What makes a food brand truly successful? Customers. But, what is the best way to engage them and deliver a successful customer experience that converts into repeated custom? By using marketing co-creation. Let's explore what co-creation means, and how you can use it to improve engagement with your customers.
Put simply, co-creation is a product or service design process, in which input from consumers plays a central role from beginning to end. As a food business, you’re already halfway there. What could be more tempting than food? By involving consumers to participate in what you produce, you’ll not only gain insight into what they want, you’ll give those consumers a sense of empowerment, as you encourage them to use their voice and utilise their input.
When using marketing co-creation, customer involvement is key. After all, if you know what customers want, they’ll buy what you have to offer. It’s no secret that around 80% of new products fail when they’re launched, but perhaps this could have been reduced had they carried out thorough market research. By understanding and addressing the specific needs of your customers, you’ll stand out above competitors.
Letting the consumers decide what they liked and what they didn’t, gave global brand, Coca Cola, the chance to create new products that were influenced by real consumers' thoughts and opinions, tackling head-on consumer challenges and building a loyal customer base they could rely on.
Coca Cola tapped into marketing co-creation to inspire product innovation. They understood that tastes around the globe differ, and wanted their products to appeal to a wider audience. The global beverages giant opted for a co-creation experiment with an innovative product strategy that focused specifically on reflecting the true tastes of Southeast Asia, an often underrepresented target audience. Renting a popular local café, the team came prepared with a “kit of things that they can play with” while real consumers tried the products and gave their feedback on what they liked and what they didn’t.
Bring transparent is a great way to build customer trust and strengthen your customer brand relationship.
Plant-based milk brand, Oatly, created a clever spin to the banality of FAQ pages with their ‘Infrequently Asked Questions’ campaign. This page was dedicated to clarifying questions that never crossed your mind in the first place. From questions such as ‘Does drinking oat milk change the sound of your voice?’ to ‘Do I need a permit to carry oat milk?’. These questions may seem strange, but they are a very clear and lighthearted way of being open and honest with customers about their products. From these types of questions, the consumer is made aware that oat milk has a positive effect on the environment and ourselves. Oatly also emphasise that their oat milk doesn’t require drinkers to switch habits and that their product is cruelty-free - but in a fun and unique way that allows their customers to openly understand what their brand stands for without it feeling too informative.
This twist on marketing co-creation gives consumers an insight into Oatly's key USPs, whilst also reflecting their fun and quirky brand personality. In turn, making more people consider trying the plant-based milk alternative, if they haven’t already.
It’s true that consumers have much more influence then ever before on a products’ success or failure on the market. This influence has only grown with the explosion of social media over the last decade. Social media allows customers and consumers to openly and honestly share their experience and opinions about your brand, whether that be your service or a particular product. Due to the visibility that social media allows, these comments and opinions are available for all to see and can have a positive or negative impact on the brand image and reputation.
Whilst some might shy away from this very cut-throat form of marketing co-creation, others are embracing it to add value to their brand as seen with world-renowned coffeehouse chain, Starbucks. They put their consumers at the heart of their brand by giving them most of the control over the brand voice and allowing them to both produce and consume the product at the same time. That’s why Starbucks prioritises the customer experience in their coffee shops all over the world, the content created by Starbucks is made by a community of consumers and popular shows such as Sex in the City showcase their cups which successfully promotes the brand.
Co-creation is a great way to build a strong community of consumers and encourage greater brand loyalty.
Fried chicken brand, KFC, opened their own pub in London to celebrate the World Cup. By giving fans a chance to come together, enjoy their food and the momentous sporting occasion, they created a strong community and loyal customer base that could bond over the special pop-up pub.
The marketing co-creation event went down a treat with tickets selling out on the first day of sale and customers sitting back with some finger lickin’ good chicken and a pint or two, surrounded by like-minded individuals.
As a food business, you can also use co-creation to get the right results. Everything from the process of creating new menus and recipes, to designing a new food brand, can be applied. Co-creation allows you to understand the benefits to customers, be transparent about the process and incorporate co-creation into your overall content strategy to inspire trust, interest and rewards for both your consumers and your food business.
