Marketing premium food

Outdoor advertising is about much more than billboards these days—bus wraps, subway signs, mobile billboards and more have brought messaging down from the sky and put it in your face while you’re out and about. But using fire hydrants?

According to an article in Advertising Age, KFC is planning to try such a tactic:

“Earlier this year, The Company Formerly Known As Kentucky Fried Chicken — which, incidentally, is the world’s most popular chicken-wing marketer — launched a public/private partnership with several cash-strapped U.S. cities that would emblazon the KFC logo and that of its “Fiery Grilled Wings” across fire hydrants and fire extinguishers all over the city, to be used only in case of emergency or for dinner inspiration.” – Advertising Age

There has been some push back from the city of Buffalo, both for it being a potentially “tacky” idea, and also for the confusion that might be caused by plastering a logo on an otherwise off-limits device.

But Buffalo is considering a compromise in which KFC would provide the city with a $2,500 grant to purchase 100 fire extinguishers (newly emblazoned with the spicy promotional decal), that the city would then donate to local businesses and homeowners. Who would receive them remains to be seen, but reports suggest the extinguishers would have to be displayed in commercial settings for at least 30 days, in conjunction with Buffalo’s Fire Prevention Month.

Rick Maynard, spokesperson for KFC, is quoted in the article as saying just getting people talking about fire hydrants is a good thing. He said the company has received a lot of positive feedback about the idea from various cities and citizens.

Maynard said KFC has no immediate plans to unleash any other tongue-in-cheek marketing plans upon the public, but that they’re always looking for new ways to toe the public/private line.

“It has to be the right fit; it has to make sense for the brand,” he said in the article.

We think finding creative ways such as this to market your brand is a great strategy, if it works for your brand. What do you think of KFC’s marketing attempt?

Environmental protection is on the minds of millions, and food companies aren’t the exception. Packaging is an obvious choice.

Within the next year and a half, Walkers, the largest potato chip manufacturer in the UK, has plans to unveil packaging created with recycled potato peelings. According to UK publication, the Romsey Advertiser, the company is looking at a number of ways of making more environmentally friendly packaging. The latest – potato peels:

The development of crisp bags made out of cellulose from wood pulp had created “crackly” bags that would potentially put off consumers but the company is looking at using old peelings for packaging.

Mr Evans told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “More interestingly, imagine making it (a crisp packet) out of potato peelings.

“In reality, if you think about starch – and you know how sticky starch is – if you could mass it together you could create a layer of starch and stabilise that.

“We could use the peelings we have, that today go to animal feed and other recycling uses, to be turned into a crisp packets.” – Romsey Advertiser

This idea comes on the heels of an attempt by potato chip manufacturer Frito Lay to offer 100% compostable bags for its SunChips brand. The new packaging was scrapped after complaints from customers about the loud, crackly bags. Frito Lay continues to use the eco-friendly packaging on SunChips Original, but went back to its quieter, traditional—and non-compostable–chip bag for the rest of its flavors while they go back to the drawing board.

Kudos to Walkers for their fresh (and recycled) idea. They plan to roll out the new packaging on some of their smaller brands within the next 18 months. It will be interesting to see if any U.S.-based companies follow their lead—and if eco-friendly packaging makes a difference to the buying public.

According to the Wall Street Journal, consumers prefer to look at food images that aren’t perfect.

Recent trends in magazine spreads, advertising and recipe listings give food a handmade look that is a far cry from the perfectly manicured images of the past.

“Right now, people like messy,” says Alison Attenborough, a New York-based food stylist who specializes in editorial work for clients, including Food & Wine magazine, New York magazine and cookbook publisher Clarkson Potter. “People are interested in small butchers, artisan producers, farmer’s markets—a more handmade look.” – Wall Street Journal

At S&B, we’ve noticed this trend growing in popularity over the past few years and have incorporated it into our work. The two photos below were from a June Dairy Month brochure we produced for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board several years ago. Notice the heavy use of props, and how the food looks manicured and very stylized.

The photo below was taken for this year’s June Dairy Month brochure. It is much brighter and very minimal in terms of props. We even left crumbs in the shot to give it that “just out of the oven” appeal.

Have you seen a change in the way your food is styled in marketing photography? Do you like this trend, or think it doesn’t show off the food to its best advantage?