In a conversation with a good friend, we were mulling over the unique challenges we both have with clients, agencies and production houses when it comes to being effective marketers. He made a very valid point that
“…if everyone worked as quickly as his brain, the work would be TEN TIMES as valuable.”
As the conversation went on, I started assimilating marketing to a constantly moving force in search of it’s next meal…
“If a marketing department or even a basic marketing campaign is to have value or any spec of success, it needs to be constantly moving. Like a shark, if it stops, it suffocates under its own pressure and drowns – suddenly, another corpse for other sharks in the ocean to feed on…”
One thing lead to another and the phrase “Sharketing” was coined.
The conversation came to an abrupt stop. Our eyes grew to the size of the plates that sat below us, and we both started laughing.
“Sharketing… Are YOU Sharketing?” I yelled. (to some pretty strange looks at Palmer’s Deli, mind you)
“Ha… what a cool idea.” He added.
So I immediately went back to the CreateWOW office and registered the domain, AreYouSharketing.com and the seed was planted.
Jump ahead a few months and we come to Sunday, February 20, 2011. A day that Sharketing was given breath and the ability to swim in the ocean of marketing phraseology for ever.
Sharketing defines the action that ALL MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS professionals should be taking. Ever moving, ever searching, hunting, tracking and focused on the next meal. Sharketing allows the campaign to run, unfettered by politics, red tape and the lack of return.
AreYouSharketing.com is a portal for all marketing communications professionals to gain the speed they need to become TRUE marketers. It’s a resource for learning. It’s a resource to extend your brand equity. It’s a resource for additional outposts for your marketing messages.
Some of the best ideas come quickly and simply. And it should always work that way.
I invite you to go on over the AreYouSharketing.com to see what’s in store. So far we have a handful of collaborators, but we’re always looking for more. If interested, please contact me!
What do YOU do on a Snow Day in central Iowa? Well, if you’re at all involved in social media, you get online and jump into the conversation (ANY conversation). There’s always a chat, a dialogue, a debate or simply silly talk going on within Twitter.
As an experiment, I decided to create ascreencast of the conversations that took place with and around me (@TheBrandChef) this morning.
Featured in this little conversation are friends and associates (and some people I’ve NEVER met, but I consider friends anyway):
Sure, right now it’s 93 degrees (in my neighborhood) and Christmas is a whole 156 days away, but I can almost see all of the commercials now. Don’t they start airing some time in September?!? And shortly after, my kids start communicating with every sentence starting with, “I NEED…”
It’s as predictable as the tides. What do you do?
The Child’s Mind And The “Want vs. Need” Paradigm
About mid October, when the kids finally succumb to the hypnotizing din of “New and improved this…” or “Now with 3D and smell-o-vision that,”I stop making lists and start asking two simple questions.
“How many do you actually NEED?” and “Do you really NEED that… Really?”
“… or is it that you just ‘WANT’ it?”
That usually stops the munchkins mid-sentence like they’re hoping not to be caught for audibly farting. But what it really does is open the door to a more reasonable conversation centered on the “Want vs. Need” paradigm. (No, my kids don’t use the word “paradigm…” yet, but it works…)
The Nightmare Of The Perpetual Christmas And The Ever-Elusive Groovy Doohickey
In the marketing world, Christmas comes on almost a daily basis. Day after day, week-in and week-out, clients approach their marketing teams with stars in their eyes and dreams of some ever-elusive groovy doohickey that’s going to revolutionize the industry. And day after day, week-in and week-out, advertising agencies, marketing boutiques, freelancers and consultants alike accommodate them like Daddy Warbucks on Christmas morning. But should we really?
What would happen if the advertising agencies, marketing boutiques, freelancers and consultants asked one of two simple questions?
“How many do you actually NEED?”
Has the affect of the last 40 ad-hock attempts at knee-jerk marketing been successful? Have you taken the time to let a strategy take hold? Will another direct mailer or another sales spot on every radio station in the city really make it better? Doesn’t it eventually all add up to more noise?
OR (my favorite) “Do you really NEED that… Really?”
Too many companies are out there listening to “gurus” preaching on everything from social media and branding to voo-doo for solutions to their marketing woes. Maybe it’s not the next groovy doohickey that your marketing needs.
What would happen if we treated our customers like children? Would they listen? Would they walk away? Could you do it? Maybe some of you already have (I know some of you and it’s true).
Food for thought…
Keep Cooking (the bravest decisions for your customers – whether they like it or not.)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
So, today I decided to expound on the social media world’s fascination with BACON.
