The next time you’re blocked on marketing or business-building ideas, think about hamburgers.

Because, what’s more of a commodity than hamburgers?

Author Dave Dolak provides this succinct definition:  Commodity products are largely undifferentiated products that offer little or no perceived differences between competitive offerings.

Yet, consider the creativity spawned by the ubiquitous hamburger – so many variations on the same idea that excite consumers every day.

This is top-of-mind for me because I just learned about a hamburger chain called Bareburger, which opened a restaurant in Edgewater, NJ.

It got me thinking.  There seems to be an endless amount of brand concept, product development and overall food establishment new business activity across the country, built around hamburgers.

Obviously, the challenge is to create meaningful differences or reasons to buy.  Build the news or make new news out of existing products.

So, if you’re running a commodity business, tasked with marketing a commodity product, or just in need of some new business ideas, be encouraged.  Draw inspiration from USA hamburger chains.

Now, in fairness, the regional chains typically do not compete against each other (the national ones do), but the point is the same.  There are ways to be different and relevant by leveraging the full spectrum of today’s available marketing mix components.  Find them.

Check out five idea-sparking hamburger chain examples, courtesy of Emily Rothkrug, plus two more favorites (note all photos are from the respective company website or social media page):

Of course, the all-time best place for a burger is The Olympia Restaurant!  No longer in business, this classic eatery was operated by Saturday Night Live in New York City.

Headline

The next time you’re blocked on marketing or business-building ideas, think about the hamburger.  This ubiquitous product defies its commodity status with a relentless stream of brand concept, product development and overall food establishment new business activity across the country.

Harvey Chimoff is a hands-on marketing leader and business-wide collaborator who builds marketing capabilities in B2B/B2C organizations that drive customer success.