Life Lessons

Be a good supplier. Life Is Good is primarily a wholesaler: Its job is to keep distributors stocked with the right volume and the right mix. One way the company keeps up with demand is by stockpiling products in a plant in New Hampshire and holding off on screen-printing--the final phase of production--as long as possible to ensure maximum flexibility. Decisions on what designs to print are made by a team heavy in experience from the event-apparel industry. "These are guys who would wait until the fourth inning of the World Series before they started printing up the Red Sox T-shirts," says Bert. "They're used to pulling things off at the last minute."

The company's retail customers give it generally high marks for service, although a few cite supply-chain hiccups as the business has expanded. "To serve a company our size you have to have your back room in order, and they do very well in terms of delivery," says Sally Jewell, CEO and president of REI, an outdoor gear retailer with just over $1 billion in sales. Last year Life Is Good was among REI's top 50 best-selling suppliers, out of 1,500, and one of 15 nominated by management for Vendor of the Year.

Small retailers--which constitute about 98 percent of Life Is Good's accounts and 60 percent of its business--single out other aspects of its performance. "They do their inventory right so it's deep, with lots of categories and styles, but not so wide in terms of colors that you can't decide what to carry," says Greg Rowe, co-owner of two small Genuine Neighborhood Shoppes--both called Life According to Jake--in Gatlinburg and Knoxville, Tennessee. "The owners' enthusiasm filters down through every employee," says Julie Titone, owner of Harbor Goods, a GNS in Gloucester, Massachusetts. "From the warehouse crew, the customer service reps, the returns department--everyone is a pleasure to work with."

The Jacobses' ability to maintain that service level will be tested by the company's growth. Genuine Neighborhood Shoppes move far more Life Is Good product than do multibrand distributors, so their demands will by definition be greater. Fortunately, the GNSs have more predictable needs, which makes stocking them easier. In addition, the company is investing in just-in-time reporting systems to ensure that a run on Jake-on-a-mountain-bike caps doesn't leave the storeowner staring at an empty shelf.

The other challenge involves product diversity. Life Is Good has always been a strong presence in resorts, beach towns, and other destination areas; now it is expanding into cities and communities where people shop year-round. That means refreshing product lines more than twice a year--which has been the schedule until now. Toward that end the Jacobses are adding a holiday launch, and are also considering a resort season line.

Choose your IP battles. Another thing that bugged me about Life Is Good was the trademark question. What made these Joes think they could protect what may be the most easily ripped off intellectual property since the smiley face?

The answer is that they know they can't, or not completely. The company has girded itself with a portfolio of trademarks on phrases ("Life Is Good," "Do What You Like, Like What You Do") and images (notably Jake). Still, "we probably get three or four imitations a week," says Bert. "There was 'As Good As It Gets.' There's one right now called 'The Good Life.'" Such copycats, as well as parodies like "Life Sucks," which appeared briefly in department stores a few years ago, earn a warning letter from the company's counsel. Life Is Good is far more concerned about blatant knockoffs. "We've had people fill whole stores with counterfeit Life Is Good stuff," says Bert. "We go after them hard."

The Jacobs brothers are well aware that they embody the thing that makes them money. They labor under the onus of happiness.

But even knockoff artists are only a headache. Migraines come from large corporations that adopt "Life Is Good" as an advertising slogan, as Miller Brewing did briefly a few years back. The Jacobses are now embroiled in battle with LG Electronics, the $34.7 billion Korean corporation, which has launched a "Life's Good" campaign. Interestingly, the Jacobses--who have resisted the enormous temptation to co-brand--say a compromise might have been possible. "What we would have appreciated was a phone call saying, 'Is there a way we can work this out?'" says Bert. "We probably would have found a way. Let's hold hands rather than have a fistfight."

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