Marketing Spoonful

Everything is gloom and doom. Retail sales are in the crapper. People are losing their jobs.
So what does a food marketer have to be thankful for this year?

Employment. It bears many fruits. Be thankful if you have a job. Chances are, you get to work with fun, nice, smart, talented people and you’re trusted to [...]

Tags: giving thanks, gratitude, Thanksgiving, things to be thankful for

Populism, that longing for a return to a time when the “people” run things in this country, has its roots in the agrarian heritage of our country. But there may be a connection between food marketing and populism running through today’s market, as well.
There was coldy humorous moment at today’s Senate hearings at which executives [...]

Tags: blog, consumer choice, consumerism, corporate mistrust, Food, Marketing, populism, trust

We’re watching a rerun of Lipstick Jungle and it’s remarkable how really great writing can make a show written for women such an extraordinary watch for a regular guy.
Like when the film industry exec Wendy takes her script to be reviewed by the much younger woman who has replaced her at her old job. After [...]

Tags: better advertising, copywriting, creative writing, Lipstick Jungle, words, writing ads

Today, we return to our little game of matching brands to characters from the hit NBC television show The Office.
So far, we’ve shown how Michael Scott is like the ShamWow, how Jim Halpert is like Jack Link’s Beef Jerky and how Dwight Schrute is like Jell-O.

This morning, our attention turns to Angela Martin, head of [...]

Tags: Angela Martin, brand personification, Dwight Schrute, fruitcake, Jim Halpert, Michael Scott, The Office

“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” Herbert Spencer
As we sat in a staff meeting the other day, an astute colleague reminded us that market leaders who stay the course during tough times usually emerge even stronger on the other side. At times, this may mean cutting back on expenditures across the [...]

Tags: austerity program, blog, Food, Management, Marketing, Training

When Barack Obama was asked which book he would take to the White House if allowed just one, he said it would be Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, about the Lincoln presidency. Why? Because Lincoln had staffed his administration with men who were his chief rivals and detractors based on their qualifications to help [...]

Tags: Doris Kearns Goodwin, leadership qualities, leadership style, Lincoln, Management, Obama, team of rivals

Pulitzer-Prize-winning author and NBC-TV news analyst Doris Kearns Goodwin will speak at the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and dinner this evening. She is a prominent presidential historian and biographer.
We’re especially interested to hear about her book on Lincoln, which profiles the one-term Illinois congressman’s amazing feat of winning the presidency and assembling [...]

Tags: blog, Food, management strategy, management style, Marketing, Strategy, team of rivals

In case you’ve been hibernating for the past year, we’re in an economic downturn. We stop short of saying “recession” because a recession is officially defined as two straight quarterly declines in GDP.
We’ve also written a lot in this blog about the increased importance of price to consumers.
But lest we forget, branding still works. Just [...]

Tags: beverage, Coca-Cola, Coke, economic downturn, Food, Pepsi, power of branding, rival brands

Retail sales were down again in October following the steepest decline in GDP since the early 1990s.
Target, Costco and others saw declines, but Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club actually outperformed modest expectations for two-percent growth in same-store sales.
What does it all mean? Right now, we would only say that consumers ARE moving more purchases, including food, [...]

Tags: Costco, discount, price sensitivity, price shopping, retail sales, Sam's Club, same-store sales, Target, value, Wal-Mart

We’ve blogged a few times about the power of duality, combining two brand attributes to form one strong differentiator. Our favorite example is Subway, which combines health and low prices, or some might say health and convenience.
Now, the Wall Street Journal and one of our favorite food newsies, Kevin Coupe, are discussing how the convergence [...]

Tags: duality, economic downturn, green consumerism, green marketing, thrifty decision