SAL-AD: A Recipe for A Good Campaign

In many ways, a great campaign is like a Caesar salad.

I ’ll explain why. As an on-the-side home cook that dabbles in a way too small Amsterdam kitchen almost every day, my favourite thing to do is find new combinations. Whether it’s in my work as a creative, or in the kitchen when combining guacamole with honey (seriously try this). In this article, I combine cooking with advertising for a light-hearted lunch read overcomplicated with metaphors. You’re welcome.

This recipe is written based on the things I’ve learned so far by looking at great creative work from all over the world. Here’s the recipe.

The Ingredients:

Let’s start with cleaning our cutting board: wood, marble, stone, plastic or an iPad. Doesn’t matter, but it’s important to clear your head, and focus on the task at hand. 

keep it filthy, and let the flavours of yesterday’s cooking marinade into what’s to come today.

Or, and this is why I love this analogy, keep it filthy, and let the flavours of yesterday’s cooking marinade into what’s to come today. But that’s more risky could be revolutionary or it could be food poisoning. 

Then it’s on to preparing the ingredients.

Let’s cut the lettuce (zeitgeist of the campaign).

From all the ingredients, lettuce is the quickest to spoil, just like up to date insights.  

To get the perfect kind of mileage from your greens, it’s important to have the freshest kind, the one in season. If you get one that looks ok-ish from last month, you risk being boring in terms of flavour, disappointing in the crunch department and unsatisfactory with sauce-ability. It has to look good on TikTok after all, if you want to be talked about. 

I always try to do my research on what kind of lettuce is trending. Or be bold and grow your own unique kind. Just make sure to rinse it off though, you don’t want to be cancelled if it turns out to have dirt on it.

Then prepare the bacon (understanding audience).

There are multiple options here, and it all boils down to the people you’re making the salad for. Is it for environmentally conscious guests? Go for vegan bacon. Sadly, still a bit underwhelming in the flavour department, but your guest will massively appreciate it if they’re particularly vocal about such things. They might even Insta it to show their appreciation. I’d usually go for a great thick cut, butcher-bought, applewood smoked bacon, fried to crispy perfection. – But that’s my personal preference, which doesn’t always coincide with my guests. – It’s very rarely the case that I’m going through the entire process of making a Caesar Salad, just for myself.

The other options are turkey bacon, if it’s a spiritual or religious dinner party. Or the ‘easiest’ one: no bacon at all. But keep in mind: if you leave it out, you might want to look for a substitute to make sure you don’t forget about this aspect of the salad, because it might be the missing piece and it could completely blow over your guests’ heads because it didn’t connect with them.

Grab your cheese next (budget-efficiency).

Cheese and lettuce, both choices that revolve around expensive and cheap. Expensive is an easy win. Cheap can easily ruin the whole thing. It’s about balancing the costs and fitting it to your recipe.

Cheese has been compared to heroin, when it comes to being addictive to people by the mayor of New York. Not kidding. It’s delicious, comforting, umami-packed, rich and beloved. But, “What kind?” is a good question. If you want the real deal, Parmigiano Reggiono, 30 months old, made in Modena. That’s going to cost you, it might be worth it, to have this celebrity on your plate, but only if it’s combined with ingredients that will give it a proper podium. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money. A decent Parmigiano from the local store is also great if you know how to incorporate it nicely. Or even a local cheese will do fine in most cases. 

But, and this is my honest opinion. Don’t go with a non-cheese substitute. An easy fake that looks the same as the original on the outside might seem like an easy solution. But it’s better to look for an affordable local alternative than a knock-off that disappoints. I hear you thinking; what if someone is lactose intolerant? Same story, look for an alternative that works for that particular objective. It’s a small step to go out of your way to accommodate them, but a huge impact on the end result if you do.

Croutons, keep it crunchy (disruption)

In any ad, or recipe, it’s important to break up the monotony. If everything’s the same, you’ll be bored after the first bite. Croutons are perfect for breaking up the mouthfeel, adding some much needed texture to your campaign. Keep in mind that they are a finishing touch, not the centre piece. It should catch your attention, and bring an unexpected element to the whole. They should be scarce, vying for attention on the plate, but not in abundance to the point that it becomes a crunchy breadfest, because then you’re making a sandwich.

Now, we continue with a super important step; the dressing, (campaign balance). 

A traditional Ceasar dressing consists of very strong factors. Garlic, which means: sharpness and the ability to penetrate through. Anchovies, meaning funk and complexity. Lemon, adding zing and freshness, but be aware that too much can turn into bitter lemon-party. Mustard, which rounds everything out. Eggs, important to keep things together and neutral tasting oil, the great combiner. Every ingredient adds something, all of them equally important. Each has the capacity to overpower, to spoil or to force the whole thing to be thrown out and done again.

Add too much garlic and the sharpness might make it too niche, only appreciated by a super select few garlic-enthusiasts, but not for everyone.

Our job as the creatives, is to dress it on the plate and yell “Service!” Inside your head as you saw Bradly Cooper do in the movie Burnt.

It’s super important to keep tasting, keep trying and keep making sure that there’s balance. It’s something that’s adjusted until the very end. And even then, you can add that last tap of lemon zest at the very end if you feel like it needs a little extra pzazz to shine.

Those are the ingredients of the salad. Your flavour campaign. Now it’s up to us to assemble the whole thing. 

Our job as the creatives, is to dress it on the plate and yell “Service!” Inside your head as you saw Bradly Cooper do in the movie Burnt. (Btw, little side note, switch that whole movie with the ad world, replace the dishes with campaigns, and you’ve got a pretty accurate idea of top level advertising in most cases.)

Let’s toss the salad with the dressing. Add enough dressing to coat, but not to drown. Arrange nicely on the plate, not how you’ve seen millions do on instagram. Do it your way, let the leaves speak to you. Want to tear them? Just do it. Want to keep ‘m whole to showcase the green? Have it your way. Do half shred, half whole? Do what you can’t. 

It’s up to you, you’re the chef. Now add the appropriate bacon, in ways that you feel like would do justice to the dish. Up next is cheese, distribute them effectively, for ultimate coverage, so it’s just enough to be competitive in terms of flavour in each bite, but not enough that you must clean any other dishes than your own. And lastly, the finishing touch. Some pepper and salt to finish; can’t do anything without. The art and copy of the kitchen cabinet. It all comes together through them.

Want to add any other toppings? Some pine nuts? A social campaign? Chives? Red pepper flakes or a sprinkle of influencers? Sure, make sure you don’t incorporate too much cheese into the whole thing. 

The last part of the salad is the plate; the tableware. Which is a direct parallel to media in this metaphorical cooking endeavor. Big, too big, small, light, dark or digital(?). It’s important to choose the right one to bring your creation to the table if you want to get noticed, go viral or have someone show their grandmother. 

I’ll end this recipe with a quote from my favourite movie, by a particularly talented French rodent, Remy: “Anyone can cook.”Which is true. But it’s up to you, you’re the chef.

This whole ‘recipe’ is a base, how you interpret each element is personal. Like every recipe ever, it’ll always remain a suggestion, doesn’t matter who wrote it. A creative, a rat or a Michelin star chef.

It’s all about balance. You decide the flavour.

You’re the chef of any ad salad you create.