Image Sources: 1) www.wsj.com 2) www.famouscampaigns.com
Have you ever wondered what makes something a legacy brand? A legacy brand is usually defined as one that’s really well-known, been around a long time and has visible signs of success. Over the years, we’ve been lucky enough to be involved with some fantastic food and drink companies, helping make their brand stand out above the rest and paving the way for legacy brand status. We’ve also taken the time to delve into other legacy brand food campaigns, gaining inspiration and seeing what works.
So take a look at our latest blog - looking at the key ingredients behind our top 4 legacy food campaigns, including two of our own - and be inspired!
Even if you’re not a fan of the Colonel and his secret chicken recipe, you’ll probably know that KFC is known for being ‘finger lickin’ good’, earning its status as a top legacy brand in the world of fast food. Yet, the recent pandemic almost put a halt to their world famous logo, although they did use it in a way, putting a humorous spin on it in their 2020 branding by blurring out the ‘finger lickin’ logo from its bucket of chicken and instead ending on the line: ‘That thing we always say? Ignore it. For now.’
KFC then began their legacy brand revival after the end of the first lockdown by announcing they were ‘back’, and in 2021, their ‘finger lickin’ good’ tagline was at the forefront of their ads once more.
The key ingredient that food business can take away from KFC’s brand legacy status is that reinforcing your brand’s strapline can drive brand salience, ensuring customers return, warm in the knowledge that they’re coming back to something they know and love.
You can also take a look at our blog on KFC, which offers a great insight into the marketing of KFC and how that creates such a strong brand legacy.
Simpsons Fish and Chips epitomises legacy branding that takes its offering one step further by showing off its quirky personality across a multitude of marketing channels, whilst still displaying its homage to the tradition of fish and chips. To do this, the brand needed expression, impact and a marketing approach that was different to other, more traditional fish and chip branding.
Starting with their ethos of ‘Long live fish and chips’ to reflect their solid commitment and grounding in producing great tasting food steeped in tradition, we then added a modern touch with the look and feel.
From the unique tattoo illustration style of mermaids and sailors to the strong typographic logo, crest symbol, and packaging, right through to the kids characters and out-of-the-box social posting – such as battered creme eggs or black batter for Halloween, we created a unique expression for Simpsons. That, along with their consistent style and tone of voice, reflects the personality of the business, resonating with the target market in Cheltenham, Stroud and across the UK.
The key ingredient that food business can take away from Simpsons’ brand legacy status is that having the confidence to display knock-out branding and shouting out about your years of experience, knowledge and expertise is great for brand trust.
You can also take a look at our blog on Simpsons, which offers a great insight into our approach when it came to marketing Simpsons, and how that created such a strong brand legacy.
Guinness is a hugely iconic brand that can truly lay claim to brand legacy. Their brilliant, post-Covid comeback ad: #LooksLikeGuiness features a series of black and white images set against a heartfelt rendition of the classic ballad Always On My Mind. The notion being that fans of the brand are missing the iconic black pint so much, they’re seeing them everywhere!
The way the ad ends plays to their brand legacy status too: a group of friends sharing pints of Guinness together with the iconic Guinness slogan saying: ‘good things come to those who wait’. But it doesn’t end there: Guinness’ £30M pledge to support UK hospitality and pub businesses also helped increase their brand legacy, showing them as leaders in the drinks industry.
The key ingredient that food business can take away from Guinness’ brand legacy status is that maintaining brand reputation through confidently reinforcing customer loyalty works.
It’s not just big, multinational businesses who can lay claim to brand legacy status, small, local, independent businesses can too!
Located in the heart of Lichfield, Larder is well known for offering a wonderfully relaxed fine dining experience to its customers. Post-pandemic, we helped them utilise their local brand legacy status by refreshing their brand and branching out by offering outdoor dining and takeaway orders; both of which proved to be a big success, allowing customers to experience their favourite food again.
Learn more about how we helped Larder redefine their marketing in our case study.
The key ingredient that food business can take away from Larder’s brand legacy status is that it’s crucial to adapt to the current external environment and benefit from building and sustaining engagement over the entire customer journey.
