Advertising & Cooking

Last week my 8 years old daughter was helping me in the kitchen and she said "the more it takes the better it tastes". The smile of my face was not because she enjoys cooking like her dad or because I am still surprised by her perfect American accent. It was because what the sentence means.


If you cook you know what she said is true, even if on the Food Network the cooking shows seem more like a F1 race. But if you think about it, you know that what she said is true for everything in life, including our business.

We live in times of urgency where "speed to market" or "30 second elevator speeches" rule the business world. The brands (and the clients) we work for want to do in two years what they didn't do in 40. Why? Have you heard this before?: "the average CMO lasts 18 months in the job".


We don't take time to think things over. We don't take time to slowly "cook" an idea. To add spices, try it, give it to other cooks to try it so they can suggest different spices or maybe introduce a new "ingredient" to make the idea more robust. We don't take time to see how our customer enjoy our dishes. To talk with them, get their opinion, listen to suggestions, "more of this, less of this, how about this?"


I love to cook and I love advertising. Probably because in both cases I can experiment, use different ingredients, connect dots and see how people react to them. But I know that the more time and passion I put in each activity a better dish will come out. And the goal should always be to make the best "dish".


Quoting Jamie Oliver: "I really, really do generally, first and foremost, make creative decisions based on what feels right, and anything monetary follows if it’s good, I believe."


I believe too. Bon appetit.