In this episode of Totally Radvertising, Dallin and Damian sit down with Tracy Smith, Chief Brand Officer at STM Goods, to discuss how innovative product development can serve as a marketing strategy. Tracy shares how STM Goods stands out in the crowded accessories market with their "smarter than most" approach, focusing on engineering solutions that solve genuine customer problems. The conversation explores how product innovation becomes marketing, the importance of designing distinctive brand elements into products themselves, and why marketing should always start at the product level. They also analyze a GMC Hummer EV commercial, discussing what makes advertising effective across different platforms and how to balance creative vision with market performance.

2:21 GMC Hummer EV commercial analysis
13:41 Brand differentiation strategies for EV marketing
25:55 "Smarter Than Most" - STM Goods' product philosophy
28:30 Product innovation as marketing strategy
33:18 Designing marketing into your product
42:08 The value of "breadcrumbs" on your product
48:31 Testing ideas with your audience vs. Apple's approach

"The best marketing always starts at product. So if your product doesn't have marketing built into it from the beginning, your marketers are going to have to really do a lot of lift." 31:50