My 9 year old son Ryan ~ an inspiration on a daily basis ~ came home from the North Carolina Arboretum camp not too long ago with an interesting fact: It takes 4 gallons of maple tree sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. As Ryan described it, the sap gets boiled, water evaporates and it becomes thick and sweet, then it goes into a bottle. My first thought was that's a lot of sap to make a little syrup and that I'd appreciate the next banana pancake breakfast more than normal.

My next thought was centered on the marketing process with clients and how it paralleled the maple syrup process. Before we make any marketing recommendations, there is a ton of information that needs to be "boiled down" in order for the true essence of a product or service to be defined and implemented in a marketing strategy. External and internal variables make for a very dynamic process that should not be taken lightly. 

So, next time pancakes and maple syrup are on your plate, think about all that sap that was boiled down. If marketing is on your plate, think of the information that needs to be boiled down for your brand to stand out.