Letter
Chief Detail Officer
Doing a lot with little – making it weird and fun.
A friend from the venture capital world recommended me a book from Rory Sutherland, a prominent figure at Ogilvy – Alchemy: The Magic of Original Thinking in a World of Mind-Numbing Conformity Curious about the author, I dug deeper into his ideas, and one of his key arguments stood out to me: organisations often underestimate the value of small, seemingly minor changes. Sutherland highlights a common bias in companies where big problems are assumed to need large, costly solutions, typically devised by top executives. However, he argues that small, creative tweaks can often lead to surprisingly significant results.
This brings us to the idea of the Chief Detail Officer —a role dedicated to identifying those small, low-cost opportunities that have tremendous impact, and ensuring they are executed correctly and consistently.
Some examples:
- American Airlines determined that eliminating one olive from each passenger’s salad plate would reduce costs by $40,000.
- MailChimp ran a playful advertising campaign where they intentionally mispronounced their own name. The campaign was quirky and memorable. It helped MailChimp establish itself as a fun and creative company, attracting small businesses and creative professionals who appreciated the lightheartedness. Watch here.
- Dollar Shave Club: In 2012, Dollar Shave Club launched with a hilarious, low-budget video titled “Our Blades Are F* Great.” The video featured the company’s CEO delivering deadpan humor about the absurdity of overpriced razors. The video went viral almost immediately. It was acquired and then sold by Unilever.
- Wendy’s social media team, especially on Twitter, became famous for its witty, savage roasts of both customers and competitors. They would humorously respond to customer complaints and engage in playful banter with other fast-food chains.
- Southwest Airlines is known for its flight attendants who deliver safety announcements with a humorous twist. This approach has contributed to Southwest’s reputation as a fun, customer-friendly airline, helping to drive customer loyalty and differentiate it from other carriers.
- Skittles’ long-running “Taste the Rainbow” campaign is filled with bizarre, humorous ads that often make little sense but are highly entertaining. The campaign became iconic, helping to solidify Skittles as a fun, playful brand, and driving increased sales and brand loyalty.
- Cards Against Humanity, a party game company, is known for its absurd and humorous Black Friday stunts. These ridiculous and humorous campaigns generated significant media coverage and public attention. One of the most infamous pranks happened in 2016 when the company ran a campaign called the “Holiday Hole.” They simply asked people to donate money to fund digging a giant, pointless hole in the ground with no purpose other than to keep digging as long as the donations kept coming in.
Well, a little weirdness can go a long way. Who knows? Maybe I’ll channel my inner Chief Detail Officer and start making small, absurd changes in my own life—while having a good laugh about it.
“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.”
Akira Kurosawa
“Find out who you are and do it for purpose”
Dolly Parton
Beijos,
Babi