Branding is Positioning! There is a place for everybody and everything!

IE...The pickle story brought to you courtesy of Mr. Hood, my junior high history teacher. Our Holland Opus.

So it's a big world out there with a lot of people and even more consumers. People are doing, buying, and creating every day and whether you like it or not they need things. People need services, consumable products, amenities, luxuries, and even junk. People are addicted to the process of buying and having.

You are a business or craftsman. You need to create a revenue stream to not only support yourself but your family, employees and yes government. (shhhh-I didn't type that)

I'm here to say that it is vitally important for you to be aware that your branding is all about positioning. You need to know your target market, where they live, breathe, eat, sleep, and where they like to walk their dog. If you know these things than you are well onto your way of maximizing your product, its distribution, and your success. Why pickles you ask? Well many years of gratitude to one very special Craig T. Hood from Chesterfield Central School who has provided a lifeboat of lessons for one very zany marketing girl. He just doesn't know it.

So sit back, breathe deep, and feel the power of the pickle story. It is a business gift from me to you. I hope you will internalize it and take it with you along your journey as I have in mine.

The Pickle Story
by Craig T. Hood (retold by Jennifer Houghton TRG - northeast)


There once was a very smart business man with a whole lot of cucumbers. This man had a mission in life and that was to make money and realize the American dream. He was born in poverty but had been given the gift of wit and intelligence and more importantly than anything else he had been given drive and desire.

So this humble man with a lot of cucumbers had an idea he was going to build a pickle factory and make his own dreams come true. Here's to a very short story with a very good ending. The man became a very successful pickle factory with a very a very successful life and a very happy marriage. And why? Because the very smart business man knew that branding was positioning and this is his secret.

He took his cucumbers and divided them into groups:

Healthy strong cucumbers - no blemishes, dimples, or bruises
Almost perfect cucumbers - a few blemishes here and there but essentially good
Middle of the road cucumbers - chunks missing, dark spots
Wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole cucumbers - the cucumbers on the bottom of the barrel
with mold starting to grow

Next he created and positioned four product lines from these four groups of cucumbers:

1. Amazing WHOLE pickles
2. Fabulous pickle SPEARS
3. Crunchy Zesty pickle CHIPS
4. Sinfully Delicious RELISH


Need I say more? This blog post was inspired and brought to you by TRG -northeast
through Mr. Craig T. Hood, teacher and life mentor. Stay tuned for more great stories to help you build your business.