Freelance Copywriter / Creative Director - Healthcare, Technology, Industrials, B2C, B2B,
RULE #48 -- Good for eating and marketing -- Over the years, my wife and I have avoided disappointing dining experiences by invoking Rule 48. The gist is, “Don’t order food from a restaurant if it’s not on the main menu.” So, no matter how great your yen is for pasta, take a pass on it at Bob Evans. The same holds true for wine from a convenience store, bagels at McDonalds, or, worse, sushi from any joint that doesn’t specialize in sushi. The further your order strays from the core menu, the more likely you’ll play gastronomical roulette. You want your steak restaurant to focus on steaks, not seafood linguini and cannoli. Rule 48 also plays out for brands, marketing plans, and budgets. What are you funding, staffing, or resourcing that’s siphoning attention off your core brand? If it doesn’t fit, cut it or sell it off, no matter how tasty it seems. Procter and Gamble®, for instance, sold off Folger’s® Coffee and Pringles® potato chips, both highly successful international brands, because they didn’t fit the profile of its consumer packaged goods businesses. Find out what doesn’t belong on your marketing menu. Then, as chef Gordon Ramsey says on the TV show Kitchen Nightmares, “Shut it down!.” Photo: Nienke Broeksma on Unsplash
