Dec 23 2010

A Tip From Your Healthy Customer: “Go Niche or Go Home!”

December 23, 2010 – 1:37 pm

By Toni Carey (@toni_carey)

I’m a child of the 80s. Oh, yes. I still have fond memories of neon tights, step aerobics and the Richard Simmons empire. Although these trends were tragic in their own rite, these companies and self-made fitness experts were on to something. Health and wellness transformed from an intangible concept to an idea that can be seen and recognized.

The same is true thirty years later for this new generation of wellness fanatics. Companies are realizing the financial advantages in creating a brand image specific to a particular segment and pursuing their own sought-after audiences. Forget reaching the masses. Reach the niche.

In recent years, ING, a financial institution with Dutch roots, has put their stake in the ground for owning marathons across the U.S. For them, finding their niche was more about finding their return on objective or ROO. In a recent issue of Advertising Age, Ann Glover, chief marketing officer noted, that it’s not about the financial return, but rather the increase of brand recognition, trust, interest in doing business with the company and the chance that this particular audience will recommend their products and services to others. The company started sponsoring races in 2003 and now sponsors the largest marathon in the United States, the ING New York City Marathon with more than 43,660 finishing marathoners in 2009. What does running have to do with finances?  Simple. Those interested in retirement, like runners, must plan for the future of their wealth and their health.  ING has realized that although runners are not the most obvious niche to target, there’s a commonality between the products and services they offer and the personality traits (and pockets) of runners.

But there’s other companies taking notice of how identifying their wellness niche can help grow their business. The Westin recently launched a program to help guests make their fitness regime more convenient with its “gear-lending program”. Research has shown that the average American exercises even less when traveling than when at home. However, research also showed the main reason travelers didn’t exercise away from home was because they didn’t have enough luggage space. Westin guests have access to workout clothing and shoes while on the road. The real winner?  New Balance, which has partnered with the Westin to carry out the program.  A poll of guests who participated in the pilot found that 54% of them didn’t currently use New Balance products. Westin accommodates the needs of their guests while New Balance encourages trial. Win-win.

How can other companies find their wellness niche?

What’s your return on (fill in the blank)?

Niche marketing is so much more than return on investment (money). If it’s all about the dollar signs, then maybe niche marketing isn’t the way to go. But if you want to build awareness, really get to know your consumer and build trust, niche marketing should be part of your overall marketing campaign.

Look for the not-so-obvious demographic.

Going after a particular ethnicity or gender is so 1990s. Rather find out what interests your current and prospective customers. Are they runners? Yogis? Or do they enjoy spending their free time at the spa? Wherever they are is where you need to be, but be strategic in identifying them. It’s important that it makes sense for you and for them.

Create a campaign just for them.

If there’s one thing that can foil your wellness niche campaign, it’s not being sincere. Based on research by the Hartman Group, consumers will increasingly rely on authenticity to determine value. Be sure that your campaign is just for your targeted demographic. Otherwise, they’ll see right through you.

Health and wellness fanatics are some of the most loyal consumers in the marketplace. What will you do to keep them healthy in 2011?

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By tcarey | Posted in Healthcare, PR Industry Trends | Comments (0)
Dec 22 2010

A Look Ahead: Social Media Marketing Trends for 2011

December 22, 2010 – 10:26 am

THE BOOZE BIN

By Pia Mara Finkell (@piamara)

twitter chef2010 has without a doubt been the year of social media growth. It’s impossible to watch the morning news, read a newspaper or conduct a meeting without hearing the term “social media.” It has gotten me thinking about brainstorming new names for the term. Web 2.0 came and went. Some people (including me) simply shorten it to “social,” or use the term “new media” to spice up the term. Let me know if you have any brilliant ideas; otherwise, I’m starting a drinking game for every time someone says “social media.”

But I digress…

As far as social media’s influence, the world of booze has been no exception. Social media marketing has swept through the wine, spirits, beer and restaurant industry like wildfire. Even the National Restaurant News’ annual survey of more than 1,500 American Culinary Federation member chefs, one of the top food and wine industry forecasts of the year, forecasted some interesting trends for social marketing.

