A typical ad for a caterer features a close-up of mouth-watering food: a white porcelain plateful of pink shrimp and sizzling steak or intricate pastry drizzled with chocolate.  Cut off the bottom of the ad, and can you tell one from another? What differentiates one caterer from another? What if a caterer didn’t show any food at all?

Geppetto’s Catering in Riverdale, Maryland is doing just that by promoting itself instead as the green caterer.  I didn’t realize that I had absorbed their message until someone in our firm recommended that I talk to Geppetto’s about an upcoming event.  He said “Geppetto’s.” I said, “Green!” I recognized their name because they ran an eye-catching set of ads based on their sustainability practices.

So I met with a rep from Geppetto’s. (As the sole marketer in a 100-person company, I am amazed by how many people in our office know printers/caterers/promotional item companies/salespeople of many kinds they would like me to meet with.) Admittedly, I met with her because of the referral, but if I had never heard of the firm, I would have been less likely to jump on the meeting. Their ad campaign had paved the way for paying attention to the referral.

However, after the meeting, I told at least half a dozen people that

1. Geppetto’s gives you all the plates and napkins you need–they want you to use theirs, because they are biodegradable, and
2. They will pick up your catering trash so they can compost it.

I became a walking advertisement for Geppetto’s–all before I had eaten a morsel of their food.

Why? Because they identified and promoted something that differentiates them from the competition. They had something interesting to say and presented it consistently. Most  caterers offer decent food at a price that market can bear.  The challenge lies in choosing a point of differentiation, something many companies find challenging.  A discussion might include questions like:   “If we emphasize we’re green, how will they know that we offer food for all meals? Why not show a close-up of our food? Let’s photograph a white table with an elegant place setting.”  These questions miss the point–what’s important is to show something–anything–that makes a company  different.  The fact that Geppetto’s would compost a client’s trash is different enough to make me talk about them in conversations with colleagues and friends.

Ultimately, whether I’ll continue this word of mouth will depend on their food and their service, but by advertising something unique and following up with a presentation that reinforced their message they are on their way to turning sustainability green into cash green.