In the course of any successful start up business, there comes a time where the actual measure of time becomes the stuff of legend. Ask anyone who started from scratch and made a decent living out of it and you will inevitably hear years tossed out like Tic-Tacs. Statements like “Well for the first 5 years I lived in a closet eating peanut butter and jelly” are not at all uncommon. It’s hard work. The goal is to find a passion, because then it feels less-so like work. Even though it most definitely is.
When we came up with a plan (in the Summer of 2010) to create what would eventually become Savannah/Hilton Head Island’s highest rated local television show, we thought it would work. You know what? I’m lying. We knew it would work. Nothing about it would be easy, but we knew we had something different in this area. Dare I say revolutionary. If we could stick to it and be patient, we could see this through. With help from the right people, of course. None of this has been done in a vacuum.
In the Summer of 2011, my business partner Senea Crystal and I were called to a chat at the Cafe in Forsyth Park. I’m guessing it was early Summer because I don’t remember my face melting off while sitting outside. Waiting for us at the park was Melody Johnson. A friend of Senea’s who had done some graphic work for her once upon a moon.
Melody knew what the mission was with this new toy we were messing with. We, like so many others, wanted to get a show on national television. Our angle was a Hispanic journalist from Miami traveling through the Deep South learning about Southern food. That is different. That is unique. When packaged the right way, that has a chance.
Melody opened up her laptop and explained to me that branding was all about consistency. “If you want to be on Bravo, then you should model what you do with a similar network look.” She said. She then showed us a series of ‘looks’ of shows that were already successful at the network level. “You want to be here.” she said. The first slide of her powerpoint presentation was this:
You’ve undoubtedly seen that logo 10 million times. 8 years later, it holds up and remains perfect for us.
Not long after, Melody said “Then, when you are ready, this becomes expandable but within the brand. You can build on it with extensions like Drink It and Like It, Bake It and Like It, Grill It and Like It and so on.” she said. “It sets you up perfectly later for something like a cook book.” She had prepared a similar logo for each one.
I was floored. Senea was floored. Frankly, it was all pretty bad ass. Drink It and Like It. I’m kind of digging that, I thought at the time. You need to remember, we didn’t even have a television show yet. Just a blog at eatitandlikeit.com. The TV show premiered about 4 months later on a Saturday morning on WJCL-TV. Melody Johnson has been our Creative Brand Manager ever since.
I always thought Drink It and Like It could ultimately end up more popular than Eat It and Like It. 8 years later, that seems pretty ridiculous to say, but I continue to believe that to be true. Meh, whatever. Time will prove me right or wrong.
I always thought the key was to wait until we were in a position to do it well. Not do it for the sake of doing it because we love our beverages in the South.
So here we are.
8 Summers after that chat in the park, I think I’m ready for a drink. Maybe a cool, refreshing milkshake. Boozy milkshake of course, right? Not necessarily. We cannot stress it enough, Drink It and Like It is not exclusively about alcohol. Drink It and Like It is just that. A search for interesting people doing interesting things with something you can drink.
It might be gin, bourbon or vodka, sure. But it also might be coffee. It might be tea. It might be cider. It might be a coffee roaster, it might be a distillery, it might be a brewery. From our seat, it is all fair game. Why? Because the name of the show is Drink It and Like It. Not “Get Blasted and Like It.”
When, where, how can you watch? That’s a trick question. Our 8th season of television “Eat It and Like It with Jesse Blanco” will premiere on September 23rd. Yes, there will be copious amounts of food. I can share that our season premiere is a show on chicken wings. We have plans to travel upstate South Carolina for the first time, we have plans to return to Florida.
We also have plans for no less than 4 episodes about beverages in the South. Might there be gin, bourbon or vodka? Sure. Might there be coffee, tea or something else? Of course. Those episodes will air in the same time slot as Eat It and Like It. We are just mixing it up. Right now there is no separate series. Just a few drinks in between all of the eating. Similarly, we’ve already started the process of hiring a couple of writers. We are using this opportunity to expand our digital presence as well. You are going to see a lot more content on the website and on social media.
If you can’t tell, we are having an absolute blast solidifying our place as the voice of food in this region. We’ve met so many amazing people and are incredibly proud of so many of the stories we have been able to share. Y’all just need to stop with the “I gave you that idea when we met at the County Fair.” Certainly good for a laugh, but Drink It and Like It has been in the works for almost a decade.
Thrilled as hell, if you can’t tell, that it is finally here.
See you on TV
Jesse
