SugarCreek: Brandworthy Food Solutions

Food marketing has always been highly dependent on good visuals. That's why there is an entire industry dedicated to taking professional shots of food for restaurants, food producers and chefs. A marketing piece can't convey, outside of copy, smell, texture or taste. But great visuals can suggest them.

Food photography, too, focuses on placing eats in an emotional context. The lighting, the focus, the depth of field and the image background all help to instill in the viewer a particular expectation of the sampling experience.

Are you marketing rusticism? Are you marketing fresh and natural? Are you marketing a restaurant to young, dating couples? Or food truck fare to hungry Millennials? The right, professionally-produced image can bring customers flocking.

Reading into web search trends offers food brands an unexpected way to predict the shopping habits of the average grocery shopper. Popular food-related search results offer real time insights into popular food ingredients, flavors, cooking trends and specialty products and offer brands a way to connect with customers on a whole new level.

In the beginning, there was Dairy. Dairy held dominion over much of American food culture. And Wisconsin did rejoice.

But eventually, Dairy faltered.

First, the people looked to Low-Fat Dairy. And Low-Fat Dairy begat Non-Fat Dairy, which in turn begat Non-Dairy Aisle. And Non-Dairy Aisle begat Soy Milk, Almond Milk, Cashew Milk, Coconut Milk, Flax Milk and Hemp Milk, and those were all the issues of the Non-Dairy Aisle.

Then Non-Fat Dairy once again begat. And thus was born Non-GMO Dairy, which in turn begat Organic Dairy, Probiotic-Enhanced Dairy, Antibiotic-Free Dairy, Artisan Dairy, Local Dairy, Sustainable Dairy…

Heads spinning? Yeah, ours too. The dairy(-ish) sector has undergone near-Biblical upheaval over the past 20 or so years. Never has so much proliferation been accomplished by so many dairies to accommodate segments comprising so infinitely few.

But let's look at the overall market in context. What are the common factors in the denominator?

If it's Libby's Libby's Libby's on the label label label you will like it like it like it on your table table table.

There's always room for Jell-O.

Ask any mermaid you happen to see. What’s the best tuna? Chicken of the Sea.

Remember the great, old food brand slogans? It used to be that a catchy slogan, a slick branding campaign, and the occasional Sunday coupon could sway the American grocery shopper and keep products flying off the shelves.

But are the days of the food ad going the way of Fruit Brute cereal? If Millennials have any say about it (and, hint: they do), food brands will need to make quite a bit more effort to stay top of mind. Young adults today are considerably price-conscious; moreover, they love to try new things. Food brand loyalty isn't something you can secure with a slogan anymore. Food companies today need to work hard to find the sweet spot between value and brand narrative.

What motivates the average American grocery shopper to buy? Price point? TV and print advertisements? Coupons? Placement or packaging? Those all come into play, certainly. But are they the most effective methods of marketing foods?

Recent successes many food companies have had marketing via Pinterest, Twitter and blogs seem to indicate, though, that those tactics aren't as effective as they have been in the past. Indeed, with Millennial buyers, ads aren't very effective at all, according to new consumer research jointly conducted by Forbes and Elite Daily.

We've talked a lot about Millennial consumers and their preference for fast-and-fresh—or even fine dining—over traditional quick-service restaurants (QSRs) like McDonald's. And we've talked before about the trend toward snackification. What we haven't touched heavily on, though, is the fact that Millennials are savvy food shoppers.

Young adults today want quality ingredients and exotic food experiences, but they also want value. For every shared meal out with friends, a typical Millennial eats a bevy of cheap, small meals by him- or herself. And increasingly, it seems, they're turning to convenience stores to find them.

News flash: Millennial foodies demand foods produced by sustainable means. Oh, you knew that? Then why isn't your brand living the sustainable mantra? Too many food brands recognize the appeal of sustainability and market to it, but fail to live up to expectations. In an era when a bit of research is as easy as typing up a query on one's smartphone, however, disingenuousness doesn't play well.

If price and perceived quality are close enough so as not to be distinguishing factors, sustainable production is likely to become the deciding factor in a young adult's food purchase decision, according to Jeff Fromm, the co-author of Marketing to Millennials. Moreover, if your food company lacks transparency, be prepared to lose ground to your competition.

Private labels have learned a lot about branding (ironic, we know) in the last 30 years. Take a look, for example, at Kroger's private label then, and compare it to Kroger's private label now. Clearly, attention has been paid.

But even in the wake of the 2008 Great Recession—when traditional economic theory would hold that cheaper, generic store goods should have been able to grab grocery shopper share from expensive brands—the success of private label foods has been somewhat mixed. Some private line categories even saw sales decline in the midst of the economic downturn.

Greek yogurt—this golden child of healthy breakfast foods exploded in the market a few years ago. But now, in 2015, the thicker and tangier yogurt has officially transformed from a fad product to a shelf staple. Unfortunately, the food stuff is a victim of its own popularity, losing its novelty appeal among the typical grocery shopper, though the yogurt still has a strong appeal for those who are invested in health foods. But these foodies aren’t just looking for any Greek yogurt.

Building a brand and a trustworthy reputation involves more than just engineering innovative foods and then slapping an interesting label on the product. Thanks to the ubiquity of social media, branding in the 21st century includes the expectation of consumer connections. Three of the top food brands—General Mills, Kraft Foods and Nestle—have come to terms with the necessity of sharing their brand with consumers. Using every online resource available from Facebook to business blogs, these companies express the power of positive branding.