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Fergus O'Carroll
Welcome to OnStrategy Showcase. I'm Fergus O'Carroll in Chicago. Interesting. The other day I was looking at our entire archive. We have, I think it's like 260 episodes on there. And even I forget some of the episodes that we've recorded. So as I was flipping through it, I was thinking, one of the things we've got to do, we've got to figure out a way of merchandising more of this back catalog to all of you listeners. So we're gonna figure out a way to do that. But one of the ways I think we can do that is by sort of reminding people of what's in there on the show, and then we'll use other methods to do it and build awareness of it. But two this week I wanted to draw your attention to is the Lynx fragrance, what is also known in the US As X. We did an episode recently, a couple of months back, actually, with Lola Mullen. Lowe is the agency and Unilever is the client. Carol Gregory and Federico deberti join me to talk about the amazing new work that they released last year. A great way for the brand to sort of rediscover its sweet spot. I checked that one out. Also, Yeti Pauly Derry, who is now, he's left YETI since we recorded this episode. Hope he didn't drive him out, but he did brilliant work with that brand. And that brand was doing great work for years. And I think it's one of those examples of a brand that has established its own in house agency but maintained a very high quality of work. So Yeti is built for the wild. They've had incredible growth. So check that one out. Yeti with cmo Pauly Dairy. Really great stuff. Now, I wanted to talk about today's episode and because the work, I love the work for Dilute Trading Company. If you're here in the US You've probably seen a lot of it. Very unique visual style, and it's sort of like BoJack Horseman, like in its graphic and illustration style. In other words, nothing is polished. It's not a very polished, illustrative look. It's simple black and white figures on screen and a wonderful use of so many different layers of distinctive brand assets, which you'll hear us talk about. But I wanted to explain and play you right now three of their spots. And it reflects the. The humor that is at the center of this brand. It talks about itself as being seriously great products without the seriousness. And it really thinks about humor as being its DNA. And it thinks about brands like Carhartt and Wrangler, which are two of its main competitors, as really being unable to play in the space of humor. And you'll see how this all makes sense as they explain their target audience, et cetera. But here's a couple of spots. They're really entertaining, funny, fantastic. You should see them as well as listen to them. And you can do that on our website@onstrategyshowcase.com the first one I want to play to you is called Funk no Underwear and it is a. Visually, what's going on in this illustrative style is that you're seeing this sort of toxic moonscape with noses almost collapsing because of the smell being so bad. And I'm talking about literally only noses with feet that that are walking around the scene and it's a huge pair of underwear. And then it drops off to a second scenario where you see these same noses, but this time they're partying, they're happy, and they're in a different, almost a resort like environments with a swimming pool. Really great. The second one you're gonna hear is called Plumber's butt and are long tail. It promotes their long tail T shirt. And you're gonna be seeing this. It's an illustration of a plumber bent over under a sink and like always, his butt crack is showing. The third one I'll play is titled Ballroom. And it's basically about these new jeans that they have launched that they have launched in the past where there is more ball room, if you know what I mean. And you hear the result of having less ballroom and more ballroom reflected in the voice of the character. Hopefully that all makes sense. Here are the spots.
Gareth Weber
The smell of average underwear. The smell of Duluth Funkno underwear Duluth Funkno Underwear how to fix plumber's butt Step 1 Identify the problem. Step 2, Carefully remove shirt. Step 3, Put on a Duluth Long Tail tee. Step 4, Double check your work. The Duluth Longtail tee, 3 inches longer to keep you covered. Get one@duluthtrading.com Crouching in average jeans Crouching in Duluth Trading Ballroom Jeans Duluth Trading Ballroom Jeans the crotch gusset gives you room to crouch without singing soprano. Get up there@duluthtrading.com so joining me is.
