The Cowbell Theory

Most all of us are familiar with Saturday Night Live's version of VH1's "Behind The Music" featuring "The Blue Oyster Cult." For those who are not, here's what happened...

SNL did a skit about how Blue Oyster Cult recorded the song "Don't Fear The Reaper." With Christopher Walkken playing the producer, who insisted they add "more cowbell" to the song. Ultimately, the rest of the band decided that they omit the cowbell altogether.

This skit is a staple of SNL's artillery of funny skits. SNL now markets T-Shirts with Will Ferrell' picture on the front featuring the text "MORE COWBELL" at the bottom.

People will now know the theory behind this skit. It is a metaphor for branding your company.

Take your business, for example. Everybody would love their business to be a titled name like Kleenex, or Jello. These are titles for a company who produces tissues and gelatin desserts, though they are known by name. In this theory, the song "Don't Fear The Reaper" is your business.

YOU want to be the train that takes your business to that "phenom" status, thus making you the producer.

How do you get your product to this level? The answer is easy: your marketing/advertising campaigns. This can be tricky, but if done right, you will be a name that people use around the house. This is the cowbell.

The band (BOC), is the people you put this out to. Making your name known to people on a regular basis is the most important part. These people don't want to hear it, but YOU need to make people remember you. Case in point; Geico Insurance. My Dad is a TV watcher, he loves game shows. He also hates that little gecko with the Australian accent. The best part about that gecko? When he sees a gecko, he thinks of those guys. It may make him cringe, but he knows them, nonetheless.

Beating the cowbell for a company is somewhat hard if you don't have the money that major corporations do. This is your ultimate question. Where do we go now?

The internet. Most people don't realize that optimizing a website for your company, building links, and giving content (among others) is the key to having a successful business.

Be sure to beat the cowbell as hard as possible, and also make sure to keep beating it. Anheuser Busch doesn't need to advertise in America, though they do, simply keeping their name out there for future customers to know where to go when they drink!

Thus, explaining "The Cowbell Theory."