E200: John Thornton - Adult Toys In Cereal. How Surreal Humanise Their Marketing To Make A Boring Product Fun

BOSH and the podcast is live! Live on stage John Thornton, Chief Copywriter and Office Hottie at Surreal, joins Richard to share the impact of humanistic copy in achieving customer engagement and sales.  John’s campaigns aren’t your typical run of the mill marketing campaigns. Think CEOs in their pants, sexual innuendos, swearing and arguing over a colour. He believes in attention first, brand second. How does he achieve that? Tap into humanistic emotions, laughter and shock.  In this episode, John talks through brand collaborations, idea creation and how he managed to secure Barry Scott in Surreal’s latest podcast episode. Find out how he comes up with his outlandish ideas (typically on the train), uses witty humour to get people excited about cereal and gets sign off from above in this honest conversation.  Should you be scared of getting negative feedback? No, John thrives from it. Learn how he uses it to fuel his marketing efforts. It’s time to uncover the genius behind Surreal’s social media strategy. Listen to the full episode now! Topics Covered:  00:00 - Adapt strategies; persistence leads to success 06:11 - Adults' parody book on COVID safety misunderstood 07:32 - Boycott led to engagement, and improved sales significantly 11:57 - Strategic sense unnecessary; prioritise performance and ideas 15:26 - Audience questions shortly on campaign ideas' origins 16:49 - Finding unexpected links for creative ideas 20:11 - Parody adverts with jokes featuring Barry Scott. 23:13 - Monthly meetings ensure consistent, on-brand communication strategies 27:33 - Similar content to Instagram; algorithm-friendly platform 30:21 - Mental scorecard used to select brand partnerships 34:24 - Handed out spoons at London Bridge 37:22 - Grateful for community, growth, and shared knowledge