Fergus O'Carroll
Gareth Weber, SVP, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer for Duluth Trading Company and Dan Lytle is founder and Chief Creative officer at Planet Propaganda in Madison, Wisconsin. Enjoy. It's a great pleasure to have these guys on the show. This is a brand that I've watched for a while and initially Just was like, wow, this is incredibly distinctive work. And it has remained that way over time. And when I see work of this caliber, I always think that there's gotta be some really funky, interesting, creative people behind this to not only to originally come up with this sort of creative direction, but also to write them and people who know this target audience and know this space really well. So for that reason, I'm thrilled to have these guys on. This is a really interesting category with some really interesting brands who do some unexpected things that we're going to talk about today. This is outside of Duluth. There are others that I think are in that competitive set that can be really interesting to talk about and hear about. So I wanted to first of all, welcome Dana. Great to have you here. Welcome on the show.
Dana Lytle
Thank you.
Fergus O'Carroll
And Garth, great to talk to you and to have you here to talk about this great brand.
Dan Lytle
Thanks. It's a pleasure to be here.
Fergus O'Carroll
So let's kick it off with a little background on the company. Dana, from your perspective, you have a longer history on the brand right now than Garth has. Garth comes from really interesting categories that will get into sporting brands, et cetera. That led him to where he is in the brand now. But you've got a little bit more of a background that maybe you can give us some context from your perspective on where the business has been, where the brand has been. Tell us what you can.
Dana Lytle
Yeah, that sounds great. I do have this interesting perspective because I've been around for at least 15, 16 years, so I thought it'd just be a good little jumping off spot to do this. So I'm going to go way back because I think there's some through lines that come with this company all the way back to the beginning. It was actually started in 1987 by three Carpenters in Duluth, Minnesota. The company's name was actually Portable Products at that time and they had created this product called the Bucket Boss. They created it when they saw their carpenter friends putting their tool aprons around a five gallon bucket, which is a, you know, kind of an ingenious workwear solution that they can. They came up with. That product is still around today. And it's a great product. I actually have one in my garage right now. But I thought it was really interesting that products go all the way back.
Fergus O'Carroll
To that and called a Bucket Boss. Is that what you said, Bucket Boss?
Dana Lytle
Yeah, they actually.
Fergus O'Carroll
And what is it now? Something you just something you can that holds your tool belt or. Or what.
Dana Lytle
So these carpenters actually just like they saw all of Their carpenter friends just tie their, their tool aprons around their five gallon bucket and they're ingenious guys. And they, they created this product what all their tools can hold on the sides of the five gallon bucket. If you look at it online, you'll know it right away. It's, it's a really classic product, stood the test of time, and it's great. It has all the, you know, bells and whistles that it needs to have on there. But so the first debut of Duluth Trading Company didn't come until like 1983. And that was actually a catalog that these guys created because they wanted to give their customers this sense of attachment and even loyalty. So it was pretty interesting because it worked. In a couple of years later, they had made the 500 fastest growing companies list and had hit like, I think it was like 2000% growth two years in a row. And they were in that 6 to 10 million dollars in sales and they were projecting to be like double that, like 20 million the following year. You know, these, these guys just felt the pressure of all of that because they're three carpenters and they had really done a great job of like, you know, filling a need, and they ended up deciding to cash out and they got, they sold the brand for $14 million.
Fergus O'Carroll
When did propaganda, your agency, Dana, when did that, when did that relationship start? 14 years ago?
Dana Lytle
Yeah, it was about 15. I think it was 2008. Well, 2009 was when it happened.
Fergus O'Carroll
At that point in time, would you describe it as a seller of sort of workman's tool belts and equipment, or was it always about apparel?
Dana Lytle
It was really, at that time, it was really starting to get into more apparel and more product. And they had done a really, really good job at that point of like, getting some of the core products, the firehose work pants, the long tailed tee, Ballroom jeans, all of the classic, you know, products that Duluth is really known for.
Fergus O'Carroll
So, Garth, tell us about who, who the brand competes against. Who do you kind of see as.
