Every Super Bowl promises a parade of creativity, but only a handful of commercials earn the right to be remembered once the confetti settles. The 2026 Super Bowl was no exception; an expensive laboratory of ideas where storytelling either soared or collapsed under the weight of celebrity, technology, and noise. 

What follows is a clear-eyed review of the best and worst Super Bowl ads of the year, written through the lens of the magical lens of Wizard of Ads for Essential Services, where effectiveness matters more than applause, and where every creative decision is judged by one simple standard: did it create meaning, memory, and momentum for the brand?

DoorDash: “Beef 101 with 50 Cent”

DoorDash leaned into an authentic brand personality with sharp, playful self-aware humor. 50 Cent’s metafictional digs at his legendary beefs with other artists translated into a spot that delivered a laugh and a clear connection to the brand. A rare combo at this year’s Super Bowl. It wasn’t just funny; it felt relevant.

Why it worked: clear idea + cultural bite + personality.

TurboTax: “The Expert” ft. Adrien Brody

This spot was a standout because it did the thing every Super Bowl marketer secretly wants: it sustained its narrative for the full 60 seconds. Adrien Brody’s straight-faced performance and the smarter pacing gave viewers breathing room to get the message rather than just be reflexively amused.

Lesson: longer isn’t always better, but cohesive is.

E.L.F. Cosmetics:  Melissa McCarthy Telenovela

Comedic storytelling anchored in character gave this ad legs beyond the game itself. McCarthy embraced absurdity without losing sight of the product. A trifecta that many Super Bowl ads fail to hit.

Takeaway: fresh talent + narrative play beats star cameo clutter.

Xfinity: Jurassic Park Revival

Star power met nostalgia, and it worked. A playful update of a beloved franchise thread brought audiences “in” before the logo ever appeared. Isn’t that what Super Bowl advertising is supposed to do?

State Farm & Jon Bon Jovi Parody

Leveraging a cultural touchstone and adding a wink to the audience, this reenvisioned performance of “Livin’ on a Prayer” was warm, resonant, and, most importantly, memorable.

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💔 The Misses. Where Creative Strategy Fumbled

Dunkin’: Nostalgia Overdose

In theory, the sitcom spoof with an ensemble of aging stars should have been charming. But instead, it came off as forced and muddled — star wattage replacing strategic idea. Critics called it “chaotic” and “soulless,” a patchwork of references without a unifying compass.

Why it flopped: celebrity cameos ≠ coherent brand idea.

AI and Meta-Driven Spots

There was an avalanche of AI-themed commercials, and not always in a good way. Svedka’s robot-themed spot was widely panned as shallow and forgettable, with visuals that felt generated, not directed. Similarly, ads from Amazon Alexa and others buried product utility under a sci-fi veneer.

Insight: AI can be a tool or a crutch. This year, too many chose the latter.

Ritz Crackers: “Shell Phone”

Big names don’t bail out bad structure. Without a compelling narrative or reason to care about the product, this ensemble cast couldn’t uplift the ad above befuddlement.

Liquid I.V. and Others That Lost the Brand Thread

A few ads aimed for big emotional hooks or cultural references but lost the product message somewhere along the way, which means no recall, no effectiveness.

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📊 What the 2026 Super Bowl Ads Really Tell Us

✔️ Story Still Rules

Ads that told a story (even short ones) resonated far better than those that leaned on spectacle. Narrative creates emotional currency; spectacle without substance creates noise.

✔️ Humor With Purpose Always Wins

The strongest performers weren’t just silly, they had shape. They started with a clear idea and used humor to extend it, not to bury it.

✖️ Star Power ≠ Strategy

Several of the most talked-about tumbles involved ads that stacked celebrities like chips and hoped a few would land. When the idea isn’t sticky, the faces fade fast.

✖️ AI Isn’t a Narrative Substitute

This year’s backlash against AI-heavy spots spotlights a larger trend: audiences are fatigued. AI themes need a real, human context, otherwise they feel like hollow gimmicks.

⭐ Emotion Still Beats Algorithm

Ads that built real emotional warmth, parent-child moments, nostalgia, or unexpected joy, consistently scored higher with audiences and critics alike.

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🧠 Wizard of Ads Takeaways for Essential Services

As specialists guiding mission-critical brands, there are three strategic truths to draw from Big Game 60:

1. Purpose trumps pomp: Emotional clarity beats superficial spectacle.
   
   
2. Creative economy matters: A 30-second Super Bowl spot should earn every second.
   
   
3. Authentic customer insight is non-negotiable: Brands that leaned on genuine human truth landed harder and longer.
   
   

This year’s Super Bowl was a canvas of bold ideas and bold misfires. For Essential Services and all mission-aligned advertisers, the lesson stands clear: 

Don’t just capture eyeballs. Create meaning.

No matter how positive your company culture is, your team members will likely experience diminished energy at some point. Ideally, you provide them with resources to help prevent burnout, but what else can you do?

To keep staff feeling engaged and energized, you can modify the language you use. By framing your communication in a positive and motivational way, you can help bolster your staff’s spirits.

As Rudyard Kipling wrote, “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” By selecting energetic words, you can have a positive impact on your team’s enthusiasm levels.

How Can You Energize Your Team?

It’s important to address any organizational barriers your staff encounters as they try to keep their energy levels high. Do you allow your staff to take enough breaks? Do you provide time and space for them to socialize? Do you provide them with caring feedback?

There are so many reasons that a staff member would start to feel burned out, but the scope of this article focuses on words.

So, how can you use language to energize your team? Does it even work?

Read on to learn more about how the words you choose make a difference.

Do Energetic Words Really Motivate a Team?

Energetic words really can motivate a team. Besides helping with motivation, using energetic language can help build the foundation for an overall positive experience for everyone involved.

If you’ve been struggling to establish a positive, energetic and winning attitude for your sales team, then it might be time for some help.

That’s where we come in. If you need help strategizing ways to improve your sales methods or marketing strategies, we can help. Contact us today to get started!

8 Ways To Energize Your Team and Be Productive

A team’s culture starts at the top. Managers set the tone for their staff to be energized and productive. If your management is looking for ways to further boost employee morale and increase efficiency, then here are eight ways to get you started.

If you approach your team members with empowered and positive energy, then they’ll respond in a positive way back. If it doesn’t happen immediately, give it some time. If the mood of a team is already negative, then it will take time to turn around.

Don’t worry, though. You’ll get there with consistency!

Know Each of Your Team Members Personality

You can’t choose the words that will have the best impact on your audience if you don’t know the audience first. Depending on differences in personality, your team members will be energized by different approaches you take to communicate.

You also can choose which team members you want to focus your time and attention on based on how they’re acting. If you know them well enough, it will be easier to identify signs of stress or negative attitude early. And the sooner you can address an issue, the easier it is to solve.

Imagine the impact it would have on a team member if you could see that they weren’t feeling energized and asked, “Hey, I noticed you seem a bit low on energy. Have you been feeling alright? What can I do to support you?”

No matter what type of open door policy you might have as a leader, it’s important to remember that some of your team members will simply not feel comfortable coming to you early with a problem. If people are hesitant to approach you, it can allow negative feelings to fester before you address them with positive, energetic language that motivates.

Individual people require unique approaches. You can use malleable methods of communication that can flex to meet the needs of any individual. Then you can most effectively bring out the best in them.

Learn from Your Team

As you get to know your team members and their personalities, you’ll be able to more effectively lead them. And in this case, that means keeping their spirits elevated.

By connecting with your team, you can eventually start asking them for their expertise. This can have a profound effect on their level of buy-in or optimism. When people offer their advice or insight, they’re attaching a level of personal interest to the situation that makes them feel connected.

The more you ask your team questions, the more you learn from them and about them. They’ll feel like experts when they can explain something to their boss, and you’ll definitely learn from them, too. It’s a win-win, really.

Express Gratitude

In a fast paced work environment, it can be easy to just say, “Got it,” or, “Yeah, I saw your proposal.”

It can be hard to remember to express genuine gratitude before moving on to the next task on your to-do list. But your staff will notice, appreciate and remember when you say, “Thank you.”

And it’s not enough to just say, “Thanks.” Express thanks for something specific, and use the most positive words you can think of. Even before you review something, you can simply thank the person for completing the task and let them know that kind and candid feedback will follow.

That brings us to our next point.

Give Kind But Candid Feedback

It’s important for employees to know how they’re doing. If they don’t get feedback, then they’ll just wonder if they’re performing their duties to the highest standard.

When you give kind but candid feedback, your staff will appreciate the honesty and grow from the advice. It’s essential to be kind while being honest, though, as the message gets lost when people feel attacked or get defensive.

Start by noting what went well, and then note what could be improved.

Avoid negatively framing your feedback. For example, here are three things not to say:

“The price estimate you calculated wasn’t even close.”

“Your conclusion slide for that presentation was terrible. Sloppy work.”

“We can’t even use this. I have no idea what you were thinking.”

Here are positive alternatives:

“How did you come up with this price estimate? My number is different, and I’d like us to be confident about our final proposal figure.”

“Please remove redundant information in the conclusion slide. After that revision, this will be a strong presentation.”

