Nathan Allebach Creative Director
The Steak-umm Twitter Guy
Adweek Top 100 Creative

Who are you? Who are your consumers? What’s your history? Your product? Your values? Your distinction? Identity is the bedrock of any brand. It’s marketing 101, baby. Netflix. Apple. Nike. The most iconic brands know who they are. They know their workers and customers alike. They own a unique aesthetic and sell more than just a good or service—they sell a lifestyle to aspire toward. Capturing that essence is rare for a range of reasons. A common one is that many companies have a disjointed idea of who they are. The CEO might see the brand differently from the sales team, who may see it differently from customer service. The identity has to be unified from within through policies, practices, and messaging—it’s who a company hires, how they treat their workers, what their offices look like, and how they give back. Brands often hire consultants or agencies to help guide this process that culminates in a unified front.

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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.

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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.

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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

When I was a teenager, my dad would say, son “clean up your act.” Basically, he was telling me to get the crap out of my life that was dragging me down. And, today, for food brands, I would say the same thing…you need to “clean up your act.”

The bottom line is that we live in a new era of food. Consumers simply expect more from the food brands they buy. The bar is higher than it was 10-15 years ago. Even “clean label” has been taken to an entirely new level; real ingredients, nutrition, functional benefits, claims, certifications, sustainability, and on and on.

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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Are you currently launching innovative, new products for your food or beverage brand? Do you have ideas in the pipeline for the next 6 months? The next year or two or three?

New product innovation is key to the success of every brand. If you’re simply relying on your current product offering for the future of your brand—then you don’t have a sustainable growth model.

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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Many CPG food brands are continuing to see record sales growth. However, there are many questions that accompany this growth…How long will this growth continue? When will this spike start trending down? Should we increase capacity? How can we reach and retain the new households that have purchased our brand—some for the first time? Will we see sustained growth? If so, what will it be…2%, 5%, 10% or more?

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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Due to the current COVID-19 crisis, food and beverage companies are having to navigate unchartered waters when it comes to sourcing raw materials, workforce sustainability, retailer demand, consumer consumption, and overall brand management. Read more…