Image Sources: 1) https://pngimg.com/image/82056 2) https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/ipo/sapphire-foods-ipo-kfc-operator-sets-price-band-of-rs-1120-1180-a-share-7667461.html 3) https://www.meanwhileinireland.com/new-guinness-ad-has-made-us-so-excited-for-pubs-reopening/ 4) https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/05/13/ad-the-day-guinness-welcomes-us-all-back-the-pub-finally 5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness
Fancy a beer? Britain’s Beer Alliance has recently launched a sparkling new £10 million pound integrated campaign called 'There's a Beer For That' (that includes some of the biggest names in beer, such as Carlsberg and Heineken), which it hopes will boost beer sales throughout the UK. As a nation, we’re known for our fondness for beer, so we reckon this campaign will be a great success, especially as it is done so well. But, before we look a the actual campaign, let’s look a little more closely at Britain’s Beer Alliance and what they do…
Britain’s Beer Alliance (formed from the previously titled ‘Let There Be Beer Movement’) is an umbrella organisation that comprises of industry bodies and beer companies, both big and small. Here, you’ll find well-known names such as Carlsberg, Fullers, Cask Marque and Heineken alongside other beer brands and organisations such as SAB Miller, Wells & Young, The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA).
The new campaign was created to rekindle Britain’s love of beer, but without the negative ‘boozy’ connotations that can often occur. Britain’s Beer Alliance wants to show people that there is so much more to beer by using three core messages surrounding quality, diversity and versatility. By focusing on how diverse beer can be, the quality of beer and how great it is for so many different occasions, Britain’s Beer Alliance is reaching as many people as possible and, hopefully, encouraging more people to sample the different tastes that beer has to offer! Mike Benner from the Society of Independent Brewers explains, “British brewing has never been more exciting and ‘There’s a Beer For That’ will help us to take that message to a broader audience.”
The campaign is sure to be a success; there is a TV ad, social media such as twitter and Facebook, a hashtag #theresabeerforthat and the website. These all combine beautifully for an interesting, consistent and informative campaign that people will look at.
The TV ad is great, it shows a diverse range of people enjoying a wide range of different beers in various settings, but what’s really interesting about this ad is, that whilst it is quintessentially British with the down to earth narrative, the pubs, the fete, drizzly days, cobbled streets, cockles on the beach and a couple drinking beer and eating their ‘tea’ in front of the telly (things we Brits can all fondly relate to), there is also a lovely mix of culture with images of stir fries, a Chinese restaurant with a Chinese/English couple and his parents enjoying an authentic Chinese meal, two guys eating noodles with chopsticks and people sampling the buffet at an Indian restaurant - all with the obligatory side of beer!
Then there’s the Facebook and twitter elements, which give people the opportunity to join in the fun, discover new beers and say what they think. The website completes the marketing strategy by bringing all the different marketing elements together, alongside the information people need to learn more.
Joining forces is the key to the success of this campaign. Britain’s Beer Alliance has used the fact that it houses a cross-industry group of brewers, pub companies and beer organisations to let people know just how diverse beer can be.
What about your business? Creating a marketing plan that allows you to team up with other business or even charities to create a buzz about your products could be just the thing you need to boost your food and drink sales and give yourself a more visible presence in your sector. Here at Eat Marketing we can help you come up with new ideas on how to grow your brand and become even more successful.
Can you believe that McDonald’s is 40 years young this year? To celebrate, this ever popular fast food chain has put together an exciting new campaign that invites people from all over the world to join the party by sharing their favourite McDonald’s moments.
You can see, and partake in the McDonald’s 40 years campaign by visiting the specially designed website that uploads your McDonald’s story in real time. Take a look; you can write or speak your story (via Google’s Voice-to-Text API) and see it unfold onto the beautifully constructed, user-generated quilt of stories that are set into stylish typographical posters in real time. And what’s more, it will work and run on all your mobile devices (mobile, tablet and desktop) to reach as many people as possible – and at just one week old, it is doing just that as 10,000 stories have already been submitted! Now, that’s what we call clever marketing…
Using a business birthday is the perfect marketing ploy; the McDonald’s 40 years campaign takes it one step further with another great marketing tool – using customer participation. People like to feel involved, and the way the McDonald’s 40 years campaign uses customer participation works particularly well. A business birthday that marks the passing years also shows your longevity and expertise – use the chance to parade what you do and let people know how good you are!
