November 24, 2024 • 23 mins
We venture into deep space to explore how today’s brands are bringing their products, services, and marketing into the cosmos.
Get show notes for this episode and check out past episodes of the Speaking Human podcast by visiting speakinghuman.com.
#Podcast #SpeakingHuman #VO #Branding #Marketing #Advertising #Business #SPACE #Brands #Ads #simplify #popculture #Samsonite #Brands #UnderArmour #Columbia
Get show notes for this episode and check out past episodes of the Speaking Human podcast by visiting speakinghuman.com.
#Podcast #SpeakingHuman #VO #Branding #Marketing #Advertising #Business #SPACE #Brands #Ads #simplify #popculture #Samsonite #Brands #UnderArmour #Columbia
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speeding Human. Today.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
On Speaking Human, we venture into deep space to explore
how today's brands are bringing their products, services, and marketing
into the cosmos.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Spaking Human.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Welcome to Speaking Human, where we simplify the world of
marketing for humans. I'm Shad Calmly and with me is
my co host Patrick Jebber. So, Patrick, let me ask
you a.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Question here to start things off.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
If you had a chance to book a one way
ticket to space right now, for let's say ten thousand dollars,
are you going?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
You're taking the deal?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
One way?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
No, you get to come back.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Oh so it's on a trip ticket. Okay, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You're going, you're coming back. You're not getting dropped off,
you're not getting left there.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
They're like, you're just gonna keep going and going and going.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I did say, I did say one way ticket.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Huh that was yeah, incorrect, Okay, I just I'm just
you know, because there, I think there is a clear
difference between one way a round trip. I'd say, yeah, absolutely,
if it's round trip.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, you're taking it, You're taking the deal.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah. I mean, I think it's something in our lifetime,
maybe when we're old and gray. While I'm murdy gray.
But maybe when we're old this will be commonplace. Today,
I think it's put on a pedestal is the ultimate, right.
You don't see that happening too much today, but somewhere
in the future it might be commonplace.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Maybe fifty years from now. It's like airplane travel is now,
or going on.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
A cruise, right, yeah, Like could you imagine like coming
back from space and telling your friends, yeah, I went
to space. I think that's a pretty sweet feat to accomplish.
Would you would you go done?
Speaker 5 (02:00):
Grand? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I think you got to take the deal, even though
you know it's gonna be a minute before it's like
a smooth, good ride.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I mean it's by a minute.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I mean like decades. I was looking this up. I'm like,
what was it like in the early days of flying?
It had to be pretty awful, you know, when they
have air traveled, they're like, Okay, we're gonna do this
for like mass consumers, it couldn't have been great. And
so they had something on this on the National Air
and Space Museum website and they said, in the beginning,
(02:34):
air travel was harsh and uncomfortable, and to even get
the opportunity to fly was considered a luxury from nineteen
twenty seven to nineteen forty one. Flying was loud, cold,
and unsettling. Airliners were not pressurized, so they flew at
low altitudes and were often bounced about by wind and weather.
(02:55):
Airsickness was common. So you got about fifteen years where
I get you where you want to go.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
But it's not a great experience. It's probably what this
would be.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But to get to that destination, which not a lot
of people have gone to, probably worth it.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, I mean one is a childhood sort of dream.
But the other part is it's also kind of cool
to be able to say I accomplished that in my
lifetime and it didn't break the bank necessarily. I mean
a lot of people probably have to take a loan
out for ten grand maybe, you know, to get that
ticket or put it on their credit card.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I don't know if we'll ever see it cost ten
thousand real lifetime, right, Affordable space travel might be a
couple of generations off. Yeah, So space, Patrick, Why are
we talking about space?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
What do we got going on today?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So here's the thing. I had sent over an article
about Prada making a space suit and so that got
us talking about brands in space.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Brands in space.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
For all those who loved the pigs in space, this
idea of brands going to space. In fact, we had
talked about this twenty twenty three Atlantic article which pose
the question companies are sending their products into orbit and
plastering their logos on spacecraft, so will space ads dull
our sense of wonder about the universe? And that got
(04:18):
us talking about more brands in space and brands that
are marketing their products or their services and taking them
into space. And is that a good idea?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Is it not?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Before we talk about our own examples of brands going
to space. You know, what do you think, Chad? Do
you think brands venturing to space is a good idea?
Do you think it's a good strategy?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
You always got to be ahead of the game, so
you know, this is a good place to start looking.
We're obviously, as a mass culture not in space yet,
but brands are already starting to go there. They're starting
to explore it a little bit. And you know, even
you talked about that Atlantic article, it already kind of
points to this idea.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
We're already ruining.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Space a little bit with marketing or advertising, you know,
which is funny since not a lot of people are
necessarily seeing it yet. But yeah, I think it's a
great idea for brands to be thinking ahead. Hey, we're
starting to explore this idea of like sending people to space,
you know, space travel for the everyday consumer. We got
(05:19):
to be there. If you have a chance to get
ahead of what's coming next, you should always take it
or at least explore the possibilities of it. So I
think it's a smart move.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
So you're saying it's like vibrating logos, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
It's exactly like vibrating logs. You got to be there, Yeah,
you got to be there first. Yeah, you got to
be there first, if I'm being realistic. Is it cost effective?
