I went skydiving the other day for the first time. I’ll just say…do it. Don’t talk about it. Don’t think about it. Do it. It’s worth it. While we were waiting our turn to jump, there was a guy who came down from the sky doing a buck twenty (terminal velocity). I pegged him to be in his early 80s give or take a decade. Once he got his jump suit off, this guy was rocking a Harley Davidson t-shirt. He had on tapered jeans (not that anyone over 37 would have anything but tapered). He had some black boots that inevitably had steel in the toes. He had a belt on that had some Indian heads or something hot iron stamped in the leather. He was sporting the thinned white haired flat top that you know he started rocking when he was probably in the military at some point in his life. Why describe him? To give you the picture that he and I don’t really have much in common at this exact point in our lives. I Blackberry and DVR. He probably does the Sudoku out of the local paper everyday and drinks Coca Cola Classic. But the day we jumped out of a plane and free fell through the sky, we were bros. On that day, we could relate in a very specific way to each other. We shared the adrenaline you get when you to do something like that.
Action sports athletes, you all know what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the first time you land a kickflip indy. I’m talking about the padded fist bumps through the gloves when you and your snowboarding crew are strapped in at the top of a run ready to rip. I’m talking about heaving yourself out of a plane at 14,000 ft. I’m talking about “Gentlemen Start You Engines”. Adrenaline. It fuels us. We can all relate to it. A lot of times, the athletes are tackling the same obstacles, the same pipe, the same park, the same track and can share the same adrenaline. Everyone can relate to each other and thrive from it. Like if your buddy lands a trick they’ve never done, you know you have to try it next.
We stopped for a soda at a gas station on the ride home from the skydiving place. As I walked in, I was still smiling and thought to myself, I’m sure nobody in here right now could even come close to relate to what I just did. It is a select group who can relate to each other via actions sports and the rush it gives you.
(Get out your notebook, it’s lesson time) From a product marketing perspective, I’ll tell you; associate your brand with that adrenaline as best you can. The strongest brand message will happen when consumer feelings and senses are at their highest. I’m sure the old Indian leather belt guy would agree with me that if there were someone trying to sell us something during the free fall, we would have given him all our money. There is huge consumer purchasing power in these moments of adrenaline. Place your brand in these moments and good things will happen.
There are a couple good examples I can think of recently that capture this concept of purchasing power in these moments. The Mt. Dew AMP UP commercials do a great job of hitting us where we can relate:
Click here to watch: Hannah Teter AMP UP 
AXE Body Spray has also done a good job with their more light hearted version of the same moment. I might have done it with a little less dude sweat (but I guess it goes with what they are selling), but I definietly remember the commercials from the “Double Pits to Chesty” campaign because it captures that same moment:
Click here to watch: Adam Jones AXE Body Spray
If I could bottle skydiving, I’d Double Pits to Chesty it all day long. Use hard goods and soft goods to let us know we can take that rush to the next level. Use apparel to help us remember the feeling and let everyone know we’ve been there (or would like to be there if you wear apparel and have never tasted the actual sport). Use your brand advertising and sale (or sampling) of product to help everyone relate to the feeling of adrenaline and passion they get when they are doing what they love and you’ll feel it too…in your pocket book (get it…nailed the metaphor right at the end there).
