All’s fair in love and entrepreneurship. Marketing wisdom and observations from the world of outsourced marketing communications.

Not far from my house, there is a McDonald’s I sometimes frequent to indulge in one of my favorite “cheat meals.” It’s a “cheat meal,” because my personal trainer and my girlfriend only allow me to have such calorie-busters once a week to round out a more “veggie-oriented” meal plan that would make a cardiologist proud.

My preferred item on the brightly colored numerical list of choices is the #1 meal. For those not as susceptible to the lure of the billowy grill-infused-smoke that re-wires everything in my brain telling me to eat a turkey sandwich instead of the two all-beef-patties I really want – that’s a Big Mac with fries and a tall Coke. It’s predictably tasty, and for me, at least, always rewarding.

Yet despite the predictable and ordinary nature of my trip to the Golden Arches, a visit to a McDonald’s in Chicago is never. . .really. . .typical. In fact, it’s often like stepping into another country altogether, or several at the same time to be precise. The reason for this of course, is that Chicago is by nature a massive mix of folks from all around the globe, and my local McDonald’s is at times the perfect microcosm of this fine city.

There is the group of elderly Greek gentleman who occupy the four booths along the wall from morning till lunchtime, kibitzing with their long-time mates about a variety of topics du jour in their native language; the Polish couple with stroller in-tow; the teenagers off on lunch break from school and the staff comprised mostly of Latinos asking me for my order in English, but quickly shifting back to their own familiar tongue once I’m off to my own booth. It’s really a beautiful thing to see.

So all this diversity in what some might consider this most “American” of American restaurants got me thinking a bit. Here I am in the “heartland” of America, still “fly-over” country for a lot of folks on the east and west coasts, and I’m the lone American in Ray Crock’s paradise. How is that? I don’t see commercials for McDonald’s in Greek. . .or in Polish for that matter. Certainly in some areas of the country, and on some stations here in Chicago, there is Spanish language messaging streaming through homes. . .but regardless, I don’t think commercials and advertising are even close to the reason why people go to McDonald’s. It’s not what brought me there. (I was transfixed by the smell. Yeah, right.) How about the 15+ Greek gentlemen there every morning? And the couples, and teenagers and everyone else spread across every imaginable demographic? Why are they there? They’re certainly not all watching the same TV shows and frequenting the same websites. . .so what is it?

Well, in my experience, one of the major keys to crossing the boundaries of language, culture and ambivalence toward marketing, is the infusion of heart into a product or service. Now, feel free to dismiss this as “willy-nilly” marketing junk if you’d like, but if you sit back and really think about why it is you buy different things, choose a particular service, or frequent an establishment, I’d be willing to bet money that a large part of the reason you settle on your choices is because of how these brands, services and places make you feel.

When a company or individual puts their heart and passion into a product, it’s often difficult to contain the enthusiasm that accompanies the pitch. Even a product that just sits on a shelf can be imbued with a certain level of passion. Think about auto parts, for example. Not the most glamorous of products, right? But if you’re an auto mechanic, no doubt you’ll know who makes the best parts and why, and the packaging and branding that goes along with creating that feeling is all part of constructing the emotion the consumer “buys” in the end.

A brand is merely an extension of the people who think it, make it and sell it. And each time we interact with people associated with that brand, we walk away with a feeling of how it has impacted us. Were they nice to us? Did they treat us with respect? Did they treat the product with respect? With regard to the latter, let’s take a look at McDonald’s, for example.

When I worked there many moons ago, we had a policy that after a specific period of time, fries that were not sold were to be tossed because they no longer met the standards set forth by the company with regard to taste and appeal. I imagine the same is true today. You see, people who come to McDonald’s expect their fries to taste a certain way. . .to have a certain. . .crunch if you will. Mess with that, and you mess with the consumer’s attachment to the product. They end up feeling differently about it. Just ask someone at McDonald’s what it was like tinkering with the oil they use to fry up those babies, or execs at Coke what it was like after introducing New Coke to a puzzled audience of Coca-Cola addicts. Yikes. There is indeed real emotion tied up with any brand.

So what do we do to make sure we’re shepherding the desired emotional outcome among our intended audience? In my book, it looks like this: Hire the best people you can. Pay them well. Require that they contribute to the success of the brand – and reward them when they do. Invest in R&D. “Hang” with your customers, vendors, suppliers. . .find out what makes them tick. If you follow these simple guidelines, you’ll know exactly what it is your audience wants – and you’ll be able to deliver it every time. Ignore this simple premise, and you’ll find yourself delivering cold, wimpy fries instead. Serve too many, and people will stop coming back for seconds. Be passionate, it works!