If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting Mike Lindell, the first thing you’ll notice is his unbridled enthusiasm and engaging storytelling ability. This is a man who needs a wide lane to share his story, in the way only he can. You cannot script Mike Lindell, ever.
Challenge
How to transition Mike Lindell’s passion, authenticity and unique pillows from the state fair to national television
When we first met Mike in 2010 at his small shop in Carver, MN, he was already halfway into the development of an infomercial with another agency and had just received a 28-page script of the show. Call it instinct, or a good read on people, LBD2C President and CEO, Mark Jones knew immediately that attempting to harness Mike’s spirit and fantastic storytelling ability via scripted language was a disaster waiting to happen. His intuitions were confirmed when he and his team — Producer, Mark Amuso and Editor, Adonis Cruz— did a read-through with Mike and MyPillow® infomercial host, Tonja Waring.
Solution
Capturing Mike in His Element
We sat down that night and re-wrote the entire show as an outline. The only scripting remaining for the teleprompter were the host’s wraps. The way we captured Mike in his element while still getting all the key communication points, was to film the host doing all wraps separately. So, when we brought Mike on stage that afternoon with a live audience, all we needed to shoot were his responses to the host’s questions. This strategy allowed for a lot of leeway and improvisation, and effectively facilitated capturing Mike’s authenticity.
Benefit & Results
Going Off-Script
By going off-script – literally – and accommodating our client’s distinctiveness, we were able to illuminate Mike’s authenticity and passion while connecting to consumers in much the same way you’d talk to your neighbor over the back fence . . . and it worked! Following the roll out of the creative, we created an Amazon store and QVC presence to further capture revenues driven by TV.
A True American (& D2C) Success Story, MyPillow®:
- Became the fastest growing sleep company in North America
- Seen on over 2 million airings on TV commercials and home shopping networks
- Created over 1,600 new jobs in the USA
- Grew revenues from $868,000 on launch day to over $350,000,000 annually in 4 years
- Sold over 40 million pillows . . . and counting
