Where’s The Peanut Butter For My Waffles?

I went through most of my pre-teen years thinking the rest of the civilized world enjoyed a delectable breakfast of waffles just like I did… smothered in peanut butter. Specifically, homemade waffles, covered in Jif peanut butter and Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup… with a nice cold glass of milk. Absolutely delicious. Alas, apparently most children consumed cereal on a regular basis with the occasional stack of pancakes as a treat (waffles’ underachieving cousin). I, on the other hand, viewed breakfast as an event and had homemade waffles three to four times a week, courtesy of my amazing Grandma. That veil was lifted one morning. I was 11. What’s wrong with you, Alex? My buddy Alex, along with a few other friends, lived on the same road as my Grandmother, so my brother and I would spend a lot of time at her house. Alex stayed over one night and when we awoke the next morning, my Grandma asked, “What do you boys want for breakfast?" I said, “Waffles! Sound good, Alex?" He said “Sure…” Sure? Didn’t he know the deliciousness that was coming? As soon as the plates hit the table, I started slathering on the peanut butter. As I looked over to Alex, he was just putting on butter… butter! I said, “What’s wrong with you, Alex?" He looked at me, confused, and then noticed the gloriousness in front of me. “You put peanut butter on your waffles? That’s gross!” Obviously, my friend had been living under some type of rock, because everyone knows you put peanut butter on waffles. Well, apparently not. It was at that moment I realized it was my duty to share with the world, and Alex, the proper way to eat waffles. After some prodding, Alex took his first bite. Trepidation turned to delight as his eyes widened and he said, “That’s pretty good!” Success… Alex never ate waffles again without peanut butter. Try some peanut butter on your marketing. One of the things agencies hear a lot from clients is, “We need some out of the box thinking.” Well, that very statement implies fresh and new approaches to marketing. Unfortunately, when push comes to shove, most default back to simple butter and syrup. Afraid to really try something new, avoiding the peanut butter altogether. Truth is, 99% of the time, “thinking out of the box” really means “think outside the general box, but not outside the bigger box that the general box is in”. Yeah, that’s right, you’re still in a box…still eating waffles with plain butter and syrup. If you really want to think out of the box, really try something new, you have to look at what everyone else is doing and do something different. That’s not an easy task and sometimes it requires taking some chances, but it can be done. Just look at ihatestevensinger.com. Jewelry marketing is a prime example. Most everything has been done. Just look around. It seems that everyone is doing the exact same things. The question is, “How many ways can you market jewelry?" Well, maybe the question should be, “How many ways can you market yourself?" When you step back and ask that question, things become clearer. Ask yourself what your message is, what makes you different and how will you stand out in the crowd. Figure that out and let it live in everything you do, including your marketing. You compete on all marketing fronts and need to resonate with the audience. Take digital marketing for example. How can you stand out in things like paid search or social media? How do you make people stop, take note, and remember? The world has really been flipped upside down in the past 10 years. Tech has changed the way people shop… heck, it's changed how they live! Yet, jewelry marketing seems to be the same, except on different platforms now. How can that be? The millennial generation operates differently than other generations, yet the message remains the same? I tend to look at this as an opportunity. An opportunity to re-engage, reimagine and reconnect, but then again, I’ve always eaten my waffles with peanut butter. Are you hungry for a new flavor? Well, start with some waffles! Here is my Grandmothers recipe… remember Jif peanut butter and Mrs. Butterworth’s!