Here are a few worth noting:

  • 55% of chefs said they are currently using social media for professional purposes, and another 16% said they plan to start using such channels in 2011
  • Citing top restaurant operational trends, 17% of chefs referenced social media marketing
  • 15% of chefs said one of the most successful strategies for maintaining and building business during the recession was increased marketing efforts (including social media marketing)

Chefs often have strong influences on wine and cocktail menus, and thus on booze marketers, especially with the rise of culinary cocktails and focus on wine- and beer-pairing menus. If chefs make up one of your target audiences (and even they are making time for social media in the kitchen), it is clear 2011 should mark an increasing focus on all things social for marketers.

A few other social media marketing trends currently in their infancy phase are sure to create a lot of buzz and make their mark on our industry in 2011:

cellar keyQuick Response Codes Help Demystify Wine Selection

The wine industry has just started to scratch the surface in the use of QR codes for marketing, otherwise known as Context Sensitive Marketing or CSM. QR codes have started popping up on wine labels (e.g., 94 Wines and Cellar Key), but there is tremendous room for growth by using this little digital bar code on everything from bottle neckers in wine shops (to hold winery information) to advertisements (leading to a Facebook page) and event promotion (an invitation leading to the RSVP site).

Geotracking the Next Step in Attracting Loyal Customers

Foursquare has begun to heat up, but other than a bar promotion here or there, it still remains a fun game without wide-sweeping usage or, arguably, enough concrete purpose in promoting business. But there is clearly tremendous potential when it comes to geo-marketing. One good example of the wave of the location-based social gaming future is the recently announced partnership of Vin Tank with SCVNGR Rewards, which awards redeemable points to loyal customers who check in at Napa Valley’s Franciscan or Robert Mondavi wineries.

Play SCVNGR Paul Mabray, the head of the wine industry’s leading think tank, VinTank, believes new social technologies like SCVNGR are the best way for wineries to increase their business. "The wine industry is primed and ready to start capitalizing on all of the emerging technologies available today. Wine is meant to be social, after all, and we believe adding opportunities for wine consumers to socialize digitally is the natural next step."

Photos courtesy of Orange County Register, The Cellar Key and Mashable.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Pia Mara Finkell | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends, Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)
Dec 21 2010

Once in a Lifetime

December 21, 2010 – 12:26 am

By Mike Mulvihill

Wake up. This is old school but for the first time in 372 years there is a confluence of the Winter Solstice and a lunar eclipse. On the East Coast, you can see it starting at around 11:30 Monday night with the peak viewing at a little after 3 a.m. Tuesday  (yep, lots of us going to be around for that – well at least I am!). The next one will occur when most of us are dead – in 2094.

Interpretation of Winter Solstice varies from culture to culture, but most cultures celebrate the recognition of rebirth, marked by holidays, festivals, gatherings and rituals. Because Winter Solstice marks the beginning of longer days and shorter nights, all cultures view this as a renewal celebration. It comes so close to Christmas, which should be especially poignant for Christians, though Solstice is likely viewed as a pagan ritual by many. Regardless, for all of us, it makes for a time to mix the joy of Christmas and the hope for new beginning in the New Year  with a time to celebrate ourselves and our loved ones marked by an undeniable Universe event – pagan or not.

A lunar eclipse is no big deal in and of itself, but the combination is magic. And so it should be for us. Despite the cold temperatures across most of the country, winter is only just upon us. In olden time, solstice marked the last celebration before winter set in – the last slaughter of the year to avoid feeding livestock during scarce months, a time when fermented beverages were ready for consumption and other hallmarks of celebration. I wish all of you a year marked with celebrations in spite hardship. See you in 2011!

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (0)
Dec 17 2010

Apps in the Kitchen

December 17, 2010 – 12:19 pm

By Brona Cosgrave (@bronacos)

 

I read somewhere (I wish I could remember where and pull the stat) that foodies represent the second largest blogger community. This is not surprising really. The food community at large adopted social media early and enthusiastically and enjoys a vibrant presence in all online communities. Since the ’90s, cooking has become a bone fide hobby for many evidenced by growth of The Food Network (and now it’s sister network The Cooking Channel), the expansion in the number of non-vocational cooking schools and sales of professional style ranges like Viking for home use. The demise of Gourmet magazine is a reflection of the challenges facing the print industry and changing consumer attitudes rather than the health of the home cooking segment of the industry.