Dan Lytle
Your top two or three in the workwear space? You know, obviously Carhartt is probably our biggest competitor and the one we, we spent a lot of time looking at. But then, you know, there's, there is something about the workwear right now is having a wonderful moment in culture. And so there's a lot of these D2C brands that are starting up and these smaller brands that are really focused on the space and doing what they can to take market share. So we're constantly looking at that.
Fergus O'Carroll
You guys own your Own stores too. Are they, is that national or regional?
Dan Lytle
Nets national. We have 65 stores across the nation. I mean we have concentrations, we're pretty, pretty dialed in into where people, where our target customers are. And so we have concentrations of stores around the nation. But yeah, we span the entire country.
Fergus O'Carroll
So Dana, how do you. Because I'm fascinated by this brand, Carhartt. How do you think of Carhartt in terms of how it's messaged and how it's positioned?
Dana Lytle
I think Carhartt is broader than Duluth. I think they've always kind of, I think, you know, appeal to the values of the Target where Duluth. We've really tapped the Duluth storytelling roots. Kind of that dry sense of humor and kind of the fun loving personality of their core customer. I think that's one of their, you know, Duluth is also a little bit, I would say maybe higher up the, the chain in terms of, from a market perspective. They are, they tend to be for, you know, the, I don't know, the person wants to spend a little bit more on, on those pants that are going to last for a while. They're going to be, you know, sometimes they're the construction owner versus construction worker.
Dan Lytle
One brand I, I was thinking as you were talking that I didn't mention, but I think it would be instructed is a brand like Wrangler, which, you know, we, we, we don't really compete against, against them, but we share spaces around, you know, the sort of the ranching, the, the, the rodeo space, et cetera. I mean they own that space, but we also kind of live there as well. And I think Carhartt is similar in that they own workwear space. I mean they've owned it since the 1880s, I believe. And so they have a very, you know, very clear point of view with regards to it's all about work and it's all about, I mean even when they have their work in progress line and this and the fashion side of the business, it's, you know, born from that same sort of authentic DNA. And I think to Dana's point, one of the things that, you know, the, the one reasons I'm here and one of the reasons I love Duluth as a brand is that we make product that is equally born from work. It's more of a if to, to put a regional spin on it for like a self Central Wisconsin farmer dairy, you know, dairy farmer sensibility. Like what, what do these folks, you know, back in the day, like what problems could our apparel solve for them? Be very clear on that point in terms of, and then expanding from there. But also the same group of people, they have a very direct sense of humor. They're very down to earth. They don't take themselves seriously. And that same mentality is part of the DNA of Duluth as well. So I think one of the things that Dana's team did such a great job of when they took over as the agency of record is to expand upon that sense of humor that the brand had at the beginning. And Carhartt can't play there. Other, you know, Wrangler can't play there. Like there's a, there's a, I think this sort of, we don't, we make seriously great product and tell I think seriously good stories without the seriousness. And so there is this tongue in cheek quality constantly.
Dana Lytle
We think of average as the enemy. And if you combine that with the no nonsense, none too serious personality, we, we created this truth for Duluth that's we, it's called poke average in the eye and it's something that has been in the brand from its, you know, this, this version of it and, and it's carried for the last, you know, 15, 16 years. But it's totally in the DNA of both their customer and the company.
Fergus O'Carroll
We'll be right back. Want always on brand metrics that deliver value to stakeholders. This episode is brought to you by Tracksuit, a beautiful, affordable and always on brand tracking tool that helps consumer marketers and agencies answer the question is what we're doing working and not so secret. Fact is that companies pay $100,000 or more for brand tracking, which is out of the question for many modern brands whose business budgets are under pressure. Tracksuit provides enterprise level brand tracking without the big price tag. Their in house research experts do the heavy lifting using best in class practices to craft and launch your survey and get you results fast. Tracksuit is fast becoming the common language for marketers and agencies to measure and communicate the value of brand building. Check it out@gotracksuit.com that's gotracksuit. Now back to the show. So let's dig into the campaign. So Dana, where, where did this signature Duluth style, this ad style, illustration style come from? And it's, and what was the thinking behind it?
