Points of Thought

Point of Thought #3: Do You Suck?

2009-02-26T23:38:00.003-05:00

I recently heard about a new product called Baconnaise. Like it sounds, it is a combination of the two healthiest food staples; bacon and mayonnaise. Now, I really don’t have a strong opinion about this product from a nutrition or health standpoint. If there’s a market for Baconnaise, so be it; let it stay on the shelves despite however gross it sounds.

Should there be a Surgeon General’s Warning on it? Probably not. Although Baconnaise has not (yet) been declared a carcinogen, I could not like it for a myriad of reasons: environmental, health, animal rights just to spurt off a few.

I am protesting it based off of one simple reason. This is their slogan:

“Everything should taste like Bacon.”

Their slogan sucks.

A potential client, boss or significant other could look past all of your facial tattoos, rotten breath and poor manners. “Yeah his/her hair smelt like a wet dog but they seem really genuine and motivated.” This person could look past everything that makes you self conscious, as the fictional “100% unbiased” person should do. However, you could throw it all away because your personal slogan sucks.

What’s your personal slogan? It could mean all the difference, so I hope it doesn’t suck.

Point of Thought #2: What’s your Lion?

2009-02-24T22:49:00.002-05:00

Storytime!

An artist was standing before a massive stone slab with a hammer and chisel in his hand.

His odious student approached and asked what his intentions were with the overwhelmingly large medium.

The artist replied that he was planning on turning it into a lion. In awe of the painstaking time and labor it would take to accomplish the artist’s goal, the apprentice questioned his teacher’s ability to achieve such an implausible aspiration.

“Are you sure you can do that? It looks impossible,” said the student.

The man replied as he began toiling with the stone, “There’s no such thing as impossible. All I have to do is remove the parts that don’t look like a lion.”

The artist began to set the lion free from the rocky cocoon while he mumbled, “Getting that stone here… that was impossible.”

Although the Artist’s skill transformed the slab into a masterpiece, the sheer scale of the sculpture made his accomplishment that much greater. Do you have an “impossible” slab to chisel? I hope not because nothing is impossible; you just need to take away the parts that don’t look like a lion.

Inspired by an excerpt from Building Brand Value: Seven Simple Steps to Profitable Communications by Bruce Turkel.

Point of Thought #1: Your First Stint in Marketing

2009-02-24T01:21:00.012-05:00

This is my first stint in marketing; a county wide competition between fourth grade students. The kicker is the slogan I developed for the ocean dependent company, "Hope to 'sea' you soon!" Not too shabby for a fourth grader, huh? This advertisement goes to show that a simple concept can make you stand out (even if your motorboat doesn't actually have a motor.)

What was your first stint in marketing? Did all of your boats have motors?