This Tiny Grocery Store Violated the Basic Rules of Marketing – And Now Racks Up Over $9.5 Million In Sales

It remains an appalling sight for my eyes and, despite countless efforts, I still cannot delete the brazen image from the deep recesses of my balding head.

The colorful grocery store awning shown below should make every able-bodied, red-blooded, flat-footed marketing professional keel over and wretch.

What do you see here that stands out?

I saw something that forced me to stop my gas-guzzling Honda Pilot in middle of the road, hoist my aching body out of the vehicle, and unceremoniously snap a photo. The owner of this random Brooklyn retail abode had the gumption to install a branded sign emblazoned with a logo, a phone number … and a raw Gmail address.

Gasp of all gasps. Shock of all shocks. Horror of all horrors.

We know what the wise marketing gurus around us have to say about feeble-minded business owners who don’t use official website domain names.

“THIS REEKS OF UNABASHED AMATEURISM AND UTTER STUPIDITY.”

-SNOOTY LINKEDIN CRITIC

“I PREFER DOMAINS THAT END IN POST.HARVARD.EDU.”

-WANNABE BRANDING GURU

“AWESOME. I WILL EMAIL MY ORDER NOW.”

-CLUELESS LOCAL SHOPPER

Oops.

Delete that last line from the record!

Should we not, in our self-appointed roles as sagacious stewards of all-things-branding, justify the intense hatred towards the Gmail domain for business use? It behooves us to protest loudly against this ethical travesty.

How will people connect with the brand on an experiential level, after being exposed to this uncouth Gmail address, and receiving a fatal dose of toxic marketing madness?

The answer harkens back to a breakthrough idea that gained popularity back when Elvis was still alive and when lead was prized as the additive of choice in Texaco gasoline

Neil Borden, an advertising professor at Harvard in the 1950s, popularized a concept known as the “Four Ps of Marketing.” These are a group of essential factors, each beginning with the letter “P”, that are required to market a specific product or service to the public.

1.??????Product: The product refers to a service or set of goods that?brands offer to consumers.

2.??????Price: The price is the amount that consumers are willing to pay for a product.

3.??????Place: The place is the consideration of where the product will be available, such as in brick-and-mortar stores, and how it will be displayed.

4.??????Promotion: The promotion is used to persuade consumers that they need the product.

These components provide a framework for creating a cohesive marketing strategy; but you do not necessarily need all four categories in play simultaneously to achieve success.

Like the unpretentious grocery store shown above, for example.

The primary attribute they exhibit from a very basic marketing perspective is -- drumroll, please -- the Place.

And, without sounding like a hypocrite, that is probably all they require.

There are approximately 3,275 households located within a 1-mile walking radius of the grocery, all stuffed into the claustrophobic confines of this cluttered New York City neighborhood. These households need everything from milk and muffins, to steak and sushi, to tangerines and toilet paper. And they need a trusty grocery situated nearby to purchase these everyday necessities.

Which is why the only thing this grocery must have to succeed is half-a-dozen aisles stocked with products -- and an easy-to-remember Gmail address to submit an order for local pickup or delivery.

I'll be the first to say that not everything in the world of marketing requires an over-the-top marketing campaign, replete with colorful billboards and noisy commercials and flying blimps.

Sometimes, just having a simple Gmail address and promoting it big letters, will do the trick perfectly. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Just know precisely which market you're targeting. And the target market will know you.?