What we need is Fusion Marketing from a Master

As I watched media man Dhruv Baker receive the news of his victory in an emotional way last week on Master Chef  – that was the Dhruv part of him weeping, Baker would simply have said “jolly good” and turning to the others would have said “hard cheese” - I had a thought.

He was clearly a very good chef indeed. They were all amazing but it was Dhruv who had the palate and skill of flavour combination that felt adventurous, daring, modern and somehow right. John Torode, the Australian sounding judge and no mean chef himself, seemed hugely enthusiastic about his fusion skills.

And it occurred to me in this global economy what we need is not integrated marketing, which sounds like Meccano, but “Fusion Marketing” borrowing bits and pieces from different cultures but never forgetting either that at its centre marketing is about selling things and changing minds.

We need for instance a bit of the Asian bazaar culture with lots of sampling and haggling on price. Marketing as tasting trial and marketing as  a game.

We need a touch of American big displays, big tastes, a bit of Wholefood’s extravagance and enthusiasm and pitching…”you’re going to love this you; really are”. Marketing as merchandising and pitching.

We need a bit of laid back chat about the brand in question, some stories, some rumours. Something on-line to kick around. Marketing as a conversation.

We need some robust processes. Ways of getting product to market quicker, fresher and cheaper. Marketing from companies like VW, BMW, August Storck, Muller. Marketing, in other words, as engineering.

And we need marketing as passion in life, like the finalists in Masterchef had for food. Like Ben and Jerry, like Pret a Manger, like Green and Blacks, like Morgan, like the late Anita Roddick had. Marketing as a passionate commitment to excellence.

Mix this lot up, stew slowly and add a bit of online, advertising, guerrilla marketing, merchandising, design and you have a fusion of ideas and attitudes that may be amazing – after all anything’s better than “integrated”… (integrated food anyone?)

Now read and review my book “Brilliant Marketing” on Amazon please. It’s doing really well but I have to keep promoting it. (That’s called marketing too.)