Yesterday was movie day. My husband and I plop ourselves down, grab a cozy blanket (yes — it was 28 degrees in Cleveland yesterday) and binge out on movies. I selected a movie called “Chef”. It was a sleeper despite having an all-star cast that included Scarlet Johansen, Robert Downey Jr. John Leguizamo and Dustin Hoffman. Here’s the basic idea of the plot:
After a controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman) pushes him too far, chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) goes on a rant against the reviewer who blasted his cooking which is caught on a phone camera and goes viral. The chef quits his job and ultimately starts a food truck.
But what made this movie super interesting to ME — was the role social media played in building the chef’s brand and food truck business. Here’s a short clip of the chef’s 10-year-old son teaching him about the details of Twitter:
As the movie goes on, it’s the son’s savvy posting on Twitter that builds the chef’s brand and success. And what really makes this movie worth watching is seeing how a seemingly NEGATIVE video gone viral actually drives the chef’s success.
Brand Strategies Are All About Who You Are Being
I love this movie because it shows exactly what I mean when I say that brand strategies are all about who you are BEING and not what you are DOING.
When the chef rants at the food critic, it’s captured on video, uploaded to YouTube and goes viral. The chef is mortified and wants it to go away because he thinks that it’s going to blackball him in the world of cooking. Of course, you already know that it does just the opposite. Because the video caught the chef’s true passion for good food. Even in his rant, he showed people exactly who he was, what he was committed to and what his guests could count on him for.
Here’s the clip — see if you can spot him answering the three questions for small business branding success:
- Who are you BEING
- What are you COMMITTED to?
- What can people COUNT ON YOU for?
When the chef went on this rant — everyone who saw the video saw his brand —
- Who was he being? Passionate about his food
- What was he committed to? His craft, the success of the restaurant, his staff and the people who eat his food.
- What can people count on him for? Creative delicious food done right and with heart.
You can’t fake this stuff and the reason people ultimately flocked to his food truck was not because of the food truck or the kind of food he served — it was because they SAW who he was being, they experienced an authentic interaction on Twitter and social media and they FLOCKED to him and his truck.
How Would YOU Answer These 3 Powerful Branding Questions?
Now it’s your turn. Imagine that you were being caught on video on a rant about your business — what would we see?
- Who are you BEING
- What are you COMMITTED to?
- What can people COUNT ON YOU for?
Answer the questions in the comments below — don’t forget to leave a link to your website and business so we can SEE you.
