If You Hate Skincare/Soap Ads, Blame This Guy

Summary

Brain Driven Brands: Episode Summary

Title: If You Hate Skincare/Soap Ads, Blame This Guy
Host: Sarah Levinger
Co-Host: Nate Legos
Release Date: May 8, 2025

---

Introduction: Setting the Stage

In this episode of Brain Driven Brands, host Sarah Levinger and co-host Nate Legos delve into the world of soap and skincare advertising, exploring why many consumers find these ads unappealing. Through historical insights and modern marketing strategies, they uncover the psychological tactics that have transformed everyday hygiene products into symbols of luxury and self-care.

---

The Current State of Soap and Skincare Ads

Sarah opens the discussion by questioning the over-the-top nature of modern soap and skincare advertisements. She asks Nate for his thoughts on these ads, highlighting a noticeable shift from functional messaging to more extravagant presentations.

Sarah Levinger [02:09]: "What do you think about, like, soap and like, body wash and like, skincare ads? What do you think about just them in general?"

Nate Legos [03:14]: "They go so hard on the imagery and the audio. They have to peak every other one of your senses because you can't smell it through the TV."

Nate points out that the sensory overload in these ads—through vivid imagery and compelling audio—is designed to capture attention in environments where the actual scent or feel of the product can't be conveyed.

---

Historical Insights: Ernest Dichter’s Influence

Sarah introduces a pivotal moment in advertising history involving psychologist Ernest Dichter, who revolutionized how products like soap were marketed.

Sarah Levinger [08:54]: "Ernest Dichter believed that buying was never rational. This was in the 50s, right? Very emotional, subconscious."

Ernest Dichter, who had practiced alongside Freud in Vienna, was hired by Procter & Gamble in the 1950s to understand the deeper motivations behind consumer purchases. Instead of focusing solely on the product’s functionality, he explored the emotional and subconscious reasons why people bought soap.

Sarah Levinger [09:08]: "He sent him to study bathing, not soap. He wanted to understand what bathing meant to people beyond just cleaning."

Dichter's research revealed that for many women, bathing was not merely about hygiene but served as a ritual for escape, transformation, and emotional reset. This insight shifted the marketing narrative from dirt removal to emotional well-being.

---

The Transformation of Soap Advertising

Following Dichter’s findings, soap advertisers began to emphasize the emotional benefits of bathing, positioning soap as a tool for self-care and luxury rather than just a cleaning agent.

Sarah Levinger [13:23]: "Now you have brands like Dove, Olay, Aesop—all swimming in that psychological pool of self-care."

Brands started to portray soap and skincare products as essential components of a self-care routine, tapping into consumers' desires for relaxation, indulgence, and personal well-being.

Nate Legos [14:08]: "People's lives are very, very hard and they're looking for an excuse to either celebrate or relax or unwind. If we're not speaking to any of that in our marketing, then we're like completely missing the boat."

This shift not only differentiated products in a saturated market but also created a strong emotional connection with consumers, making products more than just commodities.

---

Modern Marketing Implications

Sarah and Nate discuss how these historical strategies apply to today's marketing landscape, emphasizing the importance of understanding the broader context of how consumers use products in their daily lives.

Sarah Levinger [19:01]: "Experience you're already having. Experience you're already having."

They suggest that brands should move beyond straightforward product benefits and instead promote how their products enhance or amplify existing consumer experiences. By doing so, marketers can create more meaningful and resonant campaigns.

Nate Legos [19:54]: "Start asking your customers, how do your products fit into their everyday lives."

This approach encourages brands to engage with customers on a deeper level, understanding their lifestyles and integrating products into those narratives seamlessly.

---

Applying the Insights to Your Brand

The hosts provide actionable advice for marketers aiming to refine their advertising strategies based on the discussed principles.

Sarah Levinger [24:30]: "If you have a brand that's currently in a space where you know everybody's saying the exact same thing, look closer."

They recommend conducting in-depth customer research, such as observing how products are used in real life, to uncover unique angles for marketing. This might involve virtual observational studies or encouraging customers to showcase their product usage through videos or testimonials.

