Sushi Surprise For true marketing inspiration, head for your product's home turf.

In the age-old quest to get good products the attention theydeserve, sometimes you have to turn to your market instead ofracking your brain.

Before
Denver-based Brand Management Inc., a food branding consultancy,recently got the nod to help a local supermarket chain improveconsumer awareness of its prepared sushi offerings. The mainobjective of the project was to convince potential customers thatthe supermarket's take-home sushi is as good as restaurantsushi.

During
Brand management'spresident, Shultz Hartgrove, and team started the way they oftendo: conducting focus groups and branding strategy sessions in anattempt to come up with a new name and "presence" for theproduct. Result: a lot of heat but no light. What did they do?Break for lunch. Recalls Hartgrove, "My partner and I stoppedat a local sushi bar, and every few minutes we'd hear a sushichef shout out, 'Sushi ready!' to alert waitresses theirorder was ready." The partners had a mutual lightbulb moment:"That's it-Sushi-Redi!" Then they spied the sushimenu board. Why not hang one like it at the supermarkets forauthenticity? Not a bad branding session for $15 plus tip.