Stinky Pepper Boy.

Not a very nice name to be called in third grade.

On the first day of school my oldest came home and said he was done with peppers. No big deal … until I found out why.  He was being teased about his lunch. Why would kids pick on another kid about his food? Well first and foremost they are kids, but secondly, like all consumers big or small, we fear and sometimes even mock the unknown.

After a couple of days, I proposed the sweet pepper ‘marketing 101 campaign’ to my son, and he was all in! “Mom, once they try them, they will love them!” Game on!

Our Marketing 101 Campaign consisted of Four Proven Marketing Tactics:
1. Awareness
2. Engagement
3. CTA – Call to Action
4. Trial

Awareness: A platter of peppers was brought to the lunch room and a short introduction that included the health benefits, what they tasted like, the different colors/options was given. All the benefits can be found here. The kids had the knowledge (awareness) that peppers promoted healthy skin, hair, vision and immune system.

Engagement: The kids were interested … some had tried the peppers, some never had because they thought the peppers were spicy, but when they heard the name ‘sweet mini peppers’ they were engaged. Everybody likes something sweet.

CTA: This year our school started composting. Four days into the year some had not visited the compost bin, which was a coveted trip AND the CTA! The stem was compost worthy and earned a trip for all that tried.

Trial: The lure of the compost trip gave us what we needed. They. All. Tried. A. Pepper. Trial was the key to winning them over.

Of course, not all the little consumers were converted – there were a handful of pepper holdouts. But many really liked them, resulting in requests for seconds!  To my son’s joy they started chanting … Pep-pers … Pep-pers … Pep-pers. 

Everyone sells, in one way or another. As parents, we sell our children on our belief systems, values, and desired behavior. As business owners, we sell our products and services. Following a few proven marketing tactics can convert even the most discriminating customer.

And what of our Stinky Pepper Boy? After our successful venture, as I was walking out the door, my son ran across room, threw his arms around me and whispered “thank you.” And he has been packing peppers for lunch ever since.

We’ve all heard the famous saying that originated centuries ago, was spoken by Abraham Lincoln and has been shared many times over the years. Mark Twain added his humor to it with, “Actions speak louder than words but not nearly as often.”

If he were alive today, I wonder what interesting quotes he would share about our current behavior with constant texting, emailing and connecting through numerous social media channels. Certainly, he would be blogging, tweeting, have millions of followers and be sharing great stories. Maybe after a tragedy, he would say something like this –

“Today we need our actions to speak louder than our likes.”

Social media is full of followers, sharing, tweeting and lots of likes. As huge fans, our rockin’ team on the porch loves all of the likes received and we love likin’ even more! It’s a form of connection and an easy way to acknowledge something shared. It’s our world and yes, we LIKE it! We are certainly fortunate to be more connected than ever before. But will our actions keep up?

My home state of Louisiana is going through a crisis after terrible flooding. Victims have shared their stories and asked for help through social media. Posts are liked, shared and full of comments from caring people expressing thoughts, prayers and sympathy. This is a beautiful part of the social media experience, and when it leads to donations, volunteering and help beyond the emojis and words typed within the pages, it makes a real difference for those who need it desperately.

Actions speak louder than likes.

Friends, we still need the likes.

We need the connection, sharing of information and the ability to show we like, love and care. But sometimes, we also need to take action.

Here’s a challenge for you. Ask your kids to research and find a story online they have not heard before about someone less fortunate. Then find out what they want to do to help and decide how to take action. Wouldn’t it be great to see what they discover, learn where their empathy lies and teach them the importance of taking actions beyond the emojis, texts and online chats?

On the porch, we intend to keep on following, sharing, tweeting and liking, a lot! Then we’ll get off our rockers, grab the kids and make sure our actions speak louder. That’s just how we like it.