Food Marketing Nerds Restaurant and CPG Marketing Podcast

Today's episode is a little longer than usual, but it's well worth taking the time to listen to the podcast. We've got Richard Cran on the show who is about to drop some serious advertising and branding wisdom on you.

Richard's resume would make Don Draper jealous. Throughout Richard's career, he's worked with powerhouses like Taco Bell, Nike, Audi, Samsung, and Harley Davidson just to name a few.

Over the past several years, and most relevant to our restaurant marketing nerds out there, Richard was VP of Marketing Communications for Jack in the Box, where he headed up campaigns impressive enough to make it into Facebook's quarterly earnings reports.

He's joining us on the show today having recently started his own firm called AdHoc Advertising, which you'll get to hear more about in a minute.

On this episode, you'll learn

• What iconic brands do to truly differentiate themselves
• How to measure the direct impact of your social media campaigns
• Why the high cost of working with influencers can actually be justifiable

And so much more.

If you'd like to get in touch with Richard, you can contact him via email at [email protected].

So sit back, grab a pen and paper, and get ready to learn.

On the show today, we have Marie Miller, who handles social media and public relations for Four Peaks Brewing Company out of Tempe, AZ.

Marie brings a cool perspective to the table because she's not only marketing for a brewery with multiple restaurant locations, but also a CPG brand with distribution all over the country.

Today, we're talking about emerging social media platforms and how you can leverage things like Facebook Live to grow your business. If you haven't dabbled in Snapchat or are hesitant to test out live streaming apps, Marie offers some practical advice as someone who has been implementing and strategizing ways to build a national brand.

In this episode, you'll learn

• How to take a targeted approach to boost brands awareness with Snapchat geo-filters
• What to look out for when getting started with Facebook Live
• How to navigate the red tape that comes with marketing an age restrictive product

And a lot more… it's a fun and lively episode and I think you'll all enjoy it.

On the show today, we've got Kris Ford, Marketing Director at Deep River Snacks, a company on a mission that makes some delicious, better-for-you chips.

Deep River's tagline is "We Give a Chip", because they commit 10% of their net profits from each bag of chips sold to support a number of different charities. I love companies like this that use business as a vehicle to make the world a better place, and if you're considering implementing a similar program, you'll have plenty to learn from Kris.

In this episode, you'll learn

• How to effectively set yourself apart from the bigger players in the industry
• What challenges come with committing a percentage of profit to charity
• How to build a social media community around a bigger cause

And plenty more…

On the show today, we've got Jenny Burns, Marketing Director of Dang Foods.

If you're not already familiar with Dang Foods, I'm sure you've seen their packaging and would recognize their line of toasted coconut chips on the end caps of most grocery stores around the country.

Dang Foods was the trailblazer in the coconut chip category and since their founding several years back, there have been plenty of similar products to hit the market.

They've recently launched a new line of onion chips to compliment what they're already doing, and Jenny's experience in branding and marketing has been a big contributor to their recent success.

In this episode with Jenny, you'll learn:

• How to set yourself up for success with a strong merchandising strategy
• What challenges come with inventing your own product category
• How to scale the original vision of your brand across a growing team

And plenty more…

Jenny brings years of high level marketing experience to the table so you'll have plenty of practical takeaways from this episode.

Is your content marketing moving product for your brand? If you're like most people, you probably have a blog, a social media presence, and little to no idea of what kind of return your content is delivering.

We took a week off for the holidays but the amount of knowledge today's guest is about to drop on you will do plenty to make up for lost time.

We've got Julie Feickert on the show today, who is the owner of Cultures for Health. Julie is somewhat of accidental food entrepreneur, her words not mine, but her company has hands down, one of the best content marketing strategies in the natural products industry.

Julie is a self taught ma ster of digital marketing and has built her company to 30 people over the past eight years. She's got a great story and awesome products, and she'll surely teach you a thing or 10 about content marketing.

On today's episode, you'll learn:

• How to strategize your content marketing around new product launches

• What CPG brands can be doing to increase their e-commerce sales

• Why social media isn't necessarily for everyone

And a ton more, so let's go chat with Julie…

In today's episode, White Castle CMO, Kim Bartley, discusses how and why their iconic restaurants continue to thrive despite fierce competition in the burger space.

When talking about competitive landscapes, most industries have something in common. You've got a few big fish with huge marketing budgets, and then you have the challengers, waking up each day looking for innovative ways to compete for the same customers in the same market.

Some challengers lean on creative marketing, some invent unique business models, others are absolute fanatics about building customer relationships. Today's guest, Kim Bartley, is the CMO for a company that's happened to have mastered all three of those things. Yep, we are talking about White Castle.

From tactical Facebook advertising to strategically providing a medium for "Cravers" to share about their love for the brand, White Castle has been building community and customer loyalty from the top down.

In today's interview, Kim explains how White Castle has been so successful in the face of steep competition and changing consumer tastes. She discusses restaurant marketing topics that apply to brands both big and small, including:

How can you leverage data to thrive in a market full of brands with huge ad budgets? (This is one of Kim's main teaching points in her lectures at Ohio State, and her answer is about as practical as any food and restaurant marketing advice you'll hear.)

What can marketing leadership do to build a more loyal fanbase? (A little preview to this answer...Kim herself makes time each day to respond directly to customer feedback about new products and store experiences. Listening to customers isn't just an afterthought.)

Did Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle influence the restaurants' sales?(Ok, this answer might not help your business, but I couldn't resist asking. Plus, it's fun getting to second-hand experience what transpired since the idea of the movie was first introduced.)