“This draft is not aligned with our needs for this project. Let’s go back to the beginning to make sure we’re on the same page.”

The second set would allow your staff to come to the conversation with an open mind and feeling much more energized to tackle the project.

Encourage Empathy in the Workplace

It’s essential for all employees to empathize with each other. It’s not just management that needs to empathize with staff.

When teammates help each other and offer support among themselves, it has a huge impact on the attitude of the team as a whole.

If you regularly remind everyone on your team that they should feel free to offer one another help and support, they likely will do so. When everyone helps everyone, it creates a feeling of mutual respect that will endure.

Plan a Regular Dialogue for Each Team Member

If you take the time for regular conversation with each team member, you’ll be setting your team up to succeed. By checking in, especially one-on-one, you’ll be able to identify who on your team is in need of some morale boost. You can respond accordingly.

By addressing your staff’s concerns, you’ll be building your relationship with them. And when you have a strong relationship with your team, they’ll take your words to heart more.

Aim for weekly, or at least monthly, check-ins with your team. One-on-one is ideal in case anyone has any sensitive information to share. Make it clear that you’re looking for honesty so that you can help them solve any problems they’re experiencing. That’ll be sure to boost the team’s energy!

Be Open and Ask for their Feedback

You can share your thoughts with them, too. By having a two way interaction, you’ll be able to relate to them better. And once you’ve shared your thoughts, they’ll be more likely to respond.

Once you’re open, you can get open feedback from your team. With honest information, you can design strategies to address any issues that might have come up. Employees feel much better working for someone who takes the time to show they care by solving problems thoughtfully.

Share Success Stories with Them

This is perhaps one of the most impactful strategies to energize a team: share success stories!

If you have group meetings, a group chat or email chain, then recognize people’s successes. This is best done in person and in a group, though.

When you have someone on your team excel, it’s going to be a huge, positive boost to talk about it.

Tell everyone how great that person did! It will show your team that their successes will be recognized.

If you’re still not sure how you can energize your team to increase productivity, then look no further.

Wizard of Ads for Essential Services is here to guide you through sales and marketing strategies for success. Contact us today to get started!

Let's get one thing straight, luxury isn't about price.

In Episode 26 of Advertising in America, Ryan Chute, Michael Torbay, Chris Torbay, Vi Wickam and Christina Gressianu unpack the real mechanics of luxury branding and why it’s nothing like the marketing most businesses are used to.

They break down the difference between internally and externally triggered purchases, explain why luxury brands must eliminate desperation at all costs, and reveal why the less you say, the more powerful your message becomes.

From $70,000 handbags to Rolexes, Lamborghinis, violins, Apple products, and even pancakes, this episode proves that luxury lives in feeling, not features.

Episode Highlights:

• Why luxury purchases are internally triggered and why that changes everything
• The emotional mechanics behind high-price, low-explanation branding
• Why great luxury brands never rush the sale
• How aspiration beats affluence in driving demand
• The difference between “premium” and truly “luxury” brands
• Why story, scarcity, and symbolism matter more than specs
• How to market a luxury experience without saying a word

🎧 Hit play and learn how to stop paying for attention that was never real.

📱 Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

💥 Brought to you by Wizard of Ads for Essential Services

Welcome to another episode of Advertising in America, where today we'll be talking about luxury branding.

The first part of luxury market is a incredible product.

I'm sure that line of “our customers don't watch television.” That is a marketing line that is about identity. “I'm so cool. I don't watch television.”

So fancy. I'm so rich. I have the cast of Ted Lasso come over to my house and act everything out for me in my living room.

That's right. “I drive a Lamborghini, asshole. I'm not one of those television watching idiots.”

A $70,000 handbag breaks my damn brain.  A $70,000 Now, it must have a lot of little pockets.

Like so many pockets  When you're spending that kind of money. Does it have one to put your keys?

It could probably hold like 8,000 pounds of stuff.

Oh yeah. Even $10,000. It becomes varying degrees of conceivable as you become wealthier as well.

You can have an educated discernment where like, I can look at a handbag and say, “I don't know what brand that is, but that's an expensive handbag.”

Ryan Chute: Luxury branding is so much different than home services. Externally triggered grudge purchase versus internally driven identity purchase. There's different rules to the game when you start looking at different types of marketing and the things that you're trying to market. Today, we're joined by Vi Wickham and Christina Gressianu. Let's talk about luxury branding. Give us a rundown of what luxury branding is, and how it's different than the branding that we often are doing at Wizard of Ads with home services.

Christina Gressianu: Yeah, so home services branding, you're usually addressing of a pain, a need. There's an immediacy. Luxury branding takes its time. There's no rush. There can't be a whiff of desperation. It's slow, and you're always just marketing a feeling. And because I buy a luxury good, I want to feel something, and I wanna be part of something.

So if you think about the perfume ads of the eighties, I love to think about the perfume ads of the eighties, right? The obsession ads. What the hell were they? They were nothing. There was Kate Moss breathing hard, and the word obsession. That's it. But that's a feeling, right? Immediate.  

Chris Torbay: And that's enough for me.

Christina Gressianu: Exactly. And it was enough for 30 million people to buy perfume, very expensive little bottles of water.

With luxury, you always, I feel like you always have to take a breath. And slow down, and you can be like, “Oh, okay. Luxury.” Because that's that branding, that's, it's a deep intrinsic need for a feeling. And whatever you're selling, you have to have a reason for the price. Like it needs to be made well, it needs to have quality, and then why does that quality matter? What am I going to feel when I hold a well-made handbag? What am I going to feel when I wear a suit that fits me perfectly? What am I going to feel when I buy a suit that is going to last me forever? What am I going to feel when I buy a Patek Philippe watch and I hand it down to my children?

That's why Patek Philippe is all about how you're buying it for the, you're just holding onto it for the future generation. But there's that feeling of this is an important part of my legacy. It's not a watch, it's not for telling time.

So luxury branding always has to come from this perspective of a long game and a feeling. What is the feeling that we can promise?

Chris Torbay: That's interesting because of the number of times we talk about how a lot of these projects are long purchase cycle products. And that, no, it's not like Doritos or beer, where the person is going to be peckish within the next couple of hours. You're going to be thirsty by the end of the day.

Vi Wickam: Do you have chips?

Chris Torbay: Like now? Do I have any? It is 4:20 stuffed into my pockets, and we try to tell those people, we have to remind those people that, no, you can't just run an ad for an air conditioner or run an ad for a, for an engagement ring, and the people are going to come in.

You've got to wait. You've got to build that brand recognition and then wait for that person to need a new water heater, or you've got ot wait for that person to fall in love and want to get engaged to somebody. And this sounds like it's even more of that if you thought that was a long purchase cycle. You have to earn that position in people's minds as the kind of handbag that I would really love to be seen with. And also then wait for them to get to a point where they can invest in that kind of thing. It's an even longer long game.

Ryan Chute: So is it about class and rank within the various communities that we're speaking to? Both, I suppose inside of ourselves, our self-worth, our value,

Vi Wickam: Identity.

Ryan Chute: Identity of those that are your closest loved ones, and then those of the greater tribes that you're trying to impress.

Christina Gressianu: It might be, but I also, when you say class and rank, it feels very high. But, American Girl dolls, right? I buy my child an American Girl doll so that they know I love them. Because an American Girl doll is like a stupidly expensive doll. But people flocked to buy them because it is how I demonstrate my love, right? So it's that feeling of what better way to show my child that I love them. There's lots of fun luxury brands that escape me right now, but when you guys talk, I'll remember one. There are fun luxury brands that capitalize on the fun of it. Virgin Airlines, right? They're not snooty. They're not highbrow. They're very like, fun. We're a fun airline.

Chris Torbay: Yeah, and they're spending a little bit more to, to fly on an airline that's going to have that little bit of fun.

Mick Torbay:  I bet you the Disney Cruise Lines are not inexpensive.

Chris Torbay: No, exactly.

Christina Gressianu: And that's also like Disney World. Go take your family to Disney World. It's incredibly expensive.

Mick Torbay: Yeah. Not highbrow. But expensive.

Vi Wickam: Expensive.

Christina Gressianu: And fun and beautifully orchestrated. Again, the quality is there, right? You will never see a piece of trash in Disney World on the ground, right? You're never they've like mathematically figured out how far a trash can should be, and then, gosh, if anybody drops something, there is someone right there to pick it up. It is magical. They aren't kidding when they say it's magical. They have underground tunnels so that the cast members are never seen tired or sad or having to pee or hungry, right? Like it is all orchestrated from when they open to when they close. Every moment that you spend in Disney World is orchestrated for that magical experience, and you pay for it.

Mick Torbay: You glossed over something, which I think we should probably cover, because as advertising people, I think we're very familiar with these terms, but I think it's good to define them. Talking about internal triggers versus external triggers. Because normally on this program we're talking to, in a lot of cases, home services, and those are always an externally triggered purchase, which means something else has to happen outside of us to put us in the market to buy. So the best example of this is roofing. When your roof leaks, guess what? I'm in the market to buy a new roof or to get my existing roof repaired. It wasn't my idea.

