffee every morning?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, and melt your chocolate into the coffee.

Jeff Lambert:                Now apparently, that's a thing. I mean, I like Twix and I like coffee. I've never tried them together. Is that something you've tried before?

Rod Rodriguez:             I have never tried it, but I've heard that people enjoy Twix in coffee and melting their chocolate into the coffee. And there's, I guess, an inherent danger in the burning your hand by dipping the Twix bar there.

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah.

Rod Rodriguez:             Into the coffee. So, they came up with packaging that was a clip that you could add to any side of a coffee cup to safely dip your Twix bar into the drink.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. So, wait, how does this tie back to social media though? Great product idea.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                And they're capitalizing on a popular trend with their product, but how does that come back to social media?

Rod Rodriguez:             Right. Well, there's only one way to get one of those items. You had to follow the company's Instagram page.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh.

Rod Rodriguez:             For instructions.

Jeff Lambert:                There's the catch.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, yes.

Jeff Lambert:                So, did this help their stats overall?

Rod Rodriguez:             Overall? I believe so. They were able to increase social media engagement and increase their following base by using this as a strategy.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay. Huh. This is very creative, I've got to say.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                And if you can only get it by following the social media page, people are going to follow. Once they're in, it's less likely that they're going to unfollow immediately after getting their product.

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure.

Jeff Lambert:                Now you've got someone in the pipeline, the exposure pipeline.

Rod Rodriguez:             Right.

Jeff Lambert:                I like that.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                So, I guess bringing it back, what's the lesson here that we could use in terms of using social media?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, I think just like many of the other lessons we've discussed today, it's listening to your customers. Always, it's a great strategy to have because people were already dipping their Twix in coffee.

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah.

Rod Rodriguez:             And they knew they could safely develop a product to drive more social media engagement and increase their following base by providing it to them, right?

Jeff Lambert:                Yeah.

Rod Rodriguez:             And then getting them to follow them on social media.

Jeff Lambert:                And just because you release a product doesn't mean you have to release it across all your channels. You can create some exclusivity by just releasing it on social media or trying to, I guess, use different communication channels to push your product.

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure, sure.

Jeff Lambert:                Huh.

Rod Rodriguez:             In this case, I think it was smart to leave it just on Instagram because then that channel grew.

Jeff Lambert:                Right.

Rod Rodriguez:             By the exclusivity that you mentioned.

Jeff Lambert:                Yes, that makes sense. So, social media, try and use it in different ways. It doesn't have to be the same thing that you do for your TV commercials or for your videos. It can be its own advertising arm, I guess you could say.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                Very good. Now, Rod, I know you wanted to talk about this. We didn't get in-depth about it but this seemed like our bonus topic, I guess you could say.

Rod Rodriguez:             Sure, sure.

Jeff Lambert:                For our listeners, maybe we put this up as a paywall. To get the final story. You wanted to talk about how a company had another very creative way to push sales in 2019. And it actually started in 2018 but it's still going in 2019.

Rod Rodriguez:             Oh, yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                Do you want to give me the quick overview of that?

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah, no. Tesla launched the Roadster into space.

Jeff Lambert:                Yes.

Rod Rodriguez:             In 2018.

Jeff Lambert:                Wow.

Rod Rodriguez:             And I think if I remember correctly today, it's continuing to travel through space, and it's the year Venus... Was that? No. Jupiter? I don't remember exactly where it is but I thought it was a pretty genius idea.

Rod Rodriguez:             And then like everything else that they do, adds onto the whole feeling that Tesla's going beyond just Earth. Their association with SpaceX, the brand new Cybertruck that just came out that looks like it could be...

Jeff Lambert:                A [inaudible 00:23:59]?

Rod Rodriguez:             No, actually, to me, it looks like a Rover that you could take it to Mars and roll around Mars. Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                And they've got Hyperloop, which is a futuristic concept. Yeah. They are the company of the future.

Rod Rodriguez:             And the Boeing company.

Jeff Lambert:                The Boeing company. Yeah, absolutely.

Rod Rodriguez:             So, all those, I think, are great lessons to take that they're pushing the envelope and they're using, I think, people's dreams to grow. I mean, yeah, I'd like to go into space one day, so.

Jeff Lambert:                And more than likely, I think, depending on if something happens, catastrophically but it seems like Tesla or one of their companies is going to be involved in that next big technological jump, whether it's commercial airlines to space or things like that. It'll be interesting to see.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                But I like the concept, futuristic cars set into outer space. Something we always tie into a futuristic world.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                And processes, so go Tesla.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                They do a great job marketing their products.

Rod Rodriguez:             Absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                And Elon is laughing all the way to the bank with that truck, by the way. Because I think it had like 150,000 pre-orders for that truck.

Rod Rodriguez:             No, more. More than, I think they're at like 250,000.

Jeff Lambert:                Wow.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah. I'm like 221-thousandth person to order it, actually.

Jeff Lambert:                You ordered it?

Rod Rodriguez:             I did.

Jeff Lambert:                Oh, my God.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yeah.

Jeff Lambert:                Hey, congratulations.

Rod Rodriguez:             Thank you, thank you.

Jeff Lambert:                You're going to take me for a ride?

Rod Rodriguez:             Of course, as soon as it gets here.

Jeff Lambert:                All right.

Rod Rodriguez:             Hopefully, it gets here in two years but we'll see.

Jeff Lambert:                Two years? Are you going to shoot it into space?

Rod Rodriguez:             No.

Jeff Lambert:                Okay.

Rod Rodriguez:             No.

Jeff Lambert:                Good.

Rod Rodriguez:             But, I mean, if they offer me to do it, maybe as part of the marketing campaign, I may jump in there.

Jeff Lambert:                I may join you. We'll see.

Jeff Lambert:                All right, well, that takes us through our six stories that we covered for 2019. I think it was a good year for marketing.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                I see more creativity in how we market our products, different channels in how we're marketing our products. And that's really what it comes down to. We have to find new ways to engage audiences and just get into the conversation. So, kudos to the six companies that did that in 2019. And it will be interesting to see how that affects 2020. And Rizen, I think, will be paying attention to those things because we always try and stay on the cutting edge of how we can reach customers.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yes, absolutely.

Jeff Lambert:                Well, Rod, thanks for coming by.

Rod Rodriguez:             Thanks for having me, Jeff.

Jeff Lambert:                I'll see you next year.

Rod Rodriguez:             Yep.

Jeff Lambert:                And to our listeners, thank you so much for joining us today. It was great to spend some time with you to round out this new year or the end of this year, I should say, going into the new year. And remember, we put out new episodes every week. It's always going to be filled with advice that's going to help you grow your business. And remember, if you're looking for a partner that's experienced and friendly and results-driven that can help you with your marketing needs, check out Rizen by going to gorizen.com. That's Rizen with a Z. You can also follow them on social media to see what they're up to. They're on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. And you can search for them under the name Rizeninbound. That's one word, Rizeninbound.

Jeff Lambert:                And just as a favor, as we close up this year, folks, if you are a dedicated listener to the show, help us be able to reach new people in 2020, and go on the podcast app of your choice and just give us a star rating, and help us be able to up our review count, so we can help get in front of new people. But overall, thank you for your support. It's been a great year in 2019, the first year of this podcast, and we hope for many more. Have a good new year and take care.