My Brand of the Month for April is Saturday Night Live, for cultivating a Brand DNA strong and clear enough to balance global consistency with local relevance.
Over the last 50 years, Saturday Night Live has become an American cultural institution – but one with little global resonance. This was, presumably, a choice. Producers know humour doesn’t always travel, especially humour founded on cultural satire like SNL.
SNL’s UK launch was therefore somewhat surprising – as has been its initial success. Aside from talented writers and comedians, SNL’s strong Brand DNA has allowed it to migrate to the United Kingdom.
SNL is a brand that knows itself. It is irreverent, risky and rebellious. This lens has traditionally been applied to US culture. Clarity on these brand traits allow it to travel to the UK in a way that feels both relevant to its audience and still “SNL”. For example, sketches like “Crab Man”, Jool Holland’s “Time Man” and the Prince Andrew Cold Open could only be SNL, yet would be unlikely to resonate outside the UK.
SNL has therefore pulled off a manoeuvre that defeats a lot of brands – balancing global consistency with local relevance.
Every month I share my ‘Brand of the Month’ (BOTM), writing about what I think other marketers can learn about a brand who I think is doing great work at the moment, in less than 200 words (or 1min reading time).
Tim Clancy is a brand builder working at LinkedIn and at the intersection of strategy, execution, and marketing effectiveness. He loves a tight brief, a big idea and Richard Rumelt (his writing at least). He also runs a blog, Brand! Fizz! Wallop!, where he shares his latest thoughts on brands, marketing and leadership; and coaches people on how incorporate AI into their day to day so they can have fulfilling and successful careers.
