“Advertising is the price for an unremarkable product” Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder said this during his annual shareholders meeting in May 2009.

Advocates and fans talk about best of breed products and services enthusiastically. This is why Google need not advertise their search engine while Microsoft spends $100M on another attempt to challenge Google. It is why Belfast’s Mourne Seafood Bar fills every evening without advertising while the mediocre competition try to lure a crowd with ads in local fashion magazines or price incentives.

The story of the tomato sells better than the taste

Creating a conversation or story is the best way to spread a message. A restaurant that interviews the local tomato supplier and pushes the story out in their email campaign and social networks will create a conversation. The truck sales man that explains how his customer Frank saved money by using less fuel in a long haul run from London will create a conversation. The bank that thanks their student account holders for their business while in education instead of just sending them data (such as bank statements and flyers), will cause a conversation. All of these conversations are great adverts that spread.

I think Jeff’s point is that the less conversation-worthy the product or service is, the higher the advertising budget needed to compensate.