Trade Show Guru

Successful marketing involves a combination of three things: the Basics, Hard Work, and Secret Sauce. The first two (the Basics and Hard Work) are 80% of the formula, the last item (the Secret Sauce) is 20% of the formula.
The bad news is that while I am a guru, I am not a genius, and I can’t teach you about the Secret Sauce. It is beyond me. It is mysterious. But it is so powerful that it often seems that it alone, all by itself, can be a marketing success (without the hard work and basic marketing). Marketing Secret Sauce is hard to decribe, but when you see it, hear it, or taste it, you know it. It’s the idea or slogan that leaves you thinking “why didn’t I think of that?!”
The good news is that you can still be successful at marketing even without the Secret Sauce. If you follow the Basics and really Work Hard, even though you’ve only to 80% of the theoretical formula for marketing success, you’ll probably outdo the majority of your competition that are sitting back waiting to find the recipe for the Secret Sauce.
But since I did title this post, I guess I should give some examples of company’s that have their own marketing Secret Sauce…
Starbucks – Their coffee is good, but not great. I’ve found better coffee, but I know that wherever I go, I can count on Starbucks to always serve good coffee. Plus, their padded armchairs (at least at our local stores) are amazingly comfortable. And I dig their green mermaid logo. Based on their success, I’d have to say they’ve got some Secret Sauce.
Other companies? – feel free to leave a comment if you can think of another company that has their own marketing Secret Sauce.