I was watching History Detectives on PBS last night. The part of the show I saw was about an early Coca-Cola trading card used for advertisement and promotion.

Here is a quote from Allan Petretti who is considered one of the country’s leading experts in Coca-Cola memorabilia as they asked him to validate the card.

“They didn’t even think that the product was going to sell. As a matter of fact, they only sold 25 gallons for the first year, and they paid $25 for advertising. So this product was in its infancy. The fact that Coca-Cola, their logo, is not on this card is not surprising to me.”

Ok, we all know today Coca-Cola is probably the most recognizable brand in the world – period! They ONLY sold 25 gallons in the first year! $25 for a yearly advertising budget!!! The king of all branding didn’t even put their logo on early marketing materials!!! WOW!

Here is another interesting quote from the show that shows the change in Coca-Cola’s strategy and the impact of a good marketing campaign.

“It’s clear from this artwork that it was advertising that helped turn Coca-Cola from an exotic medical potion into a defining symbol of American culture. Incredible artwork; a collector’s dream. What’s great is that these pieces were not meant to be collected. Coca-Cola gave out these premiums and produced these ads to go into stores, to be displayed on the counters. The colors are screaming. The subject matters are joyful. They make you smile. And for that reason, people paid big money for them. “

There are lots of lessons here. Design matters! Design can change everything and design can change a culture – or create one! Coca-Cola’s advertising has had a significant impact on American culture, and is frequently credited with the “invention” of the modern image of Santa Claus as an old man in red-and-white garments. Yup, Coke changed us forever with marketing

Marketing is extremely important yet most business give marketing the least amount of resources. In fact, when it is time to make budget cuts marketing is one of the first to be chopped. Why? Because it is hard to wait for the return on your investment. Today we want immediate results. We can’t wait a year, or two, or three to change the world! It has to be now!

The other lesson here is that everyone, every company, and every church has to start someplace. Coke only sold 25 gallons the first year. The first night FedEx flew they only carried 3 packages. We cannot look down on humble beginnings!

This past Saturday we went down to “Hobo Park”. We gave out bottled water, first aid kits, socks and underwear among other items. We also cleaned up the park which is a very unique aspect of our AAB ministry. We did not move a mountain however; we were planting seed for the future. It was an awesome day! Most miracles take time and are well worth the wait! The thing is handing someone bottled water will not change a life but hope will. The bottled water is just a tool.

The problem of homelessness is a gigantic issue. It is easy to get discouraged because you want to do more and feel powerless to relieve their suffering. You cannot look at what you didn’t do, but, what YOU DID DO! You gave hope and that hope could very well change a life. You also planted seed for the future in their life, the ministry and your own life.

So if you are discouraged because your business, your ministry or maybe something in your personal life has not progressed as fast as you want, or as big as you want, there is hope. Lots of hope!

On a funny note blogs are work! You have to post often and to be honest; I did not have a thing to type about today. I even asked someone to be a guest blogger today yet somehow I was able to take a marketing subject and twist it into a more spiritual one. Look! A squirrel!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 12:57 am and is filed under Blogs, Community, Homeless, Internet, Just Me, Marketing, My Big Mouth, Outreach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.