Comments (5)
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Beth Finch
Valuable lessons
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Harry Jenkins
Would love to play a doctor
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Martin Winkel
Thanks for sharing these branding lessons
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Jeff Miller
Amazing
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Nirvik Mahin
Learned so many things by reading your article
I’m not a doctor, but I played one on TV. Really.
25 years ago, I sold consumer products, mostly luggage, to HSN and QVC. I hired a “guest host” to appear on-air, to work with the network “show host” and to demonstrate our products. One day the guest host was delayed, and I ended up with make-up on my face, a microphone up my shirt and an IFB in my ear.
There’s only so much you can say about luggage. After over 100 guest appearances, I got bored. My show producers and directors got bored. And, more important, my audience got bored.
“Try something new,” was suggested. Back in the day, I was a pre-med student, studying neuroscience. I spent a summer working in a hospital. I still had my lab jacket and a stethoscope. The “Luggage Doctor” was born.
Our engineering team sawed a suitcase in half, and stitched it back together loosely, with a few light threads. I placed the “stunt” luggage on a gurney, covered it with a sheet, and rolled it onto the set.
“Let me show you,” I would say, “the anatomy of a healthy suitcase.” I uncovered the suitcase, and proceeded to use a (dull) scalpel to peel back the outer skin, cut through the steel frame, reveal the components and lining, while describing the inner workings of luggage, rarely seen in public. These shows sold a lot of luggage. And, I got to play a doctor, on TV.
When you’re on-air with these extraordinary networks, a director is shouting instructions in your ear through your IFB. “Close-up on your right hand in 3, 2, 1… keep still.” Or, “don’t forget to mention the self-mending zippers.” Or, “Did you hear the one about…”
You have three, or more, large rolling cameras moving around you. Some are robotic, operated from the control room, some are handheld and move in for close-ups on your face, products or surgical technique.
And, there are monitors facing you, displaying a dizzying array of camera angles and, most important, graphs and statistics: customers online, callers on hold, available inventory, sold inventory, and more. This data is updated in real-time. This is an invaluable tool, and a great distraction.
These lessons have served me well as I work today with the world’s leading brands and retailers, in-stores and online… and occasionally on TV.
© David J. Katz, New York City
Note: None of these images are of me.
© David J. Katz, New York City
David J. Katz is chief marketing officer at Randa Accessories, an industry-leading multinational consumer products company, and the world’s largest men’s accessories business.
His specialty is collaborating with retailers, brands and suppliers to innovate successful outcomes in evolving markets.
David was selected by LinkedIn as a “Top Voice in 2017.” He has been named a leading fashion industry “Change Agent” by Women’s Wear Daily and a “Menswear Mover” by MR Magazine.
He is a public speaker, co-author of the best-selling book “Design for Response: Creative Direct Marketing That Works” [Rockport Publishers]. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, MR Magazine, and WWD.
David is a graduate of Tufts University and the Harvard Business School.
He is a student of neurobiology, consumer behavior and “stimulus and response.” The name Pavlov rings a bell.
Valuable lessons
Would love to play a doctor
Thanks for sharing these branding lessons
Amazing
Learned so many things by reading your article
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