I didn't want to do it, but if there's water flowing into my home from the top, I am now in the market to purchase roofing repair today.

With an internal trigger, which is what we're talking about when we're talking about any kind of luxury good. By definition, it's an internal trigger, which means it's not that someone else puts me into the market to buy it. I have to get there on my own. And when this is Advertising in America, so when we're talking about the advertising to an internal trigger versus an external trigger, with an external trigger advertising message, we only have to do one thing: The consumer is in the market to buy now. And all we have to do is say, choose my brand, or choose the brand that my client who pays me would like you to choose. So there's only one thing we need to do. Choose my brand.

When it's luxury, because it's an internal trigger, I have to do three things in the same ad. I have to make them want to buy, I have to put them in the market. Go from, I don't wanna buy to, I do wanna buy.  

Chris Torbay: You should have a really nice watch.

Mick Torbay: Then I have to take them from that to, and you should buy that watch today, and you should buy that watch from the brand- from my brand. There's three things we have to do in marketing in luxury, and in an externally triggered, we only have to do one. It's a lot harder.

Christina Gressianu: Except that I would say, don't do any of those in a luxury ad. Don't do any of that.

Mick Torbay: I guess I'm not talking about a specific commercial. What I'm talking about is that marketing has to do those things.

Chris Torbay: Those are the three steps that people have to get through in their mind.

Mick Torbay: In order to get to a point where we could do what marketing does, which is have a phone ring or a computer open a search to begin or a door to swing open where we can come up to a salesperson who might sell me something, those three conditions must be satisfied.

Vi Wickam: So here's an example of how that can be done without doing it. Which would be the Apple campaigns for the iPod, where you saw the people dancing, having a great time with the iPod headphones.

Chris Torbay: Just the silhouettes and the headphones.

Mick Torbay: Just enough to know what it was.

Vi Wickam: And you wanted to be that person. And it wasn't,

Mick Torbay: And you didn't need an iPod. When they invented the iPod, you did not need one.

Vi Wickam: No, absolutely. Nobody needed one. No. Nobody had one. It didn't exist. It was a new thing, and what they were selling was how to feel like you are in the in crowd and you're cool, and if you don't have this, all of a sudden you're an outsider, and you're not cool.

Mick Torbay: And that campaign put people in the market. Made them want to buy the product and made them want to buy the product now. So it, it did exactly all those three things.

Chris Torbay: Yeah. It didn't say them literally.

Mick Torbay: I'm not talking about when I say I'm not talking about copy, I'm talking about the campaign has to do that, and that's a perfect example. That campaign accomplished all three of those goals.

Ryan Chute: That’s the overarching story arc. Christina, how does that fit in the more implementation tactical side? Because it seems like there's a subtlety to it, but there's equally as much as we're removing desperation from it. We're thinking relationally in a fluently and abundantly rather than from a place of survival.

Christina Gressianu: Sure. Because. A luxury brand, part of the brand has to be stability. Trust has to almost be the baseline. So when Apple does their campaign for the iPod, they just should sell fun, right? To me, all those ads with people dancing with a white cord, they were just happy, fun. It was just fun. They were just selling fun.

Mick Torbay: You're selling the emotion.

Christina Gressianu: That's it. That's all those ads did. And if I wanted to have fun, “I need an iPod.”

Ryan Chute: Would it be so bold as to say the freedom of fun or the freedom to have fun?

Christina Gressianu: Sure.

Ryan Chute: Because it's a bit of an untethering,

Chris Torbay: But you sell the emotional destination rather than any of the practicality.

Mick Torbay: It wasn't features and benefits. That's for sure.

Chris Torbay: They didn't mention any feature. Every once in a while, they would say a thousand songs in your pock. Or something like that. There would be one line or something, but that of those 30 seconds. 29 seconds was, “Oh, I can see myself there. She's having a great time.”

Vi Wickam: That was a Zune ad you were talking about that had the thousands songs in your pocket. It was. That was the Microsoft Zune.

Mick Torbay: Nobody even knows what you're talking about right now.

Ryan Chute: What in the world is this?

Mick Torbay: No one's ever heard of what you just said. No one knows what that is.

Christina Gressianu: I have, sadly.

Mick Torbay: Yeah. You were the guy who bought the micro

Christina Gressianu: I bought a Zune. Yeah, I bought the creative, whatever it was called. Anyway. It's just I would say that they were just selling fun, and they had to, I don't know how long that campaign lasted, but it had to last long enough to take me through the three stages, to take myself through the three stages Mick talked about. The ad didn't do it. The ad lasted long enough for myself to do it.

Mick Torbay: It did the thing that was necessary for you to go there on your own.

Christina Gressianu: Yes.

Ryan Chute: One of the things that Lamborghini's CEO said is, we don't advertise Lamborghini on television ads because our customers don't watch television.

Mick Torbay: That's horse shit. That's because everyone watches television.

Christina Gressianu: Except that you're also influenced my opinion of a brand is influenced by the channel, by which I consume it. And so I would say, you don't see a lot of luxury brands advertise on television commercials.

You don't see Porsche or Lamborghini or Chanel in TV commercials. Not very often. You might see that Nordstrom might have a sale that features Chanel and a TV ad.

Mick Torbay: My guess though, is that's probably a self-aggrandizing statement. It's not that Porsche drivers don't watch TV. It's that there's just too much wastage.

When you're talking to people on TV, 95% of them can't afford to buy a Porsche, so why spend all your money doing that?

Chris Torbay: But frankly, all of the Lamborghini people do watch television course. They, the fact is, you don't know where they are. This used to happen when I worked on the Porsche business, and we used to buy this back when print ads were worth buying. When people used to get newspapers and magazines, we would buy magazines in Canada, in the Report on Business magazine. So the demographic of this magazine was bankers, lawyers, and high-net-worth individuals. And at that time, we knew that was 95% wastage. That even out of that audience, only 5% of those people had the capacity or the desire to spend $150,000 on a car that they only drove in the summer. But you still do it because you still have to reach them somewhere. There is no.

Christina Gressianu: But the brand is influenced by the channel.

Ryan Chute: So the emotional environment.

Christina Gressianu: So print ads still have that tactile, they feel fancy. And a print ad in Vogue.

Chris Torbay: Yes.

Christina Gressianu: Breitling has print ads in Vogue,

Chris Torbay: But they're very much like the obsession ad that you talked about. They're emotional and personal and artistic. And they just hit you with that. And they don't give you features and benefits.

Christina Gressianu: And it doesn't say like we tell the time, $999.95. Buy Breitling.

Chris Torbay: And the same thing with Ford's advertising. It was always, it was a headline that gets you right here about driving. And an awesome shot, and it's “Oh, I wanna be that guy right now.” And it's always been your boyhood dream. And so you just look at it, and it's not about features and benefits.

Ryan Chute: One of the more recent plays that we've seen Rolls-Royce and Porsche, Lamborghini, McLaren, some Bugatti, some of the higher-end companies do is start showing up at high-end yacht shows and boating shows, and high-end equestrian events. The places where the alignment is great, particularly in boats when you're looking at a mega yacht for a few hundred million dollars or you could just take the constellation prize of this $700,000 Lamborghini, all of a sudden people are buying Lamborghinis.

Christina Gressianu: Also, think about price anchoring. So if you put your $700,000 Lamborghini next to a $5 million boat, that Lamborghini looks so cheap now.

Ryan Chute: Emotional environment again, right?

Mick Torbay: Darn affordable. Absolute. Exactly.

Chris Torbay: It's not the money you spend, it's the money you save.

Christina Gressianu: It's money. If you walk into Costco, the first things are the gigantic TVs and the paddleboard, and next is the jewelry case, and the computers. And then do you want a giant bag of chips for $20? That's a very affordable choice.

Mick Torbay: But it's still easy. It's still about identity, and I'm sure that line of our customers don't watch television. That is a marketing line. That is about identity. “I'm so cool. I don't watch television. I'm so fancy.”

You know what, I have a funny feeling that if I saw a guy driving a Lamborghini today and I said, “Hey, have you ever heard of Seinfeld?” He wouldn't say. “No, I have no idea what you're talking about. TV. I drive a Lamborghini. I don't watch television.”

Chris Torbay: “I'm so rich. I have the cast of Ted Lasso come over to my house and act everything out for me in my living room.”

Mick Torbay: “That's right. I drive a Lamborghini, asshole. I'm not one of those television-watching idiots.”

Ryan Chute: That's right. I totally agreed. And it is absolutely in itself marketing. How does one position themselves when they are attached to the brand, the way that a person is?

Mick Torbay: It's identity. I'm so fancy. I'm so cool.

Ryan Chute: F1 in Monaco is very different than the Grand Prix in Montreal or Talladega.

Vi Wickam: Definitely different from Talladega.

Ryan Chute: Talladega for some drag racing.

Christina Gressianu: Wow. I'm really surrounded by men because you guys talk about cars a lot.

Ryan Chute: We do.

Mick Torbay: Yeah. They're expensive, and we're talking about luxury things. Aren't those the only luxury things? Cars?  Prove me wrong.

Christina Gressianu: A $70,000 Hermès is relatively cheap then in the world of cars and boats.

