Getting below the top layer

I took a crack at making my first meal tonight involving roasted garlic - Lemon Orzo Soup. I was challenged to write a blog about marketing and relating it to garlic. I'm going to talk about a marketing tactic that gets used all the time and compare it with this delicious "food enhancer." The tactic is called euphemism. Its purpose? To get past people's tough exterior and help them appreciate all the goodness you have to offer. Stay with me on this one...

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George Carlin has a genius routine on our society's political correctness and it shapes our language. He talks about the "poor" now being the "economically disadvantaged", or the "ugly" now being "severe appearance deficits." He goes on for ten minutes ranting about all the soft words we've added to our language. You don't need to watch the whole thing, but a few pairs in you'll get the idea of euphemism.

Just like garlic has layers, so do people. Don't expect people to go straight to the goodness of your message. You need to have something that gets their attention. It can have that same, wonderful scent as your core message, but we need to appreciate that not everyone has the time or interest to get to that just yet. You can't expect them to instantly get all the good stuff on the inside.

Euphemism helps us tease the customer into wanting more, without being dishonest and misleading. What's a good one for your company? Clay Hebert, a brilliant marketing strategist, teaches a clinic on using euphemism for your business.