Getting taps-aff in the disco.
Newsletter #62. 05 July 2024.

Getting taps-aff in the disco.

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, people would go out on the sauce and the whole night would cost less than a tenner (including the kebab on the way home). And not a single mobile phone was seen. Bellissimo.

Often I’d be in da club, you can picture the scene, a bunch of sweaty 20 year olds dancing to Your Love by Frankie Knuckles or Good Life by Inner City.

And across the dance floor, I’d spot an absolutely gorgeous… shirt.

Shirts, not girls

Yep that’s the kind of guy I was in those days. More interested in shirts than girls.

So I’d saunter over to the strapping young man who was wearing the shirt and tell him I loved it.

He’d inevitably tell me the brand and what shop he bought it from. Obviously in those halcyon days, there were no mobile phones so I couldn’t take a photo of it to remind me of the design, I couldn’t search for the shop on Google and I couldn’t buy it on Amazon Prime.

A drunk Underdog

So as the eternal Underdog, I had to out-think the problem.

So I’d buy it off him there in the middle of the dancefloor. I’d give him my shirt, a few quid and probably the remainder of my pint.

And we’d ‘swap’ shirts right there.

Make the rules work for you

What does that mean for Underdog marketers in 2024? Don’t play by the rules that everyone else is playing, out-think the problem. Oh and sometimes, you just need to get naked.

Underdog brands, need Underdog thinking.

*Taps-aff, a well-known Glaswegian phrase for 'Tops-Off'. To remove one's shirt.



Love Corporate Red Tape? Nope us neither. We're hiring an Account/Project Manager. Click to find out more.
Your new role is waiting for you at Mellor&Smith

All the juicy details about our new Account/Project Manager role. All applicants will receive a response. Pinky Promise.

Dan Bramham

Gaffer / Grafter at Greenwich. Unfettered sweary bloke who gets shit done. Helps growing businesses own their space with deeper graphic design solutions.

8 个月

Ahhhhh. Halcyon days - or was that Hacienda daze?

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Paul Mellor的更多文章

  • Every house has a smell the owners can't smell.

    Every house has a smell the owners can't smell.

    The unnerving hint of garlic, or a whiff of a dodgy cheese? It's the same for brands, every brand has a scent only the…

    2 条评论
  • A short pencil is better than a long memory.

    A short pencil is better than a long memory.

    If only you had more time, more budget, or more people. If only 'you coulda, woulda, shoulda'.

    3 条评论
  • The cowboy who rode a camel.

    The cowboy who rode a camel.

    Sometimes no matter how hard you try, there’s absolutely nothing different about your product, what you offer, your…

    5 条评论
  • Be more Seahorse.

    Be more Seahorse.

    Seahorse couples greet each other every morning. Without fail.

  • You can't go swimming without getting wet.

    You can't go swimming without getting wet.

    Sun-kissed and smarmy investors ask brands ‘who’s your enemy?’. But that’s the lazy question to ask, so it’s the wrong…

  • Scientists are sexier than growth hackers.

    Scientists are sexier than growth hackers.

    25% of Nobel Prize winning scientists sing or make music in their spare time. In his book Range, David Epstein shows…

    1 条评论
  • Slip into something you wouldn't normally wear.

    Slip into something you wouldn't normally wear.

    In every country, in every category, there are category-norms. Yep, even your category, that’s totally special and…

    1 条评论
  • What can you learn from the Duke of Wellington?

    What can you learn from the Duke of Wellington?

    Firstly he was obviously a complete badass, most well-known for giving Napoleon a proper kicking at Waterloo in 1815…

    1 条评论
  • Your growing pains, have nothing do to with pain.

    Your growing pains, have nothing do to with pain.

    Susan in Client Services is often heard saying rubbish like 'We need to focus on the audiences pain'. Casually…

    1 条评论
  • Get good at boring.

    Get good at boring.

    It was the delicious Mark Manson, New York Times best-seller, who said ‘get good at boring’. The older I get, the more…

    2 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了