Dana Lytle
So, you know, we did a lot of interesting tests. We have this, a great animator, amazing animator, guy by the name of Nate Tice, that was the one that came up literally with the style after a bunch of tests on it and you know, we looked at a bunch of different things and depending on how, who you talk to, you Always hear everything from people describing it as cartoons or animation or even, you know, rough sketches. And we love the. The not overly processed look of it because it kind of has a back of a napkin feel to it. Like someone just sketched it out in front of you.
Fergus O'Carroll
Yeah, it's like one of those flipkart. But you're actually reminding me, like those little card decks that you used to flip. Right. And you'd see the animated figures moving as you flip from card to card through the whole deck. Right. That's funny.
Dana Lytle
Yeah. And it's. I think that's part of the appeal and why it's been so widely, you know. You know, kind of looked at and. And admired and stuff. But I think there's some. It's interesting because I think there's humanity in that and with that hand done quality to it, which really relates, you know, to the customer that. That we're talking to, because they're. They're big on working with their own hands. It's interesting because the, you know, the style was really like, we had to do it. There's two parts to it. One was a technological concern because we did this initial test of the campaign with a really early on digital campaign. It was a cost per acquisition model, and we had to create something that was simple and that didn't take too much bandwidth. So there's some just, like, real, kind of funky.
Fergus O'Carroll
That's great. That's so great to hear that. That makes so much sense.
Dana Lytle
Yeah. And it's funny how those parameters do that. There's. It's actually pretty funny, too, because at that time, you couldn't even rely on sound, and sound is an iconic part of the Duluth spots. But we had to look like. We had to create little, like, elements. Like if there's a spot, a ballroom Jean spot, where we put in a treble clef and a bass clef to show, you know, the. The guy's voice getting higher, you know, when he crouches and getting lower when he has the Duluth pants. But. So that was some of the. Just the functional stuff. The other part was Garth referenced this a little bit ago, and it goes back all the way to the beginning. But Duluth has been known for this great storytelling, and way back from the beginning, they were illustrating the catalog covers and all of the products in full color. And we couldn't obviously do that for the test ads because just at that point, bandwidth wasn't available. But we needed an effective storytelling mechanism that could give this legendary quality without the full color illustrations, because Duluth, they were about a $60 million company at the time. We needed to create work that stood out because they didn't have the budget to take on the Carhartts of the world and do all that stuff, too. So that's really kind of how that all formed. And we just have kept, you know, using that, and it's become so distinctive out there and a huge part of the brand.
Fergus O'Carroll
Before we jump into playing some of the spots here, I think it's important to point out that there are dimensions to this. To this creative idea. Number one, there's the fact that it's sort of an illustrated style. So for the listener, it's sort of like the flip card thing that you might be familiar with, but you might also kind of think of Red Bull and what Red Bull did with illustration. I mean, it's not polished at all. It's very, very ro. Sketched outline. But in addition to that, there's the humor, and in addition to that, there's that damn amazing voiceover. And maybe the most important part is it's not a skinny model dude. It's an everyday guy who's chunky. He's got this body style where he's just like that stereotypical trades guy. He's got a big belly. You know, he's got the baseball cap on. He's not a polished model. It's a real, everyday, American, rural dude that's in this. Let's talk about that. Was that deliberate and. Or did that just organically happen that this main character that appears in most of these spots is this sort of everyday guy?
Dana Lytle
It was absolutely deliberate because it was the Duluth customer, and they knew their customer. And we were really focused on the trades in the initial, you know, kind of campaign that we tested. And. And it was, you know, they. They went all the way down to a product level, you know, because they. Bigger buttons for bigger hands. You know, there's, like, the way that the, you know, waste fans are. It's like all that level of detail, and we took all that same kind of, like, you know, detail from a. That they put into the product. We wanted that in. In advertising as well. One of the cool things about the. Those ads, Fergus, was like, we really created this, like, average versus construct because, you know, the idea was to position all other workwear was average and obviously directly implying that Duluth was the superior workwear and that that's how one of those ideas, when you look at the collection of the spots, is there's. They're all kind of based on this kind of average versus idea.