But a $70,000 handbag is still something.

Ryan Chute: A $70,000 handbag breaks my damn brain.  

Mick Torbay: A $70,000. Now it must have a lot of like little pockets.

Ryan Chute: So many pockets.  

Mick Torbay: When you're spending that kind of money.

Chris Torbay: Does it have one to put your keys?

Mick Torbay:  It could probably hold like 8,000 pounds of stuff.

Ryan Chute: See, this is an interesting component because women certainly of affluence can buy their own bags, but there's an awful lot of men out there who are the provider in the family and are the ones who of means, and looking at what do I buy my wife that is luxury?

Mick Torbay: Something worth $70,000 that she can put her phone in.

Ryan Chute: Even $10,000 or $15,000. Which it becomes varying degrees of conceivable as you become wealthier as well.

Vi Wickam: Clearly, your brain is broken right now.

Christina Gressianu: What are you asking me right now?

Mick Torbay: He's having a hard time processing the existence of this product.

Ryan Chute: What I guess  I'm wondering is from both a luxury branding expert and a female perspective, how does a luxury brand go about convincing the man to buy Hermès for his wife?

Christina Gressianu: I don't like where you're going with this question.

Ryan Chute: Tell me more.

Christina Gressianu: Because you're making assumptions about where people are getting their money and how they're spending it.

Ryan Chute: Let's just make me a person.

Christina Gressianu: That’s hard.

Ryan Chute: So I'm trying to buy my wife a birthday.

Mick Torbay: Cruel, but fair.

Ryan Chute: Step well outside of reality for a moment and pretend I'm a person.  

Mick Torbay: Let’s pretend he was human. It's a hypothetical.

Ryan Chute: And I want to buy my wife a really nice luxury bag for Christmas or her birthday.

Mick Torbay: You are going to buy the wrong one. I guarantee it.

Chris Torbay: The marketing is probably still to her, and she needs to communicate that to you. I don't know if a lot of these brands would bother marketing to the man.

Christina Gressianu: And in fact, I've worked with brands who are like, “We've been marketing to men.” It's a women's brand, a luxury women's brand. “We've been marketing to men, and we've reached a ceiling.”

And I said, yeah, that's because 75% of dollars are spent by women. Some such number. Don't quote me on that.

Chris Torbay: I also wonder if we're getting ourselves into a corner here because, and it's true a lot of the time, especially if you're going to talk about Lamborghinis and things, but a lot of times luxury goods are bought by people who are of regular means, like a lot. So I don't know about $70,000 handbags, but somebody will go and spend $1,500 on a Coach handbag, and she's just out of university or whatever, like first job,

Vi Wickam: She totally can't afford it.

Chris Torbay: But she will have one bag that she wants to buy, or the other one that gets me is Apple products like iPhones. I mean that company markets as if they are the elite brand. We all know that they charge twice as much for everything that you can get in many of their competitors' phones. But it's the Apple one, and we are the good one. And it sounds like it's positioned at the, as this elite level and half of the population has an Apple, has an iPhone, it's their treat. It's the thing. And they will invest in it, and it's their little luxury. And they don't have to be wealthy people to do it. They will spend. They will save up for it for the identity thing that it provides.

Christina Gressianu: People choose their lane. And I will choose my lane based on my priorities. So I might buy an Apple phone, and I might buy an Hermès handbag, and then I'll go to Target and buy socks and underwear. Or I buy socks and underwear from Agent Provocateur, and then I buy a Target handbag.

People choose their lanes now. So why are you buying your wife a Hermès handbag? Because she wants one, and you love her. That's it.

Mick Torbay: I can actually prove that she's right about that because it's probably almost always a dude who buys an engagement ring, and yet they don't advertise women's engagement rings in to men. They're in Vogue. They're in things specifically targeted to women. Why? Because she's going to pick the ring she wants, and she's going to somehow magically let you know what it is that she wants, and then you are going to buy that. They wouldn't bother telling us what we should buy. They have a conversation among the women.

Ryan Chute: Because we would get it wrong

Mick Torbay: Because we would get it wrong.

Chris Torbay: I agree with that.

Mick Torbay: We’d get the wrong bag. We’d get the wrong ring. We're dumb. We're not that bright.

Ryan Chute: We'd get the wrong color, the wrong shape, the wrong size.

Mick Torbay: Women make these decisions on their own. They don't need our help.

Vi Wickam: Nailed it, Mick.

Mick Torbay: Sorry, ladies. I'm married already,

Chris Torbay: But he is a good catch.

Ryan Chute: Yes.

Mick Torbay: Ryan won't be married pretty soon, actually.

Ryan Chute: No, it's true.

Christina Gressianu: I'll take him to Hermès.

Ryan Chute: Yesterday was Ashley's birthday, and she got an Hermès bag. But she got it on my birthday because I was away.

Mick Torbay: You got it for her, for your birthday.

Ryan Chute: That's the only present that was given that day, which was a present to her from me, which was funny. It was good.

Mick Torbay: And then Ryan cried himself to sleep, moving on.  

Ryan Chute: She absolutely did pick it out. She picked up the color. She sent me the link, and it's and she made a very gentle and an indescript subtle suggestion that this.

Mick Torbay:  Of a link directly to the product.

Ryan Chute: Of this being a great birthday present.

Chris Torbay: Especially if you expect to stay married to me.

Vi Wickam: This would be a great birthday present.

Chris Torbay: You might want my, this exact thing right here.

Ryan Chute: So it's all just very confusing to me. As one navigates the world.

Mick Torbay: Digging myself out of this hole?

Ryan Chute: Not at all. Ashley will literally watch this, but she won't because she doesn't watch this stuff.

Mick Torbay: With her face firmly in her palm.

Ryan Chute: That's right. And she'll make fun of me.

Christina Gressianu: Here's the thing, right? A Lamborghini made you all feel something. I don't care what, it made you feel something. An Hermès handbag does that for a woman. That's all you need to know.

Mick Torbay: And it's just as arbitrary. But it's the feeling that matters. It's not the thing,

Vi Wickam: The feeling is the thing.

Mick Torbay: The feeling is the thing that you’re buying

Ryan Chute: Is it symbolic both for me, the giver and her, the receiver? Is it symbolic for her in her lot in life, in where she perceives herself in her identity?

Mick Torbay: All of these things are symbols. Forgive me.

Christina Gressianu: All of the above.

Mick Torbay: Like, even the Lamborghini is symbolic. Unless you are a professional race car driver, the Lamborghini is wrong for you. In every manor

Vi Wickam: When the guy's going five miles an hour down the road in downtown Toronto, in a Lamborghini.

Ryan Chute: Revving the engines, coming super noisy. It's funny. Symbolic. It's funny when you see them doing that in like downtown London, where they literally have to pay a fine the minute they cross a line just to rev the engine in front of someone to show off.

Chris Torbay: Or, yeah. Porsches are of course, the joke of that, right? Which is all these people who are, having driven Porsches on racetracks on track days, sometimes myself, and sometimes with a professional driver at the wheel, it's very weird then to see that 95% of the Porsches on the road are driven by people who will never take it to the racetrack, and never ring that sucker out to what it can actually do. But I guess, to one of your early points, the quality is there. We know you can do it, and that's how you would justify buying that car.

Mick Torbay: When someone says, “Why'd you buy that car?” It's got the 7,000-horsepower engine. It's got the traction control. It's all horse shot.

Chris Torbay: It corners way better because of the weight distribution. It's like you've never taken it to the racetrack.

Christina Gressianu: So you have to give people a story they can tell. And that's part of that identity, right? Is like I sold my company and I sold this company that I built from when I was a 20-year-old, whatever, and to celebrate, I bought myself an Hermes bag.

Right? There's a story there. A lot of times in times of transition, people need to mark that transition with something that means something, right? When you have climbed your Everest, you will find your Rolex, right? Like that. That time, that moment of transition is beautifully marked with something that is just outside of your normal attainment.

Ryan Chute: So aspiration is. As important as a fluence in this,

Christina Gressianu: I would say aspiration is probably more important. Definitely.

Chris Torbay: And that's where I was going is that there's lots of people who aspire to these things, and many of them they can get, if they prioritize, if they save a little money on socks and underwear, they can spend a little more money.

Ryan Chute: They sell their house.

Chris Torbay: It's going to make them feel good.

Mick Torbay: And you said transition, and it's all transition, but in a sense, also transformation. It's changing who you are.

Ryan Chute: And how you’re leveling up.

Christina Gressianu: Yeah, it's leveling up. You're marking a transition with this thing that transforms how you feel about yourself, or transforms how you feel about your life, or transforms how you feel about driving or whatever.

Ryan Chute: So speaking of transformation, let's shift the conversation over to ways of marketing luxury items.

Ryan Chute: One of the things I think about is Virginia Postrel’s book called “The Power of Glamour”, if I remember correctly. And one of the things she talks about is black and white photos. And one of the other things that she talks about is faces that are away from the camera so that you can't see the person. Roy talks about silhouettes because it allows us to inject ourselves into those roles, those opportunities, those aspirations. What are other ways that we could tactically deploy luxury-level marketing tactics?

