Barrister and Mann

Very nice Will!

Did you decide to invert the label colors, after the last preview you showed us? ;-)

We did! We felt that it would be more eye-catching and would improve the depth of each image. Pretty sure we were right.

I agree with your design choice - more impact this way - maybe the companion aftershave label would be cool the other way yin and yang

Did you decide to invert the label colors, after the last preview you showed us? ;-)

We did! We felt that it would be more eye-catching and would improve the depth of each image. Pretty sure we were right.

I agree with your design choice - more impact this way - maybe the companion aftershave label would be cool the other way yin and yang

I'm glad! We haven't seen the Tonique proposals from the graphics team yet. We'll see what they come up with. Right now, the soap overhaul and finishing Barrister's Reserve are the prime concerns. Tonique is going to have to take a back seat for a little bit.

We did! We felt that it would be more eye-catching and would improve the depth of each image. Pretty sure we were right.

I agree with your design choice - more impact this way - maybe the companion aftershave label would be cool the other way yin and yang

I'm glad! We haven't seen the Tonique proposals from the graphics team yet. We'll see what they come up with. Right now, the soap overhaul and finishing Barrister's Reserve are the prime concerns. Tonique is going to have to take a back seat for a little bit.

While I am sure it's a ton of work, I'm betting you're having a lot of fun too. It just sounds like a blast. Has the fundraising campaign kicked off yet?

I agree with your design choice - more impact this way - maybe the companion aftershave label would be cool the other way yin and yang

I'm glad! We haven't seen the Tonique proposals from the graphics team yet. We'll see what they come up with. Right now, the soap overhaul and finishing Barrister's Reserve are the prime concerns. Tonique is going to have to take a back seat for a little bit.

While I am sure it's a ton of work, I'm betting you're having a lot of fun too. It just sounds like a blast. Has the fundraising campaign kicked off yet?

Not yet. Honestly, after some of the disasters we've seen with other crowdfunding campaigns, I'm trying to find a way to do it without one. We'll see.

I'm glad! We haven't seen the Tonique proposals from the graphics team yet. We'll see what they come up with. Right now, the soap overhaul and finishing Barrister's Reserve are the prime concerns. Tonique is going to have to take a back seat for a little bit.

While I am sure it's a ton of work, I'm betting you're having a lot of fun too. It just sounds like a blast. Has the fundraising campaign kicked off yet?

Not yet. Honestly, after some of the disasters we've seen with other crowdfunding campaigns, I'm trying to find a way to do it without one. We'll see.

What would you say are the primary causes of "disasters"? I'm thinking its being put on somebody else's clock. I'm sure the thought of thousands of people looking at their watches and tapping their foot while you are sorting through the various development and production challenges isn't pleasant. The concept of crowd funding is new to me and when I was reading up on it after you initially mentioned the possibility of using that option, I had a "holy crap! This is free money" moment. I guess if something looks to good to be true it often is. I'm thinking that the biggest risk a company like Barrister and Mann faces is image exposure and damage to the brand caused by over reactions of the funders to delays and/or hiccups. As an established brand with substantial goodwill, B&M has much more at risk than a complete newcomer such as Rockwell had - Rockwell had nothing to lose but their funder's money. The same can't be said for B&M.

Back in one of my earlier positions as in-house counsel to a super major multi-national oil company, among my responsibilities was to be present in the incident command centre during any incidents, emergencies and so forth. My seat was between the public relations person and the HR person so I could review and advise on any public statements, press releases or employee/next-of-kin communications. At the top of the priority list after legal compliance was protection of the brand and image exposure. We were very good at controlling the narrative.

I think you're wise to be cautious.
Mark

While I am sure it's a ton of work, I'm betting you're having a lot of fun too. It just sounds like a blast. Has the fundraising campaign kicked off yet?

Not yet. Honestly, after some of the disasters we've seen with other crowdfunding campaigns, I'm trying to find a way to do it without one. We'll see.

What would you say are the primary causes of "disasters"? I'm thinking its being put on somebody else's clock.  I'm sure the thought of thousands of people looking at their watches and tapping their foot while you are sorting through the various development and production challenges isn't pleasant.  The concept of crowd funding is new to me and when I was reading up on it after you initially mentioned the possibility of using that option, I had a "holy crap! This is free money" moment.  I guess if something looks to good to be true it often is.  I'm thinking that the biggest risk a company like Barrister and Mann faces is image exposure and damage to the brand caused by over reactions of the funders to delays and/or hiccups.  As an established brand with substantial goodwill, B&M has much more at risk than a complete newcomer such as Rockwell had - Rockwell had nothing to lose but their funder's money.  The same can't be said for B&M.  

Back in one of my earlier positions as in-house counsel to a super major multi-national oil company, among my responsibilities was to be present in the incident command centre during any incidents, emergencies and so forth.  My seat was between the public relations person and the HR person so I could review and advise on any public statements, press releases or employee/next-of-kin communications.  At the top of the priority list after legal compliance was protection of the brand and image exposure.  We were very good at controlling the narrative.  

I think you're wise to be cautious.
Mark

That's very much it, yes. Backers often do not wish to hear that something has gone wrong, especially if that something is not financially feasible to fix. Unfortunately, as Murphy would say, anything that can go wrong will, in fact, do so, and this project has already taken considerably more time and money than originally anticipated (though, to be fair to Barrister's Reserve, I feel very strongly that the extra time and money made the product far better than it would have otherwise been).

It was actually the Supply Provision razor incident that put me off the idea; I saw how angry people were and decided that the risk of damage to our reputation was probably too great. Therefore, crowdfunding has been relegated to an absolute last-resort.

I'm not up on Supply Provision's story but really, why subject yourself to the possibility of the internet equivalent of an angry mob with flaming torches and pitchforks if you don't have to? In any case, I will be looking forward to developments at Barrister and Mann as they happen.
Cheers,
Mark

One more day until I can purchase Adagio! I've been waiting a long time to try that scent.

One more day until I can purchase Adagio! I've been waiting a long time to try that scent.

I loved the scent. I can't wait to try the matching splash!