Fergus O'Carroll
Yeah, that's sort of idea. Sorry, go ahead. But it's sort of an idea of comfort, right?
Dana Lytle
Yeah, exactly. I mean, and it's a great way to, like, really point out the amazing benefits that Duluth has. And one of the things that I've always loved about this brand, this predates me even, is the, like, they talk to the customer. It's all about, you know, benefit versus feature. And. And that's such a simple idea that, you know, I've seen so many companies making that mistake. Garth and I've been talking a lot about. This is about obsessing about the customer and understanding it. And the. The original nomenclature of all of the products were benefit driven, not feature driven like most, you know, most companies do. They, you know, it's like Ballroom Jeans. You know what the benefit is for Ballroom jeans. You know, they're drying the fly pants, you know, you know, that stuff. And I.
Fergus O'Carroll
That was just so the listener knows. We're not talking about ballroom dancing here. We're talking about room for the balls. That's, in essence, what this. And that's the wonderful underpinning. I mean, it's so funny. I. I just stay put. Pouch. And this. Is this. This whole lingo, this whole language that is dilute, that's sort of come out of this. Does that carry through to in store signage where you use some of this terminology?
Dan Lytle
Oh, yeah, of course. Well, we spend every season brainstorming for new products. You know, our naming is a big, big effort for us, you know, to be able to, like, connect back to. Yeah, this sort of. You can. You can see or hear the benefit in the name all of our signage, all of our. All of our branding efforts. And Dana was talking about this like, we. We show up at the same. All of our touch points, the same sensibility and sense of humor. There's just one other thing I wanted to add, and it wasn't until I got here that I really dug into some of the genius that Dana and his team brought to the table. Basically, what you're looking at is a series of brand campaigns that are masquerading as product campaigns.
Fergus O'Carroll
That's right. That's right. Good point.
Dan Lytle
Yeah. Just talking about, you know, Ballroom Jeans. Okay, that's good. We're selling some. Some. Some denim. But. But really what it is is like, okay, this is how we approach. This is how we look at the category. This is how we approach everything we do. Overall, it's just reinforcing the brand voice again and again, and I think that's just really smart.
Fergus O'Carroll
And there's a lot of debate about that. We've had many guests on the show talk about it as the need for it to be separate initiatives. Both need to be happening at the same time in terms of brand versus performance marketing. But. But the consensus among certain circles is that they need to be separate but happening at the same time. I don't personally buy into that. I think they can happen at the same time in terms of branded performance advertising. I think you're a great example of it, and I've brought up a bunch of other categories. You can do both, Dana, at the same time. Do you think of it as being that way?
Dana Lytle
Absolutely. I think, you know, you know, Garth put it well, it's like we purposely, you know, this was a core product strategy. I mean, we, you need to have the, you know, short term goals and, and, you know, and, and getting those kind of that performance. I mean, otherwise you're not in business. And so I think that's like a, that's a mandatory. And that strategy ultimately was that from the very beginning. We started with their three core products. And each year we just kind of layered on there and, and every once in a while we'd try to hit like a new market and say, okay, well can we expand this category? And you would try a new spot or turn a new campaign that went into it. But I think you should do both. Not all companies can do that, but I'm in the same camp as you are, Fergus. I don't think they have to be separate. I think that's part of the, you know, the journey that you got to figure out for the brand that you're working on. For Duluth, it was one and the same, and they were both extremely effective.
Fergus O'Carroll
Your agency is in Madison, Wisconsin, which is a college town. And I'm just curious, how did this high quality of work come out of Madison? Because I don't think of Madison. I don't think most people would think of Madison as being sort of an adtown. Were you always an ad guy? I mean, how do you describe it?