Probably not. Is it the best use of your money?
Probably not? But is it the coolest thing a brand
can do at this point? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It's a trendsetter, right, It's something that will go down
in history. What were the first brands in outer space?
Just like the first people in outer space or the
first animal in outer space. On top of that, what
you're saying, be there, be there first, because then when
people do get there what's the next logical step. People
are always going to be consuming something, and that's where
(06:12):
brands come into play.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, and to your cost effective point, I think right now,
at least there's still enough cachet to it where you
kind of do these things and you get some ink
from it. Right It kind of draws some attention to
you that, hey, these guys are dabbling in space exclamation point.
You know, it's still like a big deal when a
brand does anything related to space. There's still some novelty
(06:35):
and kind of mystery and excitement around that. I don't
know if that'll be there in ten or twenty years,
there still is right now.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I mean, yeah, you do get you do get some
leverage from that, you know, in visibility. I don't know
if it's cost effect because it does still seem like
a lot of money to do it, and it's not easy.
I look at these brands that have done it, and
I'm like, man, that seems like a really big challenge
and not a lot of brands could do it. Maybe
(07:04):
because of that reason, maybe a couple that we'll even
talk about today.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
So for our brands in space, we're.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Each gonna share two brands that have brought their products, services.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Or marketing to space. We're gonna talk a little bit
about them.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
What are they doing, what was their effort, how did
they get to space, did it resonate, what were they
up to? That's the basic premise here. We're each gonna
see what we kind of came up with for our
brands in space, which you just can't say enough.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
So you want to go first. You want to Yeah, why.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Did't I kick things off?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Since I've got, you know, a brand that got pretty
close to space. I won't say they got all the way,
but they might tell you different with their marketing, which
I think is okay. So my first one is KFC. Now,
KFC had the Zinger one mission in twenty seventeen. That
was a quote unquote space flight that sente KFC Zinger
(08:01):
Chicken Sandwich to the stratosphere. This mission was a promotional
campaign for the Zinger Chicken sandwich, but it was also
a test flight for Worldview's Stratalite balloon. The mission also
aimed to be the first multi day flight of commercial cargo.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
In the stratosphere.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
So what happened during this The Zinger was carried into
the stratosphere by this high altitude hot air balloon, and
the balloon reached an altitude of sixty thousand to seventy
five thousand feet, where it remained for four days, and
the zinger, which is a chicken sandwich mind you, was
then parachuted back to Earth during this, you know, four days,
(08:43):
the public was able to watch the flight on a
website created for the mission. So well, the sandwich didn't
actually go into space. This is one of those edge
of space, you know kind of efforts, like what we
talked about several years back with what Red Bull kind
of did with a space jump that didn't KFC from
playing it up as a space effort with imagery and
(09:04):
content talking about going to the edge of space all told,
you know, a pretty cool experiment and a fun piece
of marketing with people being able to you know, you
can watch this check out our sandwich. See it's in
space or going up to space floating around. To me,
the idea of something like this, where a product like
a chicken sandwich or even a KFC bucket floating in
(09:25):
space or even near space, I just find pretty enthralling
or interesting, you know, Just that kind of concept I
think is pretty cool. So that's my first pick the
KFC Zinger one mission.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I like when they give them really sophisticated titles, like.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, it sounds like NASA's running this thing.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, the Zinger one mission. It's absurd for the most part,
you know what I mean. And like this a chicken sandwich.
I mean, come on, now, there's something to that.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Like you said before, not a lot of us human
beings have actually gone to space to think about this
chicken sandwich or you know, this brand or product kind
of like floating around in space or along the edge
of space almost positions it as.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
The hero of the story in a way.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
It's definitely a consumer culture thing where you have this
you really get this picture in your mind that I
feel like just gets ingrained there.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
So I like that.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I like that idea, and I think it works really well,
and it's, like you said, a fun effort. But there
is also something kind of remarkable to it too, in
that there's some science kind of happening in the background.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
And that goes back to my original statement, which is,
you know, these brands that are going into space, it's
a challenge because it's not as simple as it seems
like you just launch this thing. They do have to
work with the FAA and NASA and all kinds of
other organizations to get clearance to do these things. This
(10:52):
is funny because I picked a brand that did something
very similar to what you're talking about the chicken sandwich.
Not as absurd as a chicken sandwich, but similar in
the approach that they took. And that is Samsonite had
an effort where they put their lightest suitcase into space.
