Once cooking and experience elevate, there’s no going back.

Study after study charts the migration of our food culture and parallel consumer behavior away from legacy packaged, processed foods and towards what is deemed ‘all things’ real and fresh. Consumers at one time may have been confronted with healthier in the form of addition by subtraction. Meaning that anything presented as good for you meant sacrificing something else – less sugar, fat, calories or salt. And, of course, the perception that down the pipe with the elimination of bad stuff so went good taste experiences.

(more…)

It’s time to re-think traditional communications

Study after study confirms this recurring theme: conventional food marketing communications built around self-reverential “me, me, me” sales messages that assert benefits such as quality and taste just won’t cut it anymore.

Consumers routinely ignore, eliminate and may soon block exposure to the daily barrage of self-promotion that works in direct opposition to real engagement and relationship.

So what actually penetrates the effort to avoid traditional selling?

(more…)

Part 2: Reimagining Food and Beverage in America

Let’s start with defining what brand means. CPG businesses have been building temples to brand strategy for decades. The brand is supposed to be the emotional bridge and equity vessel that supports a premium price and drives preference at the shelf.

(more…)