In marketing, all's well that blends well.

The other day Black Sheep had the opportunity to attend the Lucky Strike grand opening, and of course, because we’re all about knowing what’s going on in the World of Awesome, we went. And it was awesome. For those of you who don’t know, Lucky Strike is a bowling alley with a full bar. Basically take everything you associate with bowling and forget it. That’s what this place is. They serve champagne. Champagne! Absolute perfection.

This concept got me thinking, and you know what I realized? Some of the best things in life are unusual blends of seemingly disparate entities. For instance… peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hybrid cars, iPhones, Ligers (bred for their skills in magic), laser-pointer pens, labradoodles, 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner… Heck, even Black Sheep’s leadership team is made of Aggies and Longhorns. It’s the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts theory,” and it’s what scientists call “synergy.”

This same principle also applies to marketing.

Marketing is a multi-faceted method for promotion and it encompasses several different strategic components. Public relations, advertising, social networking, Web marketing, guerilla marketing and branding work better alongside one another than they do by themselves.

Let’s say you sell pet rocks.

And you get a great article written up in the New York Times about how pet rocks are the most eco-friendly pets and that Paris Hilton and President Obama endorse them. Once millions of people read it, they’ll want to learn more… Where can I get my own pet rock? How can I get involved in sustainable pets? Well then, you’ll need a Web site. And that Web site will need branding featuring a unique pet rock logo and delivering all the information anyone could want through specific messaging. And that brand will depend on top-of-mind awareness through advertising and guerilla marketing…  Like when you decide to throw pet rocks in the middle of Grand Central Station. This will cause quite a ruckus, and tons of people will want to be your friend on Facebook.  While visiting your page, they’ll see the link you posted to your article in the New York Times. That’s only one theoretical chain of events that brings your marketing full-circle, but you can see how important each element is to the success of the entire campaign. And that’s synergistic marketing.

Black Sheep recognizes your need for synergy, and we can help create it. We work to establish all these angles for you and then bring them together. But, we are also happy to work with other advertising agencies, PR firms and your very own company too. Our goal is to make sure your entire marketing strategy results in something that’s bigger and better than any singular tactic, and we don’t care if we do it all or some of it. The goal is the WHOLE (that’s what she said), and we’re ready to do our part.