Dana Lytle
So I'm not an ad guy. I actually didn't plan. It's my second job. And I started Planet when I was 24. I grew up in a entrepreneurial family. My dad was a newspaper publisher, and my agency experience was Planetary primarily. I had a short stint in another agency here in Madison. But, you know, we've always been a strategic creative shop. And it's something that we, you know, want to do in terms of like, it's like really dialing down to like, what we always like, look at those, like, single significant ideas that really can, like, help brands on a precipice that can get over those cash chiasms that, you know in those critical points in their journey. And so, you know, we've, we've imported talent. You know, right now we're pretty much remote. And so we have people all around the country, Boulder, Washington, D.C. a lot. In Chicago, we actually have somebody that's going down to Mexico, Mexico City for a while, you know, Minneapolis. And so we do that. But over the years, we've just, we've been able to pull a lot of really great talent. And it's, it's the thing, it's cheesy, but it's the thing that I, I've always been grateful for because the level of talent that we've been able to, to get for all of our accounts has been amazing.
Fergus O'Carroll
Garth, for you, when, I mean, the brand has been around since roughly 1987, you're about, you're a year and a half and I think you said what was the appeal for you? Is there a major strategic initiative going on in terms of a whole new growth trajectory that they need somebody with your set of experiences. Because coming out of sportswear and apparel.
Dan Lytle
Right, right. And I have, I would say my. What gets me out of bed in this, in this job and doing it for a long time is taking, working with, working with an established brand, but taking them to different places, whether that be to a new, new consumer or from domestic to international or, you know, what, whatever it might be, new product categories. You know, let's standing up a. On a sportswear line in a equ. That's that sort of thing. So the project here really is. So we've been doing sort of the same look and feel for, you know, a number of years. And it is, if you, you know, do a survey of, of the ads, it's, it's really focused on the, the male consumer and ironically, the, our shopper, the, the, the like 60. Over 60% of all purchases are made by women.
Fergus O'Carroll
That is fascinating to me. I meant to ask that exact question. I was thinking about that earlier because even I remember when we had the folks from the Old Spice campaign on widen people, Wieden and Kennedy and they talked about that. One of their big insights was that 80% of the deodorant category or body washes were bought by women. For men. Men.
Dan Lytle
Yeah. Yeah. And we, you know, and for us, it's, it's for, yeah, for the men. For the Family and that's just been a truth about the least for, for a while. But you know, obviously where, so where is the growth and, and how can we get more women to enter the brand and interact with the brand and buy things for them for themselves as well? And so that was a, that was a strategic initiative for the, for the company. And then I have a lot of experience in that specific area. But then also like, you know how, you know, how do we grow what we're doing well into other areas. And so that, that was one of the things that really excited me is it's not just like bringing. Building more of a, a women's business and excited to say that that that is trending in, in the, the right direction and, and, but, but without losing the essence of the brand which also has really been so successful. And Dana used the word earlier but, but what speaks to women for themselves is a bit different than, than what you know, was working for women who were buying for him. And so that, that was one thing and then, and then frankly the other thing and Dana and I talk about this all the time is like, all right, these are this, this, you know, I'll use this example. It's somewhat apropos, but it comes from the sports side where way back in the day, beginning of my career I worked, I worked at Nike and it was when they were trans just do it had been the campaign for so, so long. And then they started transitioning to using just do it a couple times a year or then it became one time a year. Then it became just for the Olympics or something like that. Like it was a very special thing, you know, when they very intentional when they did it. And we've been talking about like what is sort of next like what do we want to add around this, you know, these icons of the brand in a similar way, not exactly like what I just described, but that's also extremely from a creep I started. I'm a creative that kind of moved into marketing and strategy. And so just on a creative thought.
Fergus O'Carroll
Executionally, how do you market to women? Using that same architecture of the existing spots is a huge opportunity.
Dan Lytle
Yeah, yeah. And of course you learn a lot about your, your customer, your consumer, the target consumer. You're going after what would be relevant to them and try to meet them there. But one of the things we have definitely learned and I'm happy to say is that it's a different type of humor, but the same sort of down to earth irreverent humor works for either gender. So it's just we have to modulate it, obviously. But that. That is where I think for me it feels so good, is that we can be as cheeky as we want to be in a different way with her, just like we've been with him. And so that feels like a really great place to launch from.
