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5 Food Marketing Trends You Need to Know | WMI

15 Jul 2016 Ann D'Adamo
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in Food & Beverage

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Food trends change as frequently as the daily specials at your favorite restaurant. Marketers always have to be looking ahead for engaging ways to address their audience. Below we look at five emerging food marketing trends to consider for your brand.

Beyond Instagram

Mouth-watering pictures or were once enough to engage consumers—but today that’s not enough. They’re hungry for more from your brand. Competition is fierce for content that conveys your brand voice and allows consumers to connect on an entirely different level. Take, for example, Hamburger Helper’s original hip-hop mix tape that received more than 4 million plays on SoundCloud shortly after its release, or Taco Bell’s viral Cinco de Mayo Snapchat lens. Earlier this month, Kellogg’s opened Kellogg’s NYC, its first branded cereal café, in the heart of Manhattan offering cereals combined with unique ingredients. Food marketers are looking to differentiate themselves and engage consumers with surprising content and experiences that get people talking about their brand.

Kids in the Kitchen

Today’s kids aren’t interested in Easy Bake Ovens—more often than not, they’re developing their cooking skills in real kitchens. Family viewing of Food Network shows and education-based healthy eating initiatives have inspired a new generation of master chefs. Brands can get kids involved in the kitchen by developing products that are easy for them to prepare or offering recipes that kids can make with little supervision.

It’s a Wrap

A Happy Meal box that turns into a virtual reality headset or a Dominos pizza box that becomes an old-school toy—vintage or cutting edge, marketers have discovered that product packaging itself can be a point of differentiation among their competitors.  More than functionality, it’s really about making your packing part of your story.

Waste Not

There’s a rising concern among Americans about the amount of food that’s wasted each day. Researchers believe that as much as 40% of the food purchased in the U.S. goes uneaten, wasting billions in money, water, labor, and energy. Brands can get on-board by supporting local food pantries, offering creating ideas to turn leftovers into new meals, and other hacks to recycle food waste.

Dinner Delivered

Between work and chauffeuring kids to activities, parents are finding it increasingly difficult to find time to prepare meals for their families. Dinner delivery services such as Blue Apron and Hello Fresh and making it easier to get a healthy dinner on the table in a snap. Similarly, grocery stores have been increasing their selection of pre-made dinner options and seeing a tremendous jump in the sale of salad kits. Packaged salad kits generated $950 billion in sales between April 2015 and April 2016, representing a 31% increase, with organic salads growing the fastest in the category.

Consumers are craving authentic connections with brands, whether it’s through integrated experiences, activism, or helping to address life’s challenges. Women’s Marketing offers marketers insight into how the latest consumer purchasing trends will impact their brand. We recognize the buying power of women and know how to reach her when and where she is at every touchpoint throughout her day. Contact us to learn how we can use our insights to develop a strategic media plan that’s right for you.

Sources: Nielsen Consumer Demand for Salad Kits is Increasing May 2016, AdWeek Food Marketing Trends, June 2015

 

 

Food & Beverage

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