Brand Fix: Seann William Scott
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Oh, Seann. A fixture in the 90’s and early 2000’s, the work has dried out as of late. 14 year old me hates this, and I felt CALLED do a Brand Fix for him this week.
I also realize that this is a hard one. Everything about him seems very early 2000’s. On top of that, he hasn’t built much of an internet presence the way his contemporaries have, which keeps up name recognition.
Objective: Rebrand Seann William Scott as an INTERNET BOYFRIEND.
The Cut wrote an excellent piece on internet boyfriends here, and you can take a read.
Internet boyfriends include Tom Hiddleston, He who will not be named but refuses to wear a condom (Ryan Gosling), Chris Evans, Oscar Issac, Rami Malik, Chris Pratt, Micheal B. Jordan and Benedict Cumberbatch.
At 39, he is the right age for it and like most of the people on this list, he isn’t super active on social media, keeping the mystery.
Now, I know what you are thinking:
How will I turn Stiffler into an internet boyfriend? I love a good challenge!
5-Point Strategy Time!
1. Embrace A New Market
Right now the typical Internet Boyfriend is nerdy, goofy, charismatic with roots in the Marvel Universe. They are hot but accessible, the type of guy who won’t cheat on you. What about the rest of the country? What about the women who wouldn’t consider themselves nerds and listen to country, watch Bones and still hope for Elliot and Stabler to somehow get back together?
BOOM. That’s our target market. Middle of the country. Lainey Gossip calls it the mini-van majority.
The new millennial celebrates the more “arty” skills in men. Things like writing, podcasting, designing and being generally “funny” on Twitter. 2016 will be the year that changes. Soon the tide will turn to blue-collar types muscles built by actual work and not Cross Fit.
Seann William Scott’s best role to date was in an excellent movie called Goon in 2011. In it, he played a sweet but stupid bouncer turned hockey enforcer named Doug. At one point Doug goes to the house of his new girlfriend’s ex and asks for a beating because he deserves it. He’s a sweet, simple and strong guy’s guy.
Apparently, this is what Sean William Scott is like in real-life so I’m going with it as the model.
Brand Strategy For You: ALWAYS be looking forward when it comes to strategies and techniques you employ in your business. Go beyond just business coaches to get advice, read trades, get magazines…what is ahead and how can you use that to give your business an edge right now?
2. Series Regular On A Popular Network Show
I am not sure SWS’s agents haven’t tried to get him on a TV show yet. He is in the sweet spot age-wise for shows like Bones, Castle, Grey’s Anatomy and Chicago Fire.
These shows are VERY POPULAR with fandoms that we could leverage to build his brand as Internet Boyfriend. The key is to get him partnered with a fan-favorite character that rarely gets love storylines and not have him in the way of a relationship people are already begging to make happen. Ex: A new love interest for Beckett, A boyfriend for Benson
Ideas:
- Airheaded sweet-joke type who is also a brilliant forensic anthropologist on Bones
- Sexy EMT who becomes a love interest for a character on Grey’s Anatomy who never gets romantic interest — BONUS points for a minority character
- Boyfriend to a gay lead character in any of these shows (this is tricky but excellent for his reputation if it works)
- Out-of-state detective just transferred in from Texas with manners and a good attitude on Law&Order SVU or Chicago PD or Hawaii 5–0 or some other police procedural
Brand Strategy For You: Make sure you are swimming in the right pools. Most businesses make the mistake of shopping where they learn. You take a class and start marketing to the people in that class. Nooo. Go where the people are.
3. HGTV/Discovery Channel Show
I don’t know if Seann William Scott is into home repair and improvement, but I am going to assume he likes building things.
He doesn’t have to be the star of the series for this to work He can produce it or be more of a mentor character, but these shows are catnip for the mini-van majority.
Property Brothers, anyone? Mike Rowe? These guys are like Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Hemsworth to this new market we are targeting.
By doing this, he establishes himself as an everyman who is strong and has “regular guy” interests and skills that this market tends to value over being witty or suave.
Brand Strategy For You:
This technique is what I call buliding a “content web.” What you do is not only create content that not only solves the problem (or in this case builds the brand directly) but you also build the brand out to address your target market’s other interests. It builds trust and it creates more loyal fans because you are hitting all of their buttons.
A good example of this is Kate Spade, who knows that their customer loves great design, so they also sell typography books.
4. Signature role in a Coen Brothers or a Quentin Tarantino movie
Now that we have established his regular gig, it’s time to expand into the film world and rebuild the reputation. We must do this super strategically because any attempts at outright comedy will remind people of American Pie or Dude Where’s My Car?
He is best when he is playing that Doug-like character from Goon. Simple, shy with good comedic timing but not TRYING to be funny.
A few reasons why The Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino could have SWS in a movie
- These directors really excel at creating really unique signature characters for people that allow the actors to disappear into the role
- They’d be open to having him in the film because all three directors make inspired casting choices and love plucking actors from obscurity
- Most of their movies have a right mix of well-known names and nostalgic favorites
Ideas:
- SWS as a quiet but intense killer with a weird quirk
- A person in authority (like a cop, a detective or mayor) who everyone thinks is stupid or unsure and is excellent at their job
- A character everyone assumes to be just a bro but is secretly a criminal genius
Brand Strategy For You:
When you are looking to do partnerships — whether it be with brands or other people — think outside-the-box. The natural choice would be to put SWS in a Judd Apatow movie, but when you are reworking a brand, you have to TRULY rebrand. You want people to first be surprised by a choice but then be like “omg, why didn’t I think of this before? It’s perfect!”
5. Get On Instagram
Right now, he is only on Twitter, and the platform is not doing him any favors, it’s not well-suited to his personality and brand. I don’t think he should be super active on Instagram; it takes away from the mystery which is essential for Internet Boyfriend status. A post once every few weeks will keep people excited but not reveal too much about his personality so fans can fill in the blanks themselves.
Some suggested posts:
- Post of OTHER people crushing it at the gym while he watches and comments on their awesomeness (sincere, humble, gets along with others)
- Screenshots of whatever show he is in and invitation to watch (yay I love my job, love this show, love all the people on it)
- Photos of him with family members (family comes first)
- Pictures of Cars/Cool Houses/Motorcycles/Gadgets Whatever ( down-to-earth, appreciation of nice things, average “guy”, accessibility)
Brand Strategy For You: Social media is not one-size-fits-all. Don’t do anything just because you feel like you should be doing it — find the social media that is the best fit for your personality because that is where you’ll shine and build the most momentum.
Ok, that’s it for Brand Fix this week. If you liked this edition, PLEASE share this post with your friends and family.
Who should I Brand Fix next?