Nate Legos [21:43]: "More things than we realize are that to people."

Understanding the nuanced reasons behind product usage can help brands craft messages that resonate on an emotional level, much like how soap brands shifted their focus from cleaning to self-care.

---

Conclusion: The Future of Product Marketing

As the episode wraps up, Sarah and Nate reflect on the cyclical nature of marketing trends and speculate on future shifts. They ponder whether the emphasis on self-care will evolve or if functional benefits will reclaim prominence.

Sarah Levinger [22:56]: "I personally think we'll probably go back to function eventually because it's all cyclical."

However, they agree that the key takeaway is the enduring value of understanding consumer psychology and applying those insights to create compelling, emotionally-driven marketing strategies.

---

Key Takeaways:

1. Emotional Over Functionality: Modern advertising, especially in the soap and skincare industry, has moved from emphasizing functional benefits to highlighting emotional and self-care aspects.
2. Historical Influence: Ernest Dichter’s research in the 1950s laid the groundwork for emotionally driven marketing by uncovering the subconscious motivations behind consumer behavior.
3. Consumer-Centric Research: Successful marketing strategies require deep understanding of how consumers integrate products into their daily lives, beyond just the product's immediate use.
4. Meaningful Connections: Brands should aim to create emotional connections with consumers by aligning their products with broader lifestyle experiences and desires.
5. Adaptability: Marketing trends are cyclical. Brands must remain adaptable, continuously researching and responding to evolving consumer motivations and market dynamics.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Sarah Levinger [08:54]: "Ernest Dichter believed that buying was never rational. This was in the 50s, right? Very emotional, subconscious."
• Nate Legos [14:08]: "People's lives are very, very hard and they're looking for an excuse to either celebrate or relax or unwind. If we're not speaking to any of that in our marketing, then we're like completely missing the boat."
• Sarah Levinger [19:01]: "Experience you're already having."

---

This episode provides a comprehensive exploration of how psychological insights have shaped the marketing strategies of everyday products like soap and skincare items. By understanding the emotional underpinnings of consumer behavior, brands can craft more effective and resonant advertising campaigns.

Transcript

[Sarah Levinger]

Foreign.

[Nate Legos]

Welcome to Brain Driven Brands, hosted by Sarah Levinger and Nate Legos. I am your secondary host.

[Sarah Levinger]

Co host. Yeah, I think that's what the co host.

[Nate Legos]

Very cool. I heard on the last episode I've got some cupcakes on the way, so it's very exciting.

[Sarah Levinger]

I know. Okay. I think I still have your address because I. I'm also sending you other fun things, like, mostly for your family. Mostly for your family. But Scotty, I need to get your address too, because I was gonna send you guys big whoa, like we've been doing for a year gift. And then I was like, oh, no, I don't have everybody's address.

[Nate Legos]

I say, do you have my new address? Have you sent something here?

[Sarah Levinger]

Oh, no, I don't think I have your new one. Send me the new one. I feel bad. Like, I'm real bad at this, guys. I'm real bad. Like gifts and presents things. I'm gonna hire myself a personal assistant. His name is going to be Consumer Casey. And I'm going to say, Consumer Casey, go find some gifts that you think these people would like. And then. Which maybe not actually, because I know him. He'll buy you like $600 worth of Legos, right?

[Nate Legos]

That's exactly what I want. Casey knows me well.

[Sarah Levinger]

Scotty's like, send him a watch. Would you like a watch? Aren't you just a watch guy? Isn't that the only thing you do.

[Nate Legos]

If you buy it at full price from original grain.com? i will accept that as a gift.

[Sarah Levinger]

I'm going to buy an Original Grain watch for the guy who markets for original grade watches.

[Nate Legos]

Now just give me like a Rolex or something.

[Sarah Levinger]

I have a feeling you have them all already, don't you? Don't you just.

[Nate Legos]

I have a lot. I have like 30. It's. It's.

