What LinkedIn has taught me: Crumbly chocolate, gold plated cans and taking the p*ss.
LinkedIn has taught me a lot.
Since launching Ryde in 2021, I focused solely on Facebook, Instagram and (anxiously) had a 'go' at Tiktok. I say anxiously because I am a self defined introvert and whilst the internet is a great way of reaching millions of people. It's also petrifying because it can feel like one wrong move, cancel culture is waiting at the gates.
Then I took to LinkedIn and found myself surrounded by brilliant individuals and brands - connected in a way you don't get on other platforms. Maybe I'm on a niche side of the platform but it feels like the days of 'the interviewer was the dog!' are long gone.
Seeing posts on pain points, customer service and general life is comforting when you spend the rest of your time talking about everything BUT the actual business side of your brand (weirdly nobody on Tiktok wants to see you filing a report 😔)
You Can't Please Everyone
One of the most interesting people I follow is James Watt. He recently shared 'My 10 Biggest Mistakes As The BrewDog CEO.' He takes you through the ins and outs of what went wrong and why - and at no point tries to blame anybody else. There's a comfort to it.
One thing I found particularly interesting is the '£500,000 mistake.' Inspired by everything Willie Wonka, James/BrewDog decided that they would hide 50 gold cans in cases of beer. James explained that he though the cans were made from solid gold rather than plated, misunderstanding the process of how they were made.
When the winners got their cans, Despite the fact the valuation of £15,000 per can being accurate, some of the winners had seen earlier mentions of ‘solid gold’ and complained when they realised they were only gold plated. The ASA got involved too and ruled that they had run a misleading promotion.
James personally got in touch with all 50 winners and let them know that if they were unhappy with their prize, he would personally offer them the full cash amount as an alternative. All in all, it ended up costing him around £470,000.
I loved the honesty of the post. Did he want to reimburse people? Probably not, he's only human and people can be ungrateful - what would you do?
Did he do the right thing? I'll leave that up to you.
What I learnt? You can't please everyone. Some people won't be happy even with a gold plated product that is usually made from tin. You will make mistakes. It will be up to you to fix them as a professional and as a brand. Even if it's through gritted teeth and you only had the best intentions.
It also taught me that brands are only human.
The Thing About Chocolate
I saw a recent post where a lady detailed 3 things she didn't like about her Christmas chocolate. Which, if you were linked to any of the brands - might be an eye rolling experience when you know the blood, sweat and tears put into creating... anything.
One of the brands mentioned was Tony's Chocolonely who admittedly, I knew very little about until I attended Design Planet 2022. The team had a guest speaker spot taking the consumer on their approach to slave free chocolate. It was interesting to see that despite their dedication to this worthy cause, the actual bar was described as 'not in equal blocks' and a 'bit crumbly.'
I particularly enjoyed the educational, matter of face response bringing awareness back to their WHY.
Owning a brand has made me far more patient, understanding and empathetic to others. At the end of the day a brand or business is made up of people. People are not always perfect. The good brands and businesses are usually always trying their best.
Despite customer service being our absolute number one priority - I once got accused of being a fake website because I didn't respond to an email in 15 minutes. At the time I was moving 80 product boxes, swinging from a ladder.
I paused on the top rung, replied and all was forgiven.
Surreally Good
One stand out brand for me is SURREAL and cofounders Kit Gammell, Jac Chetland. Who have a slightly different approach to the two mentioned above that this is taking the p*ss, in the most brilliant blend of company culture, education and satire.
What I learnt from SURREAL? Having a sense of humour is one of the most critical parts to any brand or business. Or else you'll end up crying into your crumbly chocolate and downing beer from a gold plated can.
