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- SummaryI like well told stories. I like creating and developing ideas. I like engaging and reaching people. My goal is to continue to do these types of things professionally. I hope I never stop learning.Specialties: An experienced content creator, curator, and editor across a wide variety of media including: traditional ad copy, interactive, video scripts, eCommerce, podcasts, blogging, brand journalism, social media, mobile, songwriting, community management.Experience
- Jan 2010 - PresentSenior Writer/Content Strategist / Tippingpoint Labs, a branded media companySummary: Envisioned, planned, executed, distributed and promoted content. Busy, high-energy, collaborative environment with daily, weekly, monthly and ad hoc deadlines. Core responsibilities: * Creating and directing overall vision and messaging for content. * Turning strategy and client requests into content implementations. * Ensuring content meets strategic and quality objectives. * Managing operations of content creation, planning, implementation and distribution. * Carrying client voice and branding across multiple content efforts and media.
- Apr 2009 - Dec 2009Senior Writer / Tippingpoint LabsSummary: Wrote content across a wide variety of media including blogs, e-commerce, proposals, video, podcasts, press releases, pitches, and more. Curated and edited content from contributors. Busy, high-energy, collaborative environment with daily, weekly, monthly and ad hoc deadlines. Core responsibilities: * Writing and editing for E-commerce sites, magazine sites, and social network content as assigned. * Writing scripts for videos and podcasts. * Copyediting, proofreading and quality assurance of content.
- Aug 2008 - Jun 2009Freelance Copywriter / Self
- Oct 2007 - Aug 2008Copywriter/Studio Manager / Nokia
- Sept 2007 - Oct 2007Traffic Manager / Enpocket
- 2001 - 2007Singer/Songwriter/Production Manager / joshcole.com
- 2003 - 2004Layout/Design/Production/Admin. / Arts for the Aging (AFTA)
- 2002 - 2003Freelance Copywriter / Self
- 2000 - 2001Communications Manager / North Shore Chamber of Commerce
Education-
2003 - 2004The Catholic University of AmericaCompleted 1 Year of MA/Ph.D Program-Philosophy
Activities: Graduate School of Philosophy Spring Lecture Series Committee. Full Tuition Scholarship. -
1993 - 2001Gordon College
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1995 - 1999Gordon CollegeB.A. in Philosophy
Activities: Magna Cum Laude, Gordon-At-Oxford (1 year at Oxford University), Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Full Tuition Scholarship. - Nipmuc High School
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Interests:Writing, Singing, Playing guitar/bass, Philosophy,Cooking, Gardening, Reading
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Posts
Here are a series of mastheads that are designed to sit at the top of every category page at BrevilleUSA.com. I wrote them to sum up the benefit of each category in a much shorter way than the client provided.
- Praise the Lard eBook
I produced and edited this eBook with the lovely locavore chef James Stolich out in San Francisco.
- Case Study: Editorial Calendar Workshop Improves Efficiency and Doubles Leads
I wrote this case study to highlight the effectiveness of Tippingpoint Labs’ editorial calendar workshop. I have definitely seen how effective using newsroom techniques can be in driving content production in any industry.
Case Study: Editorial Calendar Workshop Improves Efficiency and Doubles Leads
In October of 2009, NJ-based Fusionapps approached Tippingpoint Labs with a business challenge. They were spending a lot of resources trying to figure out the right process for creating and managing marketing content. They were not creating content regularly and were not sure how to approach it, despite having hired a few different people to manage their content.
Structure makes the difference
Fusionapps has smart people who know their disciplines and are motivated to write and produce. But they were struggling with the creation process and with how to broadcast their content to their audience.
According to Jess Pugsley, Fusionapps Managing Director and Chief Strategist, “Structure was absent from our team from a marketing perspective. From how we produce content to how we dealt with it editorially to how we scheduled content to be produced. We wanted to do it in a way that makes sense so it’s part of a deeper strategy.”
The Newsroom Workshop
After consulting with Fusionapps, Tippingpoint Labs recommended a Content Marketing Newsroom Workshop. The structure of an editorial calendar could drive effective pitch meetings and an efficient workflow.
Andrew Davis travelled to Secaucus to conduct the 2-day workshop with all the Fusionapps stakeholders. He worked through much more than web content management. He helped the team define roles and responsibilities and create weekly and monthly routines.
By the end of the workshop, Fusionapps had created Feature formats based on the strengths and skills of each of the content creators. The formats were, by design, easily repeatable to achieve efficiency. The team also knew who would be doing what, and when they would go through the editorial process each month.
Content needs form
Where before they had desire and knowledge, now Fusionapps had a form to drive their content. As they put the Newsroom structure and editorial calendar into practice, they saw immediate results.
“We went through the workshop, developed a number of different formats for our content strategy, and developed a number of features that have worked out quite well,” says Pugsley. “Now we have a 3-month backlog of content that we’re looking forward to pushing out.”
The Blur Test
Fusionapps’ most successful format to date is the Blur Test by Chris Geiger, their Director of User Experience. The Blur Test applies “an old art school technique used to reveal a design’s focal point” by blurring a web page to see where the eye wants to go.
As Jess Pugsley explains, “It’s something we do inherently in our business every day. Drew brought it out as something we could create as content. It’s an easy format to put together. It’s structured, quick, easy to produce, and frankly, he’s been creating his content a lot faster than I’ve been creating mine.”
The Blur Test
A new foundation
The workshop has fundamentally changed Fusionapps’ approach to marketing. Pugsley expounds:
“It’s the cornerstone of everything we’re doing. The workshop increased our efficiency. It’s allowed us to focus on other things that we couldn’t focus on before because our attention was on a broken content strategy that didn’t get us the results we wanted. Instead of devoting a whole month to the process, it’s opened up half the month for us to work on new content ideas and new audiences. We didn’t have that opportunity before.”
Not only is Fusionapps creating content more easily and more efficiently, their leads have already doubled.
“We’ve seen at least twice the number of web leads as a result of the content being produced. If we continue to follow the learnings from the workshop, we’ll continue to see increases in traffic and conversions.”
- Fresh Organic Honeydew vs. the Girly Drink Mystique
I wrote this and published it on Foodthinkers.com. It picked up a bit of traction on Stumbleupon.
Fresh Organic Honeydew vs. the Girly Drink Mystique
Most of the time, bright-colored, sweet liqueurs are co-opted into so-called girly drinks. Cosmos, Fuzzy Navels, Sexes-on-the-Beach, Alcopops, Appletinis … you get the picture. Unless you’re going for a feminine vibe, it’s hard to get away with drinking girly drinks.
But can these often tasty liqueurs escape this narrow typecasting? Can even the neon-colored Midori be imbibed in a gender-neutral, if not downright manly, fashion? This may be controversial, but the answer is yes.
GET FRESH
The solution? Focus on freshness. Nobody in their right mind is going to turn down a drink that is organic and uber-fresh. Because when you’re dealing with the fruits of the earth, we all have a primal connection to that.
GO GREEN
The honeydew is a great place to start experimenting along these lines. It has a sweet — but not too sweet — flavor and it has brilliant color. Find the ripest, freshest melon you can get your hands on. If you’re entertaining, cut the melon up in front of your guests. Let them taste a slice. Let them enter the full experience of preparing and making the cocktail.
So many mixed drinks are full of so many different ingredients that people have no connection. Connect yourself and your guests to the ingredients and you will have a richer hospitality experience. Since the Honeydew Dream recipe uses a juicer, you’re going to be making a lot of noise.
Embrace the noise and bring your guests into the kitchen as you juice. What could be more gratifying than big loud power tools that yield a delicately flavored, sweet cocktail?
HONEYDEW DREAM
- 1 organic honeydew melon
- 3 tablespoons Midori liqueur
- 2 cups soda water
- 1 cup crushed ice
- Processs honeydew through juicer.
- Stir in liqueur and soda water.
- Scoop ice into 4 tall glasses, pour in melon mixture, mix well to combine.
Serve immediately. For real style points, serve it up in nice tall glasses to highlight the color and body of your handiwork.
Here is the dessert course of a series of videos I conceived, wrote and produced for Scanpan USA. I also found and retained the services of the talent.
This is one of a series of Q&A videos I wrote with Breville’s designers. I am also the interviewer. They are great guys.
This is a black and white print ad I wrote for the New York Food and Wine Festival program. The goal to filter the newly established brand messaging and voice through the cookie and Smart Oven lens.
This is an email I wrote for Breville promoting a contest we conceived to leverage the Foodbuzz audience and drive subscriptions and awareness.
When I was working on Food Thinkers, I was able to build a strong, niche foodie following on Twitter. By interacting with the community and posting a good combination of original content and valuable links, I was able to foster positive organic growth.
Editing, title and subtitle writing.
from Tippingpoint Labs
1. Understand: the web is not print
Writing for the web is different from writing for other media. Different types of sites have different types of goals. On an eCommerce…
I was the lead writer in putting together the static content for this blog. In this case, I read through and selected appropriate content.
from Tippingpoint Labs
The democratization of knowledge is a real phenomenon — thanks to the internet. Your company should be playing on this field in a big way. You should be mining your entire…
from Tippingpoint Labs — Ghostwritten for Brett Virmalo
It seems like every time I meet with an agency, they bring along their social media experts. I’m not exactly sure what makes someone a…
from Tippingpoint Labs by Brett Virmalo
We’re big fans of the free monthly reports from Trendwatching.com and enjoyed their April report on “Sellsumers.” Here’s their report…
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Tracks
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Posts
- Feb 23, 12
Watch the video of Chef Tony Maws of Craigie on Main making this free-form lasagna. Carrot Jus Juice 2 pounds carrots Reduce on stove top by 2/3 with a pinch of coriander seeds, fennel seeds and 1 cardamom pod over low to medium-low heat. Fold in 1 tbsp butter and season with salt. For the pork belly mix: 250 [...]
- Jan 31, 12
Chef Chris Schlesinger of Boston's East Coast Grill heats it up with a Jamaican Jerk Rub.
- Jan 31, 12
Chef Chris Schlesinger of Boston's East Coast Grill heats it up with a recipe for Inner Beauty Hot Sauce.
- Dec 21, 11
Chef Hedy Goldsmith creates an exquisite Italian-style crostata with peach blueberry frangipane filling.
- Dec 15, 11
Prepared with the Breville bread maker, the Custom Loaf BBM800XL
- Dec 15, 11
Préparé avec la machine à pain de Breville, Le Custom Loaf BBM800XL
- Dec 09, 11
Préparé avec le Mélangeur ikon Hemisphere avec écran ACL BBL600XL
- Dec 08, 11
Préparé avec le Juice Fountain Plus JE98XL
- Dec 08, 11
Prepared with the Juice Fountain Plus JE98XL
- Dec 07, 11
Préparé avec le Machine à Espresso Barista Express BES860XL
- Dec 06, 11
Reader recipe provided by Justine Cooper, BC, Canada. “Full of fibrous vegetables, this recipe keeps me feeling full but never fat.”
- Jun 02, 11
Chef Jamie Bissonnette makes New York Strip Steak with asparagus a la plancha, pickled ramps, cauliflower a la grecque, and sweet cicely on the Smart Grill by Breville.
- May 31, 11
James Beard award winning chef Chris Schlesinger of the East Coast Grill makes his Latin Spice Crusted Mahi Mahi with grilled avocado and pineapple salsa on the Smart Grill by Breville.
- May 17, 11
Chef Patricia Yeo shares her signature stir fry recipe using the Hot Wok by Breville.
- Apr 25, 11
See the Breville Deep Fryer in action with asparagus, sweet potato, and calamari tempura.
- Apr 15, 11
Watch Breville’s Adèle Schober make Thai Steamed Mussels in the Hot Wok™.
- Apr 01, 11
With coconut milk and lime zest you can't go wrong.
- Mar 29, 11
Barista Jessica Kelly shows how to make her favorite Irish Coffee recipe with the Barista Express by Breville.
- Mar 21, 11
Champion barista Heather Perry shows how to make a iced Vanilla Delight.
- Mar 11, 11
Barista Jessica Kelly shows how to make a cappuccino with half and half.
- Feb 25, 11
Champion barista Heather Perry shows how to make a perfect espresso with the Breville Die-Cast Programmable Espresso Machine.
- Feb 18, 11
Barista Jessica Kelly shakes up an Espresso Martini using the Barista Express.
- Feb 11, 11
Champion barista Heather Perry shows how to make an Irish Coffee
- Feb 04, 11
Breville's Adèle Shober juices up a storm in the Breville Juice Fountain Plus with mango, kiwi, pineapple, and mint.
- Jan 28, 11
Juice the Greenslinger, a juicing recipe with kiwi, Granny Smith Apples, and cucumber.
- Jan 21, 11
Enjoy your Breville juicer with the delicious Cotton Candy, a juicing recipe with blueberries, grapefruit, and guava.
- Nov 08, 10
Breville's Adele Schober shares a simple recipe for Margherita Pizza using the Breville Smart Oven.
- Jun 29, 10
Modern consumers have an unprecedented abundance of superb tea available to them. Once the true taste and energy of tea is revealed through better brewing, I believe tea will enjoy a renaissance period like wine and coffee.
- Jun 25, 10
Food Thinkers offers up this very grown-up approach to the Midori Sour, using fresh pineapple and lemon juices from your juicer ... entirely avoiding any extra sugar and relying instead on the Midori itself to sweeten the deal.
- Jun 21, 10
Using the pulp from my juicer ensures that I get all the nutrients from my produce. And the juicer does most of the chopping and mincing work for me, so the pulp is more or less ready to toss into a recipe, as is. Put that in your pepper.
- Jun 18, 10
The rich, herby flavors of this adaptation of the classic Oysters Rockefeller are set off perfectly by the grassy notes of UFO Pale Ale. Thanks to the recipe's simple directions, you needn't wait for your next restaurant date — enjoy a little luxe at home.
- Jun 16, 10
Baklava’s origin is impossible to pin down, so ingredients and recipes vary. Almost any nut, from almonds to walnuts, pistachio to pecans, can be used. This exotic treat is equally fantastic for entertaining a group, or for a special night at home.
- Jun 11, 10
If you have any lingering childhood memories of drinking hot chocolate outside on a chilly night, this is the minty adult version of your memory.
- Jun 10, 10
This Italian fish stew is warming in the winter, but it's a great summer dish when served with salad or fresh bread because it uses seasonal seafood, shellfish, and produce. Use your slow cooker to keep the heat in your pot and out of your kitchen.
- Jun 09, 10
Do you always end up with too much produce in your garden? This recipe gives you two great ways to use it all up.
