Nerd Thoughts…

This weekend a friend of mine in the food science industry came over with a handful of his co-workers and we grilled out. The menu was primarily Mexican in theme; there were skirt steak tacos, guacamole, salsa, fresh tortilla chips, rice and beans.

What is really the most noticeable when eating with food scientists are the flavors. When people think tacos they have no idea what the tacos we eat tasted like. The science of food has a lot to do with flavor. Science has identified 5 basic tastes that humans detect (sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and umami). Food Science understands this and uses it to effectively target and create enjoyable combinations of ingredients. It’s really hard to describe but let’s just say it’s better than the average Joe’s cook out.

This brings me to the reason I’m making this post. J.J., the food science friend, has developed a chicken and pork marinade so good it makes you feel as though you were having a religious experience. He wants to bring this marinade to market and he’s asked me to handle the online aspects. That’s when it occurred to me; are all products made for online marketing? And what makes sense for marinades?

So let’s begin the Web Marketing Thought Process:

We could build a web presence. Maybe add a simple shopping cart and provide basic information on the product. That makes sense. But what about running a sponsored or organic campaign?

This is where it gets tricky. To me a sponsored campaign makes more sense because the cost can be regulated, the results are immediate, and metrics can be easily tracked. An organic campaign, however, is more of a commitment to a process and the results can be inconsistent. With a small budget and an untested market response it just makes more sense to not place too much emphasis on the organic side.

So with a focus on developing a web presence and by running a few sponsored campaigns we should be able to quickly determine whether or not to continue campaigning online and at the same time establish a decent web presence good for branding purposes.

This situation is interesting because, although not out of the question, it shows a clear example of where organic marketing is not the cost effective answer. As someone who has worked most recently in SEO and SEM professions it’s a hard thing to say but organic marketing is not the answer for everyone. In fact, I’d say that unless a client had a few thousand dollars per month budget specifically for online marketing SEO would be out of the question.

So, in this case, to test the online demand for marinades… we go for sponsored listings. It just makes more sense.

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If you’re interested in my services as a consultant, like to read my ramblings, or want to try J.J’s chicken and pork marinade, I’d love to hear from you.