Not for the Zuck

This week, when your brand is not for everyone (especially Zuckerberg), and that's a good thing.

As you’ve probably seen, there is a video of Mark Zuckerberg doing the rounds, where he appeared to struggle with his face, as he awkwardly sipped on a pint of Guinness on John Collison’s “Cheeky Pint” podcast, and does not appear to be a fan.

In his defense, Zuckerberg did explain himself by saying, “That’s just my face,” but honestly, I’ve enjoyed Guinness since I was 17. I have seen a lot of people sip Guinness, and he seemed to fall into the “my god, that’s like earwax” camp, and the poor fella probably needed the training wheels of a dash of blackcurrant.

Which is especially odd, as apparently he had carried a keg of Guinness over from Dublin for the episode. So he picked it up, imported it, poured it, and yet, didn't appear to enjoy drinking it.

Like a lot of brand-led consumers, clearly thinking about what choosing Guinness says about him and his personal brand, Zuckerberg went to a lot of trouble to align himself with the black stuff.

If only he could control his face.

And I think Guinness missed a trick, as the product, however much it seems to be having a renaissance as a cool beer, is not for everyone. And I imagined seeing this video with the slogan “Guinness: It’s not for everyone” embracing the grimace of someone experiencing the brand.

They would also distance the brand from such a divisive character. For many, I reckon Zuckerberg NOT liking Guinness is a better advert than if he’d been swigging it like he was a regular pilgrim to Dublin’s Temple Bar, like millions of American tourists before him.

And that’s the point of this week’s 2¢: our content, products, services, and brands are for someone, not for everyone. Which inevitably means that someone else, however much they aspire to be aligned with our brand, will be blaming their face when the product is not for them.

And our brands are defined by those people who we are NOT for.

It’s a signal to our tribe (as Seth Godin calls them) of who our brand’s people are.

Zuckerberg chose Guinness because of what it signals about him, that it’s not for everyone, but that didn’t make him a fan.

Guinness: it’s not for everyone.

Thankfully.