- Jun 08, 10
We think even simple bread pudding is delicious, but one with chocolate and coconut is even more exciting. The best feature of this recipe (other than you can whip it up on a weeknight) is that it doesn't make a huge batch, so it's a perfect dessert for four diners, acceptable for two ... or pretty fantastic for one.
- Jun 07, 10
Feelin' droopy lately? Does the threat of summer heat zap you before it starts? Wheatgrass is a natural energizer that when added to your juice will turn it into a natural pick-me-up. This recipe shows a secret for taking the mess out of making it, and gives a great-tasting juice to add it to.
- Jun 04, 10
Mint juleps may remind you of horses and big hats, silver cups and Southern drawls. But this recipe adds the surprising ingredient of fresh peach juice to the mix, making this famous Southern specialty perfect for summertime sipping no matter where you call home.
- Jun 03, 10
Adults know that juicing is a super way to sneak more produce into their diets, but how do you get kids in a juicing mood? With Martian Juice, of course! Today, Food Thinkers shows how this unlikely pear-radish-celery combo is bound to entice your adventuresome child, transporting them to other-worldly tastiness.
- Jun 01, 10
Tired of toast? Need a quickie brunch recipe? Legend says bannock and scones come from the land where kings were crowned, but for us commoners they fill a need for sweet and cakey at breakfast, are a great bread replacement in lunch sandwiches, and up the ante of your dinnertime salads, soups, and stews. Here's to this lemony recipe becoming a part of your quick-baking repertoire.
- May 28, 10
The piña colada is a great way to experiment with the simplicity of adding fresh juice to your adult beverage repertoire because it only requires juicing one ingredient: a pineapple.
- May 27, 10
The Franzbrötchen is the German cousin of the French croissant -- flaky, buttery layers of pastry are rolled up with cinnamon and sugar, then flattened and baked until golden.
- May 26, 10
If you’ve eaten pizza made by anyone’s hand other than your favorite pie maker’s you know that the homemade kind is incomparable to nearly everything else: the crust is more crackly and yeasty; the toppings seem to taste fresher (even if they really aren’t); and its imperfect, lack-of-roundness makes it all the more appetizing.
- May 25, 10
Rishi Tea partners with Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots program and introduces their new Masala Chai. A perfect fit -- Fair Trade tea helping support a global, environmental, and humanitarian youth program.
- May 24, 10
Try adding some echinacea to your juice at the first sign of a cold -- even in warmer weather.
- May 20, 10
Get to know the plantain. A staple in many tropical regions, this larger, starchier cousin of the banana makes a great side dish or snack. Here we pan-fry ripe plantain slices with a little bit of spice to show off their sweetness.
- May 18, 10
Hearty grilled polenta cakes topped with spicy tomato salsa and sour cream make a truly crowd-pleasing appetizer -- includes a delicious wine pairing.
- May 17, 10
Everything left over from making blueberry, cucumber, and papaya juice is put to use in this tender, moist chocolate cake. Pulp from the blueberries and cucumber replaces some of the oil in the cake recipe, and papaya pulp filling sets off the rich chocolate perfectly.
- May 14, 10
The crisp, summery flavor of ceviche made with fresh local fish is enhanced with a hint of raspberry. A fruity lambic like Lindenmans Framboise makes a perfect pairing.
- May 11, 10
Cream puffs are a simple but decadent dessert that you can make at home for a little taste of luxury. Chantilly cream is nestled between rounds of flaky pâte à choux for a lovely balance of light pastry and soft, sweet cream.
- May 10, 10
In this eBook, locavore chef James Stolich travels to Spain to unveil the secrets of the Tortilla de Patatas.
- May 06, 10
Short ribs marinated in red wine and herbs shine after slow cooking all day. Make enough for leftovers -- they're perfect for topping pasta or adding to lasagna.
- May 05, 10
You don't need to break the bank to get professional-looking shots of your food -- here are a few easy lighting tips to turn your kitchen into your own food photography studio.
- Apr 29, 10
In this recipe, leg of lamb is marinated in Dijon mustard, garlic, and fresh herbs and then roasted in a convection oven for a perfectly browned crust.
- Apr 27, 10
Get to know one of the stars of this spring's tea harvest -- Lu Zhen or Green Needles. A brisk green tea that's virtually unknown outside of China.
- Apr 23, 10
Beets have a bad rap. They are mostly known for turning everything a deep red color, but they're really so much more. They have a wonderful earthiness and maintain a unique flavor all their own. In this simple salad, we go light on the dressing and allow the ingredients to shine.
- Apr 20, 10
Grilled chicken gets a flavor update with a bright citrus marinade and cool, creamy tzatziki sauce. Best of all, it's on a skewer -- who doesn't like meat on a stick?
- Apr 15, 10
If you keep your pantry stocked with staples, it's a cinch to put this together in about 30 minutes and let it simmer all day.
- Apr 12, 10
You've heard of Soup and Salad. But today -- Juice and Salad.
- Apr 08, 10
Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made from a sticky sweet rice, that has been cooked then pounded together. It's a traditional food at Japanese New Year but is enjoyed all year as a snack or added to soups.
- Apr 07, 10
Pair these delicious football apps with a fun throwback choice of session beer, and another American classic. Sure, it’s now a favorite of the hipster set, but an icy cold Pabst Blue Ribbon is a great way to quench the fire of the spicy wings.
- Apr 05, 10
Mixing just one tablespoon of chia seeds into your juice will turn a healthy juice into a superfood powerhouse brimming with health benefits.
- Apr 02, 10
Sometimes you just don't need the caffeine, but you still want something nice and warm.
- Mar 31, 10
There is no other dish that San Diegans would pride themselves on more than the perfect fish taco. Our city is well known for its laid-back surfer dude attitude, and the fish taco is a perfect complement to that lifestyle.
- Mar 27, 10
The first question that most people ask is, "What kind of camera should I buy?" My usual answer is that cameras are just tools, and you can take great photographs with just about anything.
- Mar 23, 10
Baked stuffed dates are edible jewels. They’re crispy-bacon-coated, tender mouthfuls of salty-sweet, savory treats. The dates are like smooth caramels, and the surprise cheese filling is the "oh-yeah" factor. I like to make a platter full, set them on the counter, and let my guests help themselves. They’re not shy.
- Mar 22, 10
Greens Galore can contain any kind of green leafy vegetable. Some are more nutrient dense, while others taste better. But by combining very important, nutrient-dense foods in one juice, you can get the best of both worlds while doing your body a galore of goodness.
- Mar 17, 10
This soup-and-sandwich combo is easy to create. Older kids can come home from school to warm the soup and grill the sandwich for a delicious, satisfying meal.
- Mar 16, 10
With spring right around the corner, this poached pear and brown butter tart pays due reverence to one of winter’s sweetest fruits just before it goes out of season.
- Mar 13, 10
The Bloody Mary is a go-to brunch classic. But can you improve on a classic?
- Mar 11, 10
Homemade versions of store-bought products always taste so much better to me. Baba Ganoush is a famous Middle Eastern dip made with eggplant. It's something I had wanted to make for a while. Baba Ganoush is a fun recipe to make with kids, and it can be eaten with almost anything -- stalks of celery, carrot sticks, pita bread -- the list is endless.
- Mar 10, 10
Guinness’ famous, rich flavor pairs well with so many foods, but a perfect specialty for St. Patrick’s Day has to involve Irish “bangers” -- what we Yanks call sausage. Their meaty, deep flavor complements a pint of Guinness like nothing else, especially with a sweet and tangy dipping sauce.
- Mar 08, 10
Unfortunately, it's that time of the year when many of us don't get enough sunshine! This bright and cheerful juice is a favorite of mine during the cold and gray winter months.
- Mar 02, 10
Tae Guan Yin is one of the oldest oolong tea bush varietals. It’s also an heirloom of the tea generations and is highly regarded as a profound oolong. My affection for this treasure of a tea and my last trip to Taiwan to make Tae Guan Yin for Rishi Tea have inspired me to help those in Haiti.
- Mar 01, 10
Edible leftovers from juicing are incredibly versatile and can be added to dishes and baked goods for a boost in taste, moisture, and nutrition. But they can also be the main event of your meal. The kale juice will leave you with about 3 cups of pulp, which becomes the star filling in these enchiladas. The filling is a hearty potato-kale mash with walnuts thrown in for protein and texture.
- Feb 25, 10
Traditionally, stews were made in large heavy pots buried in the coals of a fireplace that cooked all day. Today, we have the luxury of using a slow cooker to braise our stews largely unattended.
- Feb 24, 10
Gourmet lasagna with all the bells and whistles -- cheese, meat, and flavor.
- Feb 22, 10
With seven days of nothing but fresh juice and water behind me, the next couple of days were a breeze. Don’t get me wrong, I still had cravings for actual food, but they were less frequent and easier to manage.
- Feb 19, 10
If you want to really rev up your mojito mojo, why not impress your guests with a real Asian pear twist on the classic Cuban cocktail.
- Feb 18, 10
Most popsicles really amount to 3 words: sugar, sugar, sugar. But at their core, popsicles are just frozen liquids that taste good. If you have a freezer, you can make better popsicles. And if you have a juicer, even better -- you can make pulp-sicles.
- Feb 16, 10
Soufflés, gratins, and terrines are ideal first-course appetizers that can set the tone for a unique evening. There is something special about offering your guests delicious food in individual ramekins or dishes. It’s like presenting a small gift to each of your friends.
- Feb 15, 10
I was never a big beet fan. However, when I started juicing, I decided to give beets another chance in my diet. I thought it might be a sneaky way to pack in this super food without noticing it too much.
- Feb 13, 10
There’s no overestimating the power of chocolate –– whether it’s a soothing remedy at the end of a long day or a festive celebration, it’s an indulgence universally acknowledged as euphorically delicious and nearly impossible to resist. And few could argue that one of its most significant roles comes around each February. Today's recipes play up chocolate’s fruity counterparts, while staying true to its extravagantly indulgent character.
- Feb 12, 10
I grew up in a lively neighborhood that was home to a significant Puerto Rican population. All of life’s occasions, from good grades to holidays to major milestones, were cause for celebration. And big celebrations almost always meant lechon asado, Puerto Rican style roast suckling pig.
- Feb 11, 10
This healthy Japanese treat is making waves on American shores. Break out your wok and get to know edamame!
- Feb 10, 10
These full-flavored espresso-marinated ribs call for a full-bodied beer to pair with. Fuller's ESB is up to the task.
- Feb 09, 10
Showing your affectionate side with coffee may be new to you. Wearing your heart in your mug is different than on your sleeve, and with Valentine's Day coming up ...
- Feb 06, 10
As I mentioned in my last eBook -- Praise the Lard -- there has never been a better time in recent years in the United States to source your own local ingredients and adopt a Mediterranean approach and lifestyle for shopping, cooking, and eating.
- Feb 04, 10
Since it is cold and flu season, your kids need all the help their little immune systems can get. Grapefruit, especially fresh, has loads of vitamin C.
- Feb 03, 10
Eating seasonally is key for flavor, and Winter is when Brussels sprouts shine. When I was growing up, the only time I ever heard of Brussels sprouts was in TV sitcoms, when the kids refused to eat it. Now that I've discovered them, I don't know what all the negative press was about.
- Feb 02, 10
I spend a great deal of my time in the sub-tropical heat of Southeast Asia. When I come back to my frozen homeland (Midwestern USA) at this time of year, I often find myself complaining, "It’s so cold and depressing. When is winter going to end?" When I feel that down and blasé mood creeping up on me, I call upon the uplifting powers of Gyokuro.
- Feb 01, 10
Pulp -- the leftover, fibrous, and very edible byproduct of juicing fruits and vegetables -- can be used in all sorts of breads as well as casseroles, sauces, and desserts. These little tea cakes have a delicious, spicy, ginger flavor and lots of fiber from the carrot and apple pulp.
- Jan 29, 10
Get inside an underground, intimate and festive dining experience in Brooklyn, NY.
- Jan 28, 10
Bottom line: Good barbecue doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, what gets lost in what we can call the commercialization of home barbecue is that the key ingredient is patience, not corn syrup.
- Jan 27, 10
Rich, dairy butter combine with fresh bay scallops for an indulgent, easy-to-prepare seafood meal right in the oven.
- Jan 26, 10
Served warm, this luscious dip features crab’s delicate yet distinctive flavor. And paired with a light Sauvignon Blanc, it makes a knockout first impression.
- Jan 25, 10
"After surviving the first three days, juicing had become a routine. ... Physical changes could be felt: clothes were fitting a bit looser, and there was no longer a lack of energy. I even felt good enough to go to the gym and work out."
- Jan 22, 10
Finish those winter meals off with the sweet notes of an espresso shot from Brazil. A single-origin Brazilian coffee tastes like no other -- full and sweet, with a richer, earthier taste than its neighboring Latin American coffees.
- Jan 21, 10
How are you preparing for Defender of the Motherland Day? Get a taste for the Russian culinary tradition by adding a little (or a lot) of dill to your diet.
- Jan 19, 10
Turning pizza into a dessert using deliciously sweet ingredients is a charming and surprisingly stylish way to treat yourself -- in more ways than one.
- Jan 18, 10
Breville Marketing Coordinator Luis Sanchez gives a behind-the-scenes look at his juice fast experience.
- Jan 15, 10
It's still a great time for fresh persimmons. You can really show your mixology swagger with this ingredient not often seen outside of Asian markets.
- Jan 14, 10
Fast-food snack wraps are popular but unhealthy. They're not snacks; they're meals. Give your kids a healthier, more nutrient dense snack: galettes.
- Jan 13, 10
Sweet or spicy alone can overwhelm, but they pair beautifully. Today Food Thinkers introduces the latest Dogfish Head Brewery and Sierra Nevada Brewing collaboration, Life & Limb, with a black bean and sweet potato soup.
- Jan 12, 10
Good baristas always practice their skills by experimenting with different homemade concoctions. At the shops I've worked at, we often made mystery drinks for each other after the morning rush. It's a fun game and we try to outdo each other with our creativity. One of my favorite creations came out of this ritual -- The Cookie Latte.
- Jan 11, 10
Bell peppers and broccoli, rich in anti-oxidants, give your body a boost in this delicious juice.
- Jan 08, 10
Read the new eBook from San Francisco Bay Area locavore chef James Stolich. An interview with Certified Humane small-scale pork producer Doug Stonebreaker.
- Jan 07, 10
We often set such lofty goals for ourselves that we either get frustrated or we rebound. On today's podcast, we take a look at making small incremental changes to make healthy weight easier to accomplish.
- Jan 06, 10
Forks and knives really have no place at a good tailgate. What you really need is meats on sticks. Enter a New York classic: the spiedie!
