You Can Be Professional AND Have Fun
A great example of how to do it.
If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of an email trying to get you to buy something, a product launch announcement, or even a press release, you know how boring it can be. After writing about the effort it takes for big brands to approve things, I thought I’d flip the script today and talk about the lighter side of brand work.
If you follow sneakers, you know that for many of the world’s biggest footwear brands, every campaign, post, and line of copy are highly-calculated steps. While I think that works for some brands, the independent brands, smaller brands, and even categorical brands, like a skateboarding brand for instance, have a freedom that appeals to me like an open road and a tank full of gas. The problem is, like the road trips I’ve yet to make, many of these brands don’t take advantage of the opportunities to diverge from the status quo. So when a brand does something to embrace the privilege that comes with the autonomy that more nimble brands or forgiving leadership are capable of, it stands out from the rest of your inbox.
A perfect example of this landed in my inbox recently in the for of the latest press release from éS Skateboarding. The release of their exotic éS ACCEL pack showed up with a wild story about how the shoes came to be…
Ready to get wild?
Introducing the limited edition exotic ACCEL Collection, born out of a hallucinogenic mishap in the Brazilian rainforest. Our beloved éS product designer, accidentally ingested the wrong kind of mushroom during his trip, sparking a series of events so absurd they deserve their own documentary.
Picture this: after being flipped into a river by a surprisingly aggressive elephant (we're still trying to figure that one out), he had to outswim a crocodile with Olympic-level desperation. Clutching a low-hanging branch for dear life, salvation arrived—except that branch wasn’t a branch. It was the tail of a colossal rattlesnake, and he was now dangling over a pit of slithering doom. Just when he thought it was game over, an ostrich appeared out of nowhere, grabbed him by the éS hoodie, and whisked him away into the safety of... well, the urban jungle.
We're still waiting for him to send us a postcard, but in the meantime, indulge in the luxurious ACCEL Slim Collection, guaranteed to take you on a wild adventure—whether you're braving rainforests or just navigating city streets. Strap in; things might get weird.
The ACCEL Slim and ACCEL OG are both available at the very best zoos and skate shops around the world.
Check them out at your local skate shop and www.éSskateboarding.com
The above is the press release from éS and regardless of whether or not their product designer ever returns from that Brazilian mishap, this is how a press release should be done. Give it some character, a story, and something to make it memorable. Otherwise, like so much of our communications today, it just becomes another pile of digital debris in our overflowing inbox.
I think if we all agreed to have a little more fun with the “normal” things of everyday work life, the world (and sneaker world) would be a much better place.
Ok, stepping off my soapbox.
On a related note, I’m already a fan of Billie Eilish and her music, but lacing up a pair of the éS ACCEL OGs? That’s a whole f*cking vibe. Glad to see the ‘90s getting revisited…again and again.
Guess that means my baggy Dickies are in fashion again. I love it.
