Today's marketing lesson. If you're going to use an email address on your product packaging, use one that's branded with your company's domain name.

It was snack time on my US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale today and I got a little excited as the basket made its round in the first class cabin, for I spied something new. To hell with the sea salt and cracked pepper potato chips (they’re ghastly), be banished Biscoff and help me in welcoming the latest confectionary – whole wheat fig bars.

I know figs may conjure up some bad memories, but I always liked Fig Newtons. Figs are pretty much the ugly fruit in the orchard, but they still deserve some respect.

As I bit into the fig bar, I started reading the package. The bakery that makes them has a website – naturesbakery.com – but apparently they haven’t embraced the concept of branded email yet, as the package displays an email address with an sbcglobal.net email address.

Bad marketing. Good fig bars.

The next package I laid my eyes on was for a package of “Cranberry Nut Mix.” As one would expect, this savory snack contains what else – cranberries and nuts. A quick look at the ingredients confirms that along with an unexpected warning – “Produced in a facility that processes peanuts and other nuts.”

I guess that’s good news for nut lovers and I’m sure it’s better than having nuts processed in a facility that processes sewage and other waste water. The nut warning is meant to alert those with peanut allergies not to eat the product, but I don’t think anyone with the allergy would be willingly reaching for a bag of nuts.

Next time you have way too much time on your hands, go grab some products that you have laying around the house and take a look at the packaging. You may find something on that box of cereal that may make you chuckle or say, “are these people nuts?”

Those nuts are processed where?

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On a plane two weeks ago, the gentlemen in 1C struck up a conversation with me. Seems he takes the Allentown, PA to Fort Lauderdale, FL route almost a frequently as I do and he wanted to introduce himself. After the obligatory “where do you live” dialogue, his interest was piqued when I said “Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.”

Louie's? Portofino? McDonalds?

So Sunday night I did.

The first thing that hit me over the head like a big bag of “Duh!” was the menu, wine list, martini list presentation. I received a Louie’s menu, but the wine and martini lists were encased with reused folders bearing the Portofino name. Those familiar with Portofino will know that the first thing anyone would want to do is distance themselves from a restaurant known for poor service, even poorer reviews and bad food. Hence the reason it didn’t last long.

I called the server over and asked her if I was eating at Louie’s or Portofino. With a puzzled look, she asked why? I showed her the folders with the Portofino name on them and she said, “that’s the first time I noticed that.” She went on to explain that when the restaurant first opened, in order to get customers to know where the place was at, they were calling it Louie’s at Portofino, but now it’s just Louie’s.

The restaurant definitely has an identity problem, or they’re too cheap to order new menu covers. This is branding at its worst. A quick Google search for “Portofino, Wilkes-Barre, PA” will bring up plenty of sites offering less than satisfactory reviews of the former eatery. I know that if I were moving into that building, I would not even want to stock the same toilet paper Portofino had, yet alone reuse their menu covers.

If the former restaurant was successful, had a strong following of regulars and was well known in the community, I would say play off the former name as much as possible. In this instance, whoever suggested that the owner use the Portofino name failed miserably. The server indicated the use of the name was to let people know where the restaurant was. Well, it happens to sit next to a Bob Evans in a plaza occupied by other tenants which include FedEx Office, Verizon Wireless, Wendy’s and a credit union. Instead of saying, “Come to Louie’s in the former Portofino,” why not “Come to Louie’s on Highland Park Blvd. between Bob Evans and the credit union.”

With the restaurant now called just plain Louie’s, I think someone may have gotten the hint.

Now get rid of the menu covers.