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Everything is Marketing – The Ham Sandwich

Marketing Programs 3

By Luke Sklar and Amber Hudson

Welcome to the Everything is Marketing blog.   We are here to prove that every single issue in life, every person, story or event, has a marketing lesson.  And we want you to join in the conversation.   So crack those knuckles and weigh in on the discussion, share your thoughts and ideas, agree or disagree.  Bring it on, we want to hear from you!

The other day I was sitting at my desk and Luke was doing his Making-Sure-Everything-is-Okay prowl around the office.  Halfway through, he stopped by my desk and we got to talking about this blog.  At one point Luke looked at my lunch and said “you know, everything IS marketing, even that ham sandwich.”

 I did the smile and nod, slowly turned back to my computer and made myself look busy.

A couple days later I was driving to a client meeting and that conversation popped in my head and I laughed out loud.   A ham sandwich!  Marketing!  That’s actually funny!  Then someone told me about the following:

And there it is.  Tim’s is celebrating the ham sandwich.  So of course this got us thinking:  there is something alluring about the simplicity of this noble lunchmeat sandwich.  It’s so incredibly decisive, so focused, so single minded.  You can dress it up with fancy mustards but in the end it’s still a ham sandwich. 

So what’s the lesson?  There is always a craving for authentic goodness.  Go ahead, choose the trendy, the sexy, the buzz-worthy.  But don’t forget, a classic is always a classic.

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Luke Sklar Published February 16, 2011 by Luke Sklar This entry was posted in Blog, Marketing Programs, Resource Centre and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=520750684 Margaret Paul

    So the moral of the story is that we should be asking ourselves at every step of the marketing journey, “Where’s the ham sandwich?” Or, what is that single-minded, simple, authentic offering for the consumer? I’d also like to add that a ham sandwich is as trustworthy as they get…consistent and true, through and through. Doesn’t every brand want to stand for that with its consumers?

    Nice “food for thought”!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=520750684 Margaret Paul

    Nice “food for thought”!

    So I guess the question at every step of the marketing journey is “Where’s the ham sandwich?” Where’s the simple, authentic core of our offering to the consumer? I’d like to add that, personally, a ham sandwich is the most trusted of all sandwiches – it remains true to itself through and through, every time. And what brand doesn’t want to represent that to its consumers.

  • Ellen Gooden

    Reminds me of NPD’s “ham sandwich presentation”…for 30 yrs, the ham sandwich has topped the US National Panel Diary as the most common food eaten at home. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/23/sunday/main4628085.shtml
    Same story…despite all of the change, we really do stay the same.