Author: <span>Jamie Allebach</span>

5 Foodservice Marketing Strategies

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Foodservice products represent a uniquely complex challenge for food and beverage marketers. Far more complicated than CPG food marketing, and far too many companies leaving the fate of their foodservice success solely in the hands of their sales team.

While sales teams and distributors play a crucial role in the success of any brand, those efforts must work in tandem with a solid marketing and brand program.

The Brand Loyalty Illusion

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

“I vow to remain faithful to your brand…” said no consumer ever.

The great brand loyalty debate has been raging amongst CPG food marketers for years. Many modern marketers are suggesting that consumers are no longer brand loyal; they’re ready to throw in with a cheaper private label or a flashy, emerging brand at a moment’s notice. And while this may be true, I’d argue that it’s certainly not new. “Brand Loyalty” has always been more fiction than fact — a buzzwordy, mythological pipe dream that overzealous marketers sell to their clients.

Streaming Success for Food Brands

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Is your brand ready to make a splash in the OTT stream?

OTT (over-the-top) advertising bypasses traditional cable and broadcast platforms to deliver ads via streaming services, and it has quickly become one of the hottest and most effective mediums for food brands to communicate with consumers. It has made TV accessible to brands of all sizes and offers the ability to dial-in your targeting to new levels of precision.
Read more…

The Art & Science Of Appetite Appeal

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Have you ever noticed when you see a thick, juicy steak sizzling in a butter-soaked pan with fresh herbs, you find yourself craving LongHorn or Outback Steakhouse for dinner? Or when a halftime ad shows a crisp amber spout of beer being poured into a chilled pint glass, you’re grabbing a tall, cold one from the fridge before the second half kicks off? Consumers can fight off those mouthwatering urges once or twice, but, eventually, you will give in to that appetite appeal.
Read more…

Is DADvertising in Your Targeting Model?

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

It’s 2024. If your food brand is still targeting women as their sole primary buyers, it may be time to get with the Bro-gram.

Statista recently published a report stating that 50% of men consider themselves to be the primary household grocery shopper. Other studies have that number as high as 60%. According to FMI’s Grocery Shopper Trends report, male shoppers take more frequent trips to the grocery store, they typically outspend females by $22 per week, and they tend to purchase more on impulse.

Driving Store Velocity

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

“Our brand is really growing—we recently gained distribution in 1,000+ new retail outlets, and we’re getting more and more distribution by the day.”

I’ve heard this scenario a thousand times—and it doesn’t always turn out as well as you may think. Is new distribution a good thing? Of course. But it can also be the beginning of the end for a brand. I’ve seen it happen many times over the years, so much so that we’ve even coined a phrase for this particular phenomenon: Death by Distribution.

“I pledge to be faithful to your brand…” said no consumer ever.

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

You hear a lot these days about how consumers are no longer loyal when it comes to CPG food and beverage brands; that they quickly trade-off for private label or newer, emerging brands. And this is quite true. But I’d like to suggest that “brand loyalty” is largely a myth fabricated by overzealous marketers. One of the many snake oil sales tactics in this business.

Is Your Food Brand Functioning?

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Functional foods. We’ve all heard the term. We know that in the past functional foods were considered to be foods that had a potentially positive effect on health beyond their basic nutritional value. For instance, oatmeal contains soluble fiber that can help lower cholesterol. Or salmon is an excellent functional food because the omega-3 fatty acids can reportedly decrease the risk of heart disease.

But today, functional foods mean so much more to both consumers and brands.