[Sarah Levinger]

Oh, my God. You have 30 watches. You're insane. That's a lot.

[Nate Legos]

Oh, speaking of your. Your surprise should be there in like a day or two.

[Sarah Levinger]

I have a surprise.

[Nate Legos]

Well, it's not a surprise. It depends if you remember. A long time ago I lost a bet on this podcast and we had bet a box of candy bars.

[Sarah Levinger]

That's right.

[Nate Legos]

And I never sent you your paydays.

[Sarah Levinger]

How dare you?

[Nate Legos]

They're on the way.

[Sarah Levinger]

But you are a man of your word and I appreciate that. You, like, own up to, like, your bets. You settle your debts. You settle your debt. Legos. And I appreciate that. Okay, you want to dive into taste.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah. What you got for me? I assume we're not going to talk about candy and Legos for the whole podcast.

[Sarah Levinger]

We are not. We could, if you really wanted to. Today we have another historical case study, because you and I did an episode on oranges and apples, like, I don't know, probably three weeks ago, where we just went deep into the reason why oranges are such a big part of the American diet these days. And it was fascinating. So I wanted to find more. I'm like, let's just dig deep into this historical, like, really interesting advertising campaigns, because now I'm just, like, fired up about this. Okay, so I want to know. I want to know if you hate something first, because I kind of hate this. And I'm like, Nate has some things that he doesn't like. So my first question is, what do you think about, like, soap and like, body wash and like, skin care ads? What do you. What do you think about just them in general? Do you have any general sense of.

[Nate Legos]

Are you talking like, like, from like, the biggest brands in the world or, like, any little D to C niche?

[Sarah Levinger]

Any soap at all? And there's a very specific reason I'm asking you what you think about those particular ads, because they weren't always like that.

[Nate Legos]

Oh, okay. Well, I'd assume what you're getting at is like, they're just crazy over the top these days.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes.

[Nate Legos]

And I think they go so hard on the imagery and the audio. Like, they have to peak every other one of your sentence or your senses, because they can't. You can't smell it through the.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes, the tv.

[Nate Legos]

So a lot of them are, like, crazy over the top. If you're wondering what's worked on me personally, I use like a super, like, healthy, like, no toxins. I know. It's a one weird thing.

[Sarah Levinger]

What?

[Nate Legos]

Yeah, it's like natural soap. Yeah. Yeah, but.

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay, but aren't you like a Red Bull drinker and like.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah, listen, there are certain things in my life.

[Sarah Levinger]

You are the strangest consumer. Like every time we talk about how Nate consumers consumes things, it's like, that does not compute. Those things do not go together. What are you talking about?

[Nate Legos]

Red Bull, whiskey, candy. Love them all. But then, yeah, we'll get like an in home water filter installed to get out all those toxins and only use super clean soap.

[Sarah Levinger]

And I have to offset the toxins that I'm putting in my body.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Life's about voluntarily. You know, this is fascinating. Every time I, like, get in deep into you, you're like, consumer brain. It is so strange because. Okay, everything that you think Sarah Would buy. Just look at the way I look. I buy that I'm a Starbucks fiend. Yeah, like I. Okay, well on the opposite side, I mean I do drive a Toyota Tacoma, so maybe that's weird, but I still feel like I look kind of like somebody who would drive a Tacoma. Yeah, like I feel like I'm very generalized marketing or like a consumer. You on the other hand.

[Nate Legos]

So.

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay, explain this thing. Peeling the onion of Nate Legos 100 Scotty's. Like this is its own episode.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah, so Scotty spelled my name wrong in the comments, by the way. Thanks.

[Sarah Levinger]

Thanks.

[Nate Legos]

Dude.

[Sarah Levinger]

It's only been almost a year. I don't understand why you go after like non toxic soap in particular. Why the soap? Like explain the soap to me.

[Nate Legos]

I don't know how I like discovered it. Um, but I remember one day like looking at what's in soap and I was like, that all doesn't need to be in there for sure. Like at all. And like found some natural brands and like my skin feels good and looks good. I mean look at my skin.

