Remarkable Content with Ian Faison You Suck at Cooking: How To Embrace Your Mistakes in B2B Marketing
You - yes you - as a B2B marketer are trained to be PERFECT. You’re a well-oiled machine hell bent on accuracy, precision, and aesthetics.
Chances are you might not like what we have to say in this episode: sometimes it pays to be imperfect. That’s right! We want you to embrace your mistakes.
Mistakes are part of the marketing process. Everybody makes them! It’s time to accept your mistakes and be transparent about them. Your audience will be attracted to your authenticity, and you’ll have an edge over legacy brands in the industry.
On this episode of Remarkable, we’re wallowing in the sarcasm, quick wit, and irreverence of the YouTube show You Suck at Cooking. We’re showing you how embracing mistakes will only level up your marketing skills, and how being real goes a long way at winning over your audience.
About You Suck at Cooking
You Suck at Cooking is a YouTube channel that satirizes classic cooking shows. Instead of being a picture-perfect set with the whole mise-en-place on a pristine kitchen set, the videos are clearly made by some dude in his own kitchen, for fun. He uses decidedly unprofessional terms — for example, he calls stirring “wangjangling,” and once mistakenly called his oven “onion.” He often burns whatever he’s making. But chef or not, the videos do have their own flair, including (but not limited to) original songs, stop motion animation, voicemails from his dad, special appearances of his dogs, and much, much more.
The videos are shot from overhead as a pair of disembodied hands make the food in an everyday kitchen and a narrator walks you through each step. In fact, we never see the creator’s face. He’s totally anonymous. He even released a book called You Suck at Cooking: THE ABSURDLY PRACTICAL GUIDE TO SUCKING SLIGHTLY LESS AT MAKING FOOD: A COOKBOOK. The author is listed as…You Suck at Cooking. But according to a thread on Reddit, his name might be Mel. Anyway, the channel was started in 2015, and now has over 3 million subscribers.
What B2B Companies Can Learn From You Suck at Cooking:
- Accept that getting things wrong is part of the process. It’s part of the journey to getting better at marketing. You could even say that if it weren’t for the mistakes, you’d never improve. Ian says, “In the B2B world and the tech world, when you're trying to create content, you want to create, like ‘This is the best way to do something.’ But the truth is, you figured out the best way by making 5,000 mistakes.” It’s all about how you pivot, think on your feet, and adjust your workflow based on what the mistake taught you. A good example of this is when Sony fell victim to one of the largest data breaches in history back in 2011. The breach exposed 77 million PlayStation users’ information. In response, the CEO personally apologized. Sony offered victims of the breach identity theft insurance, as well as a free month of PlayStation Plus. The CEO reassured users that PlayStation was taking additional measures to protect personally identifiable information. In other words, the company acknowledged the mistake, offered compensation, and promised to do better.
- Position yourself as a disruptor in the industry. Set yourself apart from legacy or traditional brands in the industry, and do it through humor! Make fun of the differences between your company and competitors. For example, Swatch made Swiss-made watches accessible and relevant to younger consumers with their playful branding, that set them apart from legacy luxury Swiss watch brands like Hublot or OMEGA. Another example is life insurance company, Dead Happy. They invite customers to “Make a Deathwish,” or in other words, make a wish for what you want your payout to be spent on when you die. It could be anything from sending your ashes to the edge of space to paying for someone to take care of your pets. The dark humor sets them apart from conventional life insurance companies and earns them a following, especially with younger generations.
Quotes
*”In the B2B world and the tech world, when you're trying to create content, you want to create, like ‘This is the best way to do something.’ But the truth is, you figured out the best way by making 5,000 mistakes. Like, you either get it right or you or you learn. And I think that that part for B2B marketing makes it way more real if you understand the mistakes, and if you make the case study. And if it's just the good stuff and not the bad stuff, then it's not gonna feel as real.” - Ian Faison
*”It gives you an edge if you're the one who's saying what everyone else is thinking but doesn't have the guts to say. When it comes to B2B, we're all in the trenches together. So if we can level with each other and just be real, that's a better way to make relationships because you're trying to schmooze someone that’s in the business of schmoozing. It's like we can see through it. It just makes it feel more genuine” - Jaz Zepatos
Time Stamps
[1:15] Tell me more about You Suck at Cooking
[4:10] What makes YSAC remarkable?
[15:24] Why you should share anti-case studies
[17:50] How does this apply to B2B?
[21:00] What are some examples of irreverence or embracing mistakes in marketing?
Links
Watch You Suck at Cooking on YouTube
Listen to original YSAC music on SoundCloud
Qualtrics and their irreverent film series
Life Insurance Company Dead Happy wants your Deathwish
About Remarkable!
Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both non-fiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com.
In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios), Dane Eckerle (Head of Development), Colin Stamps (Podcast Launch Manager), Anagha Das (B2B Content Marketing Manager), and Meredith O’Neil (Senior Producer). Remarkable was produced this week by Meredith O’Neil, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK.
Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.