Upon reading the book Primal Branding by Patrick Hanlon, I was intrigued by the concept of phenomenology and it reminded me of my experiences working at Mr Sub. The other day on my shift, a fellow coworker brought up the “Big Dave” and had stories about it – I had no idea what he was talking about when he said "Big Dave" and he was surprised that I hadn't heard about it before.
Big Dave’s creation story was that a past employee, Dave at Mr. Sub always made the same custom sub every time he had a sub. It was a decadent combination of santa fe spicy chicken as well as a ultimate cheddar club – two huge meaty subs combined into one very expensive sub.
Word got around the workplace until the staff of Mr. Sub started to actually buy this sub on break at a discount. Dave had a very outgoing nature – he tried to actually sell and market this product to customers during a conversation. Now other employees are also doing the same to make work more interesting and challenging to make the sale.
Other elements of the primal code observed:
Creed – A very meaty and satisfying sub, you wont get anything more excessive to fill your extreme hunger, loaded with calories and is actually disgusting looking
Icons – the Mr. Sub Panini grill, the “OHHHH” sounds of all people in the line, foot long, tall sub, messy counter, football team, men
Rituals – It's an unwritten rule that you must get it grilled on the Panini press because you almost have to in order to shrink it’s height to fit it in your mouth, people being disgusted in line, laughing in line, asking questions and sparking curiousity of other customers, waiting to see people’s reactions
Pagans or Non-Believers – Regular subs, disgusted and appaled people in line preferring a healthier alternative
Sacred Words – “Big Dave”, grill
The leader – Now Adam, a new shift leader has been strongly advocating the sub and wanting to make it a special option only available at Laurier and has been nagging management to add it to the menu as a joke
The Big Dave has truly been a Success story – Now we all think it’s legendary, the football team are now loyal buyers and have been hearing it through Word of mouth – it has not even been advertised and it isn’t even on our menu at all! This goes to show that you don’t need to advertise to actually sell a product, a great product sells itself if it contains all of the elements of the primal code. It will be interesting to see if this actually catches on and becomes a special Laurier phenomenon. This also goes to show that the employees need to really believe in the product and be passionate about it to actually sell it. It is a contagious phenomenon. When peoples friends buy the product, people usually crack and buy the product as well, sometimes they have to wait and see what it looks like before deciding. Often people request the Big Dave in a sneaky manner or say the “Big sub” as if it’s a secret and an exclusive product. They feel special and good about themselves by being part of this exclusive Big Dave club.
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