Pitching Ideas: The Buzzuka Blog

There’s a lot of good definitions out there about what constitutes an “ingredient brand” (see links at the end of this post for some examples) but my definition goes like this:  “An ingredient brand is a secret sauce inside,  a golden thread of value running through a family of products or services.”

When I worked at Intel, arguably one of the most successful ingredient brands in history was launched — Intel Inside — by one of my executive managers, Intel VP of Marketing, Dennis L. Carter. The inside story (pardon the pun) bandied about at the time was that the original idea for Intel Inside was actually a mind-meld of  (a) the “Intel In It” brand message picking up steam in IJKK (Intel Japan) and (b) an epiphany Carter experienced at the grocery story when he eyed a box of  Kellogg’s Pop Tarts with “Smucker’s Jelly inside.” Since Carter was generous enough to recognize and credit the merit of another’s ideas and insightful enough to experience valuable epiphanies on a regular basis, I came to believe both of these stories.

If you think a component of your product or service might constitute an ingredient brand, there are several ways to approach it along a continuum of visibility:

1. Low visibility: Think of this as the “Coca-Cola” strategy.  Keep your component or unique combination of components a deep, dark secret so your competitors don’t even know what they’re fighting against no less how to copy it.
2. Medium visibility: File a patent so your ingredient can be protected as yours and yours alone. By the time your competitors read up on it in your patent filing, it’s too late for them to do anything about it.
3. Medium-high visibility: Give your ingredient a descriptive or trademark name and a story along with it so that customers clearly understand its value and competitors wish they had it too.
4. High visibility: Shout it from the rooftops with a formidable (albeit pricey) ingredient brand marketing program like Intel Inside or Gore-tex.

Or try some combination of the above. The main thing is don’t forget to be on the lookout for an ingredient brand that may be hidden in your product/service offering. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your secret sauce.

More reading:
Ingredient Branding: The Secret Ingredient to Growing your Business: David Meyers & Kathy Hall, Microban International
How to Brand an Ingredient: John Quelch, Harvard Business Review
Branding, What’s Inside: Allen Adamson
Ingredient Branding: Time to Check that Recipe Again – Joe Traddii, BrandWeek

Photo by Chotda at Flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/santos/2252824606/