Marketing Spoonful

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

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

Remember, just a few short years ago when there was one small spot on the convenience store refrigerator shelf for a lonely little energy drink called Red Bull? Now there are several coolers filled with every kind of energy drink one can imagine.
Funny thing, though. When I was at Big Lots tonight (part of a [...]

Tags: AMP, Crayola, Crayon, Crayon Sports Drink, energy drink, food marketing blog, G2, Gatorade, Hansen's Natural, Red Bull, sports drink

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

Well, it seems as if someone was listening. When I posted a call for a new all out food brand battle, I was hoping someone would answer with something original. Little did I know when I wrote What the world needs now is a new food brand war that Sonic would be the one to draw [...]

Tags: attack ads, battle of the brands, Burger King, burger wars, food marketing blog, Sonic

I had the pleasure of watching Andy Roddick beat some Brazilian dude named Belucci at the Australian Open last night, and I was really impressed.
Usually, Roddick seems to have this firepower and intensity that is almost palpable. But last night, it was as if he was guiding each shot to place the ball exactly where [...]

Tags: business strategy, finesse, food marketing blog, marketing strategy, sports and business, Strategy

If you’re not sure what to do next to make your food product line more competitive, consider adding a tier.
It might make sense to add a lower tier. It might make more sense to add a higher tier. Which way you move depends largely on the gap in the market, consumers’ willingness to pay and [...]

Tags: brand extension, Crisco, Ernest and Julio Gallo, Mercedes, product line extension, product tiers, Yellow Tail

My 11-year-old daughter LOVES Kroger brand shells and cheese. Now that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have some national brand favorites. She does. Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, for one. And Maruchan Ramen. Also, my kids were raised on Juicy Juice from Libby’s.
My daughter can even tell me why she likes the Kroger shells and cheese better. [...]

Tags: Consumer Preference, food marketing blog, Kroger, Safeway, store brands, Target, Tesco, Whole Foods

Did you know that The Burger King has been around since 1960? But in 2003, the Home of the Whopper brought it back.
The Brawny paper towel guy and the Jolly Green Giant have both been refurbished in the past few years.

And why is that? Well, conventional wisdom would say it’s because their cute–or perhaps, creepy–characters [...]

Tags: Brawny, Burger King, cartoon characters, Charmin, food marketing blog, Jolly Green Giant, McDonald's, Mr. Whipple, Wendy's

Land Rover shows us there is an alternative to “Buy American” as a way to talk about our current dire economic straits and what to do about them.
Now, a Land Rover is not an inexpensive vehicle. Land Rover has a brand reputation as a well-made vehicle and a name that inspires adventurous thinking.
Maybe that’s why [...]

Tags: auto advertising, car ads, economic downturn, Land Rover, Range Rover