If you have a business birthday approaching, but are not sure how to use it as a promotional opportunity, talk to us. Here at Eat Marketing, we love to celebrate birthdays and can put together all the ingredients you need to need for a sweet campaign that raises your marketing campaign to new heights.
Have you seen the new Kettle chips campaign? Here in the UK, we love our crisps, and Kettle crisps appeal to our love for ‘posher’ potato chips made with simple, good ingredients. The new Kettle chips campaign takes this appeal further with an interesting take on their ‘lovingly handcrafted’ message…
Kettle Foods began back in 1978 with a simple vision, to offer consumers high quality, naturally sourced, great tasting products. In 1982, Kettle crisps was born and by the late 80’s, with the arrival of Kettle foods to the UK from the USA, the British public were taking notice of Kettle crisps. Kettle’s ‘lovingly handcrafted’ message has always been there, and now, Kettle is using this in their new Kettle chips campaign in an interesting way.
In the new Kettle chips campaign, a specially chosen group of sculptors recreates Kettle crisps packets out of different materials to show the association between Kettle chips and craftsmanship. This print campaign will run in newspapers such as The Guardian and The Times and lifestyle magazines such as Delicious and Olive. The Kettle chips campaign will run for three months, which is a great timeframe for exposure. Look out for the Kettle Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar packet made from ceramic materials, the Lime & Black Pepper packet beautifully blown from glass and the Mature Cheddar & Red Onion packet expertly carved from wood.
This is a great campaign; it captures the essence of Kettle crisps and offers something different and interesting for the consumer. What’s more, this ‘lovingly handcrafted’ formula is easy to apply if you are looking for an advert campaign with a ‘handmade’ feel that really portrays good, honest, naturally made food.
If you’ve been inspired by the Kettle chips campaign, contact us at Eat Marketing today, we can help you put together your own, creative campaign and make sure you utilise the right channels to promote it. Get in touch for a no obligation chat or meeting and let’s get something started.
Images: Campaign Live
Tesco is one of the most instantly recognisable brands in the UK – and one of the most successful. It is the biggest of the four leading UK supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons) and it has a reputation for good pricing and convenience. Recent food scandals have affected all the leading grocery stores, but Tesco was hit particularly hard, which might be one of the reasons it has gone ‘back to basics’ with its latest Tesco campaign.
The Love Every Mouthful Tesco campaign marks a new way of talking about food with customers. Tesco wants to spread the word that they are passionate about food; from the growing to the picking, to the packing and the tasting – and they want to appeal to our sensation of taste by showing that we should savour every flavour, scoop, crunch and drizzle!
Their TV advert focuses on the journey of our food from farm to plate, as well as tempting images of food being prepared, cooked and ready to eat… The Tesco campaign continues with print ads, which also use images of tasty looking food alongside sensual sounding, food related words. Suppliers - and even Tesco staff - feature in the campaign, sharing their favourite recipes and showing what they grow in their own gardens and allotments. Customers will be able to see the Love Every Mouthful campaign on TV, at the cinema, in the press and via social media. Tesco is using all the different channels it can to reach as many people as possible, after all, it makes sense to utilise all the digital, print and social media resources there is.
The Tesco campaign works well and takes advantage of all the different ways to get new ideas and marketing out there. If you would like to create your own campaign for your food business, let us help. We can take your ideas and turn them into a finely executed campaign that reaches your intended target market – and takes your food business to a new level. Contact us today via telephone 0845 8354661 or email us and we can arrange a no obligation meeting to discuss all your needs. We look forward to hearing from you.
The Co-operative Group is unique amongst food retailers as their focus is on operating smaller stores in local communities rather than competing with the 'big four' supermarkets by opening large 'multi-stores' that focus on price and range. They also market the 'co-operative difference', with an ethical stance on sourcing and using Fairtrade. Because of these ethics, they need their food advertising to reflect what they believe in, whilst having a warm, 'local community' feel.