- Jan 05, 10
One popular winter tradition in many countries is to make hot mulled beverages to enjoy on cold nights, like Soo-Jung-Gua, a Korean Holiday drink with mulled ginger and cinnamon infused with persimmons.
- Jan 04, 10
When you're doing a lot of juicing for your health, you want to drink the most nutrient-dense juices you can. Supplementing the already high nutrition level of juice can help your body walk that extra mile towards health and wellness.
- Jan 01, 10
We're just coming into peak season for grapefruit in Arizona and California. From January to June, you can enjoy these fresh bittersweet citrus giants. For the Grapefruit Thai Warrior we are pitting two different types against each other in the battle to win over your palate.
- Dec 31, 09
Cincinnati-style chili is a unique regional dish that is best cooked slowly in a crock pot or slow cooker to maximize the sweet and spicy flavorings.
- Dec 30, 09
Childhood favorite macaroni & cheese has seen a resurgence in popularity in fine dining circles. This indulgent classic is getting a facelift.
- Dec 29, 09
Pairing Shrimp is easy. Pairing Shrimp with Thai sweet chili sauce and ginger is way more complicated. Wine does not go together naturally with sweet flavors unless it is dessert wine, so picking the right wine to go with this Hot Gingered Prawn recipe could be challenging.
- Dec 28, 09
Don't just put your pulp down the trash chute. Re-use it. Be creative and have fun and reduce your impact on the landfills all in one go.
- Dec 24, 09
This Americanized version of Italian Bruschetta is a Christmas crowd-pleaser.
- Dec 23, 09
North Carolina’s country hams are the stuff of local legend with a down-home, mouthwatering flavor that’s delicious morning, noon, or night. "Our fully cooked, boneless, salt- and sugar-cured country ham is ready to serve, so just slice and bring on the biscuits!" A delicious panini is a great way to enjoy it.
- Dec 22, 09
These cookies are a chocolaty step up on a traditional favorite that perfectly pairs with any comfort food. Infused with melted chocolate and generously heaped with two kinds of chocolate chips, these cookies will satisfy the chocolate lover in anyone.
- Dec 21, 09
Natural holiday cheer is known to be effective against Seasonal Affective Disorder, frowns, isolation, and, when combined with citrus, scurvy. The Holiday Sparkle is an easy, non-alcoholic drink to serve to party guests ... especially kids.
- Dec 17, 09
One of the best holiday gifts that nature and botany give us is the sweet lil' Clementine. The White Elephantine Cocktail highlights the Clementine's idiosyncratic taste with a broad base of sweet autumnal fruit. A dry Prosecco provides a pachydermic punch of bubbly fantasy.
- Dec 16, 09
Sell the kids on this healthy vegetable snack by stressing its "dip-ability."
- Dec 16, 09
Raw forms of Omega-3 are the most pure and beneficial. They have anti-inflammatory properties healthy for the heart and gastrointestinal tract, among other things. Since flaxseed oil is good for your GI health, today we're adding it to a juice that is not only tasty but also friendly to your digestive tract -- the Tummy Tuner.
- Dec 15, 09
Ribs and beer go together like salt and pepper, Martin and Lewis, football and Sunday. They're both OK on their own. But put them together and it's magical.
- Dec 14, 09
Employing latte art (or sometimes called coffee art) is a pretty cool way to top off your cappuccino. Experienced baristas can make some incredible designs just by pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso and manipulating their pour in specific ways. It's a little tricky but it can be learned, and it's a great way to impress your guests.
- Dec 11, 09
So many mixed drinks are full of so many different ingredients that people have no connection. When you use organic, uber-fresh fruit, you connect yourself and your guests to the ingredients and create a richer hospitality experience.
- Dec 10, 09
Apple juice is used to over-sweeten commercial fruit juices. This recipe lets the natural tartness of berries shine through, without losing any nutrients.
- Dec 09, 09
High in calcium, iron, vitamin A, manganese, and chlorophyll, it's a potent green friend. Kale is also an extremely hearty crop that is even being grown throughout the winter on many local farms. Fresh, local superfood you can get all winter long? Can't go wrong.
- Dec 08, 09
Rhode Island Clam Chowder is a most curious cultural oddity. Neither white, nor red, it favors clear broth and a strong clam taste.
- Dec 07, 09
There are many factors that determine the quality of different types of tea. Soil conditions, climate, and harvesting all play a role in the ultimate taste of your brew. However, it's the manufacturing process -- particularly how tea leaves are fermented -- that defines whether a tea becomes green, white, oolong, or black.
- Dec 03, 09
Spice up that annual turkey soup ... literally. Curry and cauliflower make this turkey soup an exotic change from the same-old.
- Dec 02, 09
Why toss all those remaining antioxidants and vitamins away when you can use them? Get the most bang out of that expensive organic produce.
- Dec 01, 09
Ribs don't have to be diet unfriendly. A little prep and choosing the right sauce will save you a lot of calories with this indulgent treat.
- Nov 30, 09
Choosing the right wine would be easy if you were pairing it with octopus in its basic form like sushi or a sashimi. But when your recipe includes flavors of chili and lime, it's a little more difficult to pick that perfect bottle of vino. Chose something to compliment the spiciness of the chili.
- Nov 25, 09
This Froojie is a great non-fat, non-dairy addition to your menu. With raspberry, apple, banana and mint, it makes a great non-alcoholic drink for conversing or as a palette cleanser between courses. If you're really counting calories, it makes a great alternative to pie.
- Nov 24, 09
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the flagship brew from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, California. This American-style ale is deep in color. Its taste has distinct hints of lemon and orange, but it's most notable for a distinct bitter finish that pairs perfectly with Lemon & Honey Chicken Skewers.
- Nov 23, 09
Phyllo is a thin pastry sheet featured in many Greek and Mediterranean dishes like baklava and apple strudel. It's flaky and lighter than dough. This delicious Banana Phyllo is a great way to cap off any meal.
- Nov 20, 09
Make a difference in your friends' and family's and farmers' lives by using a local pumpkin for your seasonal pie.
- Nov 19, 09
Today's journey in the International Aisle leads us into the Indian section. Ahh, smell the curry. Garam Masala is the star ingredient of our Tandoori Chicken. It's a versatile mixture that you can easily make at home with spices you probably already have in your kitchen.
- Nov 18, 09
You know that juicing is a fantastic way to absorb nutrients quickly to help your body function better. You also know that a healthy dose of probiotics helps your digestive and immune systems. Combining the two is a flavorful way to stay healthy.
- Nov 17, 09
Ribs are great. Wings are great. In fact, expect plenty of exciting recipes and suggestions about them here in the future. But they do have one significant drawback when you're consuming them ... two hands are necessary. This Mediterranean Sandwich brings less mess, more freedom, and a delicious addition to your next tailgate.
- Nov 16, 09
Most people already know that the fresher the grind, the better tasting your coffee will be. So you should always grind your beans fresh right before you brew your coffee. That's basic, but there's more to it.
- Nov 13, 09
Instead of a well-behaved juice, you get a frothy, sensual experience. A cold, frothy orange juice mixed half and half with a chilled, dry sparkling wine gives you a mimosa teeming with activity.
- Nov 12, 09
Dig deep -- really deep -- into the back of your freezer. I'm guessing you might find an old forgotten package of bagels. Break them out. We're going to make a simple, healthy snacking alternative to potato chips.
- Nov 10, 09
With a taste somewhere between a Bloody Mary and going out for Mexican, the Salsa Spin is not only healthy, it is also a great introduction to the joys of juicing.
- Nov 10, 09
Traditionally, this recipe would likely be made with goat's meat. Try substituting the goat with lamb.
- Nov 09, 09
Earl Grey is consumed across the world but still finds its biggest audience in England. The bergamot used to complete the tea is grown in Italy.
- Nov 06, 09
This Sunshine Punch works its way up the latitudes to bring a delicious combination of sour and sweet.
- Nov 05, 09
Here's a recipe for an old family classic with a few healthy twists. Because the chicken is baked, not fried, it's a lot safer for letting the kids get involved.
- Nov 04, 09
There has been a lot of controversy about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the news and online lately, particularly about its relationship to obesity, diabetes, and the food chain in general. It's hard to know what to believe. Unless you are a very objective epidemiologist, these studies and their findings are probably Greek to you. Whenever there is a nutritional scapegoat or savior, it is very difficult to sort the proverbial wheat from the chaff.
- Nov 03, 09
Today marks the 149th running of The Melbourne Cup. The Cup, is a thoroughbred horse race run in Melbourne, Australia, every year on the first Tuesday in November. We've got the perfect burger to celebrate, Australian style.
- Nov 02, 09
Very similar to the carrot in appearance and texture, parsnips have a much stronger, nutty flavor that is quite unique. This intense flavor, usually mellowed by cooking, makes juicing parsnips an adventure.
- Oct 29, 09
As Halloween rolls around, you may be thinking jack-o'-lanterns. Pumpkin seeds are a great snack, and you can fill your kids up a little before they devour all that candy.
- Oct 21, 09
Did you know a kiwi fruit has twice the vitamin C of an orange? It’s a perfect food to give your immune system an extra boost.
- Oct 19, 09
World champion barista Heather Perry shows you how to make one of her favorite drinks of all time, The Naked Lemon.
- Oct 14, 09
Breville's Adèle Schober combines pineapple, passion fruit, lemon, sugar, and honey to make The Pineapple Crush.
- Oct 13, 09
You've probably heard the term 'empty calories' -- when you are consuming calories with no nutritional value. Often people use the term when talking about iceberg lettuce or beer or cookies. There's an important technical term in the science of nutrition that better explains this concept and how it affects your body: nutrient density.
- Oct 12, 09
Now, you could head out to your favorite local smoothie shop and pay $4-5 for a smoothie or you could break out that blender for a healthy, cheaper, and quicker alternative.
- Oct 12, 09
Strawberries make a sweet breakfast smoothie, but any frozen or fresh fruit will do.
- Oct 09, 09
If your only experience with calamari are those little fried rings, you're missing out on a hearty seafood.
- Oct 09, 09
Fried calamari has become a staple on appetizer menus across the US. If your only experience with calamari are those little fried rings, you're missing out on a hearty seafood with plenty of possibilities outside of that deep fryer.
- Oct 07, 09
Fresh cucumbers are a mellow, smooth tube of refreshment just waiting to be juiced.
- Oct 06, 09
Breville's Adèle Schober shows you how to make the Papaya Banana Smoothie.
- Oct 06, 09
When you think of nutrition, vitamins and other nutrients invariably come to mind. But not all vitamins that your body needs come from food. Technically, not all vitamins your body needs are even vitamins. Vitamin D fits both bills.
- Oct 02, 09
Shark isn't terribly common in modern American cuisine. However, it's much more common in Australia, where it can often be found fried up for fish & chips. On the dinner plate it is often called flake, and of course, I had to try it.
- Sep 30, 09
Get in touch with your timeless, common humanity by going apple-picking. Take a bite of the first-fruits of civilization.
- Sep 30, 09
Passion fruit, pineapple, lemon -- the perfect complement to shrimp or scallops.
- Sep 30, 09
A delightful juicing standard. Great for any time of day.
- Sep 30, 09
The perfect light and refreshing iced espresso drink for a hot summer day.
- Sep 29, 09
With natural sugar fructose and no preservatives, fruit makes the ultimate healthy sweet snack for kids and adults. The sweetness comes packaged together with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants -- as nature intended.
- Sep 28, 09
World champion barista Heather Perry shows you how to make the Iced Americana, a great alternative to traditional iced coffee.
- Sep 25, 09
The Mediterranean olive bar. They go well beyond just olives. They include fresh cheeses, mushrooms, marinated vegetables, and more. And on this sandwich, just about anything is going to be delicious.
- Sep 25, 09
When you select ingredients at a Mediterranean olive bar, just about anything is going to be delicious.
- Sep 24, 09
Originating in China, this dish has made its way into cuisines around the world, including the US, the UK, and even West African nations and the Caribbean.
- Sep 24, 09
The wok is a very versatile kitchen pan, capable of preparing dishes for every occasion and every meal, even dessert. Here's a three-course meal that combines some Southeast Asian staples with a colonial touch at the end.
- Sep 24, 09
Sweet and tangy berry smoothie. Great source of vitamin C. Serves 4.
- Sep 23, 09
This is a brilliant and refreshing beverage. An instant favorite to impress friends and family.
- Sep 22, 09
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables helps keep weight down (they’re fat-free), stimulates digestion, keeps you regular and protects eyes from diseases.
- Sep 21, 09
Award-winning Barista Heather Perry shows you how to make one of her all-time favorites.
- Sep 18, 09
If you'd like to add a touch of Aussie to your backyard barbecue (and you've still got the grill out there), here's a simple, fresh marinade that you can use for steak, chicken, or whatever strikes you.
- Sep 18, 09
A simple, fresh marinade that you can use for steak, chicken, or whatever strikes you.
- Sep 17, 09
My Grandpa Tony was a larger-than-life character. No one has ever been able to replicate his mushrooms. But these are darned good.
- Sep 17, 09
My Grandpa Tony made the stuffing with crabs he caught himself trolling around Long Island Sound in his boat, Cara Mia II.
- Sep 16, 09
The distinct and aromatic flavor of pear is wonderfully offset by a spicy ginger bite.
- Sep 16, 09
Breville's Adèle Schober combines whole pears and some ginger to make Gingey Juice.
- Sep 15, 09
Antioxidants act as the body’s defense network. We need to top them up every day.
- Sep 14, 09
Textured, frothy milk gently poured over a double-packed single shot of espresso.
- Sep 14, 09
World champion barista, Heather Perry, shows you the secrets of making the perfect cappuccino.
- Sep 11, 09
What's great about a mango salsa is that it runs a gamut of flavors and is totally versatile. It's great as a cold appetizer or to flavor a poultry or seafood entree.
- Sep 11, 09
Mangoes never go out of season and are high in fiber. This salsa is a fresh start to any meal.
- Sep 10, 09
After a long day at the office, when you'd just as soon not make a complete mess of the kitchen, here's an easy way to spruce up a store-bought meatball sub.
- Sep 10, 09
Shortcut to a long day's delicious dinner -- mozzarella and meatballs, po' boy and Parmesan -- toast to taste.
- Sep 09, 09
Experience the often hidden sweetness of the tomato with a sweet and savory supporting cast.
- Sep 09, 09
Tomatoes add a lot of flavor and liquid to your juice. That is why they are a staple ingredient in many popular juicing recipes. Here's three tips for acquiring delicious, juiceable tomatoes and a great recipe to try with them.
- Sep 08, 09
Water is one of the building blocks of life. You need to drink the equivalent of at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.
