Food Marketing Nerds Restaurant and CPG Marketing Podcast

Today's episode goes out to all the Kombucha nerds in the audience. This interview is a little bit of a change in pace from our usual conversations around tactics and strategies within food and beverage marketing - instead, we're diving deeper into a category that's had a major impact on the food and beverage industry.

Today, we're chatting with Hannah Crum, founder and president of Kombucha Brewers International. Hannah, otherwise known as the "Kombucha Momma", has a profound understanding of the industry, best practices, and what it takes to be a success. As you'll soon hear, Hannah's demeanor is as effervescent as the Kombucha her trade association represents.

If you've ever considered launching a Kombucha product line or have crossover with the category in some way, then stay tuned for today's deep dive into the rapidly evolved world fermented tea!

Hannah's Recommended Reads:

• Crucial Conversations

Resources:

• Kombucha Kon 2020

Joining us on the show today, we've got Lucinda Wright, Co-Founder and CEO of Cask & Kettle. If you aren't familiar, Cask & Kettle is a company that is truly in a category of one. They make the first and only spiked coffee K-Cups on the market, ranging from the more traditional Irish Coffee to their Hot Blonde Coffee with vodka, and even a Spiked Dry Cider.

Lucinda has an incredible depth of expertise in CPG. She was VP of Marketing at Kelloggs, where she helped to build Raisin Bran into a powerhouse brand. She's also worked with a number of similar household names, before getting into consulting for, you guessed it, growing CPG brands.

Lucinda has been putting her past experience to good use, from navigating the regulation heavy spirits industry to borrowing big brand principles and executing with start-up scrappiness.

We're discussing a lot of the do's and don'ts when it comes breaking ground with an innovative product, and in this episode, you'll also learn:

• How to perform big brand consumer research on a start-up budget
• Why marketing to your product's buyers may be the wrong approach
• What to avoid when adding SKUs to your product line

And plenty more...

More Resources:

• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
• Cask & Kettle on IG
• Cask & Kettle on FB

If you're the type of person who likes to geek out on paid social, sales funnels, or just all-around masterful digital marketing, then boy do I know the episode for you. I'm excited to introduce you to our guest, Yoon-Ji Nam, Head of Growth at the company transforming the cereal category: Magic Spoon. And by cereal, I mean like breakfast cereal you eat with milk, not serial, as in the true-crime podcast with a bummer of a second season.

Magic Spoon is the healthy version of your favorite childhood cereals, and if you're anything like me, you might already be somewhat familiar with them from an eye-catching Instagram or Facebook ad. Magic Spoon is turning the cereal aisle upside down, and the crazy part is, they aren't even in the cereal aisle.

That's where Yoon-Ji comes in. Having worked at successful online-only companies like Away and Hawthorne, she's helping Magic Spoon leverage a similar direct to consumer approach, to build emotional connections to the brand that money can't buy.

From general mindset down to tactical execution, there's so much to learn from this interview, like:

• What consumer data most companies already have, but severely underutilize
• How to effectively personalize customer journeys
• Why you have it all wrong when it comes to organic social

And a ton more. We've dabbled in topics like digital media, sales funnels and e-commerce in previous episodes, but not like this. Get ready for it, Nerds.

More Resources:

• Magic Spoon on IG
• Unbounce - Landing Page Software
• Radical Candor by Kim Scott

Hey folks, thanks for tuning in. On the show today, we have Blue Bear's own Social Media Strategist, Emily Larsen. Emily has spent her career in social and digital marketing, and today, we're discussing opportunities and watch-outs for Food & Beverage brands on social media.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How platforms are catering to the rise in e-commerce
• What to keep in mind before investing in TikTok
• Why CPG brands shouldn't sleep on Pinterest

And plenty more. I should caveat this by saying, this episode is being recorded in late August of 2020, and with how quickly social media changes if you happen to be listening back on this episode, the window of the arbitrage from being an early adopter to certain features may have already closed. What we're saying is, social changes quickly, so the landscape may look a little different if you're tuning into this at a later date.

Other Resources:

• Connect with Emily on LinkedIn
• Download the Social Media Trend Report

On the show today, we're chatting with Jeremy Gregory, co-founder and marketing director of Montucky Cold Snacks. If you haven't already seen Montucky's distinctive beer cans on shelves, you probably will soon. As of February of this year, Montucky became one of the fastest-growing brands in the category, second to only White Claw.

As a light lager, Montucky is up against stiff competition, and yet, their product continues to fly off the shelves.

In today's episode, you'll hear:

• How the right apparel strategy can transform your brand
• Why it pays to not take yourself too seriously
• What goes into building a brand people young consumers can identify with
• And plenty more…

Montucky's marketing vibe and brand voice are one of, if not the company's, biggest strengths and we're thrilled to introduce you to the guy behind it all.