What’s next? Well, apps of course!

As a first generation iPhone user, I have downloaded many apps out of personal and professional curiosity – and honestly they remain mostly unused. I realized this as I uploaded apps to my new iPad; I wondered if they’d have more value to me in this larger format. Am I likely to bring the iPad into the kitchen I asked myself? Then I remembered a wine spillage incident a few years ago that resulted in a $200 laptop repair fee (yes that was a very expensive glass of wine!) and thought…nah, I don’t think so! I’ll stick with my much thumbed and stained-covered cookbooks and stay on friendly terms with our IT crew (the iPad was a company gift after all!)

However, there are a few foods apps I would not be without – they are useful to me both as an avid home cook, sometime recipe tester and PR pro; I have loaded the following onto my new iPad:

  • Cookbook author and New York Times columnist Mark Bittman’s “How To Cook Everything” is a great cookbook and so to is the app of the same name – This app is repeatedly singled out for praise and rightly so. Mark delivers readable wise council that will get you though any culinary challenge you may face.
  • If you are looking for inspiration, the depth and breadth of recipes on Epicurious cannot be surpassed and unlike some other recipe data bases one can rely on these tested recipes. It offers shopping lists for meals, which if you are unlike me and actually plan your meals before you shop (seems I’m more often than not swayed by the bounty of my local framer’s market), can be very helpful.
  • And then there’s Michael Ruhlman’s wonderful Ratio app based on the book of the same title – this app enables you to calculate exactly the amount of ingredients you need to build your own recipe. Simply wonderful!
  • The must-have culinary dictionary for every food professional and foodie alike is Herbst’s Food Lover Companion and I find the app version indispensable.

So while I still prefer a cookbook in the kitchen I have to agree with The Amateur Gourmet in his choice of best app in the kitchen – nothing to do with cooking, he cites NPR’s “This American Life” app as his favorite – all 15 years of programming is indeed a treasure!

Happy Holiday Cooking!

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AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Brona | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends, Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)
Dec 16 2010

If Foursquare is a Game, Why Am I Losing?

December 16, 2010 – 7:00 am

By Jenn Riggle

Foursquare is definitely doing something right. The company announced it jumped from 1 million users in March 2010 to 4 million users in October. But after six months on Foursquare, I just don’t get it.

Even Dennis Crowley, Foursquare’s co-founder, admitted at a conference that the check-in, in itself, is “not interesting.”

Lots of retailers are using Foursquare to increase foot traffic and foster customer loyalty programs. However, the results of these programs have been mixed. Some have hit it out of the park, while others have missed the mark.

Sports Authority ran a Black Friday promotion and offered $500 gift cards to 20 randomly selected customers checking in at its stores via Foursquare. According to the retailer, the promotion saw the number of followers increase from 400 to 4,500 and check-ins increased between 5 times and 20 times.

And while Starbucks continues to be one of the top Foursquare destinations, its promotion to offer the mayors of its stores $1 off any size Frappuccino® wasn’t as successful as originally thought. While the program increased check-ins by 50 percent, customers reported having problems redeeming coupons because baristas were unaware of the program or said they only recognize paper coupons.

So why am I losing at Foursquare? Maybe it’s because I’m not good at multi-tasking with my Blackberry. As a working mom, I’m always running from work to take my daughters to swim practice and swim meets and spend my weekends completing an endless stream of errands. It seems like I’m always sitting in parking lots to check in, while my daughters roll their eyes and say, “Not again.”

Here’s why I can’t seem to get ahead:

Checking in can be painful:  Sometimes I try to check in and the right location doesn’t pop up, so I type in my destination and search for it (and sometimes it still doesn’t pop up). Besides, bringing a wallet, my Blackberry and purchasing a coffee at Starbucks can be a recipe for disaster (or a spilled Gingerbread latte).

Too little, too late:  When I check in at my favorite stores and restaurants, it’s very rare that I see special offers pop up. I typically find out about these after the fact. For example, I only learned about the “I Voted” badge after I voted. Maybe this is really the result of me not being a super-user. It would be great if new badges and promotions popped up when I opened up the Foursquare app on my phone.

Oops, I forgot:  I’ll admit it. When I’m running into the drug store to pick up poster board for my daughter’s book report, I sometimes forget to check in. I have the best intentions, but more often than not, I forget.