[Sarah Levinger]

You know, you do have a dewy glow, great skin. My.

[Nate Legos]

And then same with my hair. All natural shampoo, conditioner.

[Sarah Levinger]

All natural. What does that mean? Like what's the brand? I don't tell us.

[Nate Legos]

I don't even know. But they're, they're, they're bars. It's a shampoo and conditioner bar.

[Sarah Levinger]

A shampoo bar. Okay, that's interesting. So my question is, you have a very definitive behavior when it comes to putting things on your skin. Yeah, but not when it comes to putting things inside your stomach. Do you know what's in Red Bull? Oh my God. Like, oh yeah.

[Nate Legos]

A little bit of mold, a little bit of sugar, a little bit of red. Dyes that are definitely.

[Sarah Levinger]

I don't know that this. Okay, regardless, no, but like that's interesting that you default to natural soaps.

[Nate Legos]

I do. I. For me it is to try to wrap up the conversation on me. Like it really is about like balance of like, hey, I know I'm not going to be good on Red Bulls and my candy bar and whiskey intake.

[Sarah Levinger]

Eat whatever I want.

[Nate Legos]

I'll deal with those problems another day. But in the meantime, like I'm not addicted to toxic soap that gives me no pleasure. So I'm like, well just use healthy stuff.

[Sarah Levinger]

Like healthy stuff. All right, all right, all right. So this I find really interesting, mostly because today's topic is how soap came to be, what you have kind of latched onto, which is natural, indulgent, Kind of luxury self care, self care mechanism. This is something that is actually kind of recent, which I find really interesting. This actually started with like a psychologist. Soap was not always manufactured and marketed as an indulgent self care tool. In fact, back in like old west days, soap was literally just hygienic. And that's the only way that it was marketed was just this bar soap can get dirt off you and that's it. And I mean, for a long time it wasn't even about the bacterial side of it. Soap wasn't really about keeping things like sanitary. It was just about getting dirt off of yourself and nothing else. So this we're going to rewind to. Like the 1950s soap was very much that commodity. A white bar, very strong scent and very, very generic claims where it was just like 99.44 pure. Does anybody know what the Irish soap is? What's it called? Is it Irish, Just Irish or is Irish Spring?

[Nate Legos]

I think it's like Irish Spring. I have the word spring in my head.

[Sarah Levinger]

Irish Spring. The. These guys have been around for a long damn time. And their original claim was that they were 99.44% pure soap. Like whatever the ingredients were. I think it's like lye. I can't remember what's in this particular one. We got to look what they have now because now they're like all natural, which is kind of funny. But in general, Ivory soap had been around since like the 1800s. But the problem was everybody started coming into the market. They were getting saturated, as you do when things start becoming popular. So Procter Gamble needed something that was more than just like this clean thing. Because getting dirt off of you was not selling. Right. So people already knew that it washed off dirt. But the problem was they didn't really feel anything about the dirt. And if you've listened to Sarah long enough, you know that feeling like emotion is everything.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

So they hired a guy named Ernest Dick Dichter. Dichter. D I, C H, T R. Why is it always in Ernest? Wasn't the last guy's name Ernest? Oh, no, it was like Eugene or something. Yeah, it was like an earnest lot of just.

[Nate Legos]

Anyways, good, real names. When we were a proper country, you.

[Sarah Levinger]

Know, when we were proper back in the day. Ernest der Dichter, I don't know. They were led by Ernest Dichter. Victor had practiced next door to Freud in Vienna, but he had come to America and set up the Institute for Motivational Research in an old mansion north of New York. Here's A psychologist who believed that buying was never rational. This was in the 50s, right? Right. Very emotional, subconscious. So PNG hired him to figure out, like, how, why people were actually buying. But they specifically sent him to study bathing. Not soap. Not soap. They studied bathing, which I'm like, oh, I am all about this. Don't go study what your, what your consumers are actually thinking about your product. Go study what they do with it. That's highly, highly psychology focus. So his research method was to invite housewives into a cozy room and talk to them about how they felt about, like being in the tub and bathing. He literally sat down with women and was just like, what do you think about bathing? We don't go out and ask directly, why do you buy?

