Friday, August 27, 2010

Putting All Your Premium Food Marketing Eggs in One Basket

Food recalls present major headaches for some marketers, but can be a silver lining for others.

 

The recent recall of more than 550 million eggs linked to salmonella outbreaks has large manufacturers and grocery store chains digging for answers. However, the small egg farmers that cater to localvores are reaping the benefits.

 

“Sales of eggs at farmers markets, co-operatives and roadside stands reportedly spiked over the weekend as news of the outbreak linked to at least 1,300 illnesses reached shoppers.” – MSNBC

 

While the percentage of eggs being recalled pales in comparison to the number produced each year in the US (less than one percent), consumers are quick to change their shopping behaviors when their food safety is threatened.

 

“Anytime something like this happens, people think a lot more about where their food comes from,” said Jackie Dearing of Bloomington, Ill., whose family runs Dearing Country Farms, a small-scale meat and poultry business. 

 

This situation presents two marketing dilemmas:

 

  • How should the large farms whose eggs are not being recalled react to this situation to reassure consumers that it’s safe to purchase their eggs at the grocery store? Are their marketing efforts strong enough to weather the storm?
  • Are small-scale farmers being used as a safe stand-in only when there’s a food crisis at hand? How could they better market themselves to the consumers who only seem to come around when their normal shopping routine is disrupted?
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Friday, July 16, 2010

How to Manage a Social Crisis When Marketing Premium Food

A good premium food marketer will have a crisis communications plan at hand for any potential emergency. But, how many have a social media crisis communications plan ready?

 

A social media strategy is not complete without a crisis communications plan. Before a social media strategy is implemented, it is important to review and modify an organization’s existing crisis communications plan; or if needed, draft a comprehensive crisis communications plan. 

 

Social media not only presents new risks or threats that an organization needs to consider, it also introduces new ways to listen to conversations and respond to potential crisis situations.

 

Mashable recently reported on a new scam hitting Facebook that targeted Coca-Cola.

 

truthaboutcoke

 

The scam promises to show you a video revealing the “truth” about Coca-Cola, but all it’s really after is your personal info.

 

The message reads: “I am part of the 98.0% of people that are NEVER gonna drink Coca Cola again after this HORRIFIC video,” followed by a link.

 

If you click on the link, you’ll be asked to share the video seven times. However, the counter doesn’t work, so eventually you’ll be tempted to click on a link that says “Cant Be Bothered To Wait? –> Click Here To Skip This.”

 

The second link takes you to a poll, which — you guessed it — is the central part of the scam. It asks you for personal information you should definitely not reveal to just anyone or any application.

 

As the interactive and social world continues to evolve, it is imperative that your organization has a plan of action ready for any potential emergencies. Have you implemented a social media crisis communications plan?  

 

 

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Thursday, July 1, 2010

S&B Marketing Consultation: It’s Your Call

Want to add some punch to your lunch? Stephan & Brady is offering a free 30-minute consultation to help you deal with the tricky marketing issues or questions you just can’t seem to solve.

 

Through December 2010, we’ll bring one session every other month to our blog readers. Topics will vary from social and interactive media to public relations and design. While we’ll provide a topic for each session, we are open to discussing an issue that’s a hot button for you. We’re leaving the lines of communication open because It’s Your Call.  

 

itsyourcall

 

The best part? It really is free – no sales pitches, no gimmicks – just honest-to-goodness advice. The only thing we ask is that you leave a comment in this post letting us know why your company is the best candidate for the phone consultation. We’ll pick one winner at random from the responses. No need to enter more than once. You can provide a name and email and we’ll let you know you’ve won, or we’ll announce the winner based on their comment “handle,” in which case you’ll need to check back and email us with your info.

 

We’ll probably summarize the consultation into a blog post so everyone can benefit, but you can remain anonymous if you like.

 

Our first session will take place on Wednesday, August 4 over the lunch hour (or whatever timeframe best suits your needs). We’ll be taking submissions for this session today through July 23 and will select the first participant on July 28. Our first topic is “Does online advertising work for B2B?” But remember, if there is something else you’d really like to discuss, we’re open to that as well.

 

We’re excited to share our collective wisdom and look forward to stimulating conversation and interaction. Comment away, and good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Maintain a Sense of Humor when Marketing Your Premium Food

Everyone knows pork is “The Other White Meat,” but is it the only other white meat? According to the National Pork Board, it is.

 

The board, which consists of members appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, recently sent a “cease-and-desist” letter to ThinkGeek.com regarding an obviously fictitious product called ‘Radiant Farms Canned Unicorn Meat’ and the use of the slogan ‘Unicorn – the new white meat.’

 

unicornmeat

 

Of course, consumers can’t purchase this product from ThinkGeek. It’s part of an April Fool’s joke the site concocted earlier this year.

 

“It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn,” deadpanned Scott Kauffman, president and chief executive of Geeknet, the site’s parent company. “In fact, ThinkGeek’s canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red and not approved by any government entity.” – via the Washington Post 

 

The real question here is to what extent brands should go to in order to protect their identity. It is understandable that the National Pork Board wants to preserve their brand and all trademarked materials that are a part of that. . . .but, unicorn? Really?

 

Do you agree with the Board’s decision to take legal action or should they have stepped back and let this one slide due to the nature of the contested material? What does a story like this do their reputation?

 

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Thursday, June 17, 2010

Premium Food Marketers Win Social Media Race

Premium food brands are leading the way in social media marketing. In the first media measurement of its kind, Famecount.com recently announced that Starbucks is the most popular consumer brand in the social media world.

