Baking&Snack - March 2012 - 46

Q &A

MARKETING STRATEGIES

with consumers? There is a huge distinction between the two because social media require two-way communications. You don’t just build a Facebook site and leave it. You just opened up and invited your consumers to join you in your kitchen. Now you have to entertain your guests and engage in conversations. All of this requires a human presence, so understanding your staffing requirements will be critical. Most firms that have an aggressive online presence and are executing with excellence have at least one person dedicated full time to social media internally, as well as a really good ad agency partner.

What are the benefits of using social media such as Twitter and Facebook?
You really have three main social platforms to focus on: Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. For many brands, you should be prioritized in that order. You can focus on just one, two or all three, but unless you are committed to execute with excellence on each platform, you should focus only on the platforms you can handle. Each platform can serve its own purpose, have its own audience, its own content. Whichever platforms you decide to use, they all should tie back into and reinforce the company’s positioning, brands and products. For small consumer packaged goods companies, Facebook might be their only Web presence to engage their fans. Other firms, such as ingredient companies, may choose to use YouTube to showcase how their products make others better. But for most companies, social media should be but a part of an overall digital strategy, rather than stand alone. Why? Because where about 75% of US households have Internet at home, only about 50% have a Facebook account. And even fewer people use Facebook every day.

One key to all of these social platforms: They are public, so you must realize you won’t have complete control of messaging, timing and content. You must put together a social media policy guidebook for your company. Who can respond to comments on Facebook or Twitter? Are they responding as an employee, a fan of the product or the official company spokesperson? How often will you update and communicate with the online community? How will you monitor social networks? Who from your consumer affairs group and legal department are engaged in the process? Realize, some complaints will now come to you via Facebook or Twitter in a social setting, not in a direct-to-thecompany communication.

What products have redefined this market?
I feel only two products have truly redefined the marketplace in any manner in that they created $100 million segments. First, the “Thins” platforms showed you can take a common platform such as bagels and with a simple change, make it better. Bagel sandwiches had been around for years, but how many people ate just part of a sliced bagel before they were full? Now you have a product for bagel fans which allowed them to enjoy more for breakfast, or use bagel bread as a sandwich. Second, the multiyear run of the Hostess 100 Calorie Packs defined portion control for several years. Here again you had a common platform, cupcakes, modified to fit consumer trends of portion control and bite-sized fun. In both of these examples, the brands were supported by print advertising, a broad spectrum of digital marketing, as well as some traditional consumer promotion. Both of these product platforms allowed brands to take a leadership role in a newly defined space. But I would be remiss if I did not talk about another form of innovation not wholly recognized by consumers, but definitely recognized in the industry. From a manufacturing standpoint, I believe the ability the baking industry has shown to offset some of the commodity increases over the past five years through processing improvements, advances in ingredient science and formula optimization has been nothing short of fantastic. We could easily have bread at $5 a loaf, and the entire industry should be proud of the inflationary offsets realized. The world demand for grain-based ingredients and processed foods is going to continue to rise, and these types of improvements in manufacturing and distribution will be strongly needed in the future as well.

How can a company know which strategies will have staying power?
Most “best in class” firms use an ongoing strategic planning process, driven by consumer insights; by watching consumer and customer trends, researching needs and possible solutions, constantly getting feedback from the marketplace. This allows them to identify and focus on trends and create sustainable strategies that address the trend, versus trying to react to each fad. Business trends with staying power tap into the fundamentals of an ever-evolving consumer or business landscape. They don’t just appear overnight. But fads can show up overnight, sometimes linked into an underlying trend, sometimes not. For example, it is a trend people consume more healthy foods every year. It is an ongoing and evolving shift in behavior, driven by various consumer needs and wants. The diet fads tap into the trend, but typically follow a one- to three-year cycle of meteoric rise and fall. They are more of a tactic with a short shelf life than a strategic trend.

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Baking&Snack - March 2012

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