Consistently Overdelivering

I should probably point out that I’m not an uber-fan.  I own just one of his records and have a handful of tracks on Spotify. I don’t go nuts when a tour is announced (or cancelled) – so I feel that I can comment from a non fan-boy point of view.

There are multiple LinkedIn posts talking about the importance of demonstrating integrity, adaptability, humour, collaboration, commitment, loyalty and respect, delivering constant quality and at high productivity....and posts saying that this is the secret to success etc...  This got me thinking: If these are the qualities that people must and do show then I wonder if it applies to brands too.. Is there a poster-boy for people/brands who actually are these things all of the time.

So how about Dave Grohl and brand Foo Fighters then?

He was the drummer in a band that had a most profound effect on the world, and when the band came to catastrophic end (I remember where I was when the death of Kurt Cobain was announced: Cinderellas Nightclub in Swansea if you care), Grohl continued in is own right. He became successful but refused to cash in on the tragedy by never speaking of it. In doing so, he reinvented himself, switching instruments (in fact, switching to all instruments), releasing hysteria-inducing albums and starting out on a path that lead to total domination. So we get that he’s a decent musician, but why are the fans so dedicated to him?

Grohl's band The Foo Fighters became associated with great videos very early on in their career – further enhancing his product that the world is falling in love with.

The Beaconsfield Mine collapse saw the trapped miners ask for an iPod with Foo Fighters songs recorded on it – one was supplied, of course, but with a song on it called ‘Ballad to the Beaconsfield Miners’.

Grohl collaborates with all sorts of musicians across multiple genres, yet somehow consistently delivers against core beliefs and fans’ expectations.

Author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek asks people to start with the why, and the why here is very clear: he simply wants to live the dream and be a rock star. It's clearly not about the money since there are so many free gigs put on under pseudonyms, designed to deliver fan experience and in doing so building the legend. This philosophy has been played out to the extent of doing a US tour of fans’ garages and local pizza joints. Er, what are the Rolling Stones charging for their tickets these days?

But what about breaking his leg? Seriously? Off to hospital and back to finish the gig so as to not disappoint his audience. Is there another rock star on the planet who would have done that? In fact how many other brands would do something so consumer-focused?

It seems that the man and his brand don’t need to do anything more to cement their credibility with fans, yet every time they can - they do.  And so should we.

Brand values are held in the mind of the consumer. I can’t think of any other example where the brand is universally liked, its values are consistently delivered, and expectations are so often surpassed.

Written with help from Lydia Mulkeen : https://linkd.in/1e0MbMu who does go mental when Foo Fighter tours are announced