Biscuits and gravy, biscuits and gravy
Get 'em all over your shirt!
Biscuits and gravy, biscuits and gravy
Eat 'em 'til it hurts!

This is a song, well, more of a chant that we used to do at summer camp a few years ago. Every Wednesday for breakfast we would have biscuits and gravy. I loved it. The staff loved it. The campers, on the other hand, complained all week about the fact that something so "gross" would be on the menu later that week.

Anyone who's ever had good old biscuits and gravy will tell you they make a filling meal, taste great, and (unlike cold cereal) can keep you going for a looong time. When you're camping in the mountains and have to be on your feet jogging hills all day, there's rarely a better choice of breakfast. Unfortunately, 11-year olds accustomed to sugary cereal pawned by cartoon characters don't quite get that.

This is where the song/chant comes in.

Get people cheering something loud enough and long enough, and the words will stick with them. Make the cheer a competition between two groups and you bring passion into the equation. Even though they might have never had B&G before, they will get emotional about winning and tie the breakfast choice in with those emotions.

We had several people complain on Sunday about Wednesday's menu. Even more on Monday. One or two more would join them on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the complaints were sometimes a chorus rising from the masses all the way until they were seated with their steaming plates of B&G. After the song, though, everyone was excited beyond comparison about breakfast ... and they ate it all. I think I only ever got seconds once - the week we had half as many campers.

New products can be hard to get passionate about, particularly if you already have something that works for you. If consumers have a choice (as they almost always do) they will stick with what they know and trust and leave your flashy new (and superior) product sitting on their plate as they leave breakfast.

We sang songs and created competition to build support behind our "new product." What can you do to build support behind yours?