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The key take-away for me at this week’s Marketing to Moms conference was about story-telling. Not story-telling by advertisers or PR people - not the campaigns and messages that are pushed out. I’m talking about the stories created by the millions of consumers on YouTube, Facebook and other social sites.

With the increasing amount of user-generated content online, one of the best things brands can do is sit back and take it all in. Then, after looking and listening, figure out how to choreograph the content that’s already out there into a meaningful brand dance - the kind of raucous dance you see at Greek and Jewish weddings.

Coca-Cola is doing it. One of the best, most compelling presentations at M2Moms was by Wendy Clark, SVP of Integrated Marketing at Coca-Cola, who held a can of Diet Coke in her hand from the start to the end of her presentation (maybe not surprising, but as Clark talked about authenticity and brand fans, that Coke can seemed to add even more street cred).

Clark talked about seeking opportunities for collaboration and co-creation, tapping into the people who are telling your story. And that doesn’t mean people have to be literally talking about your brand. More often than not, it’s going to be a story that gets at the essence of what your brand has to offer (healthy living or more family time, for example).

“We need to integrate consumer ideas into the way we’re going to the marketplace, and use digital as an enabler,” said Clark.  She wasn’t talking about the usual consumer research or the traditionally linear process in developing campaigns.  As she talked, she pulled up random search results for “Coke” on Google.

What are people finding when they search for your brand (or a related topic)? How can you contribute to the conversation?  How can you “curate” what’s already there?  “The shift has happened - advertising doesn’t seem to capture what we do any more. We spend a lot of time talking about community marketing,” Clark said.  Marketers need to “be open to a model that bypasses traditional stages.”

Clark shared that her PR team is playing an active role in beating the social media drum at Coca-Cola.  “Our PR team has been our best friend,” she said. At the core, I believe good PR people are about two things: story-telling + relationship-building. We’ve got “the right stuff” for this new social media world. Now, we just need to listen a little more to the stories already being told in order to help write the next chapter for the brands we work with and the communities they want to be part of.

While at M2Moms, I “curated” a panel of brands and bloggers who are working together. Kristin Brandt of Manic Mommies, who was on the panel, was kind enough to record the session and we’ll be posting the audio here next week.  Meantime, you can scan some of the insights and soundbites from this week’s Marketing to Moms conference on Twitter, #m2moms.

Filed under: Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Food & Beverage PR, Internet, Marketing to Moms, Social Media by LauraTomasetti - 5 Comments →

This past weekend, I happened to catch the latest Halloween installment of one of my all-time favorite brand advertisements - - Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. 

I am intrigued by how some brands are able to run with the one marketing strategy for years and still induce the exact same feeling among some consumers that it did a decade ago.  I can still picture a younger me sitting in front of the TV watching these commercials and wondering, “What kind of bite are they going to take out of the peanut butter cup this time?”  Whether it was the vampire teeth marks or the current Jack-o-Lantern carved out of the peanut butter cup, the Reese’s ads provide a sense of nostalgia for me and, I would imagine, many others.

While the brand has moved away from its catchy 90’s slogan, “There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s,” it appears as though the ad execs still see value in the visuals that they used to build brand awareness a decade ago.  As they say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Now, Reese’s (which happens to have a really fun website) isn’t the only brand that has come full-circle, back to their roots with a “What’s Old is New Again,” approach to marketing and/or PR.  Just think about perennials like the Budweiser Clydesdales or the Coca-Cola Polar Bears. What other brands have you seen look to the past for a PR/marketing campaign or what brands do you think this strategy might work for?

Filed under: Consumer Marketing, Food & Beverage PR by JohnLeRoy - 2 Comments →

Food, Inc., the new documentary directed by Robert Kenner and co-produced by Fast Food Nation’s Eric Schlosser, opened nationwide this weekend.  Food Inc. is less about Hollywood and more about a wide-eyed walk down the supermarket aisle – and the imagery utilized to market the foods we put into our carts every week.

My interest in Food Inc. stemmed from our work with Stonyfield Farm, a pioneer in the organic industry, which by the way has grown to $24.5 billion – but still only represents 3.5% of America’s grocery dollars.

You leave Food Inc. thinking, for one, I’ll never eat chicken again (and I haven’t since seeing the premiere a week ago). More important, though, is the understanding that our food is not farmed, but mass-produced. I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise. But there’s some pretty startling footage in Food Inc. – casting a light on the treatment of farmers, workers and animals, and the chemical exposure of foods most of us eat on a regular basis, like ammonia-treated hamburger filler (in 70% of the hamburgers consumed in the US). I’m no expert, but something tells me Mr. Clean is better on your floors than in your food (though I’m a personally a fan of Seventh Generation and Method)

I also learned that 64% of Americans can now be categorized as obese or overweight, and one in three children growing up today will develop early-onset diabetes.  This last point was driven home in heart-wrenching fashion in the movie, when a young girl shopping with her parents reached for fresh fruit to add to their grocery cart and was told to “put them back, we can’t afford that.” The mother went on to explain that it’s more economical to feed her family at any number of fast-food chains.

The cost of organics is often raised as a barrier when we speak with food media and bloggers. But, as Stonyfield Founder Gary Hirshberg explained in a Q&A after the screening, greater consumer demand will help drive the price of organics down. To that end, Stonyfield recently gained distribution at Wal-Mart.“We need to be Goliath, not David fighting Goliath,” Hirshberg said in his appearance in Food Inc.With regard to Wal-Mart’s increased focus on organics, the chain’s dairy buyer explained, “We look at what the consumer wants and get behind it.”

Stonyfield’s site has a Q&A with Robert Kenner, and 30+ printable coupons for organic brands, including Stonyfield yogurt and more.

For food brands that have a good story to tell, and many do, getting consumers to look beyond imagery to read the label is key. Brands should be as clear as possible about what’s in – and not in – their products. The USDA is helping with its National Organic Program symbol. Motivated consumers are also searching online for ingredients and sources, an opportunity for brands to be part of the discussion in social networks, on blogs and in forums.

No matter what side of the discussion you’re on, Food Inc. is a must-see – just be sure to eat you go. If you miss it in theaters, the DVD should be out right about the same time as the Natural Products Association’s Expo East, coinciding with the Organic Products Expo in Boston September 23-26.

Filed under: Events and Conferences, Food & Beverage PR, Food Industry, Green Marketing, Politics by LauraTomasetti - 3 Comments →