Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Hopefully you are wearing green, eating corned beef and cabbage, listening to bagpipes played by men in tartan kilts, sporting a four leaf clover in your lapel and are surrounded by green-clad leprechauns. There is just one problem with all of this: it is not Irish, but an American remake of a religious holiday in Ireland.

In Roman Catholicism, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He was a missionary who led to the conversion of the pagan residents of the island to Christianity. He died on March 17, 461, thus the solemn day commemorates his life with a modest feast. Since the day comes in the midst of lent, it is a one-day reprieve from fasting during the holy season. However, it was never the reveling day in Ireland it has become until the holiday was Americanized. Here is a list of the American remake of St. Paddy’s Day.

• Wearing green had nothing to do with St. Patrick or his day until it hit the shores of America. In fact, the Knights of St. Patrick actually wear blue. Green was probably loosely associated with Ireland being known as the Emerald Isle or with a rebellion against the British in 1798. A famous ballad was written about the Irish Revolution called "Wearing of the Green.”
• Corned beef and cabbage is actually a Jewish meal. In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated by eating pork and potatoes. The Irish-Americans of the 18^th century living in the urban areas of the east coast found corned beef and cabbage in abundant supply and cheap, so they substituted it for the traditional meal of bacon and Irish potatoes.
• Tartan kilts and bagpipes are actually a Scottish thing. Ireland and Scotland are on neighboring islands. The Irish wear kilts, but these are traditionally Saffron Kilts (solid mustard yellow).
• Shamrocks are three-leafed clovers that represent the Trinity of God in Christianity. Four-leafed clovers may be lucky, but are not shamrocks.
• Leprechauns have nothing to do with St. Patrick or his feast day. They are from Scottish-Irish folklore. However, they are not described wearing green in ancient Ireland, but red jackets.

What can you learn about marketing from St. Patrick’s Day? For one thing, marketing defines a brand. People believe what you tell them in marketing. What was a solemn religious day of commemoration was turned into a day of merriment. The marketing redefined the day and told people what they should wear, eat, and do in order to properly celebrate their Irish heritage. None of it really had anything to do with Irish heritage, but people believed it did.

The second marketing lesson is that symbolism is strong in helping you define (or redefine) a brand. Simple images stick with us. Little green men with red beards drinking pints and smoking pipes have come to be a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day even though they have nothing to do with the patron saint. Somewhere along the line, someone created an image that stuck to the event.

The third lesson to learn is that when you are building a marketing campaign, not all things have to line up to be effective. The American version of what has become an Irish-heritage celebration actually borrows from several cultures outside of Ireland. It also includes people who have absolutely no Irish roots. It doesn’t matter. It sells, which is the bottom line of any marketing campaign. The idea is to cast the net wide and involve as many people as possible.

If you are building a brand, consider St. Patrick’s Day. Irish or not, my guess is you are wearing green today… everyone is. One thing is clear: marketing works.