[Nate Legos]

Why don't you?

[Sarah Levinger]

What we try to do instead is to understand the total personality, the self image of the customer. We use all the resources of modern social sciences. It opens up some stimulating psychological techniques for selling any new product.

[Nate Legos]

I love this.

[Sarah Levinger]

I'm like, this is so creepy. But like, I understand the premise of it. Yeah. So he talked to a bunch of housewives, asked him how they felt about bathing. And it was really interesting because what he found was kind of wild for the time because for these women, being in the bathtub was not about hygiene. It was a symbol of like escape, transformation and like emotional reset, which I can get. I'm a big time bath person. Like, I don't love taking showers unless I have to get clean. Bath time is like, everybody shush. Leave me alone in this room. Don't talk to me. I'm going to be by myself for at least a half hour. And it was really interesting because people weren't cleansing dirt. They talked a lot about the fact that they were cleansing. Guilt, exhaustion, stress. Yeah. So it. Soap was the ritual that made it okay to keep going.

[Nate Legos]

Alcohol brands are really good at this too.

[Sarah Levinger]

Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah, like, like a freedom type thing.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah. Like, because when you're drinking, you're usually also hanging with your friends, watching a game, doing something else you enjoy already. They sell those experiences more than like, hey, you're not just sitting there thinking about what's in the can.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yep.

[Nate Legos]

You're like enjoying this good time. We try to do that, but like, alcohol has nailed it with like.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah, it doesn't.

[Nate Legos]

We're not just going to talk about the product. We're going to talk about, you know, the good times you enjoy with our product present.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah, that's really interesting because I.

[Nate Legos]

What did you ask?

[Sarah Levinger]

Whether it worked for you.

[Nate Legos]

So it Works very well for us. Yeah, yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

To Covas. Not Tico vase. To Covas apparently just did this exact thing with some of their ads and it blew up on Twitter and everybody got all upset because they were like, this is not direct response, paid advertisement, blah, blah, blah. It was because they were selling an emotion. They had these like cowboys walking through a whole bunch of different scenarios basically. And that was all it was, was just showing the product in context was where you'd probably wear them.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

So this I find really interesting because up until this point, up until somebody noticed that people were behaving strangely with a product. They just. Every brand in the industry went after one angle, which was dirt. This guy came in and was like, nobody's cleaning. They're not using it for cleaning. In fact, they're just using it to relax. And that's it. So they changed it. And it was really interesting because after this, all of a sudden Ivory became like one of the biggest brands in the industry and everybody else around Soap followed. So l' Oreal was one of the first to capitalize on this like luxurious shampoo. Your hair. Like then they had like women flipping their hair up and it was like all shiny and like ridiculous. Everybody started going towards luxury and like self care, which is really interesting. So now you have like Dove Olay. Aesop does it. All of them kind of swim in that kind of psychological pool. Right. So that you're just buying permission to rest. Isn't that sad though?

[Nate Legos]

Yeah. Well, I mean, we had to tell.

[Sarah Levinger]

People that was okay. Dicto believed that American citizens were fundamentally irrational beings.

[Nate Legos]

They could not be trusted.

[Sarah Levinger]

Their real reasons for buying products were rooted in unconscious desires and feelings. And Dicto wanted to find ways to uncover what he called the secret self.

[Nate Legos]

Of the American consumer. No, but I think like Anzi. I think this goes back to the last episode too. Like talking about people want to celebrate milestones and people want to relax here. I think most people's lives are very, very hard and like they're looking for an excuse to either celebrate or relax or unwind. And if we're not speaking to any of that in our marketing, then we're like completely missing the boat.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes.

[Nate Legos]

Of what people's day to day lives are like and how we can fit into that.

