Social insights for successful brands come from real people in real places. Sonny's Cozy Tavern is one of those places. It's like every small-town beer joint across the country. The kind of place where you can learn more in a couple of hours by sitting with the characters at the bar than you could ever hope to learn in a hundred consumer focus groups. Good brands start at Sonny's.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Doritos & Diet Coke


Butch has a habit. Some people call it bad. Most people just think it's odd. But, for me, it's just part of my daily routine. It's part of who I am. Part of my brand. We all have vices, bad habits, little secrets.

Mine? I have a 20 oz. Diet Coke and a Grab Bag of Doritos (Nacho flavor) EVERY MORNING. I've been doing it since I was in high school and was old enough to drive my '72 Chevelle to the EZ Mart. Now, I drive my adult car to the local Fleming C-Mart, right after I drop off my son at his school. Same routine. Different store. Different car. 30 years later. The guy at the Fleming store sometimes even has my order wiating for me at the front counter.

I find that it's not just the nourishment (?) that drives the habit. I actually enjoy the little stop each morning. It's like a mini vacation on my way to the grind.

I stopped going to the Circle K because the lady there always felt compelled to comment on my purchase... "breakfast of champions" -- "does your momma know what you're eating for breakfast?" -- etc. All I could think was, "it beats the cigarettes and coffee you're choking down. And, I've done three marathons in the last four years -- can you do that on the cig & java diet?"

We all have little indiosyncrocies. They're part of our brand. What's yours?
- Butch

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I swear like a sailor. I'm working on it. It was going well up until yesterday. Oh well, we all have our vices.