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

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

When a new product or service hits supermarkets, it doesn’t take long for everyone else to follow suit. That’s the thing about what Clayton Christensen calls “sustaining innovations.” They are easily imitable and difficult to break out of.
It’s the reason so many hard drive manufacturers went out of business. They were sustaining an innovation trend [...]

Tags: blog, Creativity, disruptive innovation, Food, Innovation, Marketing, Supermarket, sustaining innovation

Apparently corporate jets are a bit extravagant for most of us these days, but we’re not willing to give up our cigarettes, alcohol and candy. An article in USA today last August predicted stocks in these industries would do well in the downturn.
Now, another article in the Wall Street Journal focusing on the chocolate market [...]

Tags: blog, Food, indulgence, Innovation, Marketing, recession

Innovation comes in many forms. Sometimes, it’s about taking something nobody else wants and turning it into something wonderful.
Here are just a few examples:
Chicken rib meat. Meet chicken nuggets.
Beef and pork offal. That’s hot dogs to you.
The leftover nubbins from trimming a slab of ribs. We call those riblets and eat ‘em up.
Immature wings and drumsticks. [...]

Tags: Add new tag, blog, Food, Innovation, innovative food products, Marketing, new ideas

It’s time to reintroduce you to the Web’s only place for catalytic thinking for food marketers: Marketing Spoonful.
We hope you’ll take the time to visit today and peruse a couple of our posts. We’ve covered such topics as:

Election-themed innovation brainstorming
How Subway teaches us that duality in marketing is a powerful thing
Why prospecting is a lot [...]

Tags: blog, Business, catalytic thinking, creative thinking, Creativity, Food, ideation, Innovation, Marketing, Product Development, Strategy

One thing that really irritates the Spoon (aside from chiggers or sand in the swim suit) is patents.

Why? They’re great when used correctly, but extremely anti-innovative when relied on for competitive advantage.
As a former boss used to say, “If the product is extraordinary, then get it to market first, and you will win. You can [...]

Tags: competitiveness, first mover advantage, first to market, food and beverage innovation, Innovation, Mintel, patent, Product Development

On the ground in Tulsa less than three hours and already there are exciting food marketing revelations in this town along the Great American Highway. After a tasty and filling early dinner at Pei Wei, it was off to Wild Oats to see the latest products and brands of natural and organic food.
The decidely neighborhoodly [...]

Tags: 365, antioxidant, better first than better, cat, chips, green tea, GT, health, holistic, Honest Tea, indulgence, Innovation, kombucha, Lipton, natural, Nestea, no compromise, nutrition, organic, Pei Wei, pet food, Republic of Tea, Route 66, snack, tea, Terra, Tulsa, wellness, Whole Foods, Wild oats