Christina Gressianu: This is not what you're asking me, but I'm going to say it anyway. The first part of luxury market is an incredible product. I like to tell a story about how I bought a tube of hair product at a garage sale.

I spent 50 cents on a half-used tube of a hair product, and I got it home, and it was amazing. It was amazing. And I looked online, and it was a $50 tube, which is not a cheap hair product.  I buy it from the website, full price, every time I need it now. So the first thing that they did was have an amazing product.

So you can't just slap an expensive price tag on a regular product and call it luxury. That being said, the question you're asking is that when you're selling a feeling, you do, you have to make it easy for me to put myself into that scene, into that car, into that family, into that iPod. Which is why the silhouettes just have the white cord, which is why black and white works, which is why we turn our eyes away because if I don't see the eyes, I can put myself into that. If you close your eyes, you cease to be an individual, and then you are a representative of whoever.

And so anyway, you can do that. A lot of times, like the Patek Philippe ads are just people, but they're engaged, they're not camera aware. And so then it, that could be me and my family.

Chris Torbay: Y And when you talk about that line about how you it, you never own one, or you just look after it for a while. It's always a father and son. It's that could be me then if I have it and pass it on to one of my kids.

Mick Torbay: What is it about black and white photography?

Christina Gressianu: It's not real. It's completely imaginary. We never open our eyes and see the world in black and white.

Mick Torbay: So it feels symbolic. It feels symbolic, rather than a representation of reality.

Chris Torbay: That you have to fill in some details anyway. So you might as well fill in those details to include you.

Christina Gressianu: You have to fill in the color with your mind, so you are already halfway into it. But, I think because it's not real, it's so not real. It just sucks us in.

Mick Torbay: So if I'm hearing you correctly, what you're saying is we cannot trick consumers into believing that a product is a luxury product simply by marketing, or by price?

Christina Gressianu: No, because a luxury brand has to walk their talk, like you're scrutinized. If Louis Vuitton is suddenly, they'll be caught if they're suddenly like using pleather and calling it leather, right? If they say they're using vegan leather and they have a beautiful story about why, then they can justify their price.

But integrity, honesty, and truth to their core and to their values is so integral to a legacy brand because I have to be able to tell this story to myself one, and also because I need a lot more than a handbag when I'm spending this much money, I need the whole story.

Ryan Chute: A friend of mine Nick, has spent the last 10 years trying to figure out how to make the most beautiful Napoli pizza. And he's finally sourced the perfect dough, and he's got the tomatoes from Italy in a can.

Mick Torbay: He’s going to spend the next two years working on cheese.

Chris Torbay: We’ve got to send him a cow.

Ryan Chute: He makes the cheese.

Mick Torbay: Of course he does.

Ryan Chute: And he orders the ingredients in from Europe.  

Mick Torbay: And he charges $7,000 for a pizza.

Ryan Chute: No, this is just he literally has spent, like probably $7,000 to buy this stone pizza thing for his backyard. He just does it for his family. But he has an obsession with the experience of finding this, and it's the luxury of pizza, but it seemed like it was very much. As much experiential as it was…

Mick Torbay: It was like the journey was half, half the fun.

Ryan Chute: It was half the fun because there's a story to be told about how he got there. And the pizza's exquisite, by the way. It's just absolutely extraordinary. And the thing cooks in two minutes because the stones heat up.

Vi Wickam: He loves that water buffalo himself.

Mick Torbay: That's right.

Chris Torbay: Does he do a Hawaiian pizza?

Mick Torbay: He milks that beaver himself.

Ryan Chute: Beaver. Picks the pineapples.

Christina Gressianu: So I think it's a video, but now I don't remember exactly, but somebody told the Midjourney robot to make a picture of a $5 pancake, and it's the way you'd see it in a diner. Pancake plate syrup, diner.

Make a hundred dollars pancake fancier pancake looks like it's got whipped cream and berries on it, and the setting is fancier.

Make a billion dollar pancake. It's a giant stack of pancakes with dollar signs on it. And I don't know where you are, but the setting is ridiculous.

But then it's, he told it to make a priceless pancake. Now the priceless pancake is served by mom in a kitchen with the sunlight coming through the window. And that's what we're doing with luxury branding. We are not gussying up the details necessarily. We are selling the feeling of home. We're selling the feeling of love of mom, taking care of you, of whatever that is. That's the heart of luxury.

Ryan Chute: That's a powerful statement right there. That is extraordinary. Because you can put an awful lot of stuff in a wrapper. We went to a very nice restaurant last night, and it was exquisite to be in and be around. and in its own charming way. You go to other places, and you're spending $20 or $30 for a cocktail, let alone hundreds of dollars for a steak. And is the stake any better? Probably. There's some quality of goods there, but it's not discernibly different. It's like you can notice a difference, but it's not all of that you're paying for. It's where you're sitting and the cocktails that they're making for you to have, the conversations that you're having with the people in that environment and that experience, experiences that you can hang onto for generations and certainly decades.

Mick Torbay: It was about how you felt while you were there in the surroundings. Looking around. The food was, you don't want to say incidental, but perhaps not the only thing,

Chris Torbay: Like a lot of things, and we've talked about this in terms of video production, and we've talked about it in terms of when you go from the cheapest and the simplest, and you add more money, it gets better, and you add more money, it gets better. And then there's a point where you got ot really add money to make it noticeably better. Again, there's an increase. And it's like the, and I hate to come back to cars, no, he doesn't. It's like you simply get from me cars, to good cars, to really good cars. And then once you get past the Porsche thing, and you'll need to get into the Ferraris and the McLarens and the Bugattis, it's like you got to triple the price. You're into the millions of dollars now to be four miles an hour faster than the Ferrari or the Porsche.

Christina Gressianu: But does that four miles an hour even really matter?

Mick Torbay: No.

Chris Torbay: But I guess what happens then is it does, that's when it goes to the story. I want to be the Bugatti guy.

Mick Torbay: Is that what you're buying though? Because these assholes don't drive the cars anyway. They line them up in the garage.

Chris Torbay: Like in handbags, there's the target handbags, and then there's the Nordstrom handbags, and then there's the Coach handbags, which are better than that. But then what is the quality difference from a Coach handbag to the $70,000? Like, from when you need to go from a $1,500 bag to a $15,000 to a $70,000? Boy, the quality doesn't really change much. Now it really is the story, the emotion, the positioning, the umbrella, the halo effect of what you're under. You're right. In all of those cases, any, anything over the, anything more than a Bloomingdale's handbag has to have quality.

Ryan Chute: So quality becomes less of a factor at the luxury point.

Chris Torbay: The quality increase doesn't follow the same curve as the price increase. They are awesomely made bags once we get over a thousand bucks

Ryan Chute: Then it bakes into rarity and vintage. Depending on the brand.

Chris Torbay: And just the story of saying, I'm the one. Yeah, exactly.

Vi Wickam: Only five or X.

Chris Torbay: It's a numbered series. It was signed by Isaac Mizrahi.

Christina Gressianu: Scarcity and rarity tie into the story.

Chris Torbay: And then the story that you build around it, is it good?

Mick Torbay: And it does have to be better. Like a $70,000 bag is better than a $15,000 bag. But that's not the only reason why you're spending the $70,000.

Vi Wickam: And we can talk about violins, too.

Mick Torbay: Oh, we should have!

Ryan Chute: That's interesting. An interesting topic, Vi, of course, is a world-famous violinist and has had the pleasure of touching some of the more expensive violins in the world. I don't know how expensive.

Mick Torbay: And then people ask them to stop touching them.

Ryan Chute: Then there's, “Sir, you're going to have to leave now.”

Mick Torbay: “Please put it back in its case.”

Ryan Chute: How does it work in the musical world where you have such a unique ecosystem of instruments? How does luxury play out in that space?

Vi Wickam: Wow. So there is a lot in the violin world, particularly where I'm most familiar, there's a lot to the provenance of a violin. The history and the documentation and all of that. But when it comes to as a musician, what you really care about is how does it play? How does it sound? And I will be the first to say that between, if you go from zero to $10,000, there's a major difference in quality. So a $500 violin is generally garbage. And by the time you get to $10,000,  you have a pretty good violin, if you buy well. If you don't buy well, you could also have a $10,000 piece of garbage.

But between $10,000 and a $100,00 dollars, you may find a $100,000 violin that doesn't play substantially better than that really nice $10,000 violin. But it may be made by a famous maker. There may be a better story to it. And such is as it is. But once you get over a $100,000, then you get a lot of uniqueness. You get instruments that are either terrible instruments made by really fancy makers.

You know this was a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, which a good one, is $350,000, but his garbage one is one is $120,000. His worst violin that he made, I've played a Vuillaume that was $450,00 and was amazing, and I played one that was $120,00 that I would've taken my violin, that's worth $20,00 over it in a heartbeat.

And I've played violins worth $750,000. I've not played any more valuable than that, and they're ones worth tens of millions.

Ryan Chute: You told me a story once of two violins that you played side by each, that were about the same price, if I recall.

Vi Wickam: Yes.

Ryan Chute: And they were profoundly different.

