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Where do you get mangoes? And what does that have to do with marketing management?
There's a common saying in Miami:
“People who buy mangoes in the grocery store have no friends.”
If you're not from here, that might not make any sense.
But if you're a Miamian, you understand it immediately.
For at least the last 38 years, Miami has been nicknamed “The Big Orange.”
More recently, the General Consul of Spain renamed us “La Gran Naranja.”
But, truth is, Miami's not really much of an orange town. That honor belongs somewhere up near the center of the state in Winter Haven, Lakeland, Sebring, or Bartow.
Miami Mango Marketing Management
But not Miami. Instead, we should be called “The Big Mango.”
That's because every mango season, trees all over Miami's front- and backyards drip with the bright orange/purple globes. And no matter how many you eat or freeze, most trees still produce many more bushels of fruit than anyone can handle.
That's why barely a day goes by during mango season when someone doesn't ask, “you want some mangoes?”
If you answer yes – and why wouldn't you? – they'll pop open the back of their SUV and hand you a couple of grocery bags overstuffed with fresh, juicy mangoes.
Hence the joke. If you have to go to the store to buy mangoes, you must not have very many friends.
Speaking of not having friends, in 2018, the Kaiser Family Foundation found 22% of adults in the US reported feeling lonely or socially isolated.
In 2020 (during the COVID pandemic), Cigna sponsored a study called the “Loneliness Index.” They surveyed over 10,400 adults and found 61% reported feeling lonely.
If you Google “best cures for loneliness,” five suggestions turn up:
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Supportive Therapy
- Group Therapy
- Interpersonal Therapy, and
- Mindfulness-Based Therapies.
Almost all of the therapies I found online were accompanied by a similar disclaimer: “It is essential to consult with a mental health professional to determine the most appropriate therapy for your specific situation. They can conduct a comprehensive assessment and work with you to develop a personalized treatment plan to address loneliness and its underlying factors.”
So if you were a therapist who specialized in treating loneliness, how would you market your professional services?
Seems to me you could simply hover around the produce department in a Miami grocery store and hand your business cards out to anyone buying mangoes.
After all, if they have to buy mangoes, they must not have friends. And if they don't have friends, they're probably lonely. And if they're lonely, they probably need your services.
Miami Mango Marketing Management
While this may sound flippant, it actually demonstrates a proven four-step process for marketing your business:
- Understand who you are and what you provide.
- Know who your potential client is and what they need.
- Figure out the best place to find them.
- Let them know how you can make their lives better.
That's all there is to it.
Call it Miami Mango Marketing Management. And remember, you heard it here first!
Excellent Article.
Thanks David.
Great analogy, also made me laugh! And be homesick for mangoes in Miami…
I love the opening. cracked me up!! Thanks for the laugh.
Where Do You Get Mangoes?
There’s a common saying in Miami:
“People who buy mangoes in the grocery store have no friends.”
I had to laugh with this post 🙂
As usual, I thought your weekly blog (is it Wednesday already?) was interesting and useful, Bruce, but Miami Mango Marketing was especially fun and universally applicable.
Reminded me of Paul Newman’s portrayal of a down-and-out lawyer in “The Verdict”, handing out his business cards at funeral homes, to elderly, grief-stricken widows.
I’m going to start hanging out at the Delta terminal at JFK and hand out VisitMiami.com cards.
Great post!
I resonated with this well-couched advice, and thanks for the mangos, btw. I have felt lonely for mangos since moving to the Keys where you would expect them to be a part of every menu, like bananas in Central and South America.
I ‘beweeped my outcast state, and troubled deaf heaven with my bootlegs cries’ and lo, I was given a 15-foot sapling to shut me up if not cure my mango loneliness.
It has not produced yet, but I know what to expect. I am overjoyed with thoughts of random gifts of kindness. I once wrote, “if someone offers you a papaya, take it. It is hopefully better than yours,”
Hey Bruce,
Your marketing point is understood but since it is such a sensitive topic I feel compelled to weigh in for all the lonely people that may read your blog. Loneliness isn’t just a function of not having friends, it’s a disconnect from them. So the person buying mangoes may have friends, they just aren’t asking them for mangoes, or running into them to be offered mangos.