Why Rhino Crash Marketing?

Selecting a name for your new business is hard. I can tell you all about it because I have been struggling with finding the right name for months now. Honestly, I don’t think my wife and I struggled near this much with naming our children.

So, why Rhino Crash Marketing? I mean, yeah, it’s a really cool name and rhinos are the best African animal, but there needs to be more to a name than just the cool factor.

In order to tell the whole story, I have to take you all the way back to the 8th grade when a 13-year-old me had to read a biography and then put together a persuasive presentation on why everyone in the class should read the same biography. Like most 13-year-olds, the last thing on the planet that I wanted to do was read a book, so I took my complaints to my dad. After all, I was sure he’d agree that reading a biography was entirely pointless, right?

After humoring me for several minutes, he pulled a book off of the shelf and proceeded to make me a deal. I had to read the first chapter of the book and that was it. If I hated it, then I could say I tried and he wouldn’t make me read anymore.

The book was Death in the Long Grass by Peter Hathaway Capstick* and picking up that book was life-changing in two ways. First, I learned to love to read. That’s something I enjoy to this day. Second, I fell in love with Africa. So much so, that all I wanted to do was go on a safari.

My love for Africa became much deeper after I had the opportunity to not only visit, but to live there for two years. Between 2000 & 2002, I had the amazing opportunity to spend time in Mozambique and South Africa as a missionary for my church. During that time, I got to live with the people, learn about their culture, and most importantly serve and befriend them. Let me tell you, after a busy day at work, nothing sounds better than sitting on a grass mat under the mango tree, eating my fill of mangos, and talking and laughing until the sun goes down.

 

While I love all African animals, there is just something about rhinos that has fascinated me for years. Maybe it’s the dominance and power they display. No one messes with a rhino. Or, maybe it’s that they have poor eyesight (I was the kid with a patch and a lazy eye). Then again, it could have been that the rhinos were the instigators of mayhem in 1995’s Jumanji. Regardless of the reason, I just love the name for a group of rhinos. They’re called a crash of rhinos or a rhino crash. Why? You may ask. The answer is actually quite simple: “crash” is exactly what rhinos do! Within a moment, a completely docile group of rhinos can go to a full stamped and anything that’s in their way better move quickly or it will be eliminated.

I love the symbolism of the powerful potential a group of rhinos has. Especially when working together.

When it comes to marketing, there is nothing more exciting than launching a campaign that completely blindsides your competition and leaves them scratching their heads wondering what just happened. Once they gain their composure, they’re suddenly in catch up mode. Leading the pack is always more fun than trying to catch it.

As an example, think about the first iPod ad that came out in 2001. The iPod wasn’t the first mp3 player to hit the market. Honestly, it wasn’t even the best mp3 player to hit the market, but none of that mattered once the commercials started playing. It was definitively the #1 mp3 player and held that spot until mp3 players became obsolete because of smartphones. And, once again, Apple wasn’t the first but quickly jumped to the top with the iPhone.

For a fun trip down memory lane, here’s a compilation of all of the iPod commercials. The silhouette commercials have to be one of the most iconic looks of the mid-00s

At Rhino Crash Marketing, we’re not just another agency, we’re your marketing partner. When working with us, our veteran marketing executive will become a member of your marketing team, but at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time marketing exec (hence the reason we’re called Fractional Marketing Directors). We’ll use our years of experience to build out the multi-channel plans, strategies, and campaigns needed to grow your business. By working together, we’ll unleash or combined potential and leave your competition scratching their heads and wondering what just happened.

But, the only way we can do that is if you decide to join our crash.

Rhino Crash Marketing Founder & Chief Marketing Consultant – Tim Hemingway

*Here’s the link to Death in the Long Grass on Amazon. Before reading it, here’s a quick content warning. If you’re easily disturbed my animals being hunted or by humans being eaten by animals, this book isn’t for you. If you can take the gore on all fronts, this book is an incredible adventure! Peter Hathaway Capstick was a big game safari guide and hunter in Southern Africa. For a significant portion of his career, he worked as a game warden and hunted down animals that had killed local villagers.