Do the Unexpected to Make Advertising Stand Out

Did you happen to see the article in the New York Times this week reporting that CBS is planning a fall advertising campaign using 35 million eggs?

It seems that a company out of Deerfield, Ill., called EggFusion has developed a laser marking system that can etch any desired image onto the outer surface of an eggshell. Originally, the company intended to use the tool to inscribe expiration dates directly on eggs, but the technology has since hatched into something much bigger.

Hoping to create some eggcitement for its fall schedule, CBS has decided to work with EggFusion to create what CBS calls "egg-vertising."

According to the Times, the network is planning on etching millions of eggs (the same ones bought in supermarkets everyday) with the CBS logo, as well as whimsical ads for some specific programs. For example:

• CSI: Crack the Case on CBS
• The Amazing Race: Scramble to Win on CBS
• Shark: Hard-Boiled Drama
• Monday Nights on CBS: Leave the Yolks to Us

How inundated are we with advertising these days? So much so that we tune most of it out. This is especially true in today's digital age, where we are able to TiVo through ads on television or surf past them on the Internet.

All of which might be bad news for the small business owner. Unlike giant behemoths like the CBS Television Network, small businesses have limited budgets and restricted resources. Our marketing, by necessity, is usually much more focused than that of our bigger business brethren.

But the CBS plan is also good news because it shows us the way. No, we don't have million-dollar budgets or a gaggle of high-priced, well-educated marketing whizzes coming up with clever ideas for us. But that doesn't mean we can't borrow a good idea of theirs when we see one … and I see one.

In his great book on marketing, Purple Cow, author Seth Godin says that today the key to achieving outstanding results in marketing and business is to be extraordinary. In this era of "omni-advertising," the way to stand out and to be remembered, he says, is to be remarkable, to be different.

No, you may not have a budget that allows you to imprint millions of eggs with your company logo, but that doesn't mean you can't still be clever. In fact, I would wager that it is your entrepreneurial cleverness that sets you apart.

Use it. Come up with a new idea and run with it. Be different, be remarkable. Do the uneggspected.