Scrambled to Souffle'

When I tell people I have my own marketing business, they usually say, “Oh, you do advertising?” After providing the “All thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs” explanation of marketing and advertising, the next question usually is, “So, you make commercials?”

People often have a preconceived notion of what marketing (or advertising) is. Some immediately think TV or radio commercials, others picture all the “junk mail” which fills their mailbox, or “spam” which fills their inbox. While those are great examples of advertising, they are not an accurate representation of what marketing is all about.

A great way to explain marketing is to talk eggs. There is your basic scrambled egg, fried egg (which even has subsets of sunny side up, over easy, etc.), the classic hardboiled egg (and the spinoff, deviled egg), then you move into your omelets and fancy soufflés. And I haven’t even mentioned the eggs part in making cakes, custards or meringues.

Marketing takes many shapes and styles, much like the extraordinary egg. It can be adapted to the special needs of a business. It can be basic, fancy, obvious, or hidden. It can stand on its own, or be just one ingredient.

When you think of marketing for your business, do not fall victim to preconceived ideas of what that means. You can have a great marketing plan which does NOT include TV & radio, or billboards, or directories that are yellow in nature. Be leery of marketing diners always selling only one type of egg, and don’t let others tell you, “What you really need is an omelet,” when what you really want is a couple fried eggs with toast.