Fergus O'Carroll
When does that initiative roll out in terms of the campaign, if there's campaign associated with it?
Dan Lytle
Yeah, we have a couple already out there. So we see a little over a year ago, we launched the first spot, this first tonal, and then we did another one spring of this past year, which was even more successful. And we are going like we have.
Fergus O'Carroll
In the same illustration style.
Dan Lytle
No. Yeah, Great question. So it's live action, but it has this same sort of cheekiness to it. The thing that we've learned, we tried, and Dana can speak to this too, but we tried the illustration style on the women's side. It wasn't successful. Successful. And I think part of it is because, like, people like to see clothes on figures rather than, you know, illustrated. You kind of know what a workwear pant looks like. Right. And. But when you're doing some. Some work. We were selling overalls, which is one of our most successful product launches in a long time. People want to see what they look like, you know, so we had to shift in terms of a production approach. But we were, you know, are able to keep the humor and able to feel very much on brand. And the. The two styles live well together, even though they're quite different in terms of how they're produced.
Fergus O'Carroll
I would love to see that. There's almost an episode in and of itself in that Dana. Which we can do at another time, but we'll drop those spots onto the website also and so people can have a look at that and it'll be great as it continues to roll out to see whether both of these campaigns can live in peril in terms of having distinct executions. At least visual, at least distinct executions. Thank you both. It is. Garth Weber is SVP Chief marketing and brand officer for Duluth Trading Company. They are out of Madison, Wisconsin. And Dana Lytle is founder and chief Creative officer of Planet Propaganda. Check them out. Do some great work. And they're in Madison, Wisconsin. Thank you both for being on the show. Show. Great work and a great story. Thank you.
Dan Lytle
Thanks, Fergus. My pleasure.
Dana Lytle
Yeah, thank you, Fergus. It was great talking to you.
Fergus O'Carroll
And we'll see everyone on the next episode.
On Strategy Showcase: Humor is Duluth's Superpower in Building a Billion Dollar Brand
Host: Fergus O’Carroll
Guests: Gareth Weber, SVP Chief Marketing and Brand Officer for Duluth Trading Company; Dan Lytle, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Planet Propaganda
Release Date: February 22, 2025
In this engaging episode of On Strategy Showcase, host Fergus O’Carroll delves into the strategic use of humor in building the billion-dollar brand, Duluth Trading Company. Joining him are Gareth Weber, the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Brand Officer for Duluth Trading Company, and Dan Lytle, the Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Planet Propaganda, the agency behind Duluth's distinctive marketing campaigns.
Dana Lytle provides a comprehensive history of Duluth Trading Company, highlighting its origins and growth trajectory. The company was founded in 1987 by three carpenters in Duluth, Minnesota, initially named Portable Products. They introduced the Bucket Boss, a versatile tool holder inspired by observing carpenters using five-gallon buckets to carry their tools. This product remains a staple in their lineup today.
In 1983, the company launched the Duluth Trading Company catalog, fostering customer loyalty and significantly contributing to their rapid growth. Within a few years, the company featured on the 500 Fastest Growing Companies list, boasting a remarkable 2000% growth over two consecutive years. Eventually, the founders sold the brand for $14 million, achieving substantial success early on.
“The company's first debut as Duluth Trading Company was through a catalog they created to build customer attachment and loyalty, leading to phenomenal growth and recognition.” [07:52]
Gareth Weber discusses Duluth’s main competitors, identifying Carhartt as the principal rival, complemented by brands like Wrangler and emerging D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) brands. Duluth differentiates itself by infusing humor and storytelling into its marketing, a stark contrast to the more serious tone of its competitors.
Dana Lytle emphasizes the importance of benefit-driven marketing over feature-driven approaches. Duluth's product names, such as Ballroom Jeans (providing ample room) and Long Tail Tees (3 inches longer for better coverage), directly communicate the benefits to the customer.
