Marketing Spoonful

When I was a kid I used to watch my dad mix concentrated weedkiller chemical with water in a big metal spray can. He would put a spring-loaded pump down into the can and screw it on. He would pump the pump about 20 times and turn the handle to lock it in place. Then [...]

Tags: chemicals, food marketing blog, Innovation, Monsanto, Roundup

It takes a special person to say the word “wiener” with a straight face. Linkhaus, a new hot dog eatery in Wichita, Kansas, uses the term shamelessly to describe its “well endowed” dogs.
The place is really down to earth. It’s definitely a guys type of place. You can catch ESPN and other sports channels on [...]

Tags: food marketing blog, hot dog, Linkhaus

I had the pleasure of attending the Rural Grocery Store Summit in Manhattan, Kansas, this week. I met a lot of great people who are doing their best to preserve an important part of the struggling rural environment.
I learned that over the past five years, nearly half the rural grocery stores in Kansas have gone [...]

Tags: community engagement, customer engagement, food marketing blog, rural grocery store

I’m not sure how often this occurs, but it’s an interesting phenomenon that what we would call brand standards for franchises are sometimes blatantly ignored. Signage is a tough one to get over on, but you and I both know there are a lot of unapproved coupons and brochures floating around out there.
But tonight, I [...]

Tags: 7-Eleven, brand standards, food marketing, food marketing blog, franchise, ICEE, Icy Drink, Merchandising, Slurpee

Creating a new brand identity for yourself is easy. Creating a new brand image? Not so much.
That’s because of an important, yet subtle difference between identity and image:
Identity is WHO you are. Image is HOW you are perceived.
To state it another way, your brand identity is HOW you want to be perceived, while your image [...]

Tags: Branding, Dippin' Dots, food marketing blog, Hormel, Hyundai, identity, image, Kia, Lexus, marketing strategy, Tyson

After posting a client’s account of going to CiCi’s Pizza and tripling the toppings on his pizza by robbing from two other slices, I got a nice comment from an official at the company. You can read it below. It was very cordial and essentially pointed out that CiCi’s provides ample toppings and invited me [...]

Tags: CiCi's, food marketing blog, pizza

I heard a really funny story the other day. I was teaching a course on the basics of starting up a business to a class of about 10 people. Now, when I teach this class, I like to use the example of starting a pizza restaurant to illustrate how to locate, price, create a product, [...]

Tags: buffet, CiCi's, Domino's, food marketing blog, getting your money's worth, Papa John's, pizza, Pizza Hut, value

A side of marketing we don’t cover a lot here at Marketing Spoonful is management. And one important lesson for all of us to take to heart is that each person learns differently.
Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I just don’t get it. It seems like he’s not listening to me.” Well, chances are, the [...]

Tags: communication techniques, Dancing With the Stars, DWTS, food marketing blog, instruction, Kate Gosselin, learning modes, Management, Tony Dovolani

I like to watch the Family Guy of an evening and enjoy some snacks. Tonight, it’s Diet 7-Up with Trail’s End  Butter Light Popcorn (it’s tasty stuff, and 70 percent of the proceeds go to the Boy Scouts).
While watching, I saw a commercial for Spangles, a regional burger joint with an eclectic menu that includes [...]

Tags: cinnamon roll, food marketing blog, local food, Spangles, Yoder

I asked friends what invention they would like to take credit for. Their responses were interesting.
 
ASW: The mute button, because it has saved countless relationships of various natures. ‘Nuff said.
 
MB: Al Gore is great at this game!
 
LSK: I would take credit for fire and the wheel. Just power hungry I guess
 
SO: Guinness. [...]

Tags: food marketing blog, Innovation, invention, Marketing, Product Development