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Tweets
- @joewaters Joe, thanks for the insight. The piece I just wrote has some striking similarities The Importance of a Hook http://t.co/h7UJF4LZ
- I wrote about 2 James Beard Award winners last week (before they won!) http://t.co/Sgc5lp8SMay 07, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- It's vital for content creators to sharpen their hook http://t.co/bxwSVVEsMay 07, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Click-Through Rates May Matter Even Less Than We Thought http://t.co/kfhaq4ymMay 03, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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- @Jamiebiss I saw you at Bad Brains last night and meant to introduce myself -- Josh from Tippingpoint Labs.Apr 17, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- What can the make-up department @Macys teach you about brands working together? http://t.co/gRqY63ZSApr 16, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- What can the make-up department @Macys teach you about brands working together? http://t.co/qQwMMrLmApr 16, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @BianchiOfficial Just wrote a piece about why your partnership with Gucci makes a lot of sense http://t.co/qQwMMrLmApr 16, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Consumers Win with Brand Crossovers http://t.co/qQwMMrLmApr 16, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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Posts
- May 17, 12
Publish or Perish
Brands are learning now that to connect with consumers, they must publish content. Some are really pushing that concept and have become media powerhouses.
The goal is to create a revenue-generating media business parallel to Red Bull’s beverage business. Red Bull’s media projects yield material for DVD, online, and TV, befitting the company’s new mold of creating content wherever followers of the Red Bull lifestyle may be.
— Fast CompanyRed Bull Media House was awarded the #2 spot on Fast Company’s Top 10 Media List for its action sports and lifestyle programs over the past 20 years. Not every brand can be like Red Bull, but most recognize that they better start trying.
The difference between a brand and a publisher
Brands think they sell products and publishers think they sell ad space. The reality is that both need to look beyond where revenue is generated and more toward who generates the revenue: their loyal audience. When brands start recognizing that they already have an audience, they see less need for looking to media outlets as a vehicle for distribution. All of a sudden, brands realize they can be their own best megaphone.
Become a branded publisher of relevant content
A brand can publish editorially sound content
Nowness.com is owned by LVMH, the luxury group that includes Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton. Nowness promotes daily exclusives, mostly very high-end video that has nothing to do with any of the LVMH brands but has everything to do with their luxury aesthetic and high-quality standards.
Ask yourself: Why would LVMH support a content platform that does not tie back to their brand or to their products or to eCommerce?
Swide Magazine, a luxury magazine from Dolce & Gabbana, does connect the content with product and sales by including links to the D&G online store and other properties. However, the connection to eCommerce does not make the content any less relevant or editorially sound.
These luxury powerhouses are approaching online content in a very different manner and it’ll be interesting to see it play out.
Ask Yourself
What are your brand’s most valuable assets? It is not the inventory waiting to ship from the warehouse. It is the relationship your brand has built with consumers and audience over time. Brands have a voice. They have a position. It’s OK to use your voice and position to create not only great products but great stories that encompass your core values.
- May 10, 12
This video is only half the story.
Great content can lead to new revenue streams and high visibility. Great content on its own can work, but even brilliant brands are leaving opportunities on the table.
Glowing snowboarder
Sometimes I stumble across an artistic video that is mesmerizing and I cannot stop watching it. I find myself thinking of ways to integrate the content with brands in order to extend the story and build a brandscape.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Make sure participants act like partners
That’s a talented snowboarder in the French Alps wearing an L.E.D.-enveloped suit. Many people and products were involved in making this video a success, even including director Jacob Sutton’s dad. The L.E.D. suit was crafted by John Spatcher, and the talented snowboarder is William Hughes. Mr. Sutton used a Red Epic camera to shoot and a lot of “vin rouge” to keep warm. We hear perfectly chosen music by Shervin Shaeri @ Mutant Jukebox. But there’s no connection tying all these great partners together.
Keep the audience coming back for more
Although Nowness.com published this one video (more on them later), I find myself wanting more of this story. How was the suit developed and tested? How were the French Alps chosen? Why was this the story the director wanted to tell? Did the wine freeze on the mountain? All that auxiliary content would make the video production that much more efficient.
Tell a 360-degree story
Brands and partners need to figure out how to tell a 360-degree story. What begins as a one-off video can become a fuller, more dynamic story beyond the original intent. Nowness does not need to tell the whole story; the partners can tell it on their own platforms, linking one story to the next until the user has had enough. I think of it as those old Choose your Own Adventure Books. If I am interested in French wine, I click on that story; if I am interested in the L.E.D. suit, I choose that story. There is more than one story to follow.
Partners round out the story behind the story
When brands band together, there are multidimensional stories that emerge. Each brand needs to understand what they bring to the main story and what they bring to their more focused one. Strong partnerships create efficiencies. A brand gets more bang for the buck and garners a more engaged audience by letting the consumers choose to see what they want to see behind the curtain.
What stories resonate with your audience
Let’s talk about the stories you’ve already shared and the ways to enhance the adventure.
- May 08, 12
Read more about the importance of a hook for talent here.
The James Beard Awards were given out yesterday. Congrats to all the nominees and winners, especially to Rising Star Chef winner Christina Tosi.
We often guide talented content creators toward discovering their natural hook. It needs to be simple yet definitive. “Oh that’s the guy who blends everything. Including the iPhone.” “That’s the guy who does six-course meals in the subway and other crazy places.”
James Beard Rising Star Chefs
Since we work with a lot of different chefs, and since the celebrity chef trend is an intriguing model of people transcending one medium to another with the power of their hook, I thought it would be fun to look at the new James Beard nominees in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category. This is just a thought experiment, so don’t take it too seriously.
Do these chefs have clear hooks? Are they poised to grow their businesses into media opportunities?
In some cases it’s hard to separate these young chefs from their restaurants, so I’ll blend the two as well as possible and give it a go.
Dave Beran, Next, Chicago
Next Restaurant offers intense thematic menus based in historical periods or interesting concepts. Perusing through interviews and Dave’s Twitter feed, I suggest the hook is:
Chef Dave Beran is a culinary history detective. He tracks down and re-envisions flavors of days gone by and makes them relevant today.
Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar, NYC
Christina’s Momofuku Milk Bar is like a playground for deserts. Her approach is deceptively simple:
Chef Christina Tosi uses ingredients that people already love, to make refined yet approachable desserts that people crave. Butter + sugar + anything = delicious.
Sue Zemanick, Gautreau’s, New Orleans
Sue Zemanick is understated, kind, and seems to put others before herself, as her early exit from Top Chef All Stars would indicate. A hook doesn’t always have to be loudly assertive. An “anti-hook” can be just as differentiating in the marketplace:
Chef Sue Zemanick builds relationships with food with the gustatory intensity of a long conversation. She got booted from Top Chef for being too helpful.
Daniel Bowien, Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco
Mission Chinese is a cult favorite. It’s intriguing. I read somewhere that American Chinese food is our national cuisine. There are more Chinese restaurants than any other type. So it makes a lot of sense for someone to finally use a beat up old Chinese Restaurant to launch a whole new approach to food:
Chef Danny Bowien is the guy who turned Chinese food on its head with an infusion of new ingredients and approaches. He’s the Joe Strummer of Chinese food.
Thomas McNaughton, Flour + Water, San Francisco
Flour + Water is a homemade pasta and pizza restaurant that showcases the authentic regional variety of classic Italian cuisine. Chef McNaughton crafts every dish with a wealth of insider’s knowledge garnered from his time learning at a salumeria in Bologna.
Chef Thomas McNaughton is eight old Italian ladies trapped in a 28-year-old man’s body. He makes pasta the way pasta wants to be made.
What do you think?
Have you eaten at any of these restaurants? How would you state or refine the hooks I’ve written?
- May 07, 12
One of the hardest things for content creators to do themselves is figure out what makes them unique in the marketplace.
When you are full of creative ambitions, it is hard to focus on one key value that you can express in a memorable hook. Perhaps the hardest part is letting go of some of the things you like to do and focus on what you truly are best at.
Someone like Rachael Ray can do all kinds of amazing, practical things with food. But it took a special vision to say, “I help people make dinner in 30 minutes or less.” It is focus like this that helps build an audience.
Once Rachael’s audience was solidified, she was able to branch out and explore more of her talents and interests.
Hooks and brand partnerships
A hook helps brands understand why an audience connects with specific content. When talent has a strong hook, brands can more easily understand how they can align their brand values with that hook. A great example of this alignment is the long tradition of celebrity spokespeople.
The best brands find a spokesperson whose hook and accomplishments actually reflect their values, goal, and objectives. It’s a simple formula. When a brand and a talent connect on a deeper level, there is much greater potential for engagement and content creation than a mere thumbs-up in exchange for a big check.
For instance, Troy Polamalu can endorse lots of things. He’s that incredibly gifted, two-time Super-Bowl-winning football player with all that long curly hair. His partnership with Head & Shoulders is a perfect fit. Plus the fact that they insured his hair for $1M was word-of-mouth and social-media gold.
Seeing the Future
As we look at the new horizon of media plays, we’re going to see deeper alignments between brands and talent. It behooves talent to find their hook and learn how to use it.
As your brand looks for talent with whom to partner, put your unique value next to their hook. How do they match up? This will be a vital element of marketing in the years to come.
Check back tomorrow, when I’ll play around with figuring out hooks for the nominees in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category of the James Beard Awards.
- May 03, 12
Online marketing starts with knowing your audience. But we often get so caught up in defining our larger audience that we miss opportunities to approach pre-defined, niche audiences that match up nicely with a brand.
This coming week, the culinary world will receive it’s newest James Beard Award winners. For those of you who don’t know, these awards mark the highest level of achievement in the culinary arts and media in North America.
The nominees read as a list of who’s who in the industry, including some we’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past year, like Jamie Bissonnette, Matthew Jennings, and Hedy Goldsmith.
Aside from the amazing talent that is represented on the list, the nominees also call our attention to valuable audience segments that are worthy of notice.
1. Southerners
A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen by Hugh Acheson Nominee for book award in American Cooking category
Southerners and lovers of southern food are very passionate about their food and they love to eat. They’re typically not afraid of some of the fattier ingredients that have gone in and out of vogue. They have a strong communal identity as well.Brandscape opportunities: If you want to partner up to reach this audience, consider grills and smokers, cars, lifestyle clothing (think Chico’s), alcohol, packaged food brands (like Kraft).
2. Food Sensitives
The Intolerant Gourmet: Glorious Food without Gluten & Lactose by Barbara Kafka Nominee for book award in Focus on Health category
All it takes is one trip to the grocery store to realize this is a growing, trending audience segment. These folks are health conscious, whether they want to be or not. Brands have had a lot of success marketing simple, gluten-free and non-dairy solutions that make it easier for people to manage their conditions.Brandscape opportunities: This field has a well-defined audience and some key brands who speak directly to them. But there is a lot of room for growth. Look to those already marketing to the gluten-free crowd, but also think creatively about what else is affecting their lives. Are there housecleaning supply companies that are GF? Perhaps other sensitivities come into play and you partner with a vacuum cleaner company (like Dyson). Or perhaps you find GF bloggers with big audiences and underwrite their content.
3. Kitchen DIYers
Too many nominees to mention fit this category. A couple that stand out are Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer and My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking by John Besh.
There’s a growing trend of people wanting to experience the fullness of life in the home and kitchen. They like to make things from scratch and grow their own veggies and herbs (if not goats!). This audience is highly motivated and willing to experiment with new things they think may add value to their lives.
Brandscape opportunities: This audience is looking for ideas and tools to pull off great feats of food and community in their kitchens. Find talent who speak directly to this and help to build their platform by underwriting them and getting your brand attached to their messages. These folks love trends like scratch baking, nose-to-tail eating, and urban gardening. Partner with brands who are making the tools to make those trends more accessible.
But remember, DIYers also understand that less is more, so find opportunities to help them make smart decisions to buy the right products, because there is a good chance they’ll spend more for quality.
And, best of luck to all the James Beard nominees.
- May 02, 12
How Uncommon Goods could power their brand
I got my catalog from Uncommon Goods in the mail this week. They sell “unique and creative gifts.” (Or that’s what they told me they sell anyway.) The catalog opened immediately to the profile of an artist named Lori Danelle. Lori is a paper cut artist and “maker of things.” And Lori is talented.
What they say they do
In the catalog’s introductory letter from Casey McCarthy (the company’s CTO) he says:
…We’ve stayed true to what brought me here – a great team committed to connecting artists with you, our customers. …I hope, that like me, you discover something special for the uncommon people in your life.”
- Casey McCarthy Uncommon Goods, CTO
So there you have it. Uncommon Goods connects us with artists. Except, they’ve missed the single greatest opportunity to do exactly that: connect me with the people who make the art they sell.
What they don’t do
The fact is, that in a digital world you have to do more than SAY you’re connecting me with artists. You actually have to do it.
While the catalog includes nicely written artist profiles it doesn’t really connect me with the artist. I love what Danelle does. I’m mesmerized by her work and I want a personal story to attach to the art I buy.
Why not connect – I mean REALLY connect – me with Danelle? Danelle’s on Twitter. She’s on Instagram. She’s even blogging about Uncommon Goods. She’s also got some nice stuff on Pinterest.
Connecting digital with print
Lori Danelle's profile page from the Uncommon Good's catalog
Uncommon Goods’ catalog is a gateway to artists I’ve never heard of. But it’s a superficial one. Shouldn’t you invite me to read Lori’s blog? Interact with her on Twitter? Or see her art on Instagram? I guarantee that when I’m ready to buy I’ll come back to Uncommon Goods and make the purchase. After all, I have you to thank for introducing me to an artist I now have a personal relationship with.
Ask Yourself…
How can you introduce your audience to the people that make your products possible? How can you create a personal relationship between your brand, your employees and the customers you serve?
You need to ask yourself if there’s a disconnect between what you say you do and what you ACTUALLY do. You need to introduce your audience to the people that power your brand.
What if…
What if Uncommon Goods showed the same enthusiasm for sharing their audience as Lori does on her blog?
Please go check out the UncommonGoods’ site, look around, be amazed, and be sure to tell everyone you know! (They even have handy buttons at the bottom of the page to share on Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest — hint, hint. . .) And while you’re at it, sign up for their catalog. . . you might just see me there as well later this month!
- Lori Danelle’s blog post about her debut on Uncommon Goods.
I’m positive you’d see more customers interacting with artists that drive sales. Which is what both of you want. Isn’t it?
What if you embraced the idea that your website isn’t the center of the web world?
- May 01, 12
Brands are great at selling product but sometimes fall short when telling stories that go beyond “advertorial” content. So when a brand aligns with a talent to help tell an authentic story, I get excited.
