Nougat is probably the most useless thing around. But we all want it. And corporate America has sure found a way to market this innocuous but oh-so-sweet product to us. If a billion dollar industry can be built around this stuff, why can't you make money doing what you do best?

Think about this for a second: just about everything we complain about that is unhealthy or wasteful or we think is unfair is something directly from our pop culture:

• That fast food is killing America!
• Those athletes are overpaid!
• Why does anyone need $200 jeans?!
• 8 mpg SUVs are bad.
• My cell phone has to do everything (except stay connected apparently)

If you consider these examples you will find there are two reasons they seem to be consistently prevalent as complaints. They are pop culture and they are marketed very well. One thing America is very good at is pop culture. We export it. I would argue that it rivals agriculture as one of our biggest exports to the world. Agriculture keeps you alive. Pop culture entertains or titillates. We really don't have to market grain to the world. But we sure do market our pop culture. We're very good at it. We're good at living in it, making it, sharing it and changing it.

It's always in the moment and the most appealing thing about it is that it's instant gratification. And because it's so flexible it can change instantly for the latest craze in instant gratification!

Whew. Let me catch my breath. I'm glad I have an Ionic Breeze nearby. My air has never been better.

The reason this instant gratification is so prevalent is because we've mastered marketing as well. When you live in this kind of culture where you are good at marketing something you can also expect to be an excellent receptor of marketing. It stands to reason that it's a self-fulfilling cycle.

So that's why nougat is so huge! Some genius executives that discovered this material and figured out how to make lots of it needed to move it. How many different ways can you buy
nougat?

They figured out how to make it sound appealing, packaged it and then repackaged it. Then they branded these different offerings and then hammered us with ads.

I'm just wondering if we can't do that with our product/service? If nougat is a worldwide success and it has no real value. What would happen if we marketed what we think is valuable? It should be a huge, instant and qualified success. Right?

That's the trick isn't it? It doesn't matter how valuable you think your product/service is. It matters how valuable they (your market) think it is! Even better? If they think they need it!

So take some stock in your product/service and see where you are. Try to find the value that you bring and make sure that it's clear. And be sure to tell the story over and over again. But make sure the story is compelling and tasty.

Follow the model for success that nougat has wrought. I know nougat tastes sweet. But we also know that the tongue has taste buds for that sensation and our brain loves it. So some people throughout history have worked very hard to exploit that hard-wired circuitry in us.

Figure out how your market is hard-wired and become a creamy nougat sensation to their circuitry. They'll come back for more. But only if you make sure they know they need it and can't live without it. Just like cola. It's very easy to sell sweet.

| patrick |