Limited Brands = Cool

Author's Note: This one's for the Limited Brands peloton.

I'm one of you, but I'm not of you

I'm in the peloton, but I'm not a Limited Brands associate.

I'm not married to one of you. I'm neither a vendor nor a consultant. I'm not from Columbus (not even close). I'm not from New York. Heck, I'm not even from Utah!

I do, occasionally (and accidentally) wear BCB's VS underwear But stories about sorting black bikini's in the near-dark at 0500 are, perhaps, better suited to another blog).

All of which contributes to my outsider's perspective on what the Limited Brands is doing for Pelotonia.

And what you are all a part of is, simply, remarkable.

Political Theory 101

When I first visited Columbus, I was struck by the city's small-town feel. The word "community" resonated—in a non-political way.

I grew up in New York, colleged in Miami, lived and travelled overseas for years, and work in Washington—I "get" big cities. All of them have their unique neighborhoods—each contributing to the patchwork that is a city, but not defining it. In these metropolises, "community" is a word used by politicians to denote...something larger than individual self-interest, but something artificial—a construct. It's a word that—from the left or the right--means: "my posse".

That ain't what you've got.

Pelotonia 2009 was a wet slap across the face for this urban observer.

Are YOU in this photo?

I saw a huge participation. I witnessed complete buy-in. It was apolitical. It was unselfish. It was...amazing.

And it felt truly grassroots. Sure, there were sponsors, but the power—the raw energy—came from people, not institutions.

Wonderful!

But limiting.

For Pelotonia to grow—and grow in a meaningful way—where "meaningful" translates as "raises more money"—organizations needed to step in to help buttress the solid, but fragile, structure. Pelotonia's foundation was strong, but growth needs support.

Enter, Limited Brands.

Leadership

You probably know (or know of) the backstory far better than I ever will. In essence, Limited Brands declared itself a leader—without declaring itself to be a leader. In 2010 the organization committed significant funding to support riders, and thus Pelotonia. By offering a corporate match, Limited Brands was following a basic economic principle: people respond to incentives.

The result? Thousands flocked to the peloton, committing themselves to raise money and get in shape to ride against cancer.

The result? Geography became less of a factor, as the peloton attracted riders and supporters from well-outside the Columbus community.

The result? Millions raised—just by the Limited Brands peloton.

Coolness

Andrew Keller observes:

To try to be cool is to not be cool. To chase cool, you're chasing something that already exists, which means you're always going to be on the wrong side of it, you'll always be following.

The King of Cool. He did it...all.
Oh....and cancer killed him.

I love that observation. It appeals to my sense of real.

The struggle to End Cancer is sexy.

The struggle to End Cancer is cool.

Cool is doing the right thing for the right reason in the right way...and with a little style and impeccable timing.

Limited Brands isn't chasing; it's leading. It's showing how to engage a corporation with the community, while breaking down silos and crossing borders. It's doing the right thing (charitable work) for the right reason (cancer affects us all, and we have the power to fight back), in the right way (through corporate matches, internal "friendly" competitions among brands, and through personal, C-level support and commitment), with a little style (VS Angels, rallys and pep events, and absolutely rocking jerseys...in pink!), and with impeccible timing (the communication and activity flow has been coordinated to peak this week, and the execution has been what you would expect from a world-class marketing organization).

That's a long sentence, designed to provide nuance to four simple words:

Limited Brands is cool.

Audacious You

Danton is credited with stating:

Pour les vaincre, messieurs, il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace...!"

(To defeat them, gentlemen, we need audacity, still more audacity, and audacity forever...!)

Limited Brands is audacious. Its commitment is audacious.

The dead, angry French guy
is on topic!

What's audacious?

• Limited Brands committed $2.5 million over the next five years to support Pelotonia. With corporate matching of donations, it will likely be far more...
• Rick Paul raised more than $100,000, but he cannot ride on the date, so he rode last weekend. “It says on my website that I’m riding to Athens and back. It doesn’t say when."
• A Limited employee working in Dubai plans to start riding there at 3 p.m., which coincides with the 7 a.m. start next weekend in Columbus...
• Your story. Whatever it may be; it's contributing to the audacity of our fight against cancer.

Limited Brands isn't riding shotgun; Limited Brands is on point. Limited Brands is a leader, focused on defeating cancer.

And you play a part.

And I am privileged to be a part, and I am honored to be able to write this.

Chapeau! Limited Brands!

Roll on!

Author's Note: Often, when writing this blog, a song pops into my head, providing the theme music for the subject. Most times I'll place the tune in-line. Somehow, today, that didn't feel appropriate, so here it is, appended to the end of today's post. Share and enjoy!