Recommended Resources:

• Montucky on Instagram
• Montucky on Facebook
• The 1-Page Marketing Plan

Today we're sitting down with Rifle Hughes, Strategy and Innovation Business Partner at JPG Resources. Rifle has spent over 20 years helping companies build strong connections between brands and consumers. He's worked with a range of companies within the industry, from start-ups to heavy hitters like Nestlé, Hormel, and Pepsi.

Rifle and I discuss how COVID is influencing consumer behavior, and how both CPG and restaurant brands should adapt.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• What consumer behaviors will likely have the most staying power in a post-pandemic world.
• How restaurants are bringing the on-premise experience to their customers' homes.
• What factors to consider before investing more into your e-commerce presence, and lot's more.

Recommended Resources:

Connect with Rifle Hughes on LinkedIn

Edmund Hillary: A Biography by Michael Gill

On the show today, we have Vanessa Santana, Brand Experience Planner at General Mills. We're discussing some of the most important issues the industry is wrestling with today, the lack of diversity and what leaders can do to play a role in making a positive change.

We invited Vanessa onto the show to talk through this from both a personal and business perspective. And looking forward, what actions we can take to build a more inclusive industry.

Recommended Reading:

• The Promise of a Pencil – Adam Braun

• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance – Angela Duckworth

Howdy folks, today we're chatting with Jim Lamancusa, founder and CEO of Cusa Tea and Coffee. Cusa is not your usual tea or coffee company. What started as a small line of innovative instant tea products soon grew into multiple product lines (including coffee), a handful of patents, and multiple global awards. Having worked at CPG start-ups that went from a million in revenue per year to over 100 million, Jim experienced the internal workings of a natural foods unicorn. He's taken that know-how, along with his own scrappy mentality, to develop some really smart marketing initiatives that might leave you thinking, "hmm why didn't I think of that?".

After seeing the cost and conversion rates of his in-store demos, Jim was looking for a better way to grow his base of loyal customers. Cusa Tea and Coffee began refining its digital presence and hasn't looked back since. Cusa's approach to digital marketing is extremely savvy and anyone looking to establish or build on an existing e-comm presence, especially in the wake of COVID, has so much to learn from today's episode.

In this show, you'll learn:

• How to scale up your digital media budget
• Why breaking up with bad subscribers could generate more sales
• How to gauge the effectiveness of your in-store marketing

So, let's get after it.

Recommended Resources:

Kick Further

Klayvio.com

BoldCommerce.com

GetRepeat.io

Find Cusa Tea & Coffee Online:

Cusa Tea Website

Facebook

Instagram

On the show today, we're talking with Michael Silverman, Managing Director of the Samantha Brands Group, or SBG for short. SBG is an investor group that helps promising consumer brands quickly scale and develop into enduring household names, and in talking with Michael, we get a glimpse into how SBG makes it happen.

Michael is a brilliant guy who knows the business of CPG as well as any guest we've ever interviewed. His firm has successfully scaled brands like Wild Made Snacks and Tres Latin Foods, maker of the Pupusas that are near and dear to my heart. We dive deep into some of the commonly shared notions around marketing and distribution strategy, and why much of what you're hearing around making it big may actually be leading you down a slow, painful path of destruction.

This is only scratching the surface, but in today's episode, you'll learn

• What so many fledgling consumer brands get wrong about distribution strategy
• Why your brand-building efforts may not be adding value to the bottom line
• What marketing channels have the biggest impact on product turn
• And plenty more

Recommended Reading & Listening

• What Didn't Kill You - Michael's Podcast
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Find out more about the Samantha Brands Group and Associated Brands:

• SBG Website
• Natural Food Works
• Tres Latin
• Wildmade Snacks

In this episode, we're talking to Kristen Majdanics, VP of Marketing for Firehouse Subs. We were already huge fans of their sandwiches, but chatting with Kristen gave us a whole new appreciation for the brand and how they've managed to grow, in spite of intense competition.

Kristen started as a brand manager with Firehouse back when they had 300 locations and a marketing department of just two people. Well, the company grew quickly and so did Kristen's role. She now leads the marketing department of 17 people, with Firehouse clocking in at over 1,100 locations nationwide. She talked us through what's driven the company's growth, and learnings she's picked up along the way.

In today's episode, you'll hear:

• What leaders can do to build a more passionate team
• Why your company mission is crucial for growth
• How telling your customers every good thing about you isn't working
• And so much more...

Kristen's Recommended Podcast:

• Twenty Thousand Hertz

Learn More About Firehouse Subs:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter