My fascinating journey with Spritz Marketing over the past 12 months has made me identify a crucial ingredient missing in the marketing mix. Without it a marketing campaign is just a collection of facts and decisions. Without it a marketing program has neither flavor nor heart. Without it a marketing mix is well…just a mix.

Yes, Product, Price, Place and Promotion are all important components of any given marketing program. However, when you lay them out together, you get nothing more than a crowded spreadsheet filled with facts.

Consumers’ purchasing habits are influenced by so much more than quantitative data. We all develop short-term or long-term relationships with brands. We may fall in love, remain loyal for years, get disappointed, cheat on our favorite brand and sometimes re-discover it, falling in love all over again. These patterns may have something to do with price trends or product features, but more often than not they have more to do with pure feelings – how a particular product or brand makes us feel about ourselves, about our lives, about our choices.

Marketers can do a reasonable job implementing strategies based on data and methodological analysis. But excellent marketing strategies have a heart and soul. They have another driving force – the Fifth P, which should really be named the First of them all. They have Passion.

When I look at the work we do here at Spritz Marketing everyday, I see Passion everywhere I look. I see it when we talk about our clients. I see it when we jump for joy whenever we secure more media coverage or a partnership deal for our client. I see it when we attend an event and tell everyone we meet about our Film Festival client and why they absolutely have to be there. I see it when we hand out gift cards for our online restaurant delivery client as if they were a winning lottery ticket.

I see Passion in everything we do, and that’s what makes our work stand out. That’s what makes our team so special and that’s what makes me come to work inspired and yes, passionate about yet another day at the office