So Samsonite has a suitcase product line called Proxis. They
(11:15):
embarked on a remarkable mission to the edge of space
and during intense conditions to prove its resilience. So it
faced temperatures as low as negative eighty five degrees fahrenheit.
It's soared to an altitude of one hundred and thirty
thousand feet, three times the height of a typical commercial flight,
and after it's controlled descent, it landed completely intact, showcasing
(11:39):
its exceptional durability and readiness for any adventure. Now, this
is an exceptional use of the brand going into space.
And here's the thing. The chicken sandwich doesn't really do
anything for the chicken sandwich, right. It does give it visibility,
but the Samsonite luggage is more apprio right because it
(12:01):
is a product and it is a brand that is
linked to traveling. The brand is quote unquote dedicated to
developing resilient, high performance travel gear. What's a bigger signal
of that then sending your suitcase to space. In space,
there's a really great YouTube video where they take it
(12:22):
up into space. They talk about all of like the
craziness that ensues with them just you know, getting it
to space, the technical challenges and hurdles they had to overcome,
but then getting it there and getting it back, following
it as it's coming back and descending to Earth. That's
a really cool video to watch, even though there's nothing
remarkable about what happens during that, you know, it's other
than you get to see this suitcase in space. They
(12:44):
do a really great shot of the luggage. They have
like you know, the camera pointed at it and when
it's sort of hitting that pinnacle or that primo spot
in orbit with the sun and it's just like you
can kind of see the Earth in the background. It's
pretty cool stuff like that. Great marketing. They're just sort
of fantastic, and that how it's connected to the brand.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Yeah, No, you're right.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
That's a great example of showing off what the product
can do surviving in conditions that you're like, oh, we're
not supposed to be out there, who knows what can
happen there. Yeah, And you see something like that that
really shows off the durability of the product, the strength
of the product, and again going beyond where humans go
and going beyond definitely where typical luggage goes. So you
(13:27):
kind of take away from that, You're like, if it
can do that, it can definitely handle you know, whatever
I take whenever I take it on a typical flight
or wherever I'm going to take it on vacation.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, that overhead bin has nothing on outer space, and
that's sort of the beauty of it is like they're
testing in under the harshest conditions the parameters for that,
and you know, we'll never exceed that, well, we'll never
even probably come close to that.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, this is a really great example of using you know, space,
which people are like, oh, man, space, who knows what's
out there? What the you know, pressurized conditions are like,
along with just the marvel of again seeing a product
in environment it doesn't necessarily belong or you're not expecting
to see it. So along those same lines is my
(14:15):
second pick, which is Columbia Sportswear. As Columbia states in
December nineteen seventy two, Apollo seventeen astronauts took Humankind's last
steps on the Moon. In February twenty twenty four, the
return journey continues. Intuitive machines sent the unmanned Nova s
(14:36):
Lunar Lander to the surface of the Moon for the
first visit of a US spacecraft in more than fifty years,
with Columbia's Omni Heat Infinity technology helping protect it from
extreme temperatures in space. Much like you're talking about samsonit
showing what the product can do through this effort. You know,
(14:57):
here's a product that is designed Columbia. What's it for
keeping you warm? What are they using it for in space?
Protecting this piece of technology from extreme heat. A great
piece of marketing on the Columbia website says it, I
think perfectly, from your jacket to the Moon. They're just showing,
(15:18):
you know, if this can be used in the most
intense coldest conditions you can think of, beyond anything on Earth,
imagine how good it'll feel when you're wearing it when
it's just snowing outside, or you know, when you're treking
up the mountain. Somebody is using it for again, for
scientific purposes. This is what we make. This is what
(15:38):
we're good at. We keep things warm. We have this technology,
if you want to call it. This is the kind
of thing we construct. Whether it's going around a spacecraft
or it's going on your body, it's going to kind
of do the same job.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
I like that because there's a lot of brands, like
you're talking about the chicken sandwich, you know, which we love.
It's it's a fun sort of brand. It's not directly connected,
and sometimes when it's not it still can work. It
can still work for the brand. But the ones that
have a natural fit or reason for being when it
comes to the whatever the effort was, tend to work
(16:15):
a little bit better most of the time. And that's
this is one of those, right is like this one
It makes sense, Like when you think about it, it's like,
that's a good use of that brand in space and
there's a natural connection there.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I refer to it as like a piece of technology,
and almost feels like that when you're getting a Columbia
coat like it's something that can keep you warm better
than anything else. What I think is kind of interesting
here too, is this is one of these efforts that
probably I don't know this for sure, merged organically, you know,
where maybe they're in TALX with this company who's like, hey,
(16:49):
can you provide something for this to do this? You know,
however that came about, they do it. You know what
comes out of that is like, hey, we got to
show this off in our marketing. So it's not necessarily
like KFC, which I think was more marketing first. This
is probably marketing secondary, where out of something that was
pretty cool and science first came this kind of hey,
(17:11):
we could also use this in a marketing capacity to
show off what our product can do.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah, and there's even beyond, like I'm thinking even beyond that.
