Different restaurants may serve up the same dish but the plating, accompaniments, and overall taste usually differ. Homecooked meals that are considered classic and familiar within a culture also become unique to every household — and it’s not unusual that families claim to have the best version based on secret recipes passed down for generations.

Marketing is much like cooking. It is unique to its home. It is influenced by who, how, and where we are. It's unique to what we want, what we can, and what is important to us.

So while there are basic ingredients, techniques, and tools to consider in cooking up a marketing plan for any product or service, there are several other factors to consider in ensuring a distinctive and successful campaign. 

First, ask the question: What do I need?

In food, it is primarily about filling the need for nourishment, and that may be extended to indulging in a craving or simply for experiencing culinary joy. In business, marketing needs to achieve a target.

There are millions of ways to satisfy hunger as there are millions of ways to achieve a commercial target. So we look at the next question: What do I have?

When planning a meal, you must check how much money you have, what ingredients are available, what tools can be used.

Similarly in coming up with a marketing plan, you need to check your budget, who and how much talent is available, and what tools are on hand.

After those factors are determined comes the question: What can I do?

In cooking, when there is little money or limited ingredients, improvise. Adjust the recipe to what you have in order to get what you need. A slice of bread topped with ketchup and cheese could be filling enough and even satisfy a craving for pizza.  

In marketing, if you cannot afford to communicate through an ad in different types of media or sign up a brand ambassador, there is always the less costly option of putting up a website and tapping different social media platforms to promote the product or service. Through this latter strategy, it is also possible to achieve targets.

Many businesses make the mistake of failing to craft their own marketing strategy, developing their own way of cooking, and making their version of a ‘homemade’ recipe.

That mistake could be because of not knowing they have to, or maybe don't want to, or perhaps don't know how to — and that could be learned, or even refreshed by those who have long been in the marketing kitchen.

In Acumen’s Marketing Excellence Program (MEP), “marketing chefs” craft a homemade recipe for and with each client’s “family” -- assessing what they need, enumerating what they have, and strategically planning what they can do based on what they have to achieve their targets. It’s a highly customized program tailored to who, how, and where the home is.

In one MEP session for a global FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) giant, for example, even very senior brand experts were there to listen and participate.

And that is how seasoned home cooks or well-trained chefs or experienced marketers continue to excel and dish out good stuff — they don't just keep learning, they also learn from good teachers.