[Sarah Levinger]

I agree. 100. And I also think this is why I push marketers a little hard these days to think of something other than just like the obvious. Yeah, you don't need to go after the obvious thing. Right. Like the obvious thing is it removes Dirt. Great. Wonderful. But then that stops working and marketers, like, I don't know why my ad accounts all down this month. It's because you're going after the obvious. Stop that.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah, it'd be like me running an ad that is like, it tells time.

[Sarah Levinger]

It's like, well, yeah, I don't want to see.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah, we figured it told time, Dick. What else?

[Sarah Levinger]

This keeps track of what hour it is on your wrist.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Isn't that fun? Yes. 100. If you did that, you guys would have been out of business years ago. But I see marketers doing this all the time. So I did a live today live stream for, like, one of the sneaky things that I just launched that I didn't tell anybody I watched. Um, I launched a community. So Shameless Plug. If you want to come join me and learn all about psychology and how to apply all of this weird stuff that we talk about on our podcast to your brand, go over and join us. Let me get the thing, though, because I don't remember what. What the actual.

[Nate Legos]

This is the thing that Sarah does. Sarah's, like, sneaky, running a successful business, guys. And never has any clue where her website is.

[Sarah Levinger]

I don't know. I'm really bad at this part. Mostly because, I don't know, like, it just. I. I prep for it, but, like, I'm at the top of the business, so I'm running really fast all day long, and I never get my ducks in a row anyways. Okay, I'll drop the link in the show notes. How's that? That'll be easier so we don't have to look at it on this call. Come join the community, learn more about psychology. End of plug. Okay.

[Nate Legos]

Can I come?

[Sarah Levinger]

This. I'd really. Yes, if you want to. You can come in. Please do. Yeah, I mean, here's the thing, though. You kind of already get all of this for free on this podcast. But, yeah, you can come and learn. I actually have a bunch of prompts and all kinds of cool stuff in there if you want to come.

[Nate Legos]

All right, I'll see you there.

[Sarah Levinger]

Hey. Okay. All right, back to what I was saying, though. What was I saying? So I. On this live, I did a breakdown of insurance was one of the, like, suggested brands that we look at. And all of the marketing on this guy's insurance, like, website was talking to the same exact thing every single time, over and over and over. Reduce worry, feel better, you're protected, yada, yada. And I told him, I don't think that that's why People buy insurance.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

And you and I have talked about this a few times, but this was travel insurance. I was like, people are not concerned specifically about the worry part. That's the symptom. The core issue is the fact that they don't feel capable of handling the situation should something bad happen. It's not about the worry or about, like, reducing the amount of stress or anxiety they have. That's the symptoms. The core issue is they don't know how to handle it well.

[Nate Legos]

And, like, I think it's such a. It's such a bad thing calling it insurance when I think they should call it, like, emergency concierge service or something. Like, to be like, hey, if anything goes wrong, you are going to have a dedicated rep that's going to book everything for you and take care of it. Because you're right. Like, I would. I never buy travel insurance. But the thought of, like, oh, when a flight does get canceled, then I gotta Google everything and I gotta go find flights and buy. It's a pain in the ass.

[Sarah Levinger]

I like that concierge term because it really does, like, nail what you're actually selling, which is, I take care of it. You don't have to do anything. I. I'll get on the call with, like, Delta and tell them, like, hundred percent. So. And this goes. I mean, we could talk all day long about, like, titles and what that does to the human brain and like, naming things stuff, but in general, I.

[Nate Legos]

Also pay more for that.

[Sarah Levinger]

You really would?

[Nate Legos]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

For a concierge.

[Nate Legos]

Oh, that's interesting, because that sounds fancy. Maybe. What was the fake bias from last week? That French sounding.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah.

[Nate Legos]

Is premium French.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes. I mean, that's not an actual bias, but yes. That was a part of, like, what we did last week. Go listen to that episode if you ever. Yes. This is like a real thing, guys. So, like, wrapping it back into soap, this type of. What do we call this? Like, an oversight by marketers, happens everywhere for every single industry in every single vertical and across the planet. This happens. B2B, D2C, SaaS all over the place. Guys, you're missing it. Like, you're missing the point. Most of the 99% of the time, all you had to do was go ask people, like, how do you use soap? And then have them describe it. And then you can tell real quick what they're using soap.