Their summer campaign for 2013 focuses on summer fun - with a twist. The first few seconds of the ad are sure to leave consumers wondering what a song associated with Christmas, and what looks like snow falling, is doing in a summer advert! We soon realise it is blossom falling from the trees and summer is actually here. The idea behind this food advertising campaign is re-branding 'the most wonderful time of the year' (the song used, sung by Andy Williams) for their food and the summer season, Christmas isn't the only season to be jolly! TV advertising, You Tube and online web merchandise help spread the message that summer has arrived and that the Co-operative are the perfect choice for food. Have a peek below at the TV advert...
Have you thought of food advertising this summer? This sunny season is a key time for food businesses as you can focus on important summer products and make them stand out. The Co-operative aligns summer deals with their summer campaign by displaying them on their website for maximum effect, alongside their advert.
If you would to create a campaign that turns up the heat this summer, talk to us. Here at EAT marketing we can help you devise marketing plans that work. Not only can we help make your food advertising look great, we'll show you how to strategically pick out the best ways to market your products to suit your business. Call or email us today to arrange a no obligation chat and watch your food business sizzle!
We look forward to hearing from you.
Coca Cola is arguably the most famous brand in the world. The red and white logo is instantly recognisable around the globe, even to those who don’t know the English language! Coca Cola really does have the most successful branding out there and they continue to capitalise on their position as the most well known brand with new, fun campaigns that everyone - regardless of their culture or country - can relate to.
Their latest campaign focuses on social interaction by inviting the public to 'share a coke' by replacing the iconic typescript with people's names. Focusing on 150 of the most popular names, the idea is for people to connect by finding the names of their friends and loved ones on Coca Cola cans and bottles, and taking the time to share a coke with them. For those whose names are not available on cans and bottles, there is the opportunity to create a virtual can, which means that even more people can take part – and such applications ensure that Coca Cola as a brand reaches as many consumers as possible.
Here at Eat Marketing, we recognise a successful campaign when we see one and we salute Coca Cola for using every platform possible to get their campaign out there. The advert that accompanies the campaign really focuses on the ‘youth’ market and features young, trendy people of both sexes paying homage to their friends, teachers and other people who inspire them by offering a coke with their name to the camera.
The focus is on interaction and sharing, the young adults in the ad are happy, connected and totally into this fun campaign. Consumers are able to ‘tweet’ photos of their Coca Cola bottles and like a facebook page that focuses on the campaign, and there will also be a summer tour all over the UK (which has already begun in Westfield shopping centres) with vending machines that can print different names on free Coca Cola or Coke Zero bottles. These marketing strategies, along with eye-catching, consistent designs are great ways of ensuring a strong campaign that stays at the forefront of people’s minds!
The results of this campaign with regards to brand awareness has been staggering; in the first three months of the campaign there has been millions of impressions on Facebook, tens of thousands of people have ‘shared’ virtual coke cans and tens of thousands of coke cans with different names have also been printed at Westfield Shopping Centres. And most importantly, young adult consumption has increased.
Coca Cola as a brand has, of course, an immense budget for their marketing campaigns, but this doesn’t mean a similar approach isn’t possible for smaller businesses! At Eat Marketing, we can help you plan and execute a fantastic campaign on a more localised and manageable scale that will suit your business – and your budget. Our close knit team of food and drink marketing experts specialise in creating successful food campaigns so contact us today for a no obligation chat on how we can help you find the right food marketing strategy for you and your business.
Morrison's merry approach to Christmas!
December's food campaign of the month is from food retailer Morrison’s, who focus on the humorous aspects of the season by using food advertisements with a comic touch. These merry ads show solutions to the traditional challenges that people face when preparing for Christmas with scenes such as a 'turkey wrestle' in a boxing ring and mums who need three pairs of arms just to get everything done! The aim is to highlight those funny moments that happen - and inject some modern day humour into the ads rather than using pretty cliches of the 'perfect day'.
Watch the advert on youtube here.
If you would like to add some fun and sparkle to your food business marketing plans, contact Eat Marketing and let us dazzle you with all in one marketing plans that make a difference. You can call us on 0845 8354661 or email hello@eat-marketing.co.uk and we’ll get right back to you to arrange a no obligation chat about our services.
We look forward to hearing from you.