The key in this is that this pull based approach allows the consumer to co-create their journey of discovery leading in to your product/service rather than being force fed and bombarded by “ME, ME, ME” ads that take a lot (attention, time, context) and give little (information, delight, entertainment).

Needless to say, ads no longer exist as singularities, particularly in digital space. They coexist within the context of (social media) Communities, (informative and co-created) Content and should be viewed as an additional channel of creating Connection.

Food is a complex subject that becomes complicated very easily. And, yet the basic desires of people are irrefutably simple and universal - to feel GOOD. Where good meets profitable is not a niche but a continuum often explored and understood through conversations and connecting rather than just statistical analysis.

My thoughts on the opportunities for Food CPG based on ethnographic and traditional research across the coasts of US.

Food-waste reduction has been treated as a step child in the opportunity space in food-tech with very little VC funding or government backing supporting innovation in this space. While its place in the global sustainability goals remains high, there is no real skin being added to the game of inventive techniques for waste management and prevention. 

The opportunities lie in understanding where within the range of possibilities may lie hidden gems that can display a tangible and immediate future accessible revenue pipeline. Largely, these involve initiatives that embrace wasted food as an asset, can mobilise and commercialize it with the sustainable goal acting as a causal effect. 

If you are small business or {worse} a startup, then the question of whether to hire a PR firm is probably something you are always grappling with. In my experience, PR has been a much maligned and under-executed tool in the marketer's basket. Few companies I have spoken to have good things to say about their PR experiences.

Take this #5QTest and find out where you stand. Answering these questions will also give you the ideas to improve your PR strategy, no matter how well or badly you score today. As a bonus, if you haven't thought about these questions before as part of your business strategy, now you know what to do!

Today, with the advent of "consumer centricity" along with the host of enabling technology advances the paradigm of storytelling comes under question. The biggest disruptors to the conventional marketing mix modeling are IoTs, free access to information and automated e-commerce. They have changed the process and intent of brand interaction, creating a distinct divide between the high and low involvement purchase decisions. 

In this new world, the marketer's role will be in close collaboration with product R&D teams to create tight product lines that are super quantified by market need. And, in telling a story and proving the differential within increasingly reduced attention spans. Marketing as a function will evolve into three distinct paths -

1. Technical and data driven for majority of mass market category retail
2. Emotional and data enabled for high value purchases
3. Experiential for luxury and hospitality. 

BECAUSE AD SPEND ON UNBUDGEABLES IS A WASTE!

An UnBudgeable is a person whose opinion cannot be shifted in favor or your product or brand with any amount of pitch perfect ads served and completely viewed, in any context or delivery channel.

Consumers in these categories mimic your brand's target audience and therefore will be automatically included for ad delivery. However, these consumers are also primed psychologically to ignore and actively disconnect from your ads. The reason for this inflexibility is that the person is already locked in a non-corraborating behavior or a competitor with differential value and switching them is extremely expensive, for you and them.

Such UnBudgeable lock-ins categorize into three distinct groups. I also outline strategies to identify and isolate each type from your ad cohorts.

That is, in short, the key insight from The ARF Re:Think 2016 conference!

Numerous research by multiple parties has shown that digital ads, particularly, video ads are drastically sub-optimized for digital and many brands are still creating to the standards of TV and delivering across other channels. For effective ad engagement, this needs to change.

This article outlines 5 action items for creating impactful brand messaging on digital platforms.

Referrals! They are the low hanging fruit often ignored in creating a growth engine. Despite the well-documented value of this marketing channel, it is one of the most overlooked, particularly in B2B and high value B2C purchases such as cars and electronics. Even those who understand the value of it do not actively embrace it, leaving money on the table! In this post, I outline how to set up a referral engine that is seamlessly integrated with your operations and continues to create incremental value for the company with minimal ongoing investment.

In this post, I outline 5 ways of effectively allocating budget to paid marketing channels to build awareness and nudge consumers along the purchase journey. Understanding your customer segment's decision journey is critical to the success of your product at any stage. The underlying idea in my approach is to -

• Micro-target the most relevant AND resonant target audience.
• Rank individual probability of conversion by understanding behavior towards decision making
• Optimizing delivery of messaging and paid media to closely approximated in-market audience