Talent passions must align with brand values
Brands can find talent and build meaningful content partnerships. Devin Graham, aka Devin Super Tramp, is a great example of a talented filmmaker who naturally encompasses the value of brands like GoPro, The North Face, and Red Bull with his infectious enthusiasm for outdoor adventure, great music, and high-end video.
About Vooray: “We LIVE to enjoy every minute of life. We RIDE, run, swim, work, jump, surf, bike and whatever else, because we love when our hearts beat just a little faster. We PLAY because you can’t take yourself too seriously after you work so hard to get there. Life is too short not to have fun every second.”
Show, don’t tell, your value
Our own Drew Davis had an opportunity to speak with Devin recently. Devin indicated that the relationship with Vooray happened very authentically through a friendship, and most of his brand relationships begin in the same manner. A brand sends product to sample and possibly to be included in a video. In order for it to even be considered for inclusion, Devin has to “believe 100% in the product.” Devin oftentimes even offers to create his first video for a small sponsorship fee that mostly covers travel so that the brand can fully realize how valuable his videos can be.
Selling product does not mean selling out
“I have to believe 100% in the product.” —Devin Graham
Devin is proud to align with the brands he works with and is thrilled when it leads to sales.
Because the relationship is authentic and the story is real, he is not trying to pretend the video is not a promotional tool for a product. For example, Go-Scope sent him their product to try in a video and reported back to him, the day after the video was posted on YouTube, that Devin “put Go-Scope on the map” and they “tripled sales in 1 day.” Selling is not selling out.
Making the most of the relationship
With over 275K YouTube subscribers and over 51MM video views, it is no surprise that Devin is already aligned with brands like clothing company Vooray. However, the integration is almost too seamless. I never know if a DST video is for Vooray or if a Vooray video posted was shot by DST. As a brand and as a talent, make sure the value of the partnership goes beyond the content being created. The value is in aligning your unique values in a way that exposes each of you to the other’s audience, authentically, no matter who ultimately paid for the content to be created.
Ask Yourself
How can the right talent help you tell your story? When the brand and the talent encompass the same philosophies and make compelling content it should not only increase awareness for the brand but increase sales, too. No matter whether brands hire talent and create a relationship over time or curate content that fits their brand values, it is important to make sure that there is an authentic alignment of values and stories that both want to share.
Watch the Go-Scope in action
- Apr 26, 12
Every brandscape exhibits a different dynamic between brands, talent and publishers. This is a reflection of the individual values each brings to the table. One very interesting feature of how the web works is that you can actually play around with a brandscape dynamic and see how it might work before investing in it. You can try things on a small scale and when you find the right formula grow them bigger.
However, not every opportunity is right for every brand.
Last year both the fashion and sneaker community were all abuzz with the beautiful collaboration between interior designer and celebrity stylist Robert Verdi and Vans Vault, the premium imprint of the classic sneaker brand. Vans created beautiful slip-ons based on the designs of his vintage Hermés scarves. You can browse through them on Flickr.
There’s clearly interest in the Vans
As I started to research these beautiful sneakers, I quickly found that there was no shortage of links. There were many fashion and sneaker blogs that were clearly excited about this small run of shoes.
And their audiences were very engaged. I found lots of comments where people were just super excited. For example on Honestly … WTF I saw the following comment:
The Hermés Vans showcase the unique values perfectly.
When partnering with other brands, you want everybody to shine individually and together. With these fashion sneakers, everyone’s truest value is on display and yet they all blend together.
Even though Vans are for the proletariat and Hermés extremely exclusive, it works. This is what design blog KNSTRCT has to say about it:
The rubber of the shoes, and the silk of the scarves, are the two materials in which society identifies these brands to be. Though Hermés and Vans are from opposite worlds, they both found their identity, and stayed true to it!
Robert Verdi is the perfect talent to pull it all together. He blends both worlds seamlessly, and is a passionate advocate for both. And he adds a sense of authority to the connection when he puts his seal of approval on the product.
Follow the great ideas, even when they pull you out of your comfort zone.
So many brands are struggling to find the same kind of market penetration they were accustomed to in the old days. It’s not as easy as just plopping your product in front of an audience and waiting for sales to happen.
The idea is to find the right audiences for your brand and connect to them. Sometimes those audiences are going to be interested in another brand or in something you’d never associate with your brand.
But when there’s a great idea that helps you reach that audience, why not go after it? Especially when the idea has proven itself in the great laboratory of the internet.
The hooks that get and keep people’s attention online are a form of meme that takes on a life of its own. It’s usually a shame to let one go to waste.
The Twist: Why this is wrong for Hermés
As awesome as this combination is, and as excited as the blogosphere and fashion world is about it, it makes no sense for Hermés to get involved. Why? Because it’s not the right audience.
The Hermés audience is the wealthy of the wealthy. Hermés doesn’t need this kind of combination to make their brand work. Their audience takes no notice of such things.
However, Hermés should pay attention to this kind of action online. They should take stock in the possibilities that the web offers in its infinite playground. Even if this brandscape isn’t right for them, it’s an interesting thought experiment that should open up new ideas and conceptions for marketing to their elite audience.
That audience is also online, and Hermés would do well to be thinking of ways to extend and enable their incredible word-of-mouth business to online channels.
- Apr 24, 12
As a brand, you have to embrace the idea that you’re not the only company targeting the exact same audience. If you’re humble enough to do that, you’ll uncover marketing opportunities that you’d otherwise miss.
Think about a wedding
Luxury Daily columnist Tricia Carr recently wrote an article about Harrods, Four Seasons Hotels, and Estee Lauder all embarking on email and online campaigns targeted at the wedding audience: bride, groom, wedding parties, gift givers, etc.
The moment a couple announces their engagement they’re barraged with advertising and marketing messages trying to capture their share of the $40 billion annual wedding market.
But Harrods, Four Seasons and Estee Lauder all target the very same luxury-oriented niche within the “I’m getting married” market. Maybe they should pool their resources?
The wedding cycle
When couples get engaged, a very predictable timeline is set in motion. Friends and family are told. Reception site and date are set. Wedding party is established. Gown is chosen. Reception details like photographer, flowers, band are established. This goes on and on. You get the picture. It is a predictable and very streamlined consumer cycle.
Think like allies, not competitors
Harrods, Four Seasons, and Estee Lauder each want to own one portion of the wedding cycle.
Four Seasons wants to be considered to host an event or as a honeymoon destination.
Harrods wants to own the registry and gift ideas for friends and family.
Estee Lauder wants the bride to look the best version of herself on the day of special events.
These brands do not compete for the same share of dollars; they complement each other and help propel the bride towards her wedding day through to the honeymoon.
When brands start thinking about every activity and purchase across the wedding cycle, even these three brands would realize there are other companies they could partner with to align their messaging: Vera Wang, Stuart Weitzman, and Tiffany’s are just a few.
If a bride wants and can afford a luxury wedding, every single one of these brands is in her list anyway. As these brands are servicing the niche luxury bridal market, why not align as partners? The brands are already in the mind of the consumer.
Ask Yourself
What do your clients and customers purchase right before they start thinking about the products you sell? What do they purchase right after? In other words, what is the consumer cycle around your products? What do you want to own and where can alliances be made?
You need to ask yourself what brand has already acquired your customer? That brand is your partner. They have already built a trusted relationship with your audience. What can you do to align in a deeper way?
What if
What if Harrods, Estee Lauder and Four Seasons created content together and shared their audience?
- Apr 20, 12
For those of you that don’t know, the ‘QR’ in ‘QR Code’ stands for ‘quick response.’ But the reality is, scanning a QR code is anything but simple, quick, easy, or ever rewarding.
A glutton for punishment
Maybe I’m a digital masochist, but everywhere I go I scan QR codes. It’s an experiment, really. I’m waiting to be wowed. I’m expecting to be excited, impressed, or even mildly engaged by someone’s smart use of QR codes, but I’m not.
This week at the Coverings trade show in Orlando I finally hit my limit. At not one, but two, tile trade show booths they’d put a huge amount of effort into creating QR Code displays using tile mosaics. Genius, I thought. Genius. This must be good.
I opened my phone and found my scanning app. I tried to align my camera with their mosaic. It wouldn’t scan. I tried a different app. I tried taking a picture of the code and then using the picture as the source for my QR code app. Nothing. I tried standing back and moving forward. After, quite literally, five minutes I gave up.
When I asked one of the booth monitors if anyone could get their QR code tile mosaic to scan, she simply shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I can’t get it to work.”
When they do work
@SchwarzenbachB In front of a Slow Response Code
A year ago I attended a trade show with Brad Schwarzenbach. In the middle of the busy trade show aisle was a giant QR Code mounted on a sign that read, “Visit us at booth #147.” Brad directed traffic around me as I took the time to scan the code. As I waited for the scanning app to launch a browser, which launched a web page, which painstakingly downloaded an image I almost screamed out loud.
The QR code led me to a digital image of the EXACT sign I was standing in front of. The very sign I had just scanned. I don’t need a QR code to get a picture of your sign. My blood boils just recounting the story.
Ask Yourself…
QR Codes are a novelty. Not because they couldn’t be useful, but because marketers use them so terribly! Not one of the QR codes I’ve scanned has really been worth the effort. You need to ask yourself if you’re using QR Codes because you think you should or because they’re actually adding value to the consumer’s experience?
If you’re going to implement QR Codes you need to ask yourself whether the content on the other side of the code is worth the effort to get it? You need to ask yourself why you’re using QR Codes?
The truth is, I can type a URL faster than I can successfully scan and experience a QR code. QR codes aren’t Quick.
What if…
What if QR Codes were actually valuable?
P.S. The QR Code Bradley is standing in front of has been updated for 2012 (go ahead take the time to scan it and see if it’s a ‘rewarding experience.’)
- Apr 19, 12
I don’t think many social media practitioners spend much time thinking about whether their staff consumes what they create, promote and distribute online. But they should.
The open kitchen
The Open Kitchen - People were literally this close...
This morning I had breakfast at a diner. I sat at the bar facing the open kitchen.
I had an omelet, a cup of coffee, and some hash-browns. The food was fine. The open kitchen was not.
The people working in the kitchen weren’t happy. They never smiled at me, let alone said hi. They were only two feet away.
The wait staff wasn’t friendly either. I listened-in as they argued about who got the last table.
Meanwhile on Twitter…
This diner happens to be in a hotel. As I waited for my food to arrive the hotel tweeted:
“Today is National High Five Day! If you could #highfive anyone in the world, who would it be?”
I can be certain I wouldn’t #highfive your restaurant staff. Maybe this hotel should start building an internal social strategy before they focus on an external one? Or, maybe not.
Ask yourself…
You need to ask yourself if your external social presence is a reflection of your customer’s real-world experience?
You need to decide if you’re putting a superficial veneer on an otherwise poor experience? Maybe you should ask yourself if you can use your social media stream to change your internal culture?
What if…
What if everyone at the hotel had started the day with a #HighFive? I bet the diner staff would have been happier.
What if you made sure every single one of your employee’s also read your social media stream? How might it shape your business and your customer’s experience?
- Apr 19, 12
Many brands have been creating content and have an arsenal on various social media platforms. Those brands should now be looking to evolve that content or the platforms on which it resides to maximize the investment and realize its potential.
Home Depot has spent a lot of time creating and posting over 2000 videos to YouTube generating more than 25MM views both on and off the Home Depot channel, not a small feat. However, all that content can make each video a needle in a haystack when on the channel itself. The content is disparate, challenging to find, and lacking a unified voice.
If Home Depot were looking to maximize the value of their content investment, I’d suggest they segment the videos by interest and use their great merchandising partners to expand on the content in a meaningful manner.
The in-store aisle strategy can work online
Imagine walking into Home Depot and not having an aisle structure that allows the consumer to know where to go for flooring or sinks? What if Home Depot just put the most recent products delivered in the front of the store regardless of product type? That’s basically what they are doing with YouTube. They have not done a sufficient job making playlists or segmenting their video content.
If Home Depot deployed an aisle-like strategy for their YouTube content, they’d service the needs of their viewers much better. In addition to playlists, they should consider the fact that their audience needs these videos at different stages of their home improvement projects. Some may need information only about planning improvements for the outside of their homes from roofs to gardening, whereas others need information on a leaky faucet or installing a thermostat. Revising the organizational structure can benefit Home Depot whether the visitor starts on the YouTube channel or if they end up there through a video link or search, and it will be especially useful for loyal channel subscribers.
Reaching viewers when they are at pivotal moments in their projects is key to maximizing the investment of the content. What about setting up different Home Depot YouTube channels based on projects? Nike has a YouTube channel with about 28,000 subscribers and a Nike Football channel with about 200,000 subscribers. They have exponentially more subscribers for niche-focused content, because those subscribers know they are only going to see content related to football. The strategy works, and Home Depot could greatly benefit from a segmentation strategy.
Maximize offline relationships online
We recently wrote about maximizing offline partners online, and Home Depot could easily employ the concept. Many of the videos on the YouTube channel feel very commercial. In addition to posting their :30 second commercials, the brand has also created and posted content for specific product lines like GE Water Heaters. However, it feels a bit sales-y and it is not entertaining. This presents a great opportunity for the Home Depot to work more closely with GE to create more meaningful content about water heaters, content that is less overtly advertisement and more concretely helpful.
Home Depot should also consider how to best repurpose all this video content. Black & Decker could choose to add a video tip to the end of each YouTube Home Depot video with an expert from Black & Decker sharing a relevant example of the best do’s and dont’s of the “How To” the user just viewed. These adapted videos can appear not only on the Home Depot channel, but then could be shared by Black & Decker for greater audience and subscriber development.
Brands should think like DIYers – what’s next?
Seeing brands commit to a robust content creation initiative is always encouraging. However, brands that fall short when mapping the user experience will not realize maximized return on investment. If Home Depot reorganized their channel based on interest and thought of ways to add more value to their 13,000 loyal subscribers, they’d start to see opportunities for their own self-improvement projects.
Should they have a channel dedicated to the craftsman, the tradesman, the green DIY consumer, the seasoned DIYer, etc.? Could each of those channels work with a merchandising partner to underwrite, support, and contribute to great content specifically for that niche audience? Could Home Depot assign one expert per channel to become the voice of flooring, the voice of tile, the voice of decks?
Yes, they can. That’s the power of Home Depot.
- Apr 13, 12
Stare Wars
If you want to stand out and attract attention in the marketplace, target an audience where no one like you is participating.
I went to #PAXEast last week. For the uninitiated, it’s an amazing, intriguing and exciting exposition for all things gaming. From video games to board games – they have it all.