You know, sometimes these initiatives like this, you know, when
you put this effort together and this sort of challenge
of like taking this product or brand to space in
a way that sort of like protects you, it helps
you be helps the brand sometimes of the company, the
business be innovative to sort of meet that challenge. And
(17:39):
I think that then those things, you know, the fruits
of that labor can be applied to the products here
and make them even stronger in their ability to protect
us even on Earth.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Yeah, you start thinking of what's what are other ways
we can use our product that maybe we're not thinking
about beyond even I guess consumer sports, where maybe the
reason they were picked for this effort is because they're
already doing some of those things, but maybe it expands
it even further.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
What are some of the applications.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Maybe we're not even looking at Maybe we need to
think farther because we weren't necessarily thinking about space. Maybe
we should be, and maybe we should be thinking beyond
that too.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
It's also sort of connected to you know what led
us down the path of this episode, which was the
product creating the space suits and the you know this
idea of you know, making something better, you know, the
spacesuits leaner, making astronauts more agile and flexible and being
able to like get around when they aren't outer space.
(18:38):
That's a pretty cool accomplishment. Again, a fashion brand, not
unlike my second pick for this is under Armor, tapping
into the expanding frontier of commercial space travel, where companies
like SpaceX and Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic or opening
doors to fresh branding possibilities. Twenty nineteen, under Armour partnered
(19:02):
with Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's Spaceflight venture, marking its entry
into the exciting new realm of brands in space.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Brands in space.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
So the collaboration showcases how brands are beginning to explore
and benefit from commercialization. But the partnership had them designing
a range of spacesuits and crafted cabin seats for their
first spaceship two vehicle VSS Unity, And so it's basically
just a series of styles for those who are in flight.
(19:41):
I don't believe they're actually in you know, it's not
like a spacesuit per se, but something that they can
wear in the cabin. From my understanding, it's like a
pilot suit kind of yeah. And you know, they're pretty
cool looking on an athletic figure at least, you know,
I don't know what they look like on someone normal.
The images that they showed pretty cool, and then they
also ended up making them available to the public in
(20:03):
some ways, so a brand taking advantage, you know, the marketing.
Obviously Virgin Galactic at the time. I don't know if
they are still considered this today in the space flight commercialization,
private space flight. I don't know if they're still number one.
I know that they do go up and they're fairly
regular in spaceflights. So I don't know if everybody's wearing
(20:25):
under armour up there these like spacesuits or not. But
a cool partnership between commercialized spaceflight and a brand that
is clearly fashion forward slash athletic apparel focused.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Yeah, I think if I'm in space moving around to spaceship,
I feel pretty good about under armour can keep you warm,
good to move around in. As you mentioned athletic, so
I feel pretty good about that. Like you mentioned the
Prota spacesuit, I don't know if I feel that great
about that, be like do I trust the Prada spacesuits?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Is that what I want to go up in?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I feel like a fashion in a super high fashion
brand making my space suit. I know they did it
in collaboration with somebody else, but yeah, you know, it
gives me pause, gives me a little pause.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, it's a high end brand, so you would believe that,
you know, there is a quality craftsmanship there, even though
they're not known for that. When I think of product,
I think expensive, but I don't necessarily think of the
highest quality. I don't know if that's an inaccurate perception
I have. But to your point, do you want them
(21:31):
making your space suit? I don't know that's your lifeline.
That's like can't miss a stitch. No, So yeah, you're right, though,
I mean it's it's like the perception you have of
that brand can also play a part in whether or
not is that a good matchup or not?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yeah, but under armor, I feel like it is a
good good fit. I feel like they fit for the
job they're given, Like the the internal space suits you're
wearing on the ship, the team suits.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
I feel like, Oh, that's that's a good job for Ndermer.
I think that's right.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Also stretching that a little bit, I would say if
they told me American Eagle was making my space suit,
I'd be a little concerned. I really would. I don't know,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Old maybe yeah, old.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Maybe They're like, we're trying to be the new Navy,
like Space Navy. You know, No, you're not. Yeah, you
can't be. Your jeans always rip on me.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
I'm not gonna I took the wrong flight.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Ladies and gentlemen, you'll be happy to hear that we
have our new old Navy space suits on display. Go
ahead and put those on before we go ahead and
take our space walk today on the VSS explosion. So yeah,
I mean there's a lot of brands though that have
done this. We've only really picked four, and they were,
(22:54):
you know, loosely tied together in some ways, not knowingly.
We picked these in dependantly from each other. We didn't
even know what we were picking, but I think that
they had some tie ins after the fact.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, yeah, and who knows, maybe another five ten years
we'll be doing Man all the Brands Flooding in Space.