“We focus on benefit versus feature, ensuring our product names like Ballroom Jeans clearly convey their advantages to the customer.” [23:39]
The heart of Duluth's marketing success lies in its unique illustrative ad style and humorous storytelling. Dan Lytle sheds light on the creative process, explaining that the distinctive hand-drawn animation style was a result of technological constraints during the initial digital campaigns. This approach not only reduced bandwidth usage but also gave the ads a “back of a napkin” feel, fostering a sense of authenticity and relatability.
“The not overly processed look has a back of a napkin feel, making it relatable and embedding humanity into the brand.” [18:19]
Several ad spots exemplify this strategy:
Funk No Underwear ([04:39] – [06:04]):
Plumber's Butt ([04:39] – [06:04]):
Ballroom ([04:39] – [06:04]):
“We create these entertaining, funny spots that emphasize our products’ benefits without taking ourselves too seriously.” [06:04]
Dan Lytle elaborates on the competitive landscape, noting that while Carhartt has dominated the workwear space since the 1880s, Duluth Trading Company carves out its niche through a regional, humor-infused approach. This strategy appeals to a more discerning market segment willing to invest in durable, well-crafted products.
“Duluth makes seriously great products and tells seriously good stories without the seriousness, which Carhartt and Wrangler can't play there.” [15:43]
Recognizing that 60% of purchases are made by women, Duluth sought to expand its market reach without alienating its core male customer base. Initially experimenting with the same illustrative style for women's campaigns proved unsuccessful, as customers preferred seeing actual figures wearing the apparel.
Dan Lytle explains the strategic shift to live-action campaigns for women, retaining the brand’s irreverent humor while adapting the visual execution to better resonate with female consumers.
“We had to shift our production approach for women’s campaigns to live-action because customers wanted to see the clothes on real people.” [35:14]
This pivot allowed Duluth to maintain its brand voice and humor while effectively reaching a broader audience.
A significant part of the discussion revolves around integrating brand storytelling with performance marketing. Fergus O’Carroll challenges the notion that these should be separate initiatives, citing Duluth as a prime example of successfully blending both.
Dana Lytle concurs, advocating for a unified approach where short-term performance goals coexist with long-term brand storytelling. This synergy has proven to be highly effective for Duluth, allowing them to achieve immediate sales targets while building a strong, enduring brand presence.
“I don’t think they have to be separate. For Duluth, it was one and the same, and they were both extremely effective.” [26:50]
The episode concludes with a reflection on the successful strategies that have propelled Duluth Trading Company to its current status. Key takeaways include:
“We create work that stands out because we make seriously great products and tell seriously good stories without the seriousness.” [15:43]
Notable Quotes:
“We focus on benefit versus feature, ensuring our product names like Ballroom Jeans clearly convey their advantages to the customer.” – Dana Lytle [23:39]
“The not overly processed look has a back of a napkin feel, making it relatable and embedding humanity into the brand.” – Dana Lytle [18:19]
“We create these entertaining, funny spots that emphasize our products’ benefits without taking ourselves too seriously.” – Fergus O'Carroll [06:04]
“Duluth makes seriously great products and tells seriously good stories without the seriousness, which Carhartt and Wrangler can't play there.” – Dan Lytle [15:43]
“We had to shift our production approach for women’s campaigns to live-action because customers wanted to see the clothes on real people.” – Dan Lytle [35:14]
“I don’t think they have to be separate. For Duluth, it was one and the same, and they were both extremely effective.” – Dana Lytle [26:50]
This episode of On Strategy Showcase offers invaluable insights into how Duluth Trading Company harnesses humor and authentic storytelling to distinguish itself in a competitive market. Through strategic creativity and a deep understanding of their customer base, Duluth exemplifies how brands can achieve substantial growth while staying true to their core values.
For more details and to view the discussed ad spots, visit onthestrategyshowcase.com.