Want to meet Ryan Gosling? Get creative.
Joelle Murray used her creative thinking to help her customers and business - and meet a Hollywood star
The Toronto Film Festival is back this year!
I’ve never been, but I am always curious about the movies they feature (there’s sure to be a gem or two).
And I was also curious about a story I read that took place during the Toronto Film Festival a few years ago.
It features three things I am a big fan of: coffee, creativity - and actor Ryan Gosling!
Read on…
Meet Joelle Murray.
In 2017, Joelle had a problem.
The Toronto business-owner wanted to use social media to promote her coffee shop, Grinder.
But she was struggling with content.
Then she read an article about the Toronto International Film Festival, and learned that actor Idris Elba would be among the stars soon visiting her city.
That gave her an idea.
“Why don’t I invite him to come have coffee at Grinder?” she thought. “I can get two weeks of content from that!”
She had no budget for the campaign, so she printed out a picture of Idris Elba’s face, attached it to a paint stick from Home Depot, and began the #Idrisneedsgrinder campaign.
She photographed her ‘Idris’ visiting the shops and restaurants in the neighborhood, and shared daily posts encouraging Idris to come over for coffee. Her customers joined in, too, taking photos with the Idris cut-out and posting them on social media.
Sadly, Idris Elba did not make it to Grinder, but Joelle and her customers had fun with the campaign, and she managed to get a bit of local media from it, too.
Going bigger in 2018
When the film festival returned the following year, Joelle decided to try again. She asked her customers to choose which actor to invite: Dame Judi Dench, Ryan Gosling, Samuel L. Jackson, or Julia Roberts.
The Canadian-born actor Ryan Gosling won the vote, and the #ryanneedsgrinder campaign took off.
Joelle went to a local print shop to get a life-size cut-out of Ryan Gosling to use for the campaign – but the $300 price tag was beyond her budget.
“What can you give me for $50?” she asked.
She was able to get a head and shoulders cut-out of Gosling, and added a photoshopped Grinder logo to a coffee cup he was holding.
Her 10-day campaign included pictures of the Gosling cut-out visiting neighborhood shops – and promises to keep the ‘Hey Girl’ chat to a minimum if he visited.
On the ninth day of her campaign, a big car pulled outside Grinder’s entrance.
And Ryan Gosling accepted Joelle's offer for a cup of Grinder coffee.
Joelle was shocked, and word of Gosling’s visit to the shop soon went viral.
Business boomed over the next few days as people wanted to see the coffee shop Ryan had visited, and get their picture taken with the Grinder Ryan cut-out.
Even a year later, Joelle still had visitors from all over the world – including Russia and Korea – wanting to see the place where Ryan Gosling had coffee.
“I didn’t really expect Ryan Gosling to come to my coffee shop,” she said.
“I didn’t have thousands of dollars to spend on a campaign. I’m not a PR person or a marketer.
“I just wanted to do something fun for my customers and promote my business.
“And if I can do it, anyone can do it.”
Recent Work and Writing
Three Creative Ideas From the USA — Creativity is all around us. We just have to pay attention. Here’s some creative inspiration from my recent trip to the US.
Don’t Grab Your Pitchfork Just Yet… — Many were quick to judge a leader after a sound bite went viral. But maybe we should ask questions before we judge…
Who is the Saul Goodman in your life? — Who are the supporting players in your life, and do they know what they mean to you?
How Can I Help?
Need help improving your public speaking or storytelling skills?
Want to help your team come up with more creative ideas so they can solve problems and innovate?
Or tired of so many misunderstandings and wasted time due to poor writing and poor communication?
Get in touch to find out about my communication and creative problem-solving programs for leaders and teams.
And if you know someone needs help with team or personal development, please get in touch and check out my website for more information.
Keep Smiling - and Stay Curious!
-Beth