We'll have another few episodes on this to revisit.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
All right, Well, we hope you got a lot out
of brands in space. That's it for today's episode. You
can find current and past episodes of the podcast and
other brands. Maybe they're not in space, but you can
find them Speaking Human dot com.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
We'll be back in two weeks with another episode of
Speaking Human Catch it in
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Humans Spacecking Human
Speeding Human. Today.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
On Speaking Human, we venture into deep space to explore
how today's brands are bringing their products, services, and marketing
into the cosmos.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Spaking Human.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Welcome to Speaking Human, where we simplify the world of
marketing for humans. I'm Shad Calmly and with me is
my co host Patrick Jebber. So, Patrick, let me ask
you a.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Question here to start things off.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
If you had a chance to book a one way
ticket to space right now, for let's say ten thousand dollars,
are you going?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
You're taking the deal?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
One way?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
No, you get to come back.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Oh so it's on a trip ticket. Okay, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You're going, you're coming back. You're not getting dropped off,
you're not getting left there.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
They're like, you're just gonna keep going and going and going.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I did say, I did say one way ticket.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Huh that was yeah, incorrect, Okay, I just I'm just
you know, because there, I think there is a clear
difference between one way a round trip. I'd say, yeah, absolutely,
if it's round trip.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, you're taking it, You're taking the deal.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah. I mean, I think it's something in our lifetime,
maybe when we're old and gray. While I'm murdy gray.
But maybe when we're old this will be commonplace. Today,
I think it's put on a pedestal is the ultimate, right.
You don't see that happening too much today, but somewhere
in the future it might be commonplace.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Maybe fifty years from now. It's like airplane travel is now,
or going on.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
A cruise, right, yeah, Like could you imagine like coming
back from space and telling your friends, yeah, I went
to space. I think that's a pretty sweet feat to accomplish.
Would you would you go done?
Speaker 5 (02:00):
Grand? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I think you got to take the deal, even though
you know it's gonna be a minute before it's like
a smooth, good ride.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
I mean it's by a minute.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
I mean like decades. I was looking this up. I'm like,
what was it like in the early days of flying?
It had to be pretty awful, you know, when they
have air traveled, they're like, Okay, we're gonna do this
for like mass consumers, it couldn't have been great. And
so they had something on this on the National Air
and Space Museum website and they said, in the beginning,
(02:34):
air travel was harsh and uncomfortable, and to even get
the opportunity to fly was considered a luxury from nineteen
twenty seven to nineteen forty one. Flying was loud, cold,
and unsettling. Airliners were not pressurized, so they flew at
low altitudes and were often bounced about by wind and weather.
(02:55):
Airsickness was common. So you got about fifteen years where
I get you where you want to go.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
But it's not a great experience. It's probably what this
would be.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
But to get to that destination, which not a lot
of people have gone to, probably worth it.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, I mean one is a childhood sort of dream.
But the other part is it's also kind of cool
to be able to say I accomplished that in my
lifetime and it didn't break the bank necessarily. I mean
a lot of people probably have to take a loan
out for ten grand maybe, you know, to get that
ticket or put it on their credit card.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I don't know if we'll ever see it cost ten
thousand real lifetime, right, Affordable space travel might be a
couple of generations off. Yeah, So space, Patrick, Why are
we talking about space?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
What do we got going on today?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So here's the thing. I had sent over an article
about Prada making a space suit and so that got
us talking about brands in space.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
Brands in space.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
For all those who loved the pigs in space, this
idea of brands going to space. In fact, we had
talked about this twenty twenty three Atlantic article which pose
the question companies are sending their products into orbit and
plastering their logos on spacecraft, so will space ads dull
our sense of wonder about the universe? And that got
(04:18):
us talking about more brands in space and brands that
are marketing their products or their services and taking them
into space. And is that a good idea?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Is it not?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Before we talk about our own examples of brands going
to space. You know, what do you think, Chad? Do
you think brands venturing to space is a good idea?
Do you think it's a good strategy?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
You always got to be ahead of the game, so
you know, this is a good place to start looking.
We're obviously, as a mass culture not in space yet,
but brands are already starting to go there. They're starting
to explore it a little bit. And you know, even
you talked about that Atlantic article, it already kind of
points to this idea.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
We're already ruining.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Space a little bit with marketing or advertising, you know,
which is funny since not a lot of people are
necessarily seeing it yet. But yeah, I think it's a
great idea for brands to be thinking ahead. Hey, we're
starting to explore this idea of like sending people to space,
you know, space travel for the everyday consumer. We got
(05:19):
to be there. If you have a chance to get
ahead of what's coming next, you should always take it
or at least explore the possibilities of it. So I
think it's a smart move.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
So you're saying it's like vibrating logos, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
It's exactly like vibrating logs. You got to be there, Yeah,
you got to be there first. Yeah, you got to
be there first, if I'm being realistic. Is it cost effective?
