Bodega’s Matt Zaremba explains how to avoid empty calorie marketing

Art and marketing are made for each other, and this week’s master’s degree proves it.

He has collaborated with brands like Nike, Heineken, Crocs and the NBA… But it’s not just about advertising.

He’s also a serious artist in his own right, a luminary at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and his work has been featured everywhere from NBC to the Washington Post to Hypebeast.

In the Venn diagram of art, pop culture and marketing, Matt Zaremba lives right on target.

And that makes me think that I should really take up a hobby.

1. Do you want to sell your product? Personalize it.

It feels like Matt Zaremba’s mind is still in story mode.

Take a recent collaboration with ASICS on an older, previously archived running shoe: when asked how his team came up with the “Small Wins Add Up” campaign to show off the shoe, Zaremba doesn’t even blink.

“First of all, we know you can run in this shoe, but 98% of the people who buy this shoe don’t run. They’re just trying to look cool, probably in a city somewhere… They want to be fashionable,” he tells me, effortlessly narrating who this desired consumer would be. (He’s not wrong — I just bought $160 Cloudnova shoes to look cooler while I’m… running errands.)

“So I wonder: what is the feeling? This product walks into a room… What does it look like and feel like? Does he have an accent? How can we personify it?'”

From there, his team starts riffing – talking about the state of the world today, how everyone is a little exhausted and how sometimes just getting up in the morning is a major accomplishment – ​​and that’s it. A campaign was born.

“From the beginning, we had this idea that small victories add up. So back to the drawing board… How do we visually represent small victories? How can we give a little nod to running, but still keep the human element that people have all kinds of little victories that they should celebrate? »

Zaremba does this for all of its marketing campaigns, and it’s sound advice: get to know the ins and outs of your product and what story people will tell themselves when they buy it.

And think outside the box when it comes to this story: Are you sure you’re selling a running shoe, or are you really selling the message that small wins matter?

Because at the end of the day, a Stanley is just a water bottle with a really cool story.

2. Don’t use the first idea that comes to you – find the coolest angle.

One of the campaigns Zaremba is most proud of is the one he did with Nike a few years ago. It was a big moment for him: at the time, Nike was one of the biggest brands he had ever worked with.

Zaremba knew it would be easy to make a splash with a big celebrity. He could put the shoes on LeBron and end this day. (Relatable, I know).

But he didn’t want to do that.

“The shoe reminded my team of our childhood – it was sort of inspired by The Sandlot (the movie). So we decided to take a moment to reflect on our own team. We did a yearbook photoshoot of all of our current employees wearing a special jacket we had made, as well as sneakers. And we had the cloudy background of the school image.

“We presented the campaign as follows: “This is who we are, and who we are is the same as you..'”

I admit that most marketers don’t regularly work with Lebron-sized budgets, but the takeaway still matters: your first idea is probably the too obvious, and you should keep thinking. Unexpected angles will surprise your audience and make them feel like they’re seeing something new.

And ideally, they will then see pieces of themselves in your marketing as well.

3. Marketing should make your buyer feel confident, not insecure.

Fashion is notoriously a confidence-destroying industry. Many major fashion and beauty brands thrive on making their consumers feel inferior. They want you to know that you’re not cool yet, but you will be when you wear those jeans or that jacket.

But Zaremba calls this type of marketing “empty calories and empty suits.”

“Of course you will find a cohort of people that you will grow with because you show them what they are not. But eventually, they will find a brand that makes them feel enough, and they will embrace that brand,” he says.

His modus operandi? Be as humble and approachable as possible: “Fashion brands should suggest modifications to your style and culture journey. I don’t want to put people down and say, “Oh, you don’t know this musician?” I’d rather say, “You need to check this out.” »There should be no ego in it. »

Whether you’re a B2C or B2B marketer, the sentiment remains: personifying your brand as a “cool kid” works for some brands, but what works better for most is simply being helpful, curious, and encouraging.