Vi Wickam: Profoundly different. So I played a [Lorenzo] Storioni, who is a relatively famous violin maker from 300 years ago or so. And a Guarneri, who is arguably, it was Pietro Guarneri, who's the brother of the most famous of that family. And the Guarneri sounded great, but was really hard to play. It took a lot of energy to get that sound out of it, and the Storioni was my violin, if I had a spare million dollars sitting around. I think when you're talking about luxury, whether it's handbags or violins, there's a certain amount of “I feel connected to this.” And for the, for me, on that violin, when I picked it up, and I started playing it, it was like I'd always had that violin. It had always been mine.  

Mick Torbay: But again, that's still emotional. It's like this feels right.

Vi Wickam: It was right.

Christina Gressianu: That’s absolutely emotional. You can have an educated sort of discernment, right? Where like, I can look at a handbag and say, “I don't know what brand that is, but that's an expensive handbag.”

I can see from here that it's well-made. Vi and I will talk all the time about, “Why do you know that's well made?” And then I'll have to think, is it the stitching? I can tell the material. I can just look at it until it's quality material. Like, I know what it feels like just by looking at it. There's discernment, but then there's just the emotion of, " I love it, and it makes me feel…” Whatever feeling I'm after, it makes me feel affluent. It makes me feel educated, it makes me feel ritzy, whatever it makes me feel, I love it, and that's really what I'm buying.

Ryan Chute: Is there a difference between a premium product and a luxury product? In one, how would you market it? And we know that there's a quality difference, but a high-end BMW, for example, versus a Bugatti? Coach versus Hermès? Or is there a midpoint where people are trying to play the luxury game, but they're really not going to win? It's a fail.

Christina Gressianu: But probably, I feel like the more luxury you are, the less you say in your marketing, the less you have to say because you feel more.

Ryan Chute: You could just spit out superlatives and look mincing at a camera with no shirt on. Like I pointed at Mick because he was in a boy band.

Christina Gressianu: Were you a luxury boy band?

Mick Torbay: No, we were a garden variety. If you paid your ticket for the theme park, you got to see us once.

Ryan Chute: You've got to see Mick Torbay sing. We'll make sure to post a picture of that for you.

Mick Torbay: You won't be able to unsee it.

Ryan Chute: It is special.

Mick Torbay: I was wearing a dance belt.

Ryan Chute: An actual dance

Chris Torbay: On that note…

Mick Torbay: Speaking of my dance belt, sorry.

Christina Gressianu: Yes. So Cartier's marketing is different than whatever a premium look jewelry brand is.

Vi Wickam: Seko.

Christina Gressianu: That is not a premium.

Ryan Chute: Swatch

Mick Torbay: Omega. I mean Breitling. Breitling is a good example.

Christina Gressianu: Breitling, right? If you look at Breitling versus, you look at Cartier, Cartier says less,

Mick Torbay: And Patek Philippe says even less than that.

Ryan Chute: It's like, if you know, you know.

Christina Gressianu: There's a club, there's an insider, there's a discernment that you're privy to, right?

Mick Torbay: And you can't fake that. Can you?

Christina Gressianu: No.

Ryan Chute: Is some of this marketing driven through influencer marketing? Is influencer marketing powerful? I guess, what I'm asking in the luxury world?

Christina Gressianu: In the luxury world, I think they've been doing influencer marketing long before there were influencers. Wedgewood sent their China to the king and queen of England in the 1700s, right? That is influencer marketing before we had this term.

Ryan Chute: Dang, that's a great reference.

Christina Gressianu: Yes, that sort of placement is exactly how a luxury brand would market itself, find the fanciest person you could find that represents the person you're trying to represent, and see if they can be seen in public using your thing.

Mick Torbay: Send Jimi Hendrix a bunch of your guitars.

Christina Gressianu: Exactly.

Chris Torbay: It's worked for all the watches. The Breitling are, were worn by all the guys trying to break the altitude records.

Ryan Chute: SeaMasters and worn by James Bond or Aston Martins. Jimi Hendricks os dead.

Vi Wickam: He is absolutely dead.

Christina Gressianu: You try sending him guitars.

Chris Torbay: They'll just stack up. 100%.

Christina Gressianu: If you can get Jimi Hendrix to play your guitar now. That's pretty incredible.

Vi Wickam: You will win big time.

Ryan Chute: I would suspect that you would have a producer there.

Mick Torbay: 100% dead.

Ryan Chute: You'd have a product there too soon, right away.

Mick Torbay: We're joking about it. Too soon?

Ryan Chute: Listen, he's held in reverence.

Mick Torbay: We could just edit that out.

Ryan Chute: This is fascinating. I see the same thing in guitars. My friend Nick loves his guitars and has just extraordinary things hanging on his walls.

Mick Torbay: See if it's hanging on his walls, he's not playing it. If it's in a stand on the ground, that's something that's played.

Ryan Chute: Actually, you know what every single one of his wall-mounted guitars is designed to dismount and play immediately. All

Mick Torbay: But you know I’m right.

Ryan Chute: And he does regularly, because he has done it in front of me every time I've been there. And it's extraordinary. It's because it's usually just a display, and it's like untouchable, and no one touches it. Now I don't get to touch it. But I get to look at it.

Mick Torbay: You're a threat to yourself or others.

Ryan Chute: Yes. That's right. That's right. This has been a fascinating conversation. What I'd like to cap off with is a few takeaways for the audience, so they can if they're, if they have an extraordinary product or an extraordinary experience, then some of the best tactical things that they can do in luxury branding would be?

Christina Gressianu: I would say that if they're new and they have an extraordinary product or experience, it's to tell the story. Use the leadership team, use staff, use whomever you can to tell the story of quality, control, of sourcing, of sampling, of making, so show us how this is made. Show us why we should care about whatever. Building trust is the first step. And then from there, tell me how I'm going to feel when I have it.

Ryan Chute: Yeah. And show, not just tell.

Christina Gressianu: Show me how I'm going to feel when I have it.

Ryan Chute: Yeah. And insofar as you're telling them, but you're making a skit. A story, a physical, a vaudeville act. Vi’s Fairness. We're just

Vi Wickam: We’re a skit in here.

Chris Torbay: Hello! My Baby. Hello! My Honey. Hello. My ragtime gal!

Ryan Chute: There's something to be said about telling a person a story about a thing, and there's another thing to have a story.

Chris Torbay: Just show that emotion. It shows me where I will be emotionally. Yes.

Mick Torbay: Put me in that story.

Chris Torbay: You don't need to be literal. You just need to capture how I'm going to feel when I am part of that.

Ryan Chute: We could go on and on all day long. But alas, there are only so many hours in the day, and this one has come to a close. Thank you so much for watching Advertising in America. Thank you so much for our guests, Vi and Christina and our two general Rat beg, rap scallions. Mick and Chris.

Chris Torbay: I'm just happy to know that when I need to borrow a $70,000 handbag, I got a guy.

Christina Gressianu: No, you don't. I don't have one for you. I don't even have one for you to borrow.  

Mick Torbay: I'm just glad that Ryan didn't try to say Christina's last name again.

Ryan Chute: Exactly. Grassy Noll. Grassy noll shoemaker. I know it now.

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Thank you for joining us on Advertising in America. We hope you enjoyed the show and captured a nugget of marketing magic. Wanna hear more? Subscribe, leave a review and share this podcast with your friends. Do you have questions or topics you want us to cover?

Join us on our socials @advertisinginamerica. Want to spend your marketing budget better? Visit us at wizardofads.services to book your free strategy session with Wizard Ryan Chute today. Until next time, keep your ads enchanting and your audience captivated.

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MARKETING & CAMPAIGN REFERENCES:

1993. Calvin Klein, Kate Moss "Obsessed": https://youtu.be/KsFHxUcMhLg?si=Ftq3CzGPXSh2fY4w

2004- 2008. Apple, iPod Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dSgBsCVpqo

2001. Apple's first-generation iPod slogan, a Thousand Songs in Your Pocket: https://youtu.be/mM6InCC_ee0?si=rln7MPKO70_LTPDN

2017. The Power of Glamour, Virginia Postrel: https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Glamour-Longing-Visual-Persuasion/dp/1416561129

Patek Philippe: https://www.youtube.com/@PatekPhilippeGeneva

Ai Pancake Prompt Reaction Video: https://youtu.be/LHNtC7T0Tq4?si=lGt2B5FnHgzXxvBB

Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Vuillaume

Lorenzo Storioni: https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/browse-the-archive/makers/maker/?Maker_ID=720

Pietro Guarneri of Venice: https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/browse-the-archive/makers/maker/?Maker_ID=242

2025, Cartier, Understanding the synergy between Marketing and Sales: https://youtu.be/yI8ey5Oav4Q?si=Rhgz7_3vcrqKO1hf

1759, Wedgehood: https://www.wedgwood.com/en-ca/welcome-to-wedgwood/the-wedgwood-story

SeaMasters worn by James Bond: https://teddybaldassarre.com/en-ca/blogs/watches/james-bond-seamaster-1?srsltid=AfmBOoripQP9crKhfW44icH6JcR9ULWzLi7nFXuHEked3gI9DbEQNRaH

A lot of owners are noticing this year that while their phone isn’t totally dead, it is still quieter: even during periods that used to dependably bring in business in other years.