Probably not. Is it the best use of your money?
Probably not? But is it the coolest thing a brand
can do at this point? Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It's a trendsetter, right, It's something that will go down
in history. What were the first brands in outer space?
Just like the first people in outer space or the
first animal in outer space. On top of that, what
you're saying, be there, be there first, because then when
people do get there what's the next logical step. People
are always going to be consuming something, and that's where
(06:12):
brands come into play.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, and to your cost effective point, I think right now,
at least there's still enough cachet to it where you
kind of do these things and you get some ink
from it. Right It kind of draws some attention to
you that, hey, these guys are dabbling in space exclamation point.
You know, it's still like a big deal when a
brand does anything related to space. There's still some novelty
(06:35):
and kind of mystery and excitement around that. I don't
know if that'll be there in ten or twenty years,
there still is right now.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I mean, yeah, you do get you do get some
leverage from that, you know, in visibility. I don't know
if it's cost effect because it does still seem like
a lot of money to do it, and it's not easy.
I look at these brands that have done it, and
I'm like, man, that seems like a really big challenge
and not a lot of brands could do it. Maybe
(07:04):
because of that reason, maybe a couple that we'll even
talk about today.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
So for our brands in space, we're.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Each gonna share two brands that have brought their products, services.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Or marketing to space. We're gonna talk a little bit
about them.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
What are they doing, what was their effort, how did
they get to space, did it resonate, what were they
up to? That's the basic premise here. We're each gonna
see what we kind of came up with for our
brands in space, which you just can't say enough.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
So you want to go first. You want to Yeah, why.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Did't I kick things off?
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Since I've got, you know, a brand that got pretty
close to space. I won't say they got all the way,
but they might tell you different with their marketing, which
I think is okay. So my first one is KFC. Now,
KFC had the Zinger one mission in twenty seventeen. That
was a quote unquote space flight that sente KFC Zinger
(08:01):
Chicken Sandwich to the stratosphere. This mission was a promotional
campaign for the Zinger Chicken sandwich, but it was also
a test flight for Worldview's Stratalite balloon. The mission also
aimed to be the first multi day flight of commercial cargo.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
In the stratosphere.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
So what happened during this The Zinger was carried into
the stratosphere by this high altitude hot air balloon, and
the balloon reached an altitude of sixty thousand to seventy
five thousand feet, where it remained for four days, and
the zinger, which is a chicken sandwich mind you, was
then parachuted back to Earth during this, you know, four days,
(08:43):
the public was able to watch the flight on a
website created for the mission. So well, the sandwich didn't
actually go into space. This is one of those edge
of space, you know kind of efforts, like what we
talked about several years back with what Red Bull kind
of did with a space jump that didn't KFC from
playing it up as a space effort with imagery and
(09:04):
content talking about going to the edge of space all told,
you know, a pretty cool experiment and a fun piece
of marketing with people being able to you know, you
can watch this check out our sandwich. See it's in
space or going up to space floating around. To me,
the idea of something like this, where a product like
a chicken sandwich or even a KFC bucket floating in
(09:25):
space or even near space, I just find pretty enthralling
or interesting, you know, Just that kind of concept I
think is pretty cool. So that's my first pick the
KFC Zinger one mission.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I like when they give them really sophisticated titles, like.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
Yeah, it sounds like NASA's running this thing.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, the Zinger one mission. It's absurd for the most part,
you know what I mean. And like this a chicken sandwich.
I mean, come on, now, there's something to that.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Like you said before, not a lot of us human
beings have actually gone to space to think about this
chicken sandwich or you know, this brand or product kind
of like floating around in space or along the edge
of space almost positions it as.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
The hero of the story in a way.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
It's definitely a consumer culture thing where you have this
you really get this picture in your mind that I
feel like just gets ingrained there.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
So I like that.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I like that idea, and I think it works really well,
and it's, like you said, a fun effort. But there
is also something kind of remarkable to it too, in
that there's some science kind of happening in the background.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
And that goes back to my original statement, which is,
you know, these brands that are going into space, it's
a challenge because it's not as simple as it seems
like you just launch this thing. They do have to
work with the FAA and NASA and all kinds of
other organizations to get clearance to do these things. This
(10:52):
is funny because I picked a brand that did something
very similar to what you're talking about the chicken sandwich.
Not as absurd as a chicken sandwich, but similar in
the approach that they took. And that is Samsonite had
an effort where they put their lightest suitcase into space.
So Samsonite has a suitcase product line called Proxis. They
(11:15):
embarked on a remarkable mission to the edge of space
and during intense conditions to prove its resilience. So it
faced temperatures as low as negative eighty five degrees fahrenheit.
It's soared to an altitude of one hundred and thirty
thousand feet, three times the height of a typical commercial flight,
and after it's controlled descent, it landed completely intact, showcasing
(11:39):
its exceptional durability and readiness for any adventure. Now, this
is an exceptional use of the brand going into space.
