First to Beijing to meet with Jackie Chan again, then on to Shanghai and Hangzhou to work with our Sac and Sactionals factories there. The Last time I was in China, February of this year, we got a lot of work done. My friends Joe & Rob came over on a trip of their own to check things out, but ended up hanging out with Dave and I as we worked with our factories somewhat. It definately added a little life to our party.
I must have been to China now over 30 times. I first went to China at 5 years old, singing and dancing. I lived in Taiwan for 2 years as a missionary, then Shanhai for 1 year working as a consultant. I must have ridden in 1000 Chinese cabs, but on this last trip we actually discovered something new. You see, Joe is probably 6'2" tall or something, and these little Volkswagen Chinese Cabs are just not meant for big Americans. Joe leaned back a bit and litereally bent the passenger seat in half, backwards. We were laughing so hard we were crying. The seat was in Dave's lap by the end of the trip. We felt bad, but still, couldn't stop laughing. It is not every day you see a car seat literally fold in half, in the place where it shouldn't fold in half.
Crazy Rob ate a chicken foot at lunch. In my years of travelling to China I have seen many a toddler happily munching on a chicken's foot (its like the dum-dum sucker for Asians), but have never felt inclined to integrate myself into the culture in this way. Way to go Rob.
Dave...was Dave. Doesn't say too much, but when he does I usually laugh. Dave is "restricted" according to the giant Chinese character behind him.
I'm seein' Jackie again on Wednesday. Should be cool. Hopefully he wants to be our biz partner in Asia. I guess we'll see.
You thought that Easter Bunny (2 posts ago) was ugly? Recognize this guy (RIGHT)?
I liked this comment from my blog 2 posts previous made by James Crofton:
Well to be honest, I do not think this poster is going to be effective in boosting sales. In terms of shock value, It certainly is effective. My view of Love sac is really comfy cool different furniture. Perhaps the playboy bunny would be better. Just not to revealing to avoid turning away families. The cigar and bad teeth to me have a darker unclean connotation. I would be attracted to the humour and punch line while strolling through the mall if you just change the Bunny. (Sorry old yellow teeth dude, Hope its not a relative of King sac)....!
my sense is that this image is shocking but unappealing. its funny yes. But ultimately I am not sure many people will identify with the message. The audience with the buying power is probably older then he target audience that will appreciate the poster.
James, I'm not sure if the poster is effective in boosting sales, either. A lot of people had the same concern, apparently. Frankly, with our limited window of reach (one small window display in a mall full of marketing "noise" from the smallest store-front in the mall, in only 25 of the 5000+ shopping centers in the country), if we can just get people to LOOK, I'd call it a win. Our little seasons are up and then down in just a few weeks. The average person doesn't even make it to the mall any more often than we put up a poster. Sometimes they'll be sweet. Sometimes they'll be simple. Sometimes they'll be boring. Sometimes they'll be raunchy. Sometimes we want to communicate our "brand ideals," and other times we just want to make people look, or have a good laugh, or....(and this most of all)...MAKE A REMARK-ABLE poster. (IE: Causing the person to remark). So, based on your numerous comments, and some of them with tales of people taking photos in front of it, for whatever reason, I'd call it a "success." My favorite line from any movie of all time...From Pirates of the Carribean: "Captain Jack Sparrow, you must be the worst pirate I've ever heard of." Johnny Depp: "Ahhh, but you have heard of me."
SO MANY of your comments were great, though, and I actually heard them all. Some made me think deeply about our artwork and marketing, and you gave me some great ideas. I kinda like the idea of playing off the "Bunnies" as James says above, next year--in at least a semi-classy way. I also think some of your specific comments on this piece were good. Had I had them earlier, maybe we would have done things a bit differently, no doubt.
But most of all, I am REALLY proud of our great design team here at LoveSac. From Roger Hagadone, our master photographer here in NYC, to Ben our Art Director, to Dave, Mary, Spencer, and the whole creative team, I say: Great work. These guys work hard to keep us weird. Remark-able. Here is our poster from last year at this time (below). Like it any better? Find IT offensive!? Comment here, tell me what you think.
Like it or not, we'll keep the weirdness coming. I would love to continue to get your feedback! Wait until you see our poster for Father's Day. "Dad's and Grads Get Inked," is the theme. We are launching the SICKEST Limited Edition Covers we have ever done along with it...should be cool.
Also, if you were one that did like the Easter poster YOU CAN OWN IT! Make sure you get your bid in! EACH STORE WILL BE HOLDING A SILENT AUCTION from now until Easter. Simply write down the price you'd pay for the poster ($1, $15, $240...whatever you would pay)...the customer with the highest bid gets the poster, but must be paid in cash. The $$$ earned goes toward a store party for your local crew.
James, send me your shipping info & T-shirt size to [email protected]. You win. You get a T-shirt on me.
So LoveSac is, of course, always striving to do things a little differently. You see, it is strange that we're in tiny mall stores selling furniture. It is even stranger that we sell 8 foot Sacs of foam, and other surprisingly versatile furniture, as well as T-shirts, stickers, etc. So in the spirit of NOT being just another lame furniture store, as well as keeping it current with each passing season, we do things like this...