[Nate Legos]

I think such, like, a great question to ask is kind of what this guy started out with is like, start asking your customers, how do your products fit into their everyday lives.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes.

[Nate Legos]

When when your product is not the focal point.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yep.

[Nate Legos]

And I think like that's where like a lot of surveys go wrong. It's like you can ask someone like, hey, look at your watch. How do you like it? Yeah, how do you feel when you put it on? That's a little bit better, but I think it's way more impactful to be like, yeah, no, like where do you take it? What are you doing that you think you need a watch on, like, can figure out like how this naturally fits into their life already. You don't have to sell them on some new concept. You can sell them on like, hey, this thing's going to amplify or improve an experience. Experience you're already having.

[Sarah Levinger]

Well, it'd be interesting to see like not just the random things, like how many lefties do we have versus righties? Like that would be an interesting stat, just in general. But dig deeper than that. I want to know specifically, how would you know? Do you have that data?

[Nate Legos]

Get chat GPT up. Right now I'm on a hot streak on these random facts.

[Sarah Levinger]

I want to know specifically for original grain, how many lefties you have versus. But yes, you're probably right. There's not a whole lot of left handed people in the world. Now I want to know though, my husband at least is a good use case because I see him wear his watches constantly. He matches his watch to his outfit, which is a typical behavior for watch wearers. But he also matches his watch to the event. Meaning if he's going to sound bad, poor consumer Casey. If he wants to signal that we have a lot of money and we're doing well, yep, he'll wear the Omega. I feel bad. I'm sorry. Not. Not the original creator.

[Nate Legos]

I understand.

[Sarah Levinger]

However, however, I caveat that if he wants to go out with the boys and like, just have a good time and like really just like live it up, do whatever, he typically wears the original grade watch because that's more of a freedom watch. His Omega watch, honestly, I think kind of signals a little bit more of oppression for him. Well, like a really ridiculous watch is what it is.

[Nate Legos]

We've talked about this, like with my car, and I think it's the reason why no matter how much money I make, I'll never buy a really expensive watch because there's a fine line between like sign signaling wealth and then also like making yourself a target. I hate growing up somewhere and people being like, oh, so you're rich? Is like, well, yeah, no, depends on.

[Sarah Levinger]

The crowd who you want to signal.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah. That's interesting. That would be something that we should study in your cim. Now, I want to know where do you wear this? Well, where do you wear it?

[Nate Legos]

Based on. That's worked for us. So, like, based on just like, our customers reaction to how I word things. I think our watches to our customers immediate circles is a flex.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes, I would agree.

[Nate Legos]

Like, it is a signal of like. No, no. I'm the, you know, forefront whiskey connoisseur of this group. I'm the guy that's like, most obsessed with this thing that we all care about. So it is a flex. It's not. It's not a $10,000 watch, but it's a flex within their tribe. And I think. I think more things than we realize are that to people.

[Sarah Levinger]

I would agree. Yeah. Well, and your. Your particular crowd is. Does not want to be the Rolex Omega, like, Breitling guy. They're kind of anti that. So this is like peak pinnacle for what they can get because it's aligned with all sorts of other identities that they hold. So. Yeah, I think you're right. I find this really interesting, though. Like, I like studying the historical stuff because I'm like, the. This one psychologist came in and was like, man, you should move over this way. And then the whole industry changed. So now you notice skin care, like body soap, body wash, shampoo, anything that we use for hygiene. All of it says self care. Yeah, all of it. Now I'm interested to see who's going to be the next psychologist that comes in and recognizes that consumers are not sensitive to self care when it comes to hygiene anymore. Nobody thinks shampoo is self care anymore.

[Nate Legos]

Right.

[Sarah Levinger]

That's what I want to know. Is that happening? And can we add. Yeah, can we? I. I personally think we'll probably go back to function eventually because it's all cyclical, but.