 

Food brands took six of the top ten spots in the consumer brand category:

 

1. Starbucks

2. Coca-Cola

3. Skittles

4. Whole Foods Market

5. Oreo  

6. RedBull

7. Zappos.com

8. JetBlue Airways

9. Dell

10. Woot!

 

To determine the leading consumer brands using social media, Famecount analyzed information from the top social media sites – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The only brand not using all three channels is Woot, which doesn’t have a YouTube presence.

 

In a press release, Daniel Dearlove, founder of Famecount.com, explained the importance of the study,

 

“This data is unique in that it gives us for the first time an accurate global ranking of the popularity of brands online. It is interesting to see established offline brands perform so strongly. This highlights the growing importance of social media in wider marketing campaigns, as well as the applicability of these channels to established brands, which may not have had a significant online presence previously. Social networks are helping them to tap into wider audiences and strengthen communications with existing consumers.”

 

While this information shows strong evidence that consumers are willing to claim loyalty to their favorite premium food brands, there is definitely a need for more statistical data about social media’s influence on brands. The Famecount study is a big step in the right direction and it will be interesting to see what evolves from this point on.

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Monday, February 8, 2010

Socialize Your PR Events to Market Premium Food

Strategically designed PR events can bolster your integrated premium food marketing campaign. But how can you socialize them for maximum return on investment?

1.      Announce it on Facebook, MySpace, etc.

2.      Invite Twitter followers and media on Twitter to participate or attend.

3.      Live Tweet from the event – include TwitPics and TwitVideo.

4.      Post it on YouTube. This is your chance for the event to go viral.

5.      If the event involves a charity, add it to TwitCause.

What makes a great event newsworthy?  Here are some tips:

·         Break a record  - think Guinness World Record style

·         Time it with a specific day/week/month in Chase’s Calendar of Events

·         Include a charitable tie-in

·         Involve kids

·         Offer a local angle

·         Give away free stuff

·         Do something that’s never been done before

·         Involve a celebrity with a direct tie-in to your product

Jamba Juice conducted an event to promote its role in a heart-healthy lifestyle that had many of these elements including a social component.

·       It broke a Guinness World Record for simultaneous jump roping

·       The stunt was timed with American Heart Month

·       Kids, politicians and schools were involved

·       Free samples were handed out

·       Related partnerships were included

A company news release summarized the star-studded event:

The official Jamba Jump Day Event countdown site, which was coordinated via live webcast and broadcast online, was hosted in California‘s Capital and led by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.  Participation in the event extended from the Capital to over 500 schools across the state of California.

The 88,000 jumpers who participated in the Jamba Jump Day event broke the previous Guinness World Record held by Australia, who had a documented 59,000 rope skippers.

 VIP jumpers included boxer Laila Ali, Olympic gold medal gymnast Peter Vidimar, actress Gina Ravera, musician Brian O’Neill, World IBF Champion Yohnny Perez, Olympic Hall of Fame swimmer Debbie Meyer, extreme wheelchair athlete Aaron Fotheringham and more.

While there was a lot of goodwill involved, only the marketing folks at Jamba Juice will know if the event had an impact on sales or another measurable element. 

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Much Ado about Social Media

There has been a lot of talk about social media and how it’s wreaking havoc on the agency world. What I mean is that unlike traditional advertising and PR, social media doesn’t have defined lines of ownership. The Miami Herald writer Clifford M. Marks summed it up best in his article on August 10:

“For decades, the division of labor was clear. Madison Avenue types took care of the 30-second spots, the billboards and the full-page ad in Sunday’s paper. Their cousins in public relations drafted press releases, networked with reporters to land favorable coverage and helped handle crises that drew negative media attention. But where in this tidy arrangement does Facebook fall? Or YouTube? Or Twitter? Both groups are rushing to answer that question, and with all the more urgency as their clients seek to slash marketing budgets.”

Here’s how we handle it at S&B. Because our shop is fully integrated, we’re tactic neutral. We recommend the best media strategies to achieve each client’s objectives. When the best strategy calls for social media, we execute the best tactics to achieve success—from Facebook fan pages and Twitter postings, to YouTube video and more—without any infighting within the agency. Teams from public relations, advertising and interactive are involved in strategy sessions, so there is shared responsibility for social media initiatives.

That’s the beauty of working with a mid-size, full-service agency . There are no advertising vs. PR vs. interactive turf wars. And, since we’re independent and don’t have to contribute high income returns to a parent company to justify our existence, we give our clients maximum bang for their buck at a time when bucks are scarce.

The Miami Herald article also points out that faced with declining client budgets, agencies are either downsizing or investing. S&B has taken the investment route. We have an onsite technical programming partner that helps us deliver timely and affordable Web development –microsites, e-commerce, Web positioning, online advertising, and more. We’re outsourcing less which not only helps our bottom line, but rewards our clients with fully integrated strategy and efficiency.

Social media is just another tactic. It too will be considered “traditional” in the not-too-distant future. That’s how we address the skeptics –and yes, there are still a few out there. Social media is just another targeted way to reach an audience segment; strategy is what matters and gets results. S&B’s Chief Customer Officer platform delves deep into research to pinpoint the most effective strategy to reach customers, whether it’s an online promotion, magazine editorial, or keyword search.

So let the advertising-only shops duke it out with the PR-only shops with the Web-development-only shops. We’ve been integrated for more than 50 years and our clients like that just fine.

-Kristina

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