Friday, June 11, 2010
Much like a logo, a great advertising or brand campaign tagline will keep your product or brand in consumers’ minds for years, maybe decades. McDonald’s, M&M’s, Folgers and Grey Poupon are just a few examples of premium food brands who have hit homeruns with catchy taglines.
Some of the best and arguably most memorable taglines in advertising history were recently listed by a group of CMOs and advertising experts. The top 10 are:
- The Ultimate Driving Machine (BMW)
- Just Do It (Nike)
- Don’t Leave Home Without It. (American Express)
- We Try Harder. (Avis)
- Got Milk? (California Milk Processor Board)
- There Are Some Things Money Can’t Buy. For Everything Else, There’s Mastercard.
- Think Different. (Apple)
- The Few. The Proud. The Marines. (U.S. Marines)
- You Deserve a Break Today. (McDonald’s)
- A Diamond is Forever (DeBeers)
View this slideshow to see the complete list of winning taglines.
What makes taglines so timeless? Sometimes, it’s when a tagline can transcend generations.
According to Christa Carone, vice president of marketing and communications for document management company Xerox and one of the tagline judges, it’s “When it connects across all generations, geographies and markets–and becomes relevant for the consumer in his [or] her own personal way.”
“Case in point: While I was distracted with something else, my six-year-old picked up my cell phone last night and screamed, ‘Can you hear me now?!’ She made her point and I got the connection. And, yes, it is a Verizon phone.” - Forbes
What taglines have made an impact on your memory? Are there any that you feel deserved a place on the list?
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Labels: advertising, Forbes, marketing premium food, Premium Food, Stephan & Brady, taglines
Friday, May 21, 2010
What foodservice industry segment has been most affected by economic woes? According to MSN Money, it is premium food marketers in the casual-dining segment.
Casual-dining restaurants are in foodservice limbo – when people are forced to be frugal, they’d rather spend less and eat at a fast food chain. People are trading down and the quick-service industry is benefitting. On the other end, upscale restaurants have seen a decline, but not to the scale of the casual market since their total volume is less.
MSN lists the following casual-dining chains as the 10 fastest-shrinking in the restaurant industry:
Black Angus Steakhouse
Casa Ole
Country Kitchen
Damon’s Grill
Carino’s Italian Grill
Western Sizzlin
Fazoli’s
Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizzeria
Smitty’s
Pizza Inn
It’s situations like this that call for strengthened marketing efforts to maintain brand awareness and build on customer loyalty.
Finding the right “extra value proposition” that’s true to your brand or concept and one that your audience will respond well to is key. Take a look at your target customer and approach your marketing efforts with a clear understanding of what appeals to them. Is a frequent diner program a better option to reward their loyalty or do you want to build your customer base with a coupon that anyone can use? Does a reduced price menu section that features key components of your offerings present a better way to build traffic versus a “take $3 off any entrée” offer?
A strong marketing strategy may be what determines which casual-dining restaurants ride out the economic swing and which don’t.
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Labels: casual dining, marketing premium food, MSN, Premium Food, restaurant trends, Stephan & Brady
Monday, May 17, 2010
Can premium food marketers benefit from swimming against the healthy tide? KFC thinks so. The company says it’s “pleased” with the attention its new Double Down Sandwich—featuring fried chicken as “bread”—has been getting, citing unprecedented response with young males, the primary target audience.
Rick Maynard, KFC spokesman, cited word of mouth that built from the test market outward, resulting in increased media attention, and more importantly, a record number of social media reviews and YouTube videos posted.
However, overall consumer perception of KFC may be suffering, as noted in an article from Nation’s Restaurant News:
Data from New York-based BrandIndex, which compiles consumer perception scores relating to hundreds of brands across several industries in the United States, revealed KFC may be giving back some gains from the positive buzz associated with last year’s launch of Kentucky Grilled Chicken.
Despite increased awareness for the brand during the Double Down’s ad campaign, KFC’s “buzz score,” which BrandIndex compiles from 5,000 daily consumer surveys by subtracting negative feedback from positive feedback, has declined steadily in the lead-up to the product’s debut. Among consumers 18 to 49 years old, KFC’s buzz score fell from 21.1 in mid-March to 11.5 on April 16, just days after its introduction, BrandIndex said.
