10 Things Cooking Taught Me About Marketing

Learning to cook was a gift from my grandmothers that taught me far more than just culinary prowess. From social to business skills, the art of cooking teaches us many things…

1. You’ll always create an inferior output the first time around. The best dishes are improved over time, so never try out a new recipe with a new customer. The best agencies, creatives, and taglines were not the first to come out of the initial brainstorm session – though they quite possibly evolved from it. Practice new methods or marketing tactics with test products, yourself, or some volunteer project you are involved with. Public reaction is not always what you anticipate – if it was, pubic relations and crisis communication/management specialists wouldn’t have careers.
2. It takes time and practice to fully grasp what a pinch equals. If you are just starting out, it is easy to ruin something by over obsessing. Learn to be satisfied with simply adding a dash here and there. And listen to what your client says: if they just want a splash more of color, brighten the shade just a bit – don’t move from pastels to primary.
3. Most food is too sweet, spiced or over-salted. It is far easier to go overboard with one flavor rather than create something balanced and appealing to all tastes. Doing so shows no finesse, forethought, or appreciation for the palette of your customer, reader, of target audience. An easy marketing example is too much sex.
4. Not everyone appreciates the same food in the same way. What may be considered delicacies for some may revolt others. Know your customer before you start cooking up marketing ideas. This includes taking into consideration cultural differences – the peace symbol to Americans can mean something very different overseas, for example. And don’t forget paying attention to language: Many a reputation has been ruined by weak messaging becoming lost in translation.
5. Concentrate on one genre at a time. There is a reason people go to a French, Chinese, etc. restaurant – they are looking for places that specialize in that kind of food. Though it may be tempting, learn how to cook one style at a time. If you can become proficient in one area, I guarantee your tables will be fuller than if your menu was 20 pages long. In addition, if you are just starting out, don’t pile SEM, graphic layout/design, grassroots marketing, and radio buys all on your plate at once. Spreading yourself too thin at the beginning of the process is one of the few ways to guarantee failure – nobody likes watered down flavors.
6. Too many cooks in the kitchen really DO spoil the broth. Working with a group of people can have its advantages, but there comes a point where the size of the kitchen becomes a limitation. Don’t try to run a small highway diner with a panel of executive chefs, nor a huge 10-month waiting list hot spot by yourself. And always remember, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what level of expertise you, the chef, or the hoard of fry cooks have – it’s the customer’s opinion that matters most.
7. Do not let anything out of your kitchen without tasting it first. If whatever you have created doesn’t pass an internal taste test – by someone other than yourself! – it should not be served. If you are a lone blogger or marketing freelancer, let your work simmer before sending it out. Or maybe now is the opportunity to find (a) partner(s) in crime/executive chef/internet domination/writing.
8. Fancy names matter for nothing if the food is bad. Sometimes you can only go as far as your product is good. If the content stinks, you won’t be able to mask the smell long enough for the meat of the matter to be consumed. No brand name, marketing jargon, PR spin, packaging look, or witty commercial can make a product, service, or dish better. Exceptions are made, of course…
9. Reputation influences taste. Sometimes things just taste better when you know they should, right? Works with kids, that’s for sure. Some people are at the top of every list and referenced all the time, but you are allowed to think they are crap. Believe me, you aren’t alone. Rarely does a four star restaurant stay that way for its entire run.
10. There will always be someone better. Even the best cooks are eventually upstaged, taught, and overtaken by some hot newcomer. Whether you are talking about the physical (off-line) or virtual world (on-line) of marketing, you can’t be on top all the time. Yet another reason that you should be kind to even the bus boys – you see the same people on your climb to the top as on your way down.

What are your favorite recipes for business success? How many times have you burned yourself on the stove? Or were things too hot in the kitchen for you? Did you decide to put your business ideas on the back burner?