A client recently asked us what the term “marketing,” really means. A Google search for the word “marketing” turns up 517,000,000 answers – and most of them are wrong!

Bottom line? Marketing is a catch-all word for everything you think about and do to get your product or service in the hands of the consumer. Much more than tactics, marketing always includes analysis, strategy and execution. Marketing is a series of thoughts, discussions, trials, actions, and sometimes disappointment — that ultimately leads to sales success. This can include identifying target markets, packaging, pricing, distribution, advertising, PR, social media and more.

Part proactive, part reactive, marketing is essential for every business.  You can have the greatest product or service in the world, but if no one knows about it — or your company — you can’t sell it. Too many people simply put out a great product and expect it to sell.  We like to call that the “Build it and they will come” model.  Unfortunately, that only worked for Noah and Kevin Costner.

When planning your marketing budget, don’t ask yourself “if” you need marketing, but “what kind” and “how much?” You need a marketing plan and marketing to be seen, to be discovered, and to create a buzz that will lead to sales. 

With as much subtly as a ton of bricks, the tag line “It’ll blow your mind away,” is conveniently placed below a wide-mouthed hottie just waiting to gorge on a hot, meaty torpedo–mayo conspicuously dripping from the bun. If that’s not explicit enough, the copy “Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the NEW BK SUPER SEVEN INCHER” should complete the puzzle.

Sadly, BK is not alone. Quiznos ran a racy commercial for sandwiches where an oven talks to a sandwich maker and says “put it in me”. Calvin Klein last week featured a canoodling foursome hanging high over Times Square that was pulled before huge controversy ensued.

I suppose sex sells, but I wonder to whom. Not me, and not my friends. After all, if you need hamburgers to make you horny, you’ve got much bigger problems.