[Nate Legos]

Well, it's super interesting because, like, for me, like, showering is like a necessary evil. I'm like, I don't. Yeah, for most people, she's like, I. I have to go do this thing. But. But for me, I'm like, well, if I'm gonna have to, I might as well put on some music, and I might as well take a drink in there, make it a little more fun. Like, you know.

[Sarah Levinger]

All right, who's drinking in the shower? First of all, that's ridiculous.

[Nate Legos]

Who isn't?

[Sarah Levinger]

I mean, better question me. Okay, so to wrap this up, you've.

[Nate Legos]

Never heard of a shower beer?

[Sarah Levinger]

No. Who would do that?

[Nate Legos]

Ask Casey and let me know what.

[Sarah Levinger]

He says, okay, I'll ask my husband if he drinks in the shower. He doesn't like alcohol anyways, so probably not. He's probably had Gatorade in there, though. Like, I'm sure he's done that because he runs a lot. Who knows? Anyways, okay, take away from this. If you have a brand that's currently in a space where you know everybody's saying the exact same thing, look closer. Go get on the phone with a customer. And if they can, best way you could do this is have them show you, flip that camera around on the phone, show you where they keep stuff in their house, show you how they use it, and specifically where they store it or who else is involved in the process of using that product. Because you can find out a whole lot more by watching people than you can by listening to what they do. Now, for this particular guy, because it was the 50s, like, he listening worked really well for him. But these days, I'd rather you watch than listen.

[Nate Legos]

So 100.

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay. Where can people find you if they would like to follow you?

[Nate Legos]

Okay, hold on. Producer Scotty is chiming in. Shower drinking is a key component of pre funking for a night. Scotty. The kids call it free gaming these days.

[Sarah Levinger]

That's not a thing.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah, shower drinks are a thing. I didn't invent that. I don't know.

[Sarah Levinger]

Pregaming is typically the. Okay, I have never heard of this, but apparently I'm not fun. It's really what this.

[Nate Legos]

Yeah, you need to be hanging out with more original, grand people.

[Sarah Levinger]

Shower beer is not a shower that.

[Nate Legos]

Dispenses beer, much to my dismay. It's suds.

[Sarah Levinger]

You enjoy with your suds. Let's break down each part to better understand the phenomenon of shower beer.

[Nate Legos]

I don't drink that much omega people these days. I am not surprised they're not drinking dry martinis in the shower before a night out.

[Sarah Levinger]

I have blood sugar issues. Okay. I can't. Okay. Where can people find you?

[Nate Legos]

Dear God, in the shower with the drink.

[Sarah Levinger]

Odd, but okay. Other than that, anywhere.

[Nate Legos]

You're listening to my podcast. I don't care. It doesn't matter.

[Sarah Levinger]

We did the same thing we did last time. No plug. No plugs today. That's really interesting.

[Nate Legos]

No plug.

[Sarah Levinger]

You're. You're prepping for something and I don't like it. It's making me real nervous. What are you doing outside of that? Follow me at Sarah Lavender everywhere you consume content. And then we're gonna drop in the show notes if you would like to join the community at Tether Insights. Please, please, please come over right now. We're running like a super, Super Crazy Good Special. 97amonth. I'm making it real easy for you guys.

[Nate Legos]

We're gonna increase that price and it'll be 67.

[Sarah Levinger]

I wish. You can't do codes, like, through the community that we set up. You can't do discount. Discount code, which I am aligned with as a psychology based marketer. No, no. Discount codes don't do discounts, people. Go listen to the rest of my podcast episodes. You'll find out why. Okay. In general, come check us out. That community is blowing up as we speak. I just got like a notification of like a Cha Ching in the handle and I think it was. I didn't know that was happened and all of a sudden it said Cha Ching. And I thought it was Scotty, but it wasn't Scotty. It was somebody signing up my community. Okay, thanks, guys. Like subscribe. Brain Driven Brands is part of the Learn and Laugh series on the Quickfire podcast network and is presented by Tether Insights. For more information, go to tetherinsights IO.