Marketing Spoonful

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

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

We promise no opinion on political matters, but here are some things to consider as the new administration prepares to take over come Wednesday morning.

Ethanol. Obama promises to maintain a mandate. But look for greater encouragement of usage of other feedstocks, such as grass and sugarcane, possibly lessening pressure on grain supplies.
Mandatory Country of Origin [...]

Tags: blog, election, Food, issues, Marketing, Strategy

As you know by now, we’ve been reading a new book, A Little Less Conversation, which focuses on the need to create desire through action, rather than words.
And wouldn’t you know it, we found a good example of what NOT to do in a case study that appeared in the Oct. 27 issue of Brandweek.
Seems [...]

Tags: Branding, Consumer Preference, design, Marketing, Packaging, Strategy

It’s hard.
Not everyone can do it.
Everyone thinks they can do it.
It costs money.
Many people think it should cost less money than it does.
It unlocks doors.
It separates top performers from also-rans.
It won’t always make you popular.
It’s hard.
It’s not always intuitive.
Just when you think it shouldn’t be intuitive, it is.
You can’t learn everything about it from a [...]

Tags: business strategy, creative thinking, strategic thinking, Strategy

This week, we discovered a new restaurant chain headquartered right in our backyard that seems to be doing a lot of things right. We also sampled some really good, authentic Indian cuisine that comes shelf-stable in packets and pans. And who doesn’t love fruity snacks that are tasty, fun for kids to eat and convenient?
Let’s [...]

Tags: Archer Farms, blog, Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, convenience foods, Food, fruit leather, fruit strips, Indian food, Marketing, Patak's, ready-to-eat, ready-to-heat, Restaurant, shelf-stable, Spangles, Strategy

We don’t pretend to know everything about marketing and markets. But we do think you need to continue harping on value (low prices for what you get) and emotion when hawking your product or service.
In an earlier post, we commented about stocks that seem to be benefiting from the down economy and what makes them [...]

Tags: blog, Business, creative thinking, Food, Marketing, Restaurant, Strategy

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

Sometimes the media and the pundits overuse the word crisis when describing events that wrack our financial world. But we doubt that anyone would criticize someone who uses it to depict the current state of the US economy.
At the same time, some folks seem to think that the passing of a $700 billion bailout package [...]

Tags: blog, Business, economy, financial situation, Food, Marketing, pricing, Product Development, Strategy

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (as if you haven’t heard) has dipped near 2005 levels. Meanwhile, many food stocks, such as Kellogg, Procter & Gamble and General Mills are holding their own. Conventional wisdom holds that money flees to “stable” industries, such as food in times of inflation, recession or stagflation.
At the same time, Coca-Cola [...]

Tags: alternatives, blog, business strategy, Coca-Cola, consumer spending, Food, fuel prices, General Mills, inflation, Kellogg, luxuries, Marketing, Procter & Gamble, recession, Strategy, substitutes