References:

Books:

• Blue Ocean Strategy by Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim

Links:

• http://whitecastle.com/
• http://facebook.com/whitecastle

Today, we're talking with Pat Warner, VP of Culture at the Waffle House. For those of you who are not familiar with the Waffle House brand, they have over 1800 locations in 25 states — they are huge!

They've also got social media presence that gotten them coverage on Colbert, ESPN, and TMZ — just to name a few. Waffle House has a case study of how to turn customers and employees into advocates for the brand and a lot of it comes from using social media and how it is intended to be used.

If you're interested in strengthening your company's culture and how to measure the impact of your social media efforts, you'll to take a lot away from this interview with Pat.

Pat's job is to focus on building the company's culture, while always staying true to the brand. Here are a few key topics we discuss about how Waffle House has grown to 1,850 locations in a less than in-your-face restaurant marketing approach:

How can large restaurants listen to employee and customer sentiment at scale? (You'll enjoy this answer, because the tools Waffle House uses are at the fingertips of all CPG and restaurant marketing professionals.)

What are the driving forces behind culture at a successful restaurant brand? (Pat believes that each restaurant has its own personality, and you'll get to hear how his corporate office enables, and even facilitates the uniqueness and culture people keep coming back for.)

Can social media be used for both PR and restaurant marketing? (Short answer: Yes. Social media is a perfect extension of the discussions being had in your restaurant – as you'll hear from Pat, leveraging those conversations can land you on the Colbert Report when done well.)

Books mentioned in the episode: Getting Things Done by David Allen Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell Crucial Conversations by Al Switzler, Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, and Ron McMillan

Links mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/user/whregulars/feed https://www.facebook.com/WaffleHouse https://instagram.com/wafflehouseofficial https://www.linkedin.com/company/waffle-house Snapchat: @WaffleHousehttps://www.sprinklr.com/ https://www.google.com/alerts

On the show today, we have Eric Pierce, Director of Strategy and Insights at New Hope Natural Media. We're talking 2017 trends that are affecting natural products and CPG companies. While this interview may be more geared toward our CPG marketing nerds out there, the macro and cultural shifts Eric covers really apply to anyone with a business model that relies on selling what people eat or drink.

Restaurant marketing nerds, there's knowledge for you to be gained here too.

Eric and his team are extremely tapped in to the industry, and having just released their 2017 Trends and Opportunities Forecast, it was the perfect time to have him on the show. You'll get to hear about the report in this episode.

If you're interested in where the industry is headed, new categories of products that are starting to emerge, or are looking for potential areas of opportunity for your brand, you're going to take a lot away from our interview with Eric.

In our conversation, Eric tackles the latest trends and how as a marketer you can make the most of what's going on. Here are just a few topics we touch on in the interview:

What categories within natural products industry are most rife with opportunity in 2017 and beyond? (Eric and his team's ability to see and contextualize macro level data puts them in a unique position to catch trends ahead of the market. I think you'll enjoy hearing his answer to this question.)

What are the biggest 2017 trends food and beverage companies should watch out for? (With their 2017 Trends and Opportunities Forecast hot off the press, Eric shares findings from what he and his team have been working on.)

What are some of the driving forces behind the shifts in consumer taste? (The food industry is changing, and Eric connects the dots between a few trends in technology that may have a correlation to why we demand different food than we did just a decade ago.)

Links discussed in the episode:

Books:

Blue Ocean Strategy The Dorito Effect by Mike Schatzker The Third Plate by Dan Barber The End of Plenty by Joel K. Bourne Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard The Soil Will Save Usby Kristin Ohlson The Good Gut by Erica Sonnenburg and Justin L. Sonnenburg The Hidden Half of Nature by Anne Biklé and David Montgomery Life's Engines by Paul Falkowski Links: http://newhope.com/ http://nextforecast.com/ Food, Inc. (documentary) Fat Sick and Nearly Dead (documentary) http://foodmarketingnerds.com/beyond-traditional-food-marketing-will-schafer/ http://whatsnextinnatural.com/

Over the past several years, marketing to millennials has been a hot topic of conversation. By most definitions, millennials are anyone born between the early 80's to the late 90's, best known for their lov of snapchat, obsession with traveling, and most importantly, their massive spending power and large makeup of the US work force.

So, It's no surprise that many brands have shifted marketing budget to engage this generation – whether through relevant product offerings, on trend design, cause marketing, or in the case of today's guest, it's pulling together all the above.

We're talking with Amanda Sains, Marketing Director of B'More Organic, about their recent rebrand and cause marketing done right. Just a little back story, B More Organic has donated over $600k to an awesome cause you'll get to hear about in a minute.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to communicate your company's mission without sounding preachy
• What brands should be doing with their packaging to appeal to millennials
• Why genuine cause marketing is much more than a campaign

And a lot more…

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and people are traveling - maybe stopping to get gas at one of the 150 thousand plus convenience stores. Yeah, that’s right 150 thousand plus convenience stores in just the US alone. With that many store, that is a ton of opportunity for distribution in the c-store channel. But selling products into convenience stores presents a whole different set of challenges compared to grocery. For example, recent research shows that consumers only take average of 2 minutes, to get in, find products, and get out when they’re hitting up their local 7-Eleven, as opposed to the 41 minutes spent on the average trip to the grocery store. Today, we’re chatting with Sarah Batterson, Marketing Manager of Open Road snacks, about her approach to increasing sales velocity for their line of products in the convenience channel. In this episode, you’re going to learn: -How limited shelf space can actually be used to your benefit -What social media content is most effective in marketing c-store products -How emerging consumer trends are reshaping what convenience stores carry And a lot more…