Hanging out in the wrong places:  Maybe I’m checking in at the wrong places (there’s not a lot going on at swimming pools). I read that Aloft Hotels recently introduced a new Foursquare page that will feature tips on destinations, along with exclusive promotions at Aloft’s bars across the country and access insider tips on the places they visit. This sounds cool and definitely worth looking into.

I’m not a power user:  Foursquare seems to be something that benefits  power users the most. And while I like to receive badges, there’s little chance of me becoming mayor of my neighborhood Starbucks or Target.

But the times may be changing. AdWeek reported that there are 5 million people testing a major new version of Foursquare. The new version will downplay game features like the leader board, mayors and badges and emphasize its ability to help people discover new places – challenging users to do new things that matter most to them.

If this new functionality delivers all that it promises, it can make everyone winners.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jenn Riggle | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)
Dec 15 2010

What’s Been Brewing: Top 5 Marketing Trends of 2010 in Bev Alcohol

December 15, 2010 – 11:56 am

THE BOOZE BIN

By Pia Mara Finkell (@piamara)

Wine TrendsThis is my favorite time of year. Holiday parties aplenty, wassail up the wazoo, and enough popped bottles to impress even Lil Wayne. It’s also a time to reflect on lessons learned throughout the year, and forecast trends to come, so we don’t get caught with our proverbial pants down.

Here’s a look at the major themes of 2010 that will continue to grow in the coming year, affecting wine and spirits (and in some cases other) PR professionals and marketers in 2011.

Top 5 Booze Trends of 2010:

1. Jump In, the Water’s Warm!

Wineries and other small booze businesses dipped their toes into the warm waters of social media in 2010. In what seemed like overnight, wine businesses around the world launched Facebook and Twitter pages, featuring them front-and-center on their respective websites. While most are just beginning to see the benefits of engaging customers in the digital sphere, a few stood out. Wineries like St. Supéry hired a full-time social media manager and moved from participation to engagement, driving unique content and even a global movement (e.g. #Cabernet Day).

2. Taking the Snooty out of the Wine Selection

IPad at SD26 I don’t think sommeliers should fret quite yet, but according to Wine Enthusiast magazine’s blog, several forward thinking restaurants have turned to IPad “wine tablets” for their wine and cocktail lists this year. From NYC’ SD26 to Chicago’s Chicago Cut Steakhouse to Atlanta’s Bone Restaurant, restaurants saw a boost in sales from the very first day they introduced the iPad wine lists to their customers. According to the The New York Times, wine purchases shot up nearly 11% overnight. “The devices seem to be spurring deeper interest in wine and empowering bolder, more confident selections, they say, potentially revolutionizing the psychology of dining’s most intimidating passage.”

3. Simplify the Shopping Experience

Following on the theme of demystifying the iPhone Wine Appswine experience, 2010 marked the creation of some incredible and very functional tools to simplify shopping for wine, including wine apps, wine vending machines and even QR Codes on wine labels. Considering the now overwhelming selection, Mashable thankfully just put out a list of the top 10 iPhone apps for Wine Enthusiasts, pointing to, among others, Snooth Pro for their cool image recognition technology and PairIt! for their huge database of searchable wine pairings.

4. Social Media Meets Social Commerce

I’ve written previously about the rise of private online sales, with popular invitation-only wine flash sale sites like Lot18, Deals From the Vines and VineCrowd offering a range of heavily discounted, premium and sometimes small-production wines. Sites that are doing this well safeguard the integrity of the wines they promote and offer a new way for wineries on small marketing budgets to generate brand awareness and attract/engage new customers through trial.

5. Putting the Social Back in Social Media

Wine-Tweetup While many forward-thinking wine businesses and regional boards have begun to engage potential customers and fans online, the most savvy have found ways to replicate that engagement IRL (“In Real Life”). Putting the social back in social media, smart groups like TasteLive and the VA Wine Board have run virtual tastings and tweetchats with local winemakers, wine bloggers and industry influentials, driving overwhelming consumer participation, media coverage (print, online and TV) and even a Twitter trending topic.

For predictions on future trends for 2011, the National Restaurant Association just released its annual list of food and drink trend predictions for 2011. I’ll write soon about some thoughts in this arena for wine and spirits marketing professionals.

 

Images courtesy of Bryan Thatcher, Trends Update, Mashable,Recessionista and Drink Think Wine Blog.

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Pia Mara Finkell | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends, The Booze Bin, Wine, Food & Nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)
Dec 14 2010

Going Dark on Social Media

December 14, 2010 – 8:00 am

By Mike Mulvihill

It became really evident this Thanksgiving – my incessant, addictive need to try to keep up with friends and loved ones on Facebook and Twitter. My aging and computer-phobic mother was upset about the preoccupation and predilection my teenage children and I had with our smart phones.  She had a point. (Christmas should be even more interesting!)

Have you thought what it would be like to go without social media access for a week? Well, in September, Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg University of Science and Technology began a weeklong ban of social media.  For days, students had no access to Facebook, Twitter, and other services on campus. (Granted, there was a bevy of off campus WiFi hot spots more han happy to help alleviate this conundrum.)

Results of the weeklong ban were released this past Friday. The study showed that 25 percent of respondents reported better classroom concentration that week, while 23 percent found lectures more interesting and 6 percent reported eating better and exercising more. During the ban, 33 percent of students reported feeling less stressed. Twenty-one percent said they used their normal social networking time to do homework, while 10 percent said they read online news.

Back when the experiment began, there were several posts about how schools should be encouraging more social media use for idea sharing and mental stimulation. I don’t argue with their point. But I am acknowledging the other viewpoint – what would we do if we didn’t have mobile social media to absorb our attention? Would we better or worse off?

Think about how much time we spend on social media. In the line at Starbucks, let’s pull out the phone and connect. What about having a conversation with the barista or someone else in line? Go to any library on any university across the land right now during final exams week, and you’ll find studious students cramming – all while procrastinating on Facebook and Gmail. Watch yourself at family functions, dinner out, the kid’s game, out at the bar – you get the drift. How often do you pull your phone out to check if anyone wants to talk to you, while there are perfectly fine people to talk to standing all around.

The Harrisburg experiment was inspired by the provost’s observations of his teenage daughter using her iPhone. If you search blogs on the topic, you’ll find those that feel the Harrisburg blackout smacks of the oft-repeated view that social media is a time-waster made up of trivial, multi-tasked conversations that distract young people from “real life” (or class).  I don’t think that’s the point. The point is balance.

Danah Boyd (@zephoria), a researcher studying social media, points out the disconnect between reality and the expectations that exist in learning environments. Boyd writes that because many continue to emphasize “push” or “broadcast” methods of information sharing, “we are failing to teach our youth how to evaluate, interpret and assess the information that they pull or that which falls out of the sky.”

 Agreed, but perhaps it would serve us well to re-infuse a little humanity back into our social relationships this holiday season and maintain it for the coming year. I like people. I like them even better when I can see, feel, listen and talk to them.  Try it, then go FB you friends about the experience – they’ll love it!

Photo courtesy pheelfresh

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)
Dec 13 2010

How to Hire the Right Social Media Manager in 2011

December 13, 2010 – 1:23 pm

By Priya Ramesh (@newpr)

Congratulations, you convinced your senior management to re-invest in social media for the coming year! N ow let’s ensure you are hiring the right person for the job. Industry analysts and recent surveys have affirmed that social media is beyond the honeymoon phase, and 2011 is the year of INTEGRATION. Please read Jeremiah Owyang’s blog post on “2011: the year of Integration,” really good insight on how to plan for your social media activities next year.

One question I get asked repeatedly is, “What should I look for while hiring a social media manager?” Hopefully, this blog post gives an insight into the key skill sets your team must have in 2011 in order to be successful with digital marketing. I also have tried to give you some interview questions you might want to consider asking during the interview.

1. Hire a strategist not a hot shot: Depending on your budget and the overall business goals, you are better off hiring a strategist who understands the big picture and has experience in running digital campaigns — from planning to execution — than a personal brand with no track record of doing actual work. A key differentiator between a social media strategist and a hot shot is very simple: the former can speak to business goals, social media strategy and metrics and sounds more like a marketer versus the latter (hot shot) who eventually talks more about his/her personal brand. Yeah, one of the banes of social media is that we create huge personal brands out of community managers who get caught up in their own social glory.
Interview question: Describe a social media campaign that you were involved with?

