It went against the moral fiber.
Only a couple of agency guys feverishly cracking a product brief for a client could have concocted this back in 1973. It went on to become an essential after-dinner tipple in hallowed circles.
But it wasn't always this way.
In 2007, Diageo announced that it had sold its billionth bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur. But the start or the journey was nowhere as smooth as the way it went down throats.
Would anyone have thought of adding cream to Irish whiskey, for example? And when the vile concoction did not work, they added sugar, and of all things, chocolate to make it palatable.
Then, with no backup plan, they presented it to the client.
As it went around the room, some of those present winced at the taste. There was the sharp accentuation of the whiskey that came through between the smoothness of the cream and the hint of chocolate.
It is a fascinating stop-start-stop journey.
Of a client willing to bet a considerable amount of money on manufacturing and marketing what was clearly an unfamiliar entrant to the liqueur market.
But it paid off in ways that neither the client nor the agency could ever have predicted, when it shot to instant fame and fortune in Australia, where it was love at first sip.
And shops would put up signs saying, 'It'll be here in a week" and people knew exactly what was being referred to.
Within a few years, they had a huge number of competitors. But by then, this Irish cream was galloping into the record books.
Don’t judge doesn’t work
That old proverb may work as a metaphor, but not in actual practice
We all judge books and movies by their covers.
How else are you supposed to make a decision? By reading the reviews or scanning a chapter? Or taking a look at the sales figures and deciding that if it is a bestseller, it must be good.
As it stands, it's hard to rise to the top in the world today in any channel, whether it is social media or a bookshelf in a store.
Kindle has completely changed the experience because you see the cover and then 'Look Inside' to see if the cover promise holds true within the first few pages.
Movie titles are an even trickier proposition. How will decide to spend the next couple of hours on a movie, if the title and blurb describing the film are not attractive enough?
Netflix has found that if people don't settle down to a film within the first couple of minutes after a login, they'll probably wander away to do something else.
So, it has found other ways to keep viewers engaged. The trailer, or a sequence from the film plays as soon as they click the 'Home' button.
Book displays, however, can't be as dynamic and engaging.
So the cover has got to do all the work. And a book is a much higher commitment, for most people. At least a few hours spread over weeks, if not more.
That's why covers are so important.
The reality is that we judge everything, books, movies and music by the covers that appear before us.
Do you dream of being a digital nomad?
Remote work has caught on since the pandemic began.
People speak of staying in picturesque locations and having a better quality of life.
A few of them have taken the plunge and explored not just another city or country. But how do you decide which is the best city to operate from? The same time zone? A great climate around the year? Political stability? High dollar value conversions?
How exactly can you find out all this without putting in the time and research.
That's where Nomadlist found its business model.
It calls itself a community of digital nomads. And they have over 30,000 members already, from what the site claims.
When you first land up at the site, it looks like a holiday destination - but the conditions it flags off are different.
Each city is rated on the cost of living, how good the internet connectivity is, the 'fun' factor and safety.
That's a good set of basic parameters to build on.
It looks like they use the existing nomads in the community to profile the cities.
And it is a long scroll to the bottom.
The business model is coming into view. Offering remote hires for companies is already part of the page design.
So is the opportunity for cities to boost their profile and promote themselves as destinations for digital nomads.
These guys are among the first I've seen - and it seems like another unicorn in the making.
Every week, I'll plant a few ideas in your mind on branding, behavior and markets. Triggers for your thoughts. Spread the word to your friends. All you have to do is click the link and enter an email address.
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