We know how it is: that creates a low-grade anxiety. You start checking reports more often, and you wonder if something broke. Eventually, you have to ask if it’s just you or if something serious has changed.

Well, it’s definitely not just you. We can tell you that something has, indeed, changed.

What’s Actually Happening This Year

Homeowners are still spending money this year, but they’re deciding on what to buy more cautiously. They’re spending more time doing research, and they’re spending as little as possible when they do call. They’re even waiting longer into their research before making a call.

It’s not exactly less demand, but it is delayed demand, especially for larger purchases.

This year, uncertainty in the market has caused people to hesitate. They’ve become more deliberate about what they’re doing, and they want reassurance before they engage with businesses. The change matters because the longer purchase cycle means businesses must stay top-of-mind for longer while homeowners are deciding how to move forward.

Don’t “Panic Respond”

When you start getting less apparent interest in your business, the knee-jerk sort of panic responses are understandable. You start running ads that feel more transactional, you run promotions, and you lower prices. You definitely go after every lead you can.

We know this can create activity in the short term, but unfortunately, it also can train the market to wait for discounts and better deals. It has the added disadvantage of attracting customers who are already price-focused and impatient.

One home-service business we spoke to said they had experienced this firsthand when they leaned into discounts after their query volume stayed frighteningly low for too long. Though they started to receive calls again, their margins were lower. The phones were ringing, and messages were arriving in the inbox, but it just wasn’t happening for the right reasons, and the situation became more stressful.

We can contrast this with another company we talked to in a similar market that did not resort to the panic response and resisted the urge to change anything about their business. They just stayed visible and consistent and kind of gritted their teeth through the rising discomfort.

What happened was that their query volume declined, yes, but eventually stabilized. More importantly, the quality of conversations improved. They had fewer people shopping around on price while also talking to more homeowners who had already decided they wanted them.

In summary, we think this year is rewarding steadiness.

Trust Is Important

Homeowners look for shortcuts when they feel uncertain about the market, and they don’t want to evaluate every option. This is where it can help a lot to have built-up trust.

Businesses that’ve been consistent in presenting themselves in a single way just sit in the background while homeowners think about what they need and compare between various services. They don’t disappear from consideration when decisions slow down.

When the call finally happens, the caller is sure of themselves, and they press through the deal with confidence.

We’ve seen this across most of our customers: companies that invested in long-term visibility felt fewer swings this year. Still, the trust our customers had accrued kept their businesses more stable than they otherwise would have been.

How Not To Panic

I don’t recommend overhauling everything this year. Just focus on reinforcing your fundamentals. A few practical adjustments help:

Keep yourself visible, even when calls slow down, because being silent can cause the public to doubt you, and reinforce who you are by going beyond just what you offer customers. If people are familiar with you, they’re more likely to go with you. It’s a simple fact.

Try, also, to avoid offering discounts as a reflex, because price cuts now can multiply your business issues in the future.

Finally, try to pay attention to the quality of your calls, which can be considerably more important than their quantity.

To show you what we mean, a client of ours had fewer inbound leads early this year, but they also noticed that decision timelines got shorter once calls had occurred. The trust had already been built, so while the phone was ringing less, closing was happening faster. That’s what you call positioning.

In Short

This year feels different because it is different, but fewer calls or messages don’t necessarily mean your business is about to shrink. It might just mean that customers are deciding more carefully if they need to spend the money. Business owners who react calmly tend to come out stronger, while those who overcorrect tend to create problems that last longer than the slowdown.

I advise against trying to force your business to have a large volume right now. The goal should be to stay credible, familiar, and steady while people decide what to do.

That way, when they do pick up the phone, they’re choosing a business they already trust.

And that choice is usually made far before the call ever happens.

"I’ve never met a business owner whose advertising failed because they were reaching the wrong people." – Roy H. Williams

It's not that your advertising is failing, per se. But maybe, just maybe, it could be reaching a wider audience and bringing in more business. Especially if you took advantage of Google Local Service Ads (LSA). If you’re not familiar with LSA, they’re a newer way for businesses to advertise on Google. The importance of ads trends at an all-time high. Companies are spending billions of dollars on ads, and a large portion of that goes to Google. We need ads, but they're also expensive. So, what if you could get your company's name in front of potential customers without spending a fortune? Google LSA is definitely part of the answer. LSA is a newer type of ad offered by Google for service based businesses. It's designed for businesses that provide local residential services, such as plumbers, locksmiths, and HVAC companies. The goal of LSA is to help customers find ‘safe’ local businesses quickly and easily. Here's everything you need to know about LSA.

What are Google Local Service Ads (LSA)?

Google Local Service Ads are a type of online advertising that allows businesses to connect with customers in their local area. LSA appear as a special listing at the top of the search results. It’s separate from regular organic listings and other paid ads. Your LSA listing includes your business name, contact information, average customer rating, and cost per lead. One of the great things customers like about LSA is that they’re very transparent. Customers can see your business name, contact information, and ratings before even clicking on your ad. That helps build trust and confidence, which can lead to more customers contacting your business.  Wizard of Ads for Essential Services can't just wave our wands to get you to the top of the Google LSA listing. But we can guide you down the right dimly-lit stone pathway toward getting your business found online by new and existing customers. Book a call.

Local Service Ads - A Brief History

Once, in a far-off land a long time ago, there was Google Adwords. Adwords launched in 2000 to much fanfare, and it was quickly apparent that Google had changed the way businesses advertised forever. Adwords allowed businesses to target potential customers with laser precision, and it soon became the gold standard for online advertising. It was and still is a very effective tool in its own right. But times change, and Google has changed with them. In 2014, Google launched “Home Service Ads” in the San Francisco Bay Area to connect people with local service providers. The product allowed businesses to create profiles and list their services, prices, and availability. Customers could then search for providers within their area and book appointments directly through the platform. The program was so successful that it quickly expanded to other markets across the United States. In 2017, Google rebranded the product as “Local Service Ads” and made it available globally. Today, in 2022, the product has continued to grow and evolve. LSA are available in over 50 countries and thousands of cities around the world.

Where to Find Local Services Ads

You can find Google LSA in the "Local Services" section of the search results. To see it, simply enter a search query into Google with the word "local" or a location identifier (like a city or ZIP code). For example, searching for "plumbers near me" or "lawyers in Los Angeles" will both return LSA at the top of the results page. You can also ask for Google ads support if you run into trouble in finding these.

Local Services Ads Rankings

To be eligible to appear in LSA, businesses must pass Google's screening process, including a background check. A company must first be verified and approved. Then it'll have a ranking based on its reviews, customer feedback, and other factors. This ranking will determine where the business appears in the LSA results. The higher the rank, the more likely customers will see the business's ad. Local Services listings in the Google Business Profile (GBP, formerly Google My Business) account are sorted and rated on several criteria. Google decides which service providers to include in response to a user's query. They consider the likelihood that consumers would contact your company. The following variables influence the decision.

Your Profile Content

• Having a Google badge of trust, Google Guaranteed, helps increase the chances of your business being chosen by prospects.
• Your bidding strategy is also vital. The higher the amount you're willing to pay per lead, the more likely the ad will rank for your business.
• Your business hours matter, too, for obvious reasons. Potential customers can only hire service providers available when they need them.
• How often you respond to customer inquiries and feedback affects ranking. Customer feedback includes any messages or calls. If you leave those unanswered, it will negatively impact your rank.

Your Business's Reports and Reviews

• Your review score is based on the number of reviews for your business and their quality. The higher your score, the more likely your LSA is included.
• Google receiving repeat or serious complaints about your business can remove you from the program.

What Customers Search

• Things like search terms, the time of the search, and other pieces of context related to a customer's search help Google determine whether your business should appear in an LSA.
• How close you and your customers' physical location are to each other also matters. If you're a moving company and someone is searching for "movers near me," you're more likely to show up than if they just search for "movers."

Ad Ranking Best Practices

Businesses can do a few things to improve their ranking and increase their chances of appearing in LSA. Below are ad ranking best practices.

Ask Customers to Review Your Company

Google recommends you have at least five or more customer reviews. Customer reviews are one of the most important ranking factors for LSA. Encourage customers to leave reviews by asking them directly or providing a link on your website where they can leave a review. You can also give customers an incentive, like a discount, for leaving a review.

Widen Your Service Area and Types of Jobs

The wider your service area, the more opportunities you'll have to appear in an LSA. You can also increase your chances of appearing in an ad by being willing to do more types of jobs. Or, at least just make sure all the job types your company offers are listed. For example, if you're a plumber, you might want to consider adding "toilet repair" and "drain cleaning" to the list of services you're willing to do.

Choose "Maximize Leads" instead of "Max Per Lead"

You can make the most of your ad's allocation by choosing "Maximize Leads" under Ads Settings. That will cause Google to show your ad more often, rather than spreading out your impressions (the number of times your ad copy appears) evenly throughout the day.

Post Prime Photos

Your photos can be of anywhere your business operates. But, for best results, post high-quality photos of your office, storefront, equipment, and any team members working with customers.