OUR EASTER WINDOW POSTER. You may have also seen it on our homepage at lovesac.com. So here's just an honest, open-ended question: WHAT DO YOU THINK??? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you think it is effective? Do you think it is repulsive? Repulsive in a good way? Repulsive in a bad way? More importantly, WHY?Please comment! I will send my favorite, well-thought-out comment (positive OR negative, doesn't matter) a newly designed LoveSac T Shirt.
I don't care if you are a LoveSac employee or a customer, or just a random web-surfer. I want to know what you think about this piece of art...or any of our (often bizarre) promotions & artwork. So comment here and tell us what you think.
Ryan Johnson is my business partner, and LoveSac's CFO. Being that Ryan handles all the money for LoveSac, he is generally has pretty serious business to attend to. The Easter Bunny pictured to the right is not Ryan. It is, in fact, Ryan's hi-jacker. He's sitting in Ryan's office. Nice place, right!? We'll call this pic the "Before" pic. Ryan wasn't at work today. You see, it's St. Patrick's Day and Ryan claims to be Irish or something, which apparently gives him the right to take the day off and go be "Irish." (as if we all don't know what that means). So in the great tradition begun by the ongoing Lauren vs. Mike Office Prank Battle (see previous posts), and in trying to keep pace with the marketing agenda of every other company in America, we decided to help you go green!!!Check out this video...
A big thanks to Lauren, Liz, Davey, Spencer, Ben, Mary Tashia, Tiffany, and the rest of the crew who pitched in to do this right. Like I always say: If you're gonna do something, might as well go all the way. A HUGE thanks to Susan, who also sits in the corner & has to live with it too.
Yes, those are custom painted Sactionals in the corner.
Yes, that is new wall-to-wall astro-turf fake lawn.
Yes, his computer still works.
Yes, the paint was (mostly) dry.
Yes, there is an editor of a magazine visiting the office tomorrow to do an interview....should be good.
Yes, the girls took the edge off with a mini-keg of Heineken (NOT to be consumed in the office, of course).
Yes, I think Ryan might actually be part Irish.
Yes, some work actually did get done this day besides just this prank. (Thanks finance team).
Yes, in person it is even better. It is not just green--it OOZES green out the door, thru the windows. Ugh.
No, Dave did not split his pants this time, participating in this event.
This is the door that Ryan found, early the next morning, when he arrived at the office, as usual, before anybody else. As he walked across the room, toward his office, he probably chuckled, thinking, "Ha, ha, they put some St. Pattie's Day decorations in my office"...
So there has been a bit of an ongoing feud between Lauren & Liz here at LoveSac H.Q. vs. Mike & his henchmen. Mike is our Director of e-commerce, the man behind the curtain here at LoveSac.com. Shown to the right is Liz & Lauren's latest caper...blanketing Mike's entire area with good ol' David Hasselhof. I mean, who can get enough of the Hof? Obviously here in Stamford, CT, there's just not enough Hof to go around.
From: Lauren Ressa Sent: Tue 3/10/2009 3:09 PM To: LoveSac All
Subject: His Mustache Brings All The Girls To The Yard
So, I dared Spencer, our Product Development Dude, to grow a mustache. He did it not once but twice because the first time I never took the picture. He had to shave it before going to an important meeting and not wanting to look like a total Creep-O and scaring away some potential LoveSac clients.
Spencer, you officially win the Best Mustache at HQ Contest. Yes, you were the only contestant but even if anyone else here could grow one (they can’t, by the way) – you would have won anyway!
**pictures taken by photographer DUNDERWOOD and his magnificant iPhone**
LAUREN CLEARLY KEEPS THE WHEELS TURNING AT LOVESAC HEADQUARTERS. BTW, I CAN'T EVEN GROW A MUSTACHE IF I TRIED. I'M LUCKY TO SHAVE EVERY OTHER DAY.
Give Me Your Honest Opinion...
So LoveSac is, of course, always striving to do things a little differently. You see, it is strange that we're in tiny mall stores selling furniture. It is even stranger that we sell 8 foot Sacs of foam, and other surprisingly versatile furniture, as well as T-shirts, stickers, etc. So in the spirit of NOT being just another lame furniture store, as well as keeping it current with each passing season, we do things like this...
OUR EASTER WINDOW POSTER. You may have also seen it on our homepage at lovesac.com. So here's just an honest, open-ended question: WHAT DO YOU THINK??? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you think it is effective? Do you think it is repulsive? Repulsive in a good way? Repulsive in a bad way? More importantly, WHY? Please comment! I will send my favorite, well-thought-out comment (positive OR negative, doesn't matter) a newly designed LoveSac T Shirt.
I don't care if you are a LoveSac employee or a customer, or just a random web-surfer. I want to know what you think about this piece of art...or any of our (often bizarre) promotions & artwork. So comment here and tell us what you think.
ALL comments welcome.
--Shawny D.