Yep, Bacon! It’s the American blogger’s food-porn aphrodisiac. If it came between naked pictures of Kaley Cuoco(Penny on “Big Bang Theory”) and bacon, I truly worry that the bacon would get more views. Maybe Kaley’s photos would have a lower bounce rate, but that’s a whole different blog (and innuendo)…
Anyway! I honestly can’t go a single day without seeing a tweet or a post or a photo(notice the bacon bra?) of something to do with bacon. It’s everywhere!
So, why bacon? Why? WHY!?!
1. Bacon Emotes True Passion - Starting out with the obvious, bacon is… FREAKIN’ bacon!
You can whisper “I have bacon” in a crowded room and it’s pretty certain that you get a glorious, harmonizing response of “yummmmmmm…” similar to those Tibetan Deep Throat Chants. (video)
that aside, the draw to bacon is so powerful, some retailers and hotels have been branded JUST by the bacon they serve! I’ve read of entire restaurant menus dedicated to bacon, but to have an endorsement like this,
“if Bacon had a God he would live at The Roger Smith Hotel!” – Chris Brogan
makes an impact for bacon’s case that knocks you off your feet.
2. Bacon Has Spanning Relevance - While I really don’t need to go into the origins of bacon, I would assume that it took some grunting relative of ours about 10 seconds to figure out the salting and curing of the fatty back parts of pigs turned a generally disgusting part of the animal into one of the most succulent slices of meat human kind would ever stumble upon. It can be fried, diced, baked, grilled and even made into ice cream. So how can bacon NOT be relevant to every social and economical demographic under the sun?
3. Bacon Is Ultimately Unique – It has a taste like no other meat product. It’s kind of a cross between glazed ham and beef jerky. The sheer individuality of bacon makes it the most utilitarian meat source on the planet. And just try to search for “Bacon Recipes.” You’ll be reading (and drooling) for days…
4. And Bacon Is Soooo Engaging – How can one food, one simple, solitary slice of meat become the biggest meme of the 21st century? How can bacon, a fat, salty slice of cholesterol become more consistently popular than Justin Bieber or Britney Spears put together?
Let’s just put it this way, have you ever been unhappy eating bacon?
UH OH… look what I just did…
Can you hear it? Sizzling like fat on a 400˚ griddle… my branding brain did it again.
Even when it comes to writing a silly post about the popularity of bacon, I pull in the TRUE Branding formula. It’s inevitable. When it comes to branding, like bacon, there has to be truth, relevance, uniqueness and engagement.
I haven’t asked pork producers but this could all be a big conspiracy to sell more pork product, but I’m sure they’re not complaining.
How would YOU like your brand to have the fan base bacon has? Imagine having your brand, your product, your name associated with everything personally rewarding and ultimately sinfully satisfying as bacon.
Try it.
Keep Cooking (until it’s crisp and satisfying.)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
And with a hat tip to my blogging buddy @AdMavericks(Josh Fleming) I give you another tribute to BACON!
Life spins around us pretty fast. It’s astounding that when we sit down to write, create, work, or whatever; the world comes to a screeching halt. Of course the distractions, the annoying emails, the tweets and post alerts seem to continue, but when creating really matters, you freeze.My last post talked about the need to conquer this writer’s block. If you don’t want to click back to read the whole post, here’s an excerpt:
It kills me every Wednesday night. While I’ve known all week that I have a personal deadline set to post every Thursday morning; I wait until Wednesday night (or later) to actually start writing. I take notes, jot ideas, scribble and doodle all week, but when it comes to Wednesday, I open TextEdit and just sit.
CRAP…
Suddenly, tonight, a voice in my head said “What the hell are you doing? Just start writing, you moron!” So I did. I wrote, “You’re going to die anyway.” and POW, the words started rolling.
So I challenged you to write the title of a future post for me – to kick-start some of the juices. And to my surprise, you stepped to the challenge (yay).
Now we – more to the point, YOU – get to vote on which title will be my next post! Read the entries below and vote for your favorite. You have until the end of the day (6:00 pm CST)Monday, June 21st to make your decision.
I will take the most popular title and interview the person that submitted it to get “the full story.” Who knows? It may reveal something about one of our fellow community of readers or it may just be cool to hear how they came up with the title. Any way we look at it, it’s going to prove to be interesting and challenging.
So, vote away! I look forward to seeing the results!
Keep Cooking! (free-flowing creative that saves the world!)