The trade show floor is a cacophony of collaboration: people from around the world playing games with their friends. They’re playing the pre-release versions of the greatest games from the biggest manufacturers. They’re playing board games and card games you’ve never heard of. They’re staring at computer monitors and cards trying to beat their opponents.
Standing out
But one booth at the trade show stood out from everything else. One little booth had attracted a group of ten people standing around amused and bewildered. They weren’t selling video games or joysticks. They were selling eyedrops.
Rohto Eyedrops to be exact. Now I’m sure Rohto goes to lots of pharmaceutical trade shows and retail events, but at those shows they’re just another beauty product manufacturer. At PAX, they were an anomaly.
Sure they were giving out free samples, but they were also conducting a competition called “Stare Wars.” For a bunch of gamers who stare at a computer monitor for hours without blinking this was a matter of pride. Who could stare longer? After three days the winner was a gamer named Maxwell Morin. His stats: 54 matches, 3 hours 1 minute and 55 seconds total staring time. What does he win? A $1,500 gift card and a trip to PAX Prime in Seattle to defend his title.
Rohto isn’t trying to be the eye-drop for everyone. They showed up at PAX, embraced the audience and stood out from the crowd.
Ask Yourself…
Why are you going to trade shows where everyone’s selling the same thing to the same audience?
What’s your Stare Wars?
What if…
What if you got outside your comfort zone and went to a trade show where you forced yourself to be relevant?
- Apr 12, 12
I have always loved a good crossover – when the universes and stories of two or more brands mingle coherently and purposefully. My all-time favorite is still probably the X-Men and the New Teen Titans from the early 1980s. Two competing comic brands, Marvel and DC, were able to bring two of their strongest franchises together in a way that sold well and served their audiences.
Being audience-centric is what makes crossovers work, and the web is all about the audience. When done well, your internet presence should work as a giant retail funnel, helping your audience find your products and services. So crossing over and sharing audience with other brands is a vital way to build and strengthen your relationship with your audience.
The retailer understands that they get more value by touting each brand and helping them establish their presence in the minds of their larger, more general audience.
Interestingly enough, we find that sort of crossover working really well in traditional retail channels and their online extensions. Because smart retailers understand how to build their brands by leveraging the brands of their partners and vice versa.
1. Learning from the brandscaping of department stores
We’re all familiar with the layout of a department store. But if you think about some of the bigger chains like Macy’s and J.C. Penney (now jcpenney), they actually have branded sub-departments. When you go shopping for jeans, you shop brand by brand through Lucky Brand and Levi’s and 7 For All Mankind. This is a crossover or brandscape. Each brand has its own personality represented in varying degrees. I assume these degrees are related to their investment in their section.
There are different consumer audiences for these different brands, and the retailer understands that they get more value by touting each brand and helping them establish their presence in the minds of their larger, more general audience.
The crown jewel of this approach is the make-up and skincare department, where beautiful ladies represent the values of the brand they represent and try to sell you both on benefits and on lifestyle. The ability of these branded talents to tell the right story in an authentic way is what drives sales at the point of purchase.
2. Going super niche with Bianchi and Gucci
Gucci creative director Frida Giannini recently designed two bicycles in collaboration with Bianchi bicycles. They retail at Gucci’s London store for $14,000 and $5,000 dollars respectively. There is also a really cool helmet that retails for $890.
The buzz that this crossover has created would indicate that it is a success. Sometimes the crossover itself can drive the story. But there is more to this combo.
Both Gucci and Bianchi realized that leveraging the power of both their brands together is a powerful way to upsell an increasingly vital portion of urban living. Gucci’s audience has high expectations, and Bianchi is the right partner to deliver on them.
Is it the best, most amazing bike you can buy? No. Does it deliver on the brand expectations of Gucci’s audience, while adding to Bianchi’s quality and performance story? Absolutely.
3. J. Crew and Vintage Sneakers
Finally, J. Crew has teamed up with some top sneaker manufacturers to create and repurpose vintage designs for men that fit their audience profile perfectly. J. Crew wasn’t going to beat Nike, New Balance, or Vans at selling sneakers. So they partnered and created a new retail channel for these brands with a built in loyal audience.
The aesthetic fit between these shoes and the J. Crew brand is tight and seamless. J. Crew actually serves as a publisher in this arrangement as well, since their editorial understanding of their audience and their broadcast reach to their audience is so strong. And, of course, the partner brands build on that affinity while adding even more credibility to the J. Crew brand.
- Apr 05, 12
Rick Springfield
I’ve been following the Twitter hashtag this week for Content Marketing World (#CMWorld). At this year’s conference Rick Springfield is headlining the show. Yes, that Rick Springfield. The guy who hit number one with “Jessie’s Girl” in the 1980s and wooed women on the daytime soap opera General Hospital. I couldn’t figure out why a smart guy like Joe Pulizzi, who organizes the show, would invite a 1980s rocker and heartthrob to a marketing conference in Columbus, Ohio. Until today. Rick Springfield has a movie coming out.
It’s not a concert film
There are plenty of concert films for bands, ranging from Metallica to the Beastie Boys to Bob Dylan. And those films are awesome. Every minute of every single one of those films is about the band. It’s about the band’s perspective on their fans. The band’s struggles on the road. The band’s antics on stage. The band’s music. It’s even about the roadies, the press, the managers, and the venues. But they’re not about the fans. Rick Springfield’s movie isn’t a concert film.
It’s about the fans
An Affair of the Heart, which is actually screening in two weeks in Florida, is Rick Springfield’s movie about his fans. It’s about young fans and old. It’s about obsessed female fans and their jealous husbands. It’s about skeptical fans and groupies. “It’s a celebration of community,” as the trailer for the film says.
Even Rick says, “When I first started out in the ’80s it was all about me, I thought. But eventually, I turned around and it became about the joy of connecting with people.”
Rick is still selling out venues around the world. He’s selling merchandise. He sells “virtual crew memberships.” He sells branded cruises.
Rick’s selling more because he thinks about himself less.
Ask yourself…
Content marketing is all about getting over yourself and connecting with people. Just like Rick Springfield’s journey and his film.
What if you made a movie about your fans?
What if you thought less about your products and services and more about the kinds of fans you have?
What would you learn if you told your fans’ stories?
I bet you’d sell more.
- Apr 05, 12
Our concept of brandscaping encourages complementary brands to unite in order to amortize content creation costs and realize greater reach through multiple points of distribution.
What about the companies that produce a varied assortment of products, like Unilever or P&G? How can those companies brandscape across products and categories within their own walls?
Internal organizational structure must promote cross-product-pollination
Often in large multi-national companies, each product has a siloed team of people working to merchandise, market, promote, price, and further develop that one particular product. The team functions as its own small internal company, calling on additional resources when needed, but tasked with the responsibility of the P&L for that product. Many companies have applied a structure that allows for quicker time to market for innovative and new products, but what about the ones on the shelves for years?
“Our profile of growth reflects the strategic choices we are making to concentrate spending behind brands that have the most strategic potential for growth.”
– Paul Polmen, Unilever CEOWhat if “weaker” Unilever brands could align with stronger ones to push them along?
Companies must place a priority on cross-product teamwork with specific goals (decrease marketing dollars, increase ad reach, etc.) in order for any co-branded efforts to be effective. Forward thinking companies with an eye toward adaptability and flexibility will realize the benefits of a more integrated team across all brands.Brands must complement and not cannibalize
Once the internal organizational structure is in place to facilitate a successful campaign, the next obvious step is to determine the right brands that can work together without cannibalizing market share for any individual brand. For example, I would not suggest a P&G brandscape that included both Downy and Bounce, as both serve basically the same purpose, and the two together do not offer something more distinctive.
P&G did put together a great commercial with both Bounce & Old Spice included. These brands complement each other, they do not steal market share, and they work well together in this context. They built on the idea by also aligning Charmin with Old Spice.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Could Unilever create a campaign all about getting closer and use Axe, Dove, Close Up and bring in Match.com? Well, it’s not always as simple as that.
Core values must play a role in how brandscapes are built
Axe, Dove, and Close Up each have different core values. Axe is very much about adventure and excitement, Close Up about advanced technology in oral care, and Dove is about beauty from the inside out. So, although the brands are not in conflict, they are also not well positioned to appeal to the shared values of any singular audience. Surf and Signal both align on wanting to make whatever they touch (dirty clothes or dirty mouth) shine as white as can be. Dig a bit deeper with that shared message and Unilever may have a way to market both brands more efficiently.
Understanding the buyers, the influencers, and users
Finally, not only do brands need to determine that they are complementary, but they also must determine their purchasing target. Consumer brands can market to the end user of the product, the influencer, or the purchaser (among many others). With the Old Spice and Bounce ad, I’d venture to guess that the female buys the laundry products and influences, if not also purchases, male beauty supplies.
Knowing audience segments within the target audience will help brands to choose the right partner publisher, expert talent and overall message for their self-created brandscape.
Task of the Day
Review the Unliver and P&G portfolio of brands. Can you create a brand alliance within each company, and what expert do you think marries well to the core value of the alignment?
- Mar 30, 12
Most companies are so used to segmenting their departments that they miss a lot of opportunities to reach consumers. Your strengths as a company don’t begin or end with your marketing department. Leading with your strengths often means tapping into hidden or overlooked resources.
Your logistics teams is a unique and powerful resource.
Your logistics team has a ton of data and intuitive knowledge about your consumers. They are also responsible for key communications when your consumers are at their most enthusiastic — when they arrive at their door. Since the essence of today’s (and yesterday’s) marketing is all about knowing your audience, your logistics teams is a unique and powerful resource.
1. The Gateway to your consumers
When a consumer orders your product online or registers a product, they are happy to provide you with a wealth of information about themselves. The same data you may be working hard to capture in other ways, might be already available. Talk to your logistics team about this. Find a way to use this valuable data.
And even though your logistics team, might only be a part of fulfilling orders after a purchase is made, much of the data they possess can be used to help streamline the path to purchase online. Since your logistics team knows your consumers so well, their knowledge can help you make buying easier for your consumers.
2. Harnessing consumer momentum
Your logistics team has access to your consumer at that anticipatory peak of excitement as they see it on their stoop. And let me tell you, it doesn’t matter what it is, people get excited to get something delivered.
The phenomenon of ‘unboxing videos’ demonstrates how universal this excitement is. It doesn’t matter how mundane the product is. Don’t watch this whole video, but check out this guy’s engagement with these crappy game cubes:
The stuff doesn’t even come in a box, and he’s making an unboxing video! This is a huge opportunity. The best review is going to come right in this moment.
What can your marketing and logistics teams put together to encourage and build off of this momentum? Can you encourage sharing or reviews? Can you offer discounts on accessories or referral discounts?
Can you partner with other brands who can supply something related to your consumers’ needs and interests? For example: if you’re selling exercise equipment, can you provide coupons from partner brands for juicers or sneakers in your packaging?
3. Messaging at key points
Involving your logistics team in your process is not just a one way street. You should also be thinking about how you can help them message to your consumers during the process of fulfillment and delivery.
Consumer enthusiasm is not without its risks. An excited consumer is also a sensitive consumer. How can you help keep the consumer happy?
Talk with your logistics team about common concerns, problems, and bumps in the road. Create a singular experience and voice across the whole interaction with your brand. Craft messaging that comforts and nurtures their excitement.
Photojojo does a good job with this. This is an excerpt from an email a coworker received when an order was delayed:
Hey there Friend-o!
As you may have noticed, those awesome Magnetic Cell Phone Lenses you ordered didn’t ship out yesterday like we said they would (ruh-ro!) and they didn’t ship out today either (yikes!)
These lenses were crazy popular – like Prom Queen popular. We ran out of ‘em so so fast and it has taken a bit longer than we had planed to get more. What were we thinking?! We should have known! [hangs head] [weeps bitterly]…
This was followed by a discount code and some more friendly silliness. This may not be the right voice for your brand, but that’s not the point. This is an extremely important moment in the consumer journey.
What are you doing to make sure your brand uses it to build rather than lose your consumers’ dollars and attention?
- Mar 29, 12
Ace Hardware advertising on the Weather Channel App
In a marketing universe that is constantly evolving, sometimes exciting opportunities are staring you right in the face — or dripping through your leaky roof. You just have to think outside of the traditional structures you’re used to.
Ace Hardware and the Weather Channel
Home improvement and weather. They are linked in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health — for all time.
So it made a lot of sense for Ace Hardware to buy targeted mobile ads at highly trafficked times on the Weather Channel app. People are going to check the weather before starting any project, great or small.
But did it make sense for the Weather Channel to be selling that ad space? What I mean by that is, since the two product offerings align so closely, perhaps there are larger opportunities for both parties here to reach new audiences and offer high value.
Targeting consumers at just the right time
Ace’s marketing needs were undoubtedly served well by their ad buy. They were able to reach potential customers on the weekends. They are obviously taking advantage of the fact that the Weather Channel app owns many people’s time as they are preparing to make home improvements. That is some smart micro-dayparting.
But doesn’t the Weather Channel also have a need to grow their audience of people who could use their service at just the right moment? And if one of those valuable moments is defined as the time people are planning to make home improvements, then perhaps Ace has some valuable audience to share as well.
Rethinking what it means to be a publisher
If the Weather Channel were to view Ace more as a publisher, it would be easy to see that there are fantastic opportunities to share info about their app in store and at points of purchase. The app can drive traffic to the store, but the store could also be driving traffic to the app.
The Weather Channel and Ace could partner in creating content to help people learn about upcoming weather. In some stores, Ace has actually paid a vendor to send out text messages to alert their customers to upcoming weather. Why not build a strategic partnership with a world leader like the Weather Channel instead?
Ace could also build Weather Channel capabilities into its website and retail locator. Both parties could look to a talented home improvement expert to make videos with weather-related home improvement tips that take the relationship deeper. This would build up trust and a sense of authority for all the partners in the eyes of consumers.
Traditional ad buy limits opportunities for Ace Hardware and the Weather Channel
The traditional path of merely buying placement may create a momentary splash, but it doesn’t build relationships. With mobile devices so widely proliferated, it’s important to be constantly finding new opportunities to drive loyalty and bring in new users.
YYou have to think about user experience not merely as funneling people towards what they need or what you want them to do on your web properties. Rather, their entire experience of your brand online and offline is important. That is why it makes sense to re-envision the physical environment of Ace as a publishing opportunity. You have to go beyond traditional endcaps and POP placement and think about the whole consumer journey.
The traditional ad-buying model is rooted in the fair weather of the old days of media monopolies. Finding new opportunities to build content partnerships will protect your brand from even the harshest of marketing climates.