 2.       Technology and social media is like fish and water: Back in August, when the CRT/tanaka Social Media Practice was hiring an account executive, I received tons of resumes, and of course, the majority of them claimed to be social media strategists. Once I got down to the final 10 and started interviewing them, I found out some of them were actually technology-averse. If your candidates don’t get excited talking about iPhone apps, Foursquare check-ins, WordPress plug-ins and live streaming video, that’s a red flag. How can someone be good at social networking without being an active technology consumer? A true social media enthusiast takes to technology just as fish takes to water.  
Interview question: What do you consider the best innovation in technology and/or social networking? 

3.       Experience in traditional and new media a plus: Some of the more successful social media managers are those that come from a journalism or traditional PR background, because at the end of the day, the tenets to good media pitching, writing and editing act as a great foundation to good new media practices (blogger relations, digital content creation for an audience that has an attention span of 5 seconds). 

 4.       Ability to speak metrics and measurement: I firmly believe that someone who is able to intelligently speak about metrics and best practices to measure social media (especially because there is NO one standard formula) and is able to demonstrate that through past experience is a promising new hire. 2011 is the year of tangible ROI for social media, when your management will be looking closely at your online activities with a microscope. Your social media team member better be ready to quantify versus just qualify all the Facebook, Twitter and blog activities on a quarterly basis. All the more reason to hire someone who is more a strategist than a tactical person with sound knowledge of all new social tools and apps.
Interview question: What is your thought on Ad Value Equivalency (AVE) versus engagement metrics? How would you demonstrate engagement?

 5.       Your Social Media Manager is Your Chief Engagement Officer (CEO): Alright last but not the least, if you have any inclination the candidate is more introverted than social and shies away from making new connections at an event, time to say goodbye. Your community manager is the face of your organization interacting with your customers both online and offline. A great sense of humor, wit and the ability to connect and make friends out of strangers are all key characteristics of a good social media manager.  You want to hire someone who can listen first and then engage your stakeholders in a meaningful conversation that results in long-term relationships, and no you don’t want someone who doesn’t get excited at the prospect of meeting new people at a networking event.  
Interview question: Explain the role of a community manager as a facilitator.

As team leads, we all know how important it is to take the time to hire the right person and even more so when you have tons of social media rock stars out there claiming to be gurus, pundits and strategists. Your investment in the right social media member will go a long way in achieving your business objectives, so good luck and may you find the right one for your social efforts in 2011!

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Priya Ramesh | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (3)
Dec 10 2010

7 Tips to Stretch Your PR Budget and Increase ROI

December 10, 2010 – 10:26 am

image

By Jason Stemm @NYCubsFan

Working with limited budgets is nothing new to marketers. Our extensive work with commodity boards that impose voluntary assessments to fund generic promotion campaigns has really put us to the test at times. Crafting campaigns for farmers and fresh produce shippers demands a vigilant eye on every nickel to deliver the greatest ROI. The digital age offers efficiencies in content creation, delivery and monitoring. Here are some of the ways we have successfully delivered impactful programs with small budgets.

1. Think Big, Downsize Later: Don’t let small budgets stifle creativity. The idea may start off as too big to fund, but look for ways to adapt it to fit your budget. It may be a virtual event rather than flying people in from around the world. Webcams and chat rooms offer great ways to connect without leaving your desk. Virtual wine tastings can offer writers and critics from coast to coast to share in the experience of collaborative tastings for the cost of shipping.

2. Be a Sniper: A shotgun approach may hit your target, but lacks focus. A targeted approach, by market, demographic or other qualification trims the fat and forces you to refine your approach. Is a national release needed, or would your client be better served with only a handful of articles in the right cities and publications? When you only have a budget to make deliveries to a dozen editors, do your homework ahead of time and make sure they are the dozen most likely to write about it. Don’t send one to The New York Times, just to report back to the client that they received one if you know interest is unlikely.

