Branding, Bacon & Your Business!

 

 I must confess. Bacon truly is my first love.

I love bacon so much that my boyfriend gave me the gift of Zingerman’s monthly bacon club for Christmas. I’ve been enjoying a new package of bacon delivered to my doorstep every month since, and I’m rather sad to say I only have one month left.

Each month the bacon arrives along with an explanation of the type of bacon I’ve received, the curing process and the story behind it. I thought that was kind of ridiculous, a story about bacon…seriously??? I mean, who cares about the story.

And then I realized…the story is the passion and emotional connection those of us bacon-lovers feel to our bones.

 

Quite honestly I’ve never meet a piece of bacon I didn’t like. In my early years, clearly before I had been schooled with Zingerman’s bacon of the month club, I was hardly a bacon snob. Anywhere. Anytime. Back then, I did have a few rules…don’t ruin or get in the way of the true essence of bacon. Meaning, who needs a BLT? All that bread, tomato and lettuce just gets in the way. And who says you must have bacon for breakfast only. As a matter of fact, bacon is a meal in itself in my world. Nothing says dinner like 3-4 slabs of bacon as the entree!

And, what’s wrong with those people who have to have their bacon cooked to a crispy almost incinerated state. Totally kills the flavor. It’s already smoked. There’s no need to re-smoke it. I like my bacon in any state; flaccid, limpy or solid. My other pet peeve is those people who remove the fatty parts off the ends of bacon, because “it’s too fatty”. Huh? People, it’s bacon for crying out loud. Good ol’ fashion bacon, not chicken ‘the other white meat’! I also have no brand favorites, Oscar Mayer, Store brands, Thrifty, fresh off the pig, doesn’t matter to me! It’s all-good, and all tastes the same. Yummy! Until…Zingerman’s!

Now I get the different types, and curing or processing methods from dry aged to smoked. With the inserts provided with each installment of bacon I feel the story, pride and passion from these fine craftsman (is that what they are called?). I wish I could say I will continue to rise up and become a true bacon connoisseur, but that’d be a boldfaced fatty swine lie. I love bacon no matter its story or origins! As long as it’s pig, not turkey. That’s not bacon.

So, the next time someone asks you “if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life” you’ll hear my answer in your head…BACON!!!

That’s the passion I feel for bacon. That’s the emotional connection to bacon. That’s the high I get from bacon. And, that’s my story about my first love…bacon.

Now you’re wondering, what the heck does that have to do with branding or storytelling. How about, everything! If your brand doesn’t make that emotional connection to your customers how will you get them to be passionate about your product or service? Branding is all about making that emotional connection, finding and developing that passion for your brand, not only in your customers, but your employees too.

Ask yourself the following questions about your brand:

1. Is your company connecting emotionally with your customers or employees?
2. Is your brand a great story that makes your customers and employees feel the same strong passion I do for bacon?

If you answer “No” or “You think so”, it might be time to rethink your brand or tell your story differently. You can’t afford not to in today’s marketplace.