- Mar 22, 12
Big brands often pave the way in marketing, and smaller companies try to ride the wave or emulate on a smaller scale. Recently there have been examples of marketing initiatives executed on by big brands that are easy for a small brand to replicate and build upon. The Gap Styld.by campaign is a great example, as is Neiman Marcus’ outreach for a fashion photographer at SXSW.
Brands should be inventive and find a way to “fit in”
The SXSW festival is an annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin and has become a preeminent event for social media, emerging trends, and the arts. With “indie-classical” bands like Mother Falcon, indie films and sponsors like IFC, it’s ripe for a brandscape that can live beyond the show itself. However, as a more traditional brand, Neiman Marcus had to invent a way to be relevant and provide value both at the show and beyond:
Calling all street-style photographers! You could join us at SXSW, in Austin, for a week of music and style. Check out our Facebook tab, NM@SXSW, to learn more details and enter!
Although SXSW is not about fashion traditionally, artists and filmmakers and many of those in attendance do have style. And when Neiman Marcus sends a photographer already well-versed in street photography to the event, they become tuned in to the audience and create an opportunity for making a statement without having to sponsor the show or invest huge dollars. NM also has built in a way to potentially reach a new audience.
Can a non-comic brand have relevance at Comic‑Con
Smaller brands can learn a lot from the NM@SXSW example. Comic-Con is one of those events that reaches a niche audience, and if your brand does not seem related to the comic industry, the event may not be considered for inclusion in marketing initiatives. However, Comic-Con is all about vibracy and color and individuality and fun, and certainly those values have wider applications.
Enter Superhero Chef
Chef Jason Santos, with his blue hair and his talents in molecular gastronomy, is a superhero in the kitchen. Sure, he’s been seen on Hell’s Kitchen, among other food-related shows and events, but he encompasses vibrancy and color and individuality.
Finding an expert who marries with the values of an event is a great way to find relevancy. Perhaps a food brand like Kitchen Aid with their line of colorful stand mixers wants to sponsor an event featuring Chef Jason Santos at Comic-Con. Chef can certainly make a superhero-worthy meal.
Enter Superhero Makeup
A big part of Comic-Con are the costumes and makeup. A fun, young, cutting-edge makeup company could benefit from having makeup artists on site, helping people get ready to enter the show. I don’t know anything about Sugarpill Cosmetics, but a brief look at their website reveals vibrant colors and an already established relationship with Hello Kitty.
Perhaps Sugarpill could come out with a line of makeup specifically for superhero chics who want to be bad-ass but look pretty while doing it. Who was better at doing that than Linda Carter?
Enter Superhero Paint
I came across Superhero paint splatter art, and I immediately thought that a paint company could set up a blank wall in a booth at Comic-Con and invite people to come in to do graphic and street art in their booth.
This is a fun and interactive way to integrate home decorating tips at an event not typically about home design at all. Bring in the paint splatter artist Arian Noveir and you’ve got a booth that will attract the most loyal comic fans.
With a little creativity, any brand can find a way to be relevant yet stand out with a niche audience.
- Mar 20, 12
Blogger and brand relationships can be tricky to navigate. Oftentimes brands treat the relationship as they would a PR initiative or choose to sample products and donate items to bloggers for feedback, reviews, and exposure — only to find that nothing comes of it or that the response was not favorable.
Bloggers want to remain editorially sound, which means that brands looking to create meaningful relationships with bloggers need to have a definitive strategy and dedicated resources who are focused, disciplined, and track against concrete goals. Recently I’ve seen a few examples of how blogger and brand relationships have evolved and become more meaningful.
Build the right blogger outreach tools
OXO is a brand that I would argue is omnipresent in many homes but not top of mind in most. Their ergonomically correct kitchen tools like can, bottle, and jar openers and inventive kitchen organizational tools make it easy to be efficient in the kitchen. In a competitive and somewhat commodity-driven market, they strive to be the best in product development and design. And they take it a step further by soliciting feedback from those who use their products most.
Our goal of making products more usable forces us first to identify problems and inefficiencies in existing products (including our own), not just in terms of comfort, but in terms of performance as well.
– OXO Blogger OutreachOXO developed a Blogger Outreach strategy for “bloggers to test and review new and existing products, receive exclusive video content, get behind-the-scenes access to the OXO product development process, attend exclusive OXO events and much more.” Arianna Bastianini leads the initiative, and I had a chance to speak with her at the Housewares Show to learn about her approach to building these personal relationships.
In addition to spending a week in Chicago this month, Arianna is headed to the Food Blog Forum event in Orlando to participate in a panel entitled PRspectives, an inside look into the process of working with brands and forming beneficial relationships. For Arianna, the keys are authenticity, dedication, and a keen understanding of the goal of the blogger initiative. Because of her focus, OXO has learned a lot about their products in practice and how to increase their value to consumers.
On your mark, get set, brandscape
On March 13, Boston.com editor Matt Pepin solicited qualified Boston Marathon runners who would be interested in reviewing Polar USA products during the final 30 days of training. Chosen applicants will be able to “test-drive” the new RCX3 G5 Optimized Training Computer before it launches but are required to:
- blog about their experiences with the brand and
- share the data captured by the devises, especially on Marathon Day.
Much like the OXO strategy, the brand is looking for authentic and usable information that may help improve the product or the product launch strategy. Polar is relying on a trusted media source, Boston.com, to find their advocates. Partnering with a publisher that already has credibility and audience reach is a key tenet of the Tippingpoint Labs brandscaping model.
Using the publisher to audit the responses can be tricky unless the brand and publisher are very well aligned in the exact goals of the blogger strategy. Boston.com may find one applicant more credible because they write well, but Polar may appreciate the runner who runs 10+ miles a day and therefore has less time to write comprehensive reviews. The brand / publisher relationship needs to be well established in order for the Polar blogger campaign to be effective.
Taking the relationship one step further
I think OXO and Polar USA could learn a lot from one another. Polar USA should not be afraid to reach out and develop their own blogger strategy much like OXO. However, both brands could do a better job of aligning with other complementary brands in order to expand their reach and audience participation. Polar USA and Boston.com could easily align with Gatorade or Nike or Camelbak to gain more momentum with superior athletes and gather information beneficial for all brands. OXO could align with Nestle’s or Quaker or Real Simple to broaden their blogger outreach strategy and develop a honed group of elite bloggers who take their kitchen and cooking as seriously as OXO takes product design.
Bottom line: there are limited bloggers who add value to a brand relationship. Brands should not compete for those valuable bloggers. Partner and win loyalty through better blogger strategies and complementary brand alignments.
Just in case…
…the Boston.com article is removed, here is a screenshot of how Matt Pepin solicited runners to participate in the Polar test-drive.
- Mar 15, 12
One question many people have when we bring up the topic of brandscaping is, “How can my brand partner with other brands without our message getting lost or diluted?”
Can you take two or more different brands with different products and values and unite them seamlessly? A great example is the latest Mercedes online cinematic video, Icons of Style. It’s branded as Mercedes but it also features Calvin Klein.
The talents of Calvin Klein’s newest flagship model Lara Stone and the Women’s Creative Director for Calvin Klein Collection, Francisco Costa, are also featured. Icons of Style successfully highlights all the values of each partner while establishing something completely new and exciting and new.
So even with a host other influences on the video, Mercedes still wins.
Mercedes as the anchor brand
Director Alex Prager described the video as Mary Poppins meets The Wizard of Oz meets James Bond. But it is also luxury car brand meets fashion brand meets fashion model meets filmmaker/photographer meets creative director meets fashion week.
That is a lot of elements to swirl together into a tornado of effective online video. But Mercedes doesn’t lose anything in the mix. In fact, their message is enhanced by the partnership.
Mercedes is the key brand on this project and the apparent key underwriter. They are launching their new SL roadster, and they are sponsors of fashion week, and they recently showcased their safety features in a video showing people suspended in air.
Making the Mercedes SL Roadster look even better
The SL looks absolutely stunning in the video. It has a smooth luxurious appearance that is unaffected by turbulence (or tornadoes). The presence of Calvin Klein reinforces the glamor of the car.
It’s not just some convertible in the middle of the desert. The roadster makes a beautiful model look even more beautiful and vice versa.
A deeper connection between Fashion Week and Mercedes
The fashion week connection is very important. This video is a way for Mercedes, a longtime sponsor of many fashion weeks worldwide, to forge an even tighter connection with the world of fashion.
Cinematically, both the fashion and the car styles are portrayed as being in the right place at the right time. You don’t ride your tornado if you’re a second late. This psychologically reminds people that fashions and car designs are about the present moment, the here and now.
It gives a deeper logic and connectivity to the sponsorship. It reminds people that Mercedes and CK are on the cutting edge. It also reminds them that style is fleeting, so you better buy while the getting is good.
Mercedes and flying through the air
The third element is a very subtle connection to another key element of Mercedes’ branding — safety. The inexplicable motif of Lara Stone being taken up by the tornado, matches the vibe of the recent airbag commercial.
But instead of being literal like the above commercial, Icons of Style is dream-like, which is appropriate for a car described thus on the Mercedes site:
Developed as a racecar, coveted as a sports car, the SL has always been, above all, a dream car.
Icons of Style is truly iconic
Mercedes loses nothing in the brand partnership. In fact, they gain much. What’s even better is that the whole thing was shot in one day, including fashion stills. They were also able to extend the value with behind-the-scenes content and interviews with those involved. It’s on brand, on target, and wholly efficient.
Not only does the brandscaping model allow brands to pool their resources, but the convergence of different values can add a focus that wouldn’t normally be there. By looking carefully at the intersection of brands and talent, you set parameters that will inspire whole new avenues of creativity.
So ride the tornado.
- Mar 14, 12
As a first-time attendee of the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, I was immediately enthralled by the breadth of offering from inventive manufacturers looking to build diverse product offerings at retail.
Spending most of my time in the South and Lakeside buildings, which both focus mainly on kitchen solutions, I learned a lot about what consumers will be seeing in retail starting this Fall.
Color is Big
What makes a trend? I’m not going to wax philosophically on the meaning of this colorful culinary trend. (“Last year’s black matte trend was indicative of the country’s concern over the grave state of the economy, while the rebirth of color this year shows a return to optimism, a belief in a brighter future.” — Oh look! I just did.) Cambria Bold from The Kitchen
A few years ago, the trend in housewares was very monochromatic, with black and stainless the clear winners. With home architecture and design recently more stark, modern, and minimalistic, kitchenware color and accessories followed suit.
2012 sees the return of the retro and neon color. Orange, green, berry, blue prevailed on the shelves of the booths and made for a vibrant show floor. From accent accessories like mixing bowls from OXO, or the classic Le Creuset launching a new Marseille Blue, color is sure to pop more dramatically in 2012.
Many Chefs in the Kitchen
KitchenAid, Wilton Brands, Robinson Home Product, and Whole Foods sponsored The Cooking Theater at the Housewares Show, which featured a different Chef and cooking demonstration almost every 30 minutes of the 4-day event.
The marrying of brand and Chef is becoming more and more prevalent as Chefs bring credibility and excitement to a product line. Each of these chefs is involved in product development and promotion, aligning their names to the brands in an authentic manner.
The list of Chefs reads like a Who’s Who of the industry today, with Ming Tsai, Curtis Stone, Michael Symon, Chris Cosentino, and Michelle Bernstein to name a few. Each Chef brought their own flavor (no pun intended) to the salivating audience. And each demonstration had a specific brand presenter, like Kyocera Advanced Ceramics for Ming Tsai or Calphalon for Chef Symon or Fagor America for Chef Bernstein.
The Chef demonstrations were not limited to The Cooking Theater. Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani conducted an enthralling session at Bialetti‘s in-show booth, and Guy Fieri held court at an impressive multi-level booth display at Lifetime Brands.
Kids are in the Kitchen
As families cook together more and more, and the kitchen is the heart of the home, it makes sense that kids are becoming included in the process with products specific for them. Many brands are looking to fill various audience segments with a line that reaches younger cooks. For example, Baby Cakes, makers of cupcakes and cake pop appliances, is looking to build on its success. “The line will have all different kinds of treats. There will be baked treats in different configurations from Baby Cakes, so we can go to market with a brand segmentation story,” says Bill Endres president Select Brands in an interview with HomeWorld Business.
We fell in love with Lifetime Brands’ Kizmos easy-to-use kitchen products that are geared for college kids, although we think they are just as fun for the younger cooks, as well.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Even infants are being catered to with brands like Baby Brezza, making formula and baby food prep a cinch. Product diversification is a key strategy for these brands that want to be able to service the range of ages in the kitchen and appeal to retailers who are looking for product depth from key partners.
With the proliferation of product at the show this year, and the low attendance numbers, standing out to consumers at retail will be a key success factor for any of these brands — colorful or not. Thanks to all who shared their product innovation and marketing thoughts with us at the show. We look forward to following up and to seeing these items come to life on the shelves of our favorite retail stores.
- Mar 08, 12
Consumers spend a lot of money when buying a home, so how can brands get into their consideration set right from the beginning of a home build or purchase project?
Deciding about tile, paint color, trim, appliances is way more fun than mortgage rates, water heaters, insulation, and septic. Can companies offering these services get closer to the consumer earlier? They can if they partner with home builders.
Blu Homes Unique Values
Blu Homes designs and builds modular homes with a focus on the environment and healthy, sustainable materials. Their home designs are incredibly modern and chic and not the boxy, boring modular homes of the past.
Their focus on modern living, environment, customization, and design make them a perfect partner for many brands who want to take advantage of the money consumers spend in conjunction with their home purchase.
Blu Homes 3-D Configurator is a Great Asset
Blu launched a 3-D application that allows the user to design homes from various model types. The user selects what they want, and as easily as buying a book online, they buy a home and have it delivered to their property.
The configurator gets as granular as offering 4 different types of kitchens featuring different appliances and brands, depending on the level selected. The inclusion of brands like Sub-Zero, KitchenAid, and Whirlpool is a great tool for matching consumer’s needs with the right kitchen design.
For a niche company, this tool is a real differentiator. It also could be their greatest marketing asset.
Kitchens and Baths Sell Homes
Why stop with offering a variety of refrigerators and dishwashers? We know kitchens and baths sell homes, and consumers spend a lot of time considering those rooms, both pre- and post-purchase.
Getting to a consumer during key buying moments is a key to success.
What if Whole Foods – wholly committed to core values shared with Blu Homes, from sustainable products to healthy living – could deliver a fully stocked pantry and fridge upon move in to a new Blu home? Add a component to the Blu Configurator for various types of food and a budget, and Blu takes care of the rest. Whole Foods may then choose to promote this to their 2.2 million Twitter followers and expose Blu to a larger audience.
