Like most other companies, The Life is Good Company felt the impact of the recession. Co-founder Bert Jacobs told an audience last week at the annual National Retail Federation convention that sales ran down close to 15% last year. But he also said the firm's business is “starting to trend back up again” as the company's message of optimism and giving back continues to resonate with consumers.


Flinging Frisbees and cracking jokes with the crowd, Jacobs regaled the luncheon crowd with the story of how he and his brother, John, started selling t-shirts in 1994 on the streets of Boston and out of a van traveling up and down the East Coast. While sleeping on an inventory of t-shirts in the back of the van, the brothers started having conversations around optimism. The two explored how the “media inundates our culture with negative information” and how negative thoughts affect people.


“What does it do to our psyche and what does it do the fate of humanity if all we focus on is what is wrong,” said Jacobs. “If instead we focus on what is right, it empowers us.”


When they came up with Jake in 1994, their happy-go-lucky icon, they quickly realized that other people were likewise trying to latch onto a similar upbeat message. On the day the first Jake t-shirt hit the street, 48 t-shirts were sold in 45 minutes. What was more telling was that Jake was appealing to a wide audience.


“We watched all these different demographics bought the same exact message and we thought, 'Wow! We have something here! This is something our culture needs!,'” said Jacobs.


The two began pairing Jake with activities such as eating ice cream, biking and hiking as retailer requests for different shirts came in. The brothers soon “began to realize that anything that celebrates life-Jake can do and do well and we can shine a light on the idea that taking pleasure in the simplest things in the world and celebrating those things is something that is very positive to people. It's something that empowers people and is something that we don’t do enough of.”


The business grew to $3 million by the year 2000 when Jacobs said the September 11 terrorist attacks challenged that message behind Life is Good to the brothers and employees. But a companywide meeting found that the power of optimism was needed more than ever by the country. A fundraising effort featuring a t-shirt with a simple flag on it was launched.

Within 60 days, more than 20,000 flag t-shirts were sold and $207,000 raised for 9/11 victims.


Jacobs said that response led to the company's decision to make giving back a much bigger part of the Life is Good message.


“We saw that this is a company that can help people and we're not going to do it only during disasters but we're going to do it 365 days a year,” Jacobs said.


To date, over 300,000 people have attended the company's outdoor festivals, helping raise over $4 million for children's causes.


But Jacobs also noted these charitable efforts support Life is Good's message.


“For Ralph Lauren, a glossy magazine ad makes sense,” said Jacobs. “For Life is Good, a glossy magazine ad doesn’t make sense but pumpkin guts and helping children does. That's what we're all about.”


Jacobs said the brand steadily grew from $7 million in 2001 to $100 million in 2008 but admitted that the downturn has impacted business. 


 

“Are we affected by this recession like everybody else? Of course we are,” said Jacobs. “We're down close to 15% but we're already starting to trend back up again and we're not changing our ways. Through the recession we were able to keep all our employees and we were also able to keep our festivals growing bigger and better.”  Indeed, a festival scheduled for September 2010 is expected to raise over $1 million.

 

The second part of his presentation focused on the many lessons gleaned from the book he co-authored with John, 'Life Is Good – Simple Words from Jake and Rocket.' from that book. Jacobs ended up explaining how the Life is Good message resonates around the globe and offers expansion potential for the brand.

“Life is Good is not an American message. It's a human message. There is no difference between people here and anywhere else in the world,” said Jacobs. “Our goal is to take this business from $100 million here in the states to a multi-billion business throughout the world that helps children everywhere that it does business.”