And here's the thing. The chicken sandwich doesn't really do
anything for the chicken sandwich, right. It does give it visibility,
but the Samsonite luggage is more apprio right because it
(12:01):
is a product and it is a brand that is
linked to traveling. The brand is quote unquote dedicated to
developing resilient, high performance travel gear. What's a bigger signal
of that then sending your suitcase to space. In space,
there's a really great YouTube video where they take it
(12:22):
up into space. They talk about all of like the
craziness that ensues with them just you know, getting it
to space, the technical challenges and hurdles they had to overcome,
but then getting it there and getting it back, following
it as it's coming back and descending to Earth. That's
a really cool video to watch, even though there's nothing
remarkable about what happens during that, you know, it's other
than you get to see this suitcase in space. They
(12:44):
do a really great shot of the luggage. They have
like you know, the camera pointed at it and when
it's sort of hitting that pinnacle or that primo spot
in orbit with the sun and it's just like you
can kind of see the Earth in the background. It's
pretty cool stuff like that. Great marketing. They're just sort
of fantastic, and that how it's connected to the brand.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Yeah, No, you're right.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
That's a great example of showing off what the product
can do surviving in conditions that you're like, oh, we're
not supposed to be out there, who knows what can
happen there. Yeah, And you see something like that that
really shows off the durability of the product, the strength
of the product, and again going beyond where humans go
and going beyond definitely where typical luggage goes. So you
(13:27):
kind of take away from that, You're like, if it
can do that, it can definitely handle you know, whatever
I take whenever I take it on a typical flight
or wherever I'm going to take it on vacation.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Yeah, that overhead bin has nothing on outer space, and
that's sort of the beauty of it is like they're
testing in under the harshest conditions the parameters for that,
and you know, we'll never exceed that, well, we'll never
even probably come close to that.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, this is a really great example of using you know, space,
which people are like, oh, man, space, who knows what's
out there? What the you know, pressurized conditions are like,
along with just the marvel of again seeing a product
in environment it doesn't necessarily belong or you're not expecting
to see it. So along those same lines is my
(14:15):
second pick, which is Columbia Sportswear. As Columbia states in
December nineteen seventy two, Apollo seventeen astronauts took Humankind's last
steps on the Moon. In February twenty twenty four, the
return journey continues. Intuitive machines sent the unmanned Nova s
(14:36):
Lunar Lander to the surface of the Moon for the
first visit of a US spacecraft in more than fifty years,
with Columbia's Omni Heat Infinity technology helping protect it from
extreme temperatures in space. Much like you're talking about samsonit
showing what the product can do through this effort. You know,
(14:57):
here's a product that is designed Columbia. What's it for
keeping you warm? What are they using it for in space?
Protecting this piece of technology from extreme heat. A great
piece of marketing on the Columbia website says it, I
think perfectly, from your jacket to the Moon. They're just showing,
(15:18):
you know, if this can be used in the most
intense coldest conditions you can think of, beyond anything on Earth,
imagine how good it'll feel when you're wearing it when
it's just snowing outside, or you know, when you're treking
up the mountain. Somebody is using it for again, for
scientific purposes. This is what we make. This is what
(15:38):
we're good at. We keep things warm. We have this technology,
if you want to call it. This is the kind
of thing we construct. Whether it's going around a spacecraft
or it's going on your body, it's going to kind
of do the same job.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
I like that because there's a lot of brands, like
you're talking about the chicken sandwich, you know, which we love.
It's it's a fun sort of brand. It's not directly connected,
and sometimes when it's not it still can work. It
can still work for the brand. But the ones that
have a natural fit or reason for being when it
comes to the whatever the effort was, tend to work
(16:15):
a little bit better most of the time. And that's
this is one of those, right is like this one
It makes sense, Like when you think about it, it's like,
that's a good use of that brand in space and
there's a natural connection there.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I refer to it as like a piece of technology,
and almost feels like that when you're getting a Columbia
coat like it's something that can keep you warm better
than anything else. What I think is kind of interesting
here too, is this is one of these efforts that
probably I don't know this for sure, merged organically, you know,
where maybe they're in TALX with this company who's like, hey,
(16:49):
can you provide something for this to do this? You know,
however that came about, they do it. You know what
comes out of that is like, hey, we got to
show this off in our marketing. So it's not necessarily
like KFC, which I think was more marketing first. This
is probably marketing secondary, where out of something that was
pretty cool and science first came this kind of hey,
(17:11):
we could also use this in a marketing capacity to
show off what our product can do.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah, and there's even beyond, like I'm thinking even beyond that.