Pottery Barn has an entire organic bath line of products. If the Blu user could select a certain color scheme for their bath, could Blu’s tool also suggest matching towels? With 770,000 Facebook fans, Pottery Barn could give Blu greater reach. While, in turn, Pottery Barn could reach an audience of people using the Blu Configurator who are directly in the market for a new bath.
Capitalize on Consumer Spending Patterns
Weddings and new homes or renovations are peak spending stages in consumers’ lives. Could Blu Homes offer Dwell Magazine, a publication all about “At Home in the Modern World” (in which modular homes are often advertised), to all new homebuyers as a welcome gift? Dwell’s advertisers could then benefit from greater reach to a highly targeted market, and the consumer gets a great resource for their home planning.
They wouldn’t have to stop with kitchens and baths. Think Prius, think Energy Star or CFLs, think cloth diapers, but just think.
Even big retailers like Target are trying to determine how to reach customers before they have babies to capitalize on pre-baby spending and build lifetime value.
Read Charles Duhigg’s New York Times articleAligning brands together who share values and audience is win-win. Blu has a captive audience of people, certainly smaller than that of Whole Foods or Pottery Barn, who are spending a lot of money at a time in their lives when they have a budget for new home items. Getting to a consumer during key buying moments is a key to success.
Something to Think About
Who in your market attracts your consumer before you do, and how can you insert yourself earlier in buying decisions?
- Mar 06, 12
The PMA Conference
Good BBQ, Nice city, the Alamo and the PMA Conference in San Antonio
I had the pleasure of spending two days in San Antonio with the Parenting Media Association (PMA). If you’re unfamiliar with the PMA all you have to do is wander around town looking for a local parenting magazine like Boston Parent or San Diego Family to understand what they do. Essentially, each publication is your local resource for anything and everything parents need: from what summer camp to choose to what to do on a rainy weekend.
A Question Via Video
Upon my return one of the resourceful, innovative and curious conference attendees sent me this wonderful video question:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Okay, Michele. You got my attention. Great question. So how do you find influencers in your community and what can you do with them when you find them? I noticed that on the San Diego Family website you have a section about family recipes. In my opinion, there aren’t many families browsing around looking for another good Fruit Cake Trifle recipe. So I set out to find you someone local, who already has an audience, and is creating amazing content in a much more focused way. So, who did I find?
Meet Panini Happy
Kathy, better known as Panini Happy, is one of the best food bloggers in the world — let alone San Diego. Not only does she run two amazing food blogs, but she’s a San Diego parent and a mother of two. Since 2008, Kathy’s been creating amazing Panini recipes and sharing them with foodies around the world on her blog. She’s right there in your backyard, Michele. She’s a local food celebrity. (How scrumptious does that Chicken, Brie, Fig and Arugula Panini look?)
What Could You Do With Kathy?
Okay, so I found her. How can you and Kathy work together? Well, why can’t you work with Kathy to expand your network? Can’t she become part of the San Diego Family web of content? Of course you could link to her blog posts each week and maybe even have a monthly, sponsored, Panini demonstration at Grant’s Marketplace, but can you take it further?
Of course you can. Maybe Kathy wants to do a monthly Panini video series? Could you help her sell that series to a local sponsor? Could you distribute the weekly videos, even if they were posted on her own YouTube channel? Who knows? Kathy might be the next Food Network star and it could have all started with you. What about an underwritten article in the monthly magazine? Or a Panini Happy book in all the local kitchenwares stores? The possibilities are endless. Maybe you should start sharing her content today? That’s the best way to forge a relationship with her. Share her stuff with your audience.
So how did I find Panini Kathy?
The truth is, I’ve known about Kathy for a couple of years now. (Maybe you already know her, too.) But there are no shortcuts in uncovering the digital celebrities and influencers in your local market. Start with good ole fashioned Googling in the Blogs section of Google. Create a bunch of Google alerts and start mining your audience for what local bloggers and video stars they read, watch, and consume. There’s a Kathy out there for ever single thing you cover – I guarantee it. You just have to start looking.
You should already be checking out every single one of your fans’ and followers’ feeds to see what else they share. Buried deep inside those interactions are gems like Kathy. But it takes a concerted effort and a routine approach to finding the digital influencers that you should be working with to extend your brand.
What do you think, Michele? Is this helpful? Did you already know about Kathy?
- Mar 06, 12
Impress.js lit up the Internet in early January. Early adopters and the geekiest of the geeks were sufficiently “impressed” with the creators’ ability to match its competition Prezi, feature-for-feature, and add more. Impress.js is certainly impressive, but is it impressive enough?
HE: SEAN BOICE: TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT
What is Impress.js?
Full disclosure: we love Prezi, here at Tippingpoint Labs, and use it as our primary presentation tool.
Impress directly targets the linear presentation platform, Prezi, while managing to add a feature or two, like 3D text. Prezi set itself apart from the typical slide bore-fest by creating a linear landscape that allows for close-up zoom, mapping across different buckets of content, and easy image and video embed. Impress’ step forward seems to be both in the addition of some new “neat” nice-to-have’s and also in the fact that it is open source.
The use of the web’s latest and greatest standards, such as HTML5 and CSS3 Transforms, without the need to subscribe to a software-as-a-service platform like Prezi, is a benefit for sure. Impress.js was released as an open-source toolset comprised of a Javascript Library, CSS file, and minimal HTML file that you can download and implement in your own projects. The fact Impress.js is open-sourced is likely its coolest feature that Prezi can’t compete with. Days after Impress.js was released, someone else created a new version implemented with the wildly popular jQuery Javascript framework.
At present, neither version offers much more than Prezi and, in fact, without the streamlined interface Prezi employs, it’s a lot harder for non-developers (i.e., presenters) to really embrace. One thing Impress has proven, however, is that today’s web technologies are going to put more pressure on application developers and service providers to continue to add value to their offerings and not to rest on their laurels.
Is it the tool or the story that makes the presentation?
SHE: REBECCA GARNICK, VICE PRESIDENT
If I understand it correctly, Sean, Impress.js was released as an open-source Javascript library for any web developer to consume, modify, extend, and build upon. It is not necessarily meant to be a tool for presenters to be able to pick up and use today. I still have trouble in Keynote and Prezi, so forget about Impress for me!
If presenters have not become better story tellers … should the focus be on the tool or the way in which we present?
Certainly the utility of Prezi makes it a winner, and I do like how intuitive it is. With no coding experience I could not use Impress without a real tutorial. But, I find myself asking, why are we improving the presentation tool?
If presenters have not become better story tellers, if the amazingly well-done Prezi presentation at a conference is followed up with a 100-page slide show that goes on and on, then should the focus be on the tool or the way in which we present? Can we improve the ability of presenters to read an audience and understand when they drift off? Can we create better stories and perhaps not even rely on a visual to back us up?
I keep thinking about Minority Report and wondering, until we get to this level of presentation style, I may find myself simply sticking with Prezi!
What do you think?
How will Impress evolve and shape the presentation landscape?
- Mar 01, 12
There are many avowed “lifestyle brands” out there today. Many are also quite exclusive; but in today’s world, are they being too exclusive? Are they missing opportunities to build themselves up into media empires that drive the whole lifestyle?
D&G experiments with music
Dolce and Gabbana recently conducted an exciting experiment with a new outlet: D&G Music. Ostensibly, music, especially dance music, seems like a perfect extension for the brand. It fits their aesthetic and audience to a T. They also had a fabulous concept to drive it together.
They created an album that features 17 remixes of a single song written by brand founder Stefano Gabbana in the late ’90s. In order to promote the music, they created a contest to submit user-generated video to their site, so fans could star in the video. The contest is on their site, but it doesn’t even link out to the rest of the album. Nor, does it mention the connection to Gabbana as musical artist.
It’s a good start, but it could have been so much better.
Rethinking the Dolce and Gabbana Music Strategy
Dolce and Gabbana have a large and diverse marketing universe. Check out their Facebook page for a quick glimpse. They have an incredibly savvy, branded blog called Swide. Nearly everything they have going on feels fresh, urban, and extremely hip. But the D&G music approach felt like a disappointing whimper rather than a roar of effective promotion. Perhaps there is a good reason for this, as they are preparing to close their lower end D&G line of clothes.
Instead of building a home for the clubbing scene and the lifestyle that ties seamlessly with their brand values, they went real small and traditional with their initial splash. So what are some ways they could have proved the concept better?
Weave it into the fabric of the D&G marketing universe
With this album offering, they have the capability to sonically reach out into the clubs where the people who wear their clothes go out dancing.
That club presence alone is an incredibly powerful idea for strengthening their customer loyalty. If I am wearing my D&G out, heck yeah, I am going to get my groove on when those tracks come on. But that sense of loyalty and involvement could also be nurtured online.
It is a smart tactic to seek out user-generated video. But it would have been far more compelling for users if D&G had made more of the story available. They could have incorporated the director and editors of the video into the call to action. Or perhaps they could have had tips from a choreographer. They could have shot video where those creatives explained just what they are looking for in their talent — the fans and consumers.
The promotion only showed up once on their heavily trafficked Facebook page. Why didn’t they make it an ongoing and fun part of the conversation back and forth with their fans, sharing bits and pieces of the story each week. They have lots of fashion oriented videos on their YouTube channel. They could have used the mixes from the album and had clever calls to action at the end of their other videos.
The lesson: synergize all your marketing efforts. Allow your different teams to communicate. Use everything you have to cross-promote everything else to drive greater interest.
Lead with Gabbana the songwriter
It was very hard to find out that the song “D&G is Love” was written by the brand founder. This is a real missed opportunity. I would be much more likely to send in video if I thought the founder of my favorite brand was personally invested in the results.
This could have been a major driver of interest. But instead, it felt like they didn’t even have a strategy for why they were distributing music. Brands need to think like publishers and media producers. Build the story and the content.
The lesson: Figure out the unique value of this promotion and lead with it. Let that value permeate the whole thing. Don’t just make the content, sell it with great storytelling.
Luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana should partner
Dolce & Gabbana has an established vibe. They should be comfortable enough in their own identity to play nicely with other brands who fit their lifestyle. This could be as simple as telling the stories of the DJs who remixed the song.
Partnering isn’t just about sharing resources, it’s about growing your audience. With their unique, high-end, urban feel, they could find partners who reach the same types of people and grow the exposure for their brand and for the music campaign.
To this end of catching more eyeballs, they should consider creating a branded music experience that far exceeds anything their competition is even thinking about. They could be pumping out D&G music videos or branded cinema featuring BMW cars that BMW also has the ability to promote. They could have a specially curated Pandora or Spotify channel that both they and the platforms would cross-promote, giving them an increased reach into the ears of new audiences
They could grow into creating more original music with bands and DJs that have Gabbana’s stamp of approval — similar to what Converse is doing. They could be generating lots of music with amazing artists and then licensing it to partner brands, making a soundtrack for the D&G lifestyle.
The lesson: When you have a great idea, increase exposure by partnering with brands that share your target audience.
Opening up is exclusive
There are a million ways D&G could open up their approach that would paradoxically drive the sense of exclusivity they already own. If you’re going to bother publishing music, think like a entrepreneurial record label and increase your exposure as much as possible. The best way to accomplish this is to borrow the ears of other brands that match and overlap with their lifestyle.
It’s the lifestyle that is exclusive. Brands need to use digital to let their audience feel like they’re invited into the club. But they don’t need to be the only brand at the club. Everybody dance now.
- Feb 29, 12
Drew Davis' Keynote Presentation Poster at the Niche Magazine Conference in Nashville
Publishers constantly ask me how they can convince a traditional advertiser to underwrite the generation of high-quality, relevant, frequently delivered content. It was no different this week at the Niche Magazine Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a digital world where focusing on a passionate, focused, and high-quality audience is essential for long-term success, it was wonderful to learn from people who publish magazines with titles like Manure Manager, Dance Studio Life, WineMaker Magazine, and American Farrier.
Whether you publish Backyard Poultry or Men’s Health, it all comes down to making sure you understand your advertiser’s goals and objectives, and at the end of the day it boils down to a very simple guideline:
- If you want to raise awareness, buy an ad.
- If you want to increase demand, create content.
We can help you explore your content underwriting options — whether you have an audience or you’re looking to advertise. Get in touch!
- Feb 29, 12
An important angle of our brandscaping formula is that brands get maximum exposure by attaching themselves to quality content through underwriting.
This isn’t a new approach. If you haven’t thought about it before, it’s probably because seamless integration hasn’t generated the same kind of attention as interruption advertising enjoyed during the years of media monopoly. That’s about to change, because underwriting works.
It also provides an alternative stream of both revenue and audience for advertisers and publishers (very broadly defined) that meets the demands of the increasingly niche orientation of media.
Underwriting great content is not only a successful business model, it continues to have a lasting impact on our culture.
1. The Grand Ole Opry
Before Gaylord Entertainment owned a vast empire of media properties around the Grand Ole Opry brand, and before TV existed, and before Nashville was Music City USA, the National Life and Accident Insurance company started the WSM radio station. WSM stands for “We Shield Millions,” their slogan at the time.
Thanks to their forward thinking, National Life and Accident Insurance was able to create a platform on which musicians could be heard far and wide. They identified a real need with their audience and, in doing so, essentially created the country music industry.
They paid for the development of significant (now legendary) talent which continues to drive value and culture in Nashville and beyond to this day.
2. Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
What do you get when a talented zoologist and the CEO of a major insurance company hit it off? You get the invention of nature programming as we know it. Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom ran for 25 consecutive years, from 1963-1988, establishing a coherent voice for nature and conservation.
Mutual of Omaha owns all rights to the show and was able to leverage and re-purpose many episodes over years of syndication. The content brand was so strong that a new version was started up in 2002 and has aired on Animal Planet ever since. They also have created an interactive website to engage their new, younger viewers.
3. Adventures of Superman
We all know the Man of Steel. But things may have been different if not for Kellogg’s. From 1940 to 1951, Kellogg’s was a major sponsor of the Adventures of Superman radio show. They contributed to well over half of the 1300 episodes that aired.
The show faltered in production as it tried to transition to TV but was saved when Kellogg’s agreed to underwrite it.
The TV show ran for 6 years, until 1958, with Kellogg’s prominently displayed in the title credits and otherwise integrated. It was a perfect match of sponsor, talent, and broadcaster with an adoring and captivated audience.
The fractured media landscape may feel like Kryptonite to your marketing goals, but in reality it is the Earth’s yellow sun ready to supercharge your brand with new and exciting opportunities to save the day.
We can help you explore your content underwriting options — whether you have an audience or you’re looking to advertise. Get in touch!
- Feb 28, 12
Near Field Communication (NFC) is the latest in technology for enabling commerce at retail through your cell phone. However, with the dependance on a human interaction at the register, