Flavor and Fuel: A Story of Modern Craftsmanship

Flavor and Fuel is a short film about what it takes to do the amazing. It is an exploration of the lives of people who make two very different companies tick. Each company has a different product, business, approach, location, audience, and group of employees. Despite their differences, there are ties that bind and commonalities which are universal. Namely, a journey in which anyone who has pursued something of passion in their life will enjoy.

The film’s IMDB entry is here, please watch the film and rate it!

The two businesses couldn’t be more different: Lotus F1 Team is a Formula One racing team based at Enstone in Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom while New Belgium Brewing is a craft brewer based in Fort Collins, Colorado in the United States. The former has a brand that inspires sleek and cool with a truly global feel; the latter, warm and textured with a genuinely local vibe. The film follows employees of Lotus F1 Team and New Belgium Brewing as they pursue their passions, overcome challenges, and exhibit sheer tenacity while doing amazing things for their fans.

Every human enterprise shares a few key traits. First, there is the essence, the idea, the flavor of the enterprise. What do the people who are so passionately engaged in this pursuit truly care about? It’s this core of an idea that keeps people committed and prepared to pour their heart and soul into something. It’s what attracts other people to a commonly held ideal. Secondly there is the drive, the energy, and the human capital any given person is prepared to sacrifice for an undertaking. This human energy, this fuel is the air that we breathe, the life we invest, and the time we spend doing something we love. The forging of these elements together in the pursuit of goals is the essence of success.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy Flavor and Fuel – A Story of Modern Craftsmanship (video link).

Don’t waste my time

Disclaimer: This post involves fast cars and the drinking of beer.

Here’s the scenario; you are at a dinner party, you meet a new person, maybe you are introduced, maybe you introduce yourself. Either way the experience is one of discovery, “What can I say that will interest this person and get me permission to continue the conversation?” Even if you don’t think this, your amazing and ancient brain is doing it on auto pilot for you.

As marketers we have an opportunity to infuse our message with storytelling, and I mean real stories. Ones with heroes, villains, inciting incidents, conflict overcoming of adversity and dealing with change. When we do this we open the door to a journey, one where our customer will want to join us for the experience.

“Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Here are two examples of content I recently created designed to help break the ice at that proverbial dinner party and connect you with something that could be of value to you. The videos below are designed so that you should find the content innately interesting. You may want to learn more about the story. And if you are in my target audience you will certainly want to do so. And if I earn your permission further still I then connect you to find out more about what we can do for you so that you can have an experience like the one that got your attention in the first place.

That being said I have two questions for you, and some FUN content.

#1 – Q: Do you like either cars, high-tech, or auto-sports?

A: Then watch this featuring Lotus F1 Team

150 Days (Preview, 60 secs)

150 Days (Trailer, 30 secs)

Full Nano-Documentary:

#2 – Are you interested in Craft Beer (or foods), or businesses that care not just about money but positively impacting the environment and the world we live in?

Q: Then watch this featuring New Belgium Brewing

Love in a bottle (Preview, 60 secs)

Love in a bottle (Trailer, 30 secs)

Full Nano-Documentary:

So, what do you think?

Was your time waste with this? With the videos? How do you approach content marketing and the customer experience when it comes to your content?

Epilogue

When I consider existing customers or prospects and the services, and apps we provide I have one key thing in mind “why should they care?”. There are many potential paths in actions you take but having this singular question held front and center is critical.

When serving up content we have to consider the whole experience of the customer. From never even knowing about our apps and services to being a RAVING fan.

In many ways I like to think of existing customers as prospects, that we should work hard to keep them engaged and interested. When someone at a [potential] customer company is already a fan you have trust, you can go to certain conversations more quickly than with a person with whom you haven’t yet built that trust. However there is always a place to invest more in a relationship, to reinforce that trust, to keep the romance alive.

Cloudscape at Lotus F1 Team HQ

I took the frames for this photo outside of the Lotus F1 Team HQ in Oxfordshire after a day long meeting I was running there. I was in fact in the middle of a conversation with a colleague when I realized what an epic view was behind him. I really love this view. It’s actually three exposures blended with some gentle touch up in Lightroom. I was on a mission to make something both realistic and painterly like. I think I established that I love it. What do you think?