Message in a Bottle (And Which Matters More)

The marketing process is like sending a message in a bottle. You write a note on a sheet of paper, slip it into a bottle and cork it. You walk up to the water's edge and throw it into the vast sea. What happens next is a mystery. Where will the tides and currents take it? Will someone find the bottle? Will they respond to the message? One can only hope.

In this analogy, the message is how you express the essential benefit your product offers. The bottle is the communication channel through which you send the message, such as print advertising, radio, Internet and even direct sales.

Here is the million dollar question: Which is more important, the message or the bottle? The truth is that as long as the bottle is watertight and floats, the message will travel. It can be a milk bottle, wine bottle, empty bottle of Snapple or whatever.

The message determines whether the recipient will respond. If the note said, "Hello, my name is Joe and I live in Seattle and I hope you are well," then the recipient might be amused but would not think much of it. If the note contained the number and password for a bank account containing $10,000, the recipient would be interested and probably check it out.

The message is 10 times more important than the bottle.

I say this because there is a tendency to think marketing is about where and how often to run ads - this publication or that Web site. Yes, this is a part of marketing, and it matters, but the message comes first. A clear, relevant, well-defined message can double or triple your chances of success. In business. Period.

The message reigns supreme. Stay tuned. In future posts I will discuss what makes a message great.