Thursday, July 1, 2010
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.
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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Labels: advertising, Advertising Agency, marketing, PR, public relations, S&B, social media, Stephan & Brady, Stephan and Brady
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Attracting media attention for food products can be challenging without an effective strategy. Everyone wants a slice of the media pie and editors receive hundreds of cold calls, e-mails and mailings each day, making it difficult for even a great new product or well-crafted pitch to stand out. One of our most successful tactics to break through the clutter is to host chef tasting dinners for local food influencers.
Our tasting events have been held in major markets where we partner with an acclaimed restaurant and chef. We then work with the chef to create a menu highlighting our client’s product from cocktails to dessert.
Local newspaper food writers, bloggers and magazine editors are invited to attend the complimentary reception and dinner. I mean, who doesn’t want a free dinner at a trendy hot spot?
This year, on behalf of the National Honey Board, we held chef tasting events at Province Restaurant in Chicago and Perbacco Ristorante + Bar in San Francisco. The evenings began with a cocktail reception, appetizers and extensive honey tasting led by Bruce Wolk from the Honey Board. Guests were encouraged to sample, ask questions and give their impressions of several honey varietals. After the reception, the attendees were treated to a delicious dinner with nature’s sweetener taking center stage.
In Chicago and San Francisco, engagement with honey was fantastic! Many editors arrived with cameras, notepads and an eagerness to learn. As you can see from their personal descriptions (foodgal, foodhoe, single guy chef), the product-focused event gave them a whole new perspective on the use of honey in food and beauty.
Strategically speaking, there are many benefits to tasting dinners. Local food writers get hands-on experience with the featured product. This is not a conference or hard sell either; media show up on their own time with a positive attitude. Also, the dinners are very cost-effective. In one 3-4 hour evening, we can reach the equivalent audience of a week’s worth of deskside meetings. Plus, we can build important regional relationships, create a new understanding of product uses and answer questions or dispel common myths associated with the product.
The 2009 chef events were a huge success. As the common cliché goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” so enjoy the photos below.
More chef tasting events to come in 2010!
-Jon
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Labels: brady, chef tasting events, chicago honey, honey, National Honey Board, perbacco, perbacco honey, province, province honey, S&B, san francisco honey, stephan, Stephan & Brady, Stephan and Brady
Friday, November 13, 2009
Have you ever stood in front of the cheese cooler and wondered which cheese to buy? Wisconsin produces more than 600 varieties, types and styles of cheese, so it can be quite a challenge.
Cheese For Me is a cheese lovers dream! After responding to a short set of fun and engaging questions, the site will generate a tasty selection based on your flavor preferences and sense of adventure.
If you are feeling a little adventurous, you will also be offered Wisconsin Specialty and Wisconsin Original Cheeses to further guide you out of your culinary comfort zone – complete with links to the cheese companies that produce them. Many of these cheese suggestions are one-of-a-kind and only produced in Wisconsin.
For example, I took the quiz and discovered that my perfect cheese is Wisconsin Mozzarella, which means there are times I feel like kicking back and letting the day unfold as it may, then there are times when I like to take charge (pretty darn accurate actually). The two additional cheeses recommended were Wisconsin Vintage Van Gogh and Wisconsin GranQueso™…I might just have to try something new!
In addition to discovering the cheese for you, you’ll find links to the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board’s immense database of recipes.
The site graphics and quiz will change seasonally. It will be updated after Thanksgiving with a holiday look and feel, including new questions tailored to the busy holiday season, so be sure to come back in December!
Be adventurous. Try something new. Discover the cheese that’s just for you. www.cheeseforme.com.
-Kaitlyn
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Labels: cheese, Cheese For Me, Stephan and Brady, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, www.cheeseforme.com