3. Finding the Right Messengers: Celebrity chefs can demand six figures for a two hour appearance that doesn’t even require them to unsheathe a knife. Even hiring a spokesperson for a more modest sum leaves you with travel costs and scheduling challenges. One tactic we have successfully implemented is forming a Chef Advisory Board, with spokespeople in our primary markets. In addition to being available for local appearances at reasonable costs and no travel, they are plugged into the local scene and able to identify additional opportunities that benefit your client. We have also had success with identifying rising stars, developing personal relationships before they even think of getting an agent. Being connected in the food scene and active in groups like IACP, IFEC, WCR and others provides opportunities to grow these personal relationships that benefit clients down the road.social-media1

4. Get Social: Social networks provide free platforms to host content and connect with consumers. Facebook ads are an effective way to reach your target demographic and bring in potential advocates. Once you get them there, content is king to engage and build loyalty. But here is the best part: You don’t have to create much of the content. When we built the Fan of Bananas page, we were posting regularly with interesting content from across the web. Suddenly we began to notice that the community was also generating content on the page that others were responding to. It had developed a life of its own.

5. Trickle Down Communications: Social media has provided a way to reach consumers as never before, but don’t overlook the influencers and educators that can expand the reach of your message. Sweet potatoes are an ideal food for diabetics, however, we could use up the budget of the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission very quickly by attending consumer events across the country. Instead, we attended the AADE’s Diabetic Educator Conference, where we educated the educators to deliver our information to the thousands of patients and families they counsel. It also allowed for national reach, as opposed to the consumer events that draw a local crowd.

6. Seek Partners: Strategic partnerships can cut your cost in half, and when your message isn’t being diluted, is a great option. When looking to promote uses of fresh fruit in healthful salads, we looked to the nut growers to participate. They too were looking to encourage usage ideas beyond snacking, and reinforce their health messaging. It was not only a great partnership for both organizations, it also delivered more value to editors and their readers.

7. Use Contests to Generate Content and Conduct Research: Recipe and video contests have provided consumer and even blogger generated content provide materials we use in our online platforms. It not only provides ideas for future programs, but also information on how your product is being used and where future opportunities exist.

Finding effective solutions for clients with smaller budgets has been a rewarding challenge during my nearly twelve years in food marketing. Over the years, delivering great ROI on their investment has led to long-term client retention and organic growth of budgets. As they see the success of their programs and the value of PR, they are encouraged to invest further in their business.

Image: Fresh and Easy Buzz, Indata

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jason Stemm | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)
Dec 9 2010

Ready for Resolutions? Being Healthy is the New Green

December 9, 2010 – 11:40 am

By April Sciacchitano (@aprilcs) 

Going green has come a long way since reduce, recycle, reuse. People asked for options beyond a blue recycling bin. Nevermind the fact that buying green is how people justify their bad behavior – give them organic, reclaimed and self-sustained. 

Just when companies are patting themselves on the back for greener practices, consumers have a new demand: Be healthy. People want to eat better, exercise more and know more about their health. There are real benefits in store for companies who give their employees and customers healthier options.  Consider how you can offer them way to:

  • Get moving. The term “sedentary lifestyle” conjures all kinds of images that couldn’t possibly be you. But think again – fewer than 5,000 steps per day are considered sedentary.Couple that with the fact that just five minutes outside can improve your mood, and you’ve got a case for workplace wellness initiatives. Fidgety people tend to burn more calories, so even if you can’t get outside, options like a standing workstation make a difference. 
  • Eat better. This fall, two high schools participated in a trial run of healthy vending machines. Baby carrots were stocked in modern packaging and students were encouraged to ‘eat ‘em like they’re junk food.’ While the approach might be a tough sell to teens, adults are looking for healthier options that are easy too. 

         

Reserved for healthy option?

  • Find out why. People are doing more than choosing a healthy breakfast and hoping for the best. They want to take control of their health and overcome those conditions that are part of their family history.

    In the case of metabolic syndrome, Yahtzee is a bad thing.

    Metabolic syndrome occurs when you have three out of five indicators: Excess abdominal fat, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. When these are present, there’s an increased risk of diabetes, heart attack and stroke.

More recently, snoring and insomnia have been linked to metabolic syndrome. People become engaged in prevention when they know what to watch for.  Employers should consider bringing screenings to their employees. 

The other thing being healthy has in common with being green?     

It’s not easy. 

 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By April Sciacchitano | Posted in Healthcare | Comments (2)