- The future is here, and it's dressed in pastels
Today's Mean Marketing Monday is for you my friends, the established specialty food brands. You may have noticed a new generation of food brands popping-up. They're coming-in hot almost daily and there doesn't appear to be an end in sight. From flavored beans to craft marshmallows, they seem to be everywhere. They're sucking-up all the oxygen on Instagram, taking over Pinterest, and don't even get me started with Whole Foods.
Sure...their cleverly-themed olive oils may seem obscenely priced for something packaged in plastic (we're looking at you Graza), but don't blink because they've already reproduced. What the f?! The olive oil upstart came out with a line of potato chips before you were even able to update your website's store list. Make no mistake Martha...these startups aren't fads. They're absolutely kicking your butt up and down every specialty food store aisle in America AND online. I hate to say it, but they're redefining the future model of specialty food sales without your permission and just getting started.
You're probably wondering, what do these brands have that we don't? Well, modern marketing plans for one. That's right, I said it. Before you go running to your designers with rebranding fantasies consider this - the startups currently eating your lunch, were created with specific target customers in mind. They aren't jumping-in, trying to appeal to everyone. They aren't even interested in getting a sliver of the existing pie. Oh no my friends, they're offering innovative new flavors to expand the category at 'top dollar', wrapped in fun and informative packaging. You remember fun right? If you need a reminder checkout their social feeds. You'll find their content is customized for their target markets (not for you) - heavy on fun and short on advertising.
We're deep in the attention economy my friend, and you're still jabbering about ROI? Marketing isn't something that only happens with a fictional surplus budget. Next year's biggest competitor just made dozens of strategic partnerships with influencers across the country. They're seeding the market, tracking engagement, and growing their communities ...for products that aren't even available yet! You can bet that the national retail chains and the 'Mom and Pops" have all been noticing who the cool kids are these days, because they have to. Why carry another generic can of chickpeas when you can offer Harissa Lemon chickpeas instead?
Wakey wakey food company...the future is here, and it's dressed in pastels.
/// This somewhat unsavory material is a randomly generated column known as "Mean Marketing Monday", created by your future Fractional CMO, Jason of Gigantic Ventures Marketing...usually on Mondays. ///