Figure Out Which Features to Opt-in

Google offers a variety of features for LSA, but not all of them will be right for your business. You'll need to decide which optional features you want to opt-in for. For example, you can opt into the LSA booking feature, allowing customers to book appointments directly from your ad. That's a great feature if you're a service-based business with set appointment times. But, if you're a retail store or restaurant, this feature wouldn't make much sense. You can also opt into things like background checks and insurance verification. These are optional, but they can help build trust with potential customers. Only choose the features that make sense for your business. The more features you opt-in for, the more likely it is that customers will be able to find and use your services.

Some Benefits of Using Local Services Ads

There are a few key benefits to using Local Service ads. First, they can help you stand out from the competition. With LSA, your business will appear at the top of the search results, above the organic listings. That can be a big advantage, especially if your competitors aren't using LSA. Second, LSA can help you attract new customers. Your business will appear in front of potential customers actively searching for your services. Because of this, you're more likely to get new business from LSA than from other marketing channels. Third, LSA can be an effective way to build trust and credibility with potential customers. Google requires businesses that use LSA to go through a verification process. That helps ensure that only legitimate companies with a good track record can use LSA.

How do Local Services Ads Work?

LSA are a type of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising that allows businesses to promote their services to potential customers in a specific geographic area. To use LSA, companies first need to sign up with Google and create a profile. Once a business makes a profile, it can start creating ads. Each ad will target a specific service and geographic area. Potential customers sometimes search for the business's services offered in the target area. When this happens, the company's ad will appear in the top spot of the search results. The ad will include the business's name, address, phone number, and average customer rating. When a potential customer clicks on the ad, it goes to the business's profile page. Once there, they can learn more about the company and read customer reviews. You can also review the engagement rates of your LSA with Google analytics. Measuring the performance of this marketing ad campaign will be critical to its success. Keywords Everywhere or Google keyword planner are great tools to use for this, too. They help with keyword research. You can use them to measure how often your customers click on your ads and how much they spend. This data will be important to show whether or not your LSA campaign is working. If it isn’t, you can make changes to improve it. And remember, if you need any help, Local Service ads Google support can guide you on how to get started. Or, rely on us.  Wizard of Ads for Essential Services can cast the spell to create a customer interaction that converts. If you're ready for us to craft your Google LSA campaign, book a call.

Think of a brand. Any brand. When you've thought of one, what image comes to mind? Is the image clear, or a little foggy? If it's the former, that company probably has a good brand identity. If it's the latter, however, their brand identity might be a bit lackluster. So what about your brand? Where does it lie on the scale of unrecognizable to legendary? If you aren't totally sure or feel that your brand development could use some extra oomph, you're in just the right place. In this article, we'll go over what brand identity is, how it has evolved, why it's so important, and what sets good branding and bad branding apart. Once you know this essential information, you'll be branding like a pro in no time.

Brand Identity Explained

A brand's identity is the visual representation of the brand, including its logo, color scheme, typography, and other design elements. It’s the visual story to your brand’s story. These elements come together to create a unique look and feel that can be used to differentiate a brand from its competitors. A strong brand identity can help build brand equity, which can lead to higher brand awareness and recognition. A brand's identity should be carefully crafted to reflect the brand's values and personality. It should be consistent across all channels, from website and social media to print and packaging. And it should be able to evolve over time to keep up with changes in the brand or its industry. Creating a strong brand identity is an important part of any branding strategy and it can take time and effort to get right. When your brand image and your brand story match, they tell a persuasive and compelling story about the benefits of choosing your brand over the competition. At Wizard of Ads for Essential Services, we take all the guesswork out of your branding design. Book a call with us today and we’ll help you with creating a brand that stands out, builds trust with consumers, and drives sales.

The Evolution of Brand Identity

There's no doubt that national, guild, religious, and heraldic symbols, logos, and other visual branding have been around for a very long time. However, the modern practice of using these elements to sell products and services can be traced back as far as the industrial revolution. That's when factories started producing household goods, therefore manufacturers needed a way to stand out from the competition and make their products more recognizable to consumers. Over the years, branding efforts have evolved from simple visuals to including mascots, jingles, and other marketing techniques. Some of the oldest trademarked brands are companies like Stella Artois, Averill Paints, and Lowenbrau. Today, brand identity has become a complex process that involves everything from market research and target audience analysis to graphic design, web development, and even SEO. In other words, a lot goes into creating a strong, recognizable brand.

Does Your Brand Identity Matter?

A strong brand identity can do wonders for your business. It helps you attract new customers and build loyalty among existing ones by creating a sense of trust, credibility, and a positive association with your brand. A well-defined brand identity also makes it easier for you to stand out from the competition, communicate what you do and what makes you different, and reside in the minds of your potential customers. If your brand identity is weak or nonexistent, on the other hand, you could be missing out on all of these benefits. Your brand will be less likely to stick in people's minds, and you'll have a harder time differentiating yourself from your competitors. Just think about shopping for wine. The label, and sometimes the vineyard, are the only elements that are used to decide which bottle to purchase in a sea of options. So, yes, your brand identity matters — a lot. If you're not happy with yours, it's never too late to make a change. Work with a professional designer to create a new logo and visual style for your brand. And make sure to put some thought into what you want your brand to represent. With a strong identity, you can take your business to new heights.

Your Brand’s Identity is Your Aim

When building a brand, creating the right identity should be your second focus behind crafting the right brand story. This means getting to the core of who you are as a brand, understanding your audience, your product or service, the value that it offers, and what sets you apart from your competitors. To do all of this, call a meeting with your business partners so you can brainstorm and ask some pivotal key questions, such as:

• Who are we as a brand?
• What is our purpose?
• What do we stand for?
• What are our core values?
• Who is our target audience?
• What do they want and need from us?
• What are their pain points?
• What are our unique selling points?
• What is our competitive advantage?

Once you have a clear understanding of your brand identity and answer these questions, you'll have the tools you need to develop a strong brand that truly resonates with your target audience. But how do you know if your brand identity is effective? Here, we’ll describe the difference between good brand identity and bad brand identity with examples to boot.

Bad Brand Identity

A bad brand identity is centered around you, your company, your products, and your services. Now I know we've just told you that these elements are key to building a well-defined and impactful brand identity, but these same elements can easily be overemphasized and quickly form into bad branding. For example, using words like “I, me, my, we or our" in your branding can create a self-centered or "salesy" image. You are speaking from the limits of your own belief system, and in doing so you are only speaking to the members of your own tribe. This leaves you with a message that lacks the emotional depth and value that you need for your target audience to become devoted to your brand. One company branding mistake that made headlines was Pepsi and their commercial starring celebrity Kendall Jenner. The ad was meant to show how Pepsi could bring people from all walks of life together, but it received a lot of backlash for being insensitive to the current political and social climate. Ultimately, it's essential to remember that your customers and clients are the ones you're trying to reach. They should always come first as it's their input, suggestions, and feedback that forms the basis of a great brand identity, not yours. So keep that in mind as you design or re-design your brand.

Good Brand Identity

A good brand identity is centered around the customer, and how your product or service can elevate their happiness. It’s about seeing through the eyes of your customers and finding out what they care about, rather than lecturing them on what they should care about. It involves opening your heart and mind wide enough to speak to the values and beliefs of which are not your own. Using words like “You, you, you, your, you're…" and (you've guessed it), "you" in your branding will help keep the focus on your customer and show them that they are what matters most. You can also use a technique created by persuasive ad writers called “inclusive communication by design.” This can be done in two ways:

1. Include Something for Everyone You’re Targeting

Use language that appeals to every possible perspective a consumer will have when making a purchasing decision. To find these perspectives, create three or four customer "personas" with the help of the frontline salespeople who talk to your customers every day. Ask them questions that will allow you to confidently showcase each of these different belief systems. This will effectively take your brand identity to the next level, and the next.

2. Speak Only to Those Values and Universal Truths That Most People Agree Upon

You may have a great product, and your ad copy may be very well-written, but if it's not speaking to the values that most customers share, then it's not going to be persuasive. As beneficial as this advice is, it can be tricky to market your brand identity in a way that is still specific to your target audience. That's why initially establishing your customer personas is so important. One brand identity that does this well is Apple. Everything they do is focused on the user experience and making it as seamless, efficient, and joyful as possible — things that any customer would want out of a product. They do this through elegant design, user-friendly interfaces, and constantly finding new ways to make their products even more intuitive. And that's why people are so passionate about their products. When you put your customers first, it shows. And it pays off in spades.

Your Brand Identity Epiphany is Approaching

So, if you want to create a lasting and successful brand identity, it's important to start with the basics. Your brand identity is the precedent for your branding, marketing, and sales success, and without a solidified identity, your brand won't have the legs to take you onward and upward. Your brand should be easily recognizable and have an inspiring story that customers will connect with. It's also essential to have a style that stands out from the competition and makes an impression. And finally, don't forget to make sure your brand is being seen and heard by the right people. With the help of Wizard of Ads® for Essential Services , we can guide you through this process so that you can achieve household-name status in your industry. Book a call with Wizard Ryan Chute today so we can get started on building your successful brand identity.