Ted Marzilli, senior vice president for BrandIndex, called KFC’s strategy “high risk, with potential for high reward.” It all depends on whether the product is seen as a way to treat yourself for eating well most of the time, or as another example of why quick service restaurants should be off the menu if you want to be healthy.
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Labels: Double Down sandwich, food trends, KFC, marketing premium food, Nation's Restaurant News, Premium Food, Stephan & Brady
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Fat, sugar, carbs—they’ve all had a turn as the bad guy in American diets. Now, it’s salt. If you can tell a low-sodium story, now might be the time to do it.
The National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI)—a coalition of cities, states and health organization spearheaded by the New York City Health Department—is working to reduce Americans’ salt intake by 20% over five years.
NSRI has developed targets to guide company salt reductions in 62 categories of packaged food and 25 categories of restaurant food. The initiative includes voluntary two- and four-year targets for average salt levels in each category of food.
Heinz, Kraft Foods, Mars Food US, Starbucks Coffee Company, and Subway are among the first 16 companies to sign onto the initiative. Some companies have already made reductions; others announced plans to meet the reduced salt guidelines within a certain time period.
A report by the Institute of Medicine calls on the Food and Drug Administration to set maximum sodium levels for different foods. It has the support of a few key senators, who are planning hearings.
Others aren’t so sure. A recent Washington Post article quoted Lori Roman, president of the Salt Institute, a trade association, as saying the initiative was “not based on sound science.”
“The Italians eat about 40 percent more sodium than Americans, yet they have better cardiovascular health than Americans,” Roman said. “So it’s not the sodium. It’s an overall diet high in fruits and vegetables.”
Whether or not salt really is a bad guy, sodium levels in food are getting more scrutiny than ever before. How could you leverage a positive low-salt story, beyond packaging? Is there messaging in your advertising? On your website? Are you talking about low-sodium in your social media? Do your foodservice customers know that your product is low sodium? Are you helping them tell that story to their customers?
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Labels: food trends, Institute of Medicine, marketing premium food, National Salt Reduction Initiative, NSRI, Premium Food, sodium intake, Stephan & Brady, Washington Post
Monday, May 3, 2010
As Americans continue to focus on health and health care, premium food marketers will find success in the functional food category, a top trend in food products. Functional foods include products that have added nutrients, vitamins, performance boosters, and often provide extra health benefits.
According to Food Technology, “Healthful positioning was a dominant factor in the success of new foods and drinks that reached blockbuster sales status in 2009.”
The category accounted for $37.4 billion in U.S. sales in 2009. In fact, six out of ten adults bought a functional food or drink in 2009, up from 48% who did so in 2008. One reason? With less time to create well-rounded meals, consumers are looking to food manufacturers to provide quick and easy meals that provide the health benefits they might otherwise be missing.
Mintel lists the top reasons consumers gave for purchasing a functional food item in 2009:
- Supplement diet
- Digestive health
- Weight loss
- Specific health issue
- Energy boost
- Mental focus
- Eliminate stress
Will consumers continue to clamor for functional foods or will the category hit a plateau due to oversaturation? How can premium food marketers continue to tout the health benefits of functional foods without buzz words like “antioxidants,” “fortified” and “probiotic” losing their impact?
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Labels: Food Technology, food trends, functional food, marketing premium food, Premium Food, Stephan & Brady
Friday, April 23, 2010
One of the hottest trends in U.S. beer demands can be summed in one word: micro. When you have a reputation as one of the big players in the market, how do you make yourself relevant to this trend?
If you’re Sam Adams, you build a campaign around the message that you’re small potatoes. Their TV spots use documentary-style videos which ask consumers how much of the market share they think the brand owns. Responses predictably range much higher than the actual number – but guess what? Sam Adams only contributes 0.9% of the beer market share. Cue consumer surprise.
So, why spend millions of dollars (according to Kantar Media, close to $30 million last year) to convince your customer that you’re not the kind of company that can spend millions of dollars on advertising? Because it’s not cool to cheer for Goliath.
