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Home Depot's dress code

Home Depot's dress code

And the superfan marketing strategy

Rachel Hauer
October 12, 2024

Happy Saturday Besties,

Google is testing a feature for recipes that lets you read it without leaving Google: a quick view button that let’s ya peak at it. Try a gluten free pumpkin loaf in honor of Jack this weekend (IYKYK).

ICYMI: We just gave a sneak peak into our new show, The Best Idea Yet, by dropping the entire 1st episode on the TBOY feed. Going forward, all new episodes will drop weekly on a separate feed.

Support the show, by following The Best Idea Yet on Apple, Spotify, Wondery, & Amazon Music.

Want a hint for episode 2? Scroll…

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DID YOU KNOW

👻 Spirit Halloween sells nearly 1/5 of all Halloween costumes in the US. But it’s feeling a new spirit…

The news: Spirit announced they're expanding their pop-up model to Christmas. The Santa-expansion starts with 10 stores in the Northeast.

It’s genius: Spirit is a real estate company in a to-go bag costume (IYKYK). Their success comes from 3 non-negotiables when selecting their locations:

🎃 Must have a 3-month lease for at least 5,000 square feet
🎃 Must have 35,000 people living within 3 miles
🎃 Must have 25,000 cars drive by daily

That thesis has resulted in 1,500 locations sprouting up every Sept-October. We call it Zombie Retail, because Spirit takes empty retail locations and brings them to life for 3 months. Now they’re dressing up as the ghost of Christmas’ present.

(From our Spirit Halloween’s santa spinoff story)

GET THIS

☎️ FaceTime 9-1-1: Prepared is disrupting the 911 call. What’s happening: A human still responds to the call, but Prepared’s software transforms the experience—Providing a GPS location, caller ID, and accepting text/photo/video messages. The tech will even let you FaceTime, so you can show the cat stuck in a tree. Finally.

🥶 Cold Plunge: The coldest cold plunge and largest sauna in America are owned by a Wellness startup called Othership. No phone or smart watches allowed. Just chillin in the 32-degree tub or with 90 besties in the 180-degree sauna.

GOTTA’ KNOW

🌀 Hurricane Milton’s damages are estimated to be $75B. This is bad, but not the $250B projected in worst case scenarios. Fortunately, the hurricane pivoted south last second, Tampa avoided direct hit.

💸 The US deficit for the fiscal year 2024 just hit $1.8T, the highest in three years. The US debt situation feels out of control, and this election neither party cares to rein it in. Kamala Harris’s policies would add $3.5T additional debt over the next 10 years. And Trump’s would add nearly double that, $7.5T of debt.

🔻 September Inflation: We got the inflation report for the month of Sept: prices rose 2.4% compared to last year (lowest in 3 years). It’s not an inflation problem anymore, it’s a housing problem: Rent & mortgage payments — by far the biggest item in our monthly spending — rose 4.9%.

📞 It’s officially Q3 Earnings Season…big banks go first. Circle back next week…

IN STOCK NEWS…

🦺 Home Depot has a new corporate dress code: Orange Aprons…

Photo Credit: Zippia

…Every corporate employee—from the CEO down—must now work an 8-hour shift in stores each quarter. The new policy affects every single suit (and pantsuit) at the Atlanta HQ. Yes, even Mr. VP Steve.

This idea is brilliant because it connects management with the top 2 stakeholders: Customers & Front-line workers. With customers: It’s so easy for executives to think of them as just numbers, but interacting with them is key to any B2C company. For front-line workers: Helps execs empathize w/ challenges and see opportunities of associates in the stores.

(From our Home Depot’s undercover boss story)

BEST TAKEAWAY

👄 Word of mouth marketing requires Superfans, and super patience.

Word-of-Mouth marketing is the most powerful form of marketing…because it’s driven by trust/love. But it’s also the slowest marketing… because it moves from person to person. And it only happens if people freakin’ LOVE the product. So if you’re trying to grow a biz and you’re committing to W-o-M as your growth driver, know that it requires superfans, and super patience.

Got another example of a successful Word-of-Mouth product/brand?

(From our Bogg Bag’s suburban boom story)