08.10.21

START
AT THE
END

In April 2020 Drake slid into the DMs of Toosie

He wanted help on a song

But he didn’t want lyrics or beats

He wanted the dance

Because Drake had realised something

That his fans listened with their eyes before their ears

Discovering new music on Tik Tok

And then going on to stream it elsewhere

So he started with the dance and went backwards

Crafting the song specifically for the medium

This is the smartest thing about Drake

He writes his work for how people listen and discover it

He understands his audience better than anyone

4.5 million TikToks have been made using the Toosie Slide

And these have been viewed almost 7 billion times

That’s marketing

Starting at the beginning always seems like the best place to start

But when you start at the end and work backwards

The start can become a lot more interesting

01.10.21

NOT ALL INFLUENCERS
LOOK THE SAME

In 1999 Steve Greenberg was manager of the Baha Men

They had made 5 studio albums together but never had a hit

Their last album, Doong Spank had sold 800 copies

Greenberg was going to have to release them

But then he heard a hook he thought would change their fortunes

The band to recruited three new young singers who could do it justice

Greenberg even recorded the ad libs himself

In 1999 ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’ was ready

Unfortunately, no one would play it

Record execs hated it and radio wouldn’t touch it

But Greenberg new it was a hit

He just needed people to hear it

So he thought fuck radio, I’ll go direct to the people

So he called Fred Traube who ran a sports agency

And gave him a brief

To find the name and phone number

Of the DJ at every Major League Baseball ground in America

And then he started calling them

Day and night, night and day

Sending them the song to play

First the Yankees played it

Then the Mets played it

Then A Rod started using it as his walk on track

By the time the playoffs came around 5 of the 8 teams used the song to hype their crowds

Now radio execs were desperate to play the song

And it sold 3 million copies in America alone

We talk about influencers a lot

But we’ve stopped really looking for them

Because we think we know what they look like

The truth is that following and fame aren’t the only indicators of influence

And neither are Hollywood smiles

Just ask the Baha men

24.09.21

To be loved, BE prepareD to be loathed

In 1999 Floyd Mayweather was trying to renegotiate his deal with HBO

Lou DiBella the head of boxing at the network made him an offer

‘If we walk through Times Square and ten people recognise you, I’ll renegotiate’

The deal remained as it was

From 1996 to 2006 Floyd Mayweather was the best boxer in the world

He won titles in 3 weight divisions

Those who knew about boxing, knew he was great

But no else one cared

Often booed and worse rarely recognised

This is the era in which Mayweather was known as Pretty Boy Floyd

He was politer and tried to appeal to the boxing traditionalists

His craft was respected, but his appeal limited

Then Mayweather realised something

Boxing doesn’t reward you for being respected

Boxing rewards polarisation, love and hate are the two forces at play

Mayweather figured this out and embraced it

That’s when he changed his name

Pretty Boy Floyd was gone, Money Mayweather had arrived

He was brash, outspoken and intentionally controversial 

But most importantly he stopped trying to appeal to everyone

He realised there was an untapped young, black, urban boxing audience out there

And he made himself their champ

He also embraced the fact that this pissed off a lot of traditional boxing fans

It strengthened his position as the idol of this new fanbase

Up to 2006 Pretty Boy Floyd earned around $40m 

Since 2006 Money Mayweather has taken his earnings up to a $1Billion

He is one of the five highest earning athletes in history

A big part of this was embracing the fact that he alienated others

Because it strengthened his bond with those who loved him

In marketing just like boxing the middle ground is the enemy

The land of the uninteresting and the unnoticed

Every brand wants to be loved

But very few are willing to do what it takes

To risk the ire of the other side

If you want to be loved, you have to be prepared to be loathed

That’s the Money May way