Let’s face it, craft beers have that whole “Cheers” appeal to them – they provide a direct connection with a brewer who creates a product with passion and who, just maybe, might want to “know your name.”
Sam Adams is a publicly traded company – its earnings are public record and they’re not small potatoes. But, the company gets across the point that they’re about quality, not quantity – and that is right on trend.
The lesson for premium food marketers? Focus on your brand reputation and the product sales will follow.
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Labels: advertising, marketing premium food, Premium Food, Sam Adams, Stephan & Brady
Friday, April 16, 2010
Cooking shows have always been around, but they’ve never seen such popularity, which is great news for premium food marketers. With more networks jumping on the culinary bandwagon, programming offerings are more diverse than before – which allows marketers to pick and choose where they’d like to spend their marketing dollars based on specific audience demographics.
According to Advertising Age, food marketing spending was nearly $12 billion in 2009. Related fields, such as soft drinks and liquor companies, added billions more to that. It’s no wonder these networks want their piece of the pie. . .or is it cake?
In addition to the already plentiful food related offerings available on a television set near you, the following food programming concepts are currently in development:
NBC Universal’s Syfy (yes, really. Syfy.) – adding a new series starring former Top Chef contestant Marcel Vigneron.
TLC – plans to debut a new show, The Food Buddha, starring Rodelio Aglibot, the chef and owner of Chicago’s Sunda restaurant.
The Oprah Winfrey Network – has announced plans for at least one show starring Chef Cristina Ferrare.
Bravo – providing Top Chef lovers with another spinoff, Top Chef: Just Desserts, and has two other competition series in development, Commander In Chef and Around the World in 80 Plates.
FLN (Fine Living Network) – starting May 31 will be rebranded as The Cooking
Channel.
Which new food program are you excited to watch?
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Labels: Bravo, FLN, food shows, marketing premium food, network programming, Premium Food, Stephan & Brady, SyFy, The Oprah Winfrey Network, TLC, Top Chef
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Many marketers who venture into the world of social media often confuse tactics with strategies. A Facebook fan page is a tactic; what you use that page for is part of your social media strategy.
Each tool and tactic that you choose should work cohesively to accomplish your objectives. When you leverage the tools and tactics together to create touch points, you’ll strengthen your messaging and provide a clear understanding of who you are in the social media world.
Land O’Frost has created an amazing campaign with Land O’Moms, which combines various outside social media tools with internally created resources to provide a unified branding message.
The micro-site includes a blog written by “Moms Like Me,” Twitter and Facebook feeds and a link to their YouTube channel – all which exist separately, but have been brought together in this easy-to-navigate resource.
The brilliance behind Land O’Moms lies with the valuable content Land O’Frost provides to their target audience: recipes, product and nutrition information and a kids’ section with downloadable games and activities give visitors reasons to engage with the brand and come back to the site.
By approaching their social media efforts with the broader view of building a community, Land O’Frost has created a successful social campaign to market their premium food that integrates their various tools with information that will help build trust and loyalty.
Are you aware of other companies that are successfully implementing social media campaigns? Share them below.
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Labels: Facebook, Land O'Frost, Land O'Moms, marketing premium food, Premium Food, social media campaign, Stephan & Brady, Twitter
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
If gift cards are part of your premium food marketing arsenal, there is a great new tool that will allow you to bring them into the social media world.
The National Retail Federation estimates that U.S. consumers spent more than $20 billion on gift cards during the 2009 holiday season. By making your premium food gift cards available for purchase where consumers spend an increasingly large amount of their time – on social media sites and their cell phones – you will help boost your marketing potential and make your brand more accessible.
Friendgiftr provides consumers the ability to purchase and send gift cards from a variety of merchants directly from the Web site, from social media sites such as Facebook or, coming soon, from a smart phone.
“Simply put, Friendgiftr lets you shop pretty much anywhere through the world’s first ever virtual network of linked commercial applications.”
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Labels: Friendgiftr, gift cards, iPhone, marketing premium food, Mobile Marketing, MySpace, Premium Food, Smartphone, social media, Stephan & Brady