You know, sometimes these initiatives like this, you know, when
you put this effort together and this sort of challenge
of like taking this product or brand to space in
a way that sort of like protects you, it helps
you be helps the brand sometimes of the company, the
business be innovative to sort of meet that challenge. And
(17:39):
I think that then those things, you know, the fruits
of that labor can be applied to the products here
and make them even stronger in their ability to protect
us even on Earth.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Yeah, you start thinking of what's what are other ways
we can use our product that maybe we're not thinking
about beyond even I guess consumer sports, where maybe the
reason they were picked for this effort is because they're
already doing some of those things, but maybe it expands
it even further.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
What are some of the applications.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Maybe we're not even looking at Maybe we need to
think farther because we weren't necessarily thinking about space. Maybe
we should be, and maybe we should be thinking beyond
that too.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
It's also sort of connected to you know what led
us down the path of this episode, which was the
product creating the space suits and the you know this
idea of you know, making something better, you know, the
spacesuits leaner, making astronauts more agile and flexible and being
able to like get around when they aren't outer space.
(18:38):
That's a pretty cool accomplishment. Again, a fashion brand, not
unlike my second pick for this is under Armor, tapping
into the expanding frontier of commercial space travel, where companies
like SpaceX and Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic or opening
doors to fresh branding possibilities. Twenty nineteen, under Armour partnered
(19:02):
with Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's Spaceflight venture, marking its entry
into the exciting new realm of brands in space.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
Brands in space.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
So the collaboration showcases how brands are beginning to explore
and benefit from commercialization. But the partnership had them designing
a range of spacesuits and crafted cabin seats for their
first spaceship two vehicle VSS Unity, And so it's basically
just a series of styles for those who are in flight.
(19:41):
I don't believe they're actually in you know, it's not
like a spacesuit per se, but something that they can
wear in the cabin. From my understanding, it's like a
pilot suit kind of yeah. And you know, they're pretty
cool looking on an athletic figure at least, you know,
I don't know what they look like on someone normal.
The images that they showed pretty cool, and then they
also ended up making them available to the public in
(20:03):
some ways, so a brand taking advantage, you know, the marketing.
Obviously Virgin Galactic at the time. I don't know if
they are still considered this today in the space flight commercialization,
private space flight. I don't know if they're still number one.
I know that they do go up and they're fairly
regular in spaceflights. So I don't know if everybody's wearing
(20:25):
under armour up there these like spacesuits or not. But
a cool partnership between commercialized spaceflight and a brand that
is clearly fashion forward slash athletic apparel focused.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Yeah, I think if I'm in space moving around to spaceship,
I feel pretty good about under armour can keep you warm,
good to move around in. As you mentioned athletic, so
I feel pretty good about that. Like you mentioned the
Prota spacesuit, I don't know if I feel that great
about that, be like do I trust the Prada spacesuits?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Is that what I want to go up in?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
I feel like a fashion in a super high fashion
brand making my space suit. I know they did it
in collaboration with somebody else, but yeah, you know, it
gives me pause, gives me a little pause.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, it's a high end brand, so you would believe that,
you know, there is a quality craftsmanship there, even though
they're not known for that. When I think of product,
I think expensive, but I don't necessarily think of the
highest quality. I don't know if that's an inaccurate perception
I have. But to your point, do you want them
(21:31):
making your space suit? I don't know that's your lifeline.
That's like can't miss a stitch. No, So yeah, you're right, though,
I mean it's it's like the perception you have of
that brand can also play a part in whether or
not is that a good matchup or not?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yeah, but under armor, I feel like it is a
good good fit. I feel like they fit for the
job they're given, Like the the internal space suits you're
wearing on the ship, the team suits.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
I feel like, Oh, that's that's a good job for Ndermer.
I think that's right.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Also stretching that a little bit, I would say if
they told me American Eagle was making my space suit,
I'd be a little concerned. I really would. I don't know,
you know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Old maybe yeah, old.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Maybe They're like, we're trying to be the new Navy,
like Space Navy. You know, No, you're not. Yeah, you
can't be. Your jeans always rip on me.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
I'm not gonna I took the wrong flight.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Ladies and gentlemen, you'll be happy to hear that we
have our new old Navy space suits on display. Go
ahead and put those on before we go ahead and
take our space walk today on the VSS explosion. So yeah,
I mean there's a lot of brands though that have
done this. We've only really picked four, and they were,
(22:54):
you know, loosely tied together in some ways, not knowingly.
We picked these in dependantly from each other. We didn't
even know what we were picking, but I think that
they had some tie ins after the fact.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah, yeah, and who knows, maybe another five ten years
we'll be doing Man all the Brands Flooding in Space.
We'll have another few episodes on this to revisit.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
All right, Well, we hope you got a lot out
of brands in space. That's it for today's episode. You
can find current and past episodes of the podcast and
other brands. Maybe they're not in space, but you can
find them Speaking Human dot com.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
We'll be back in two weeks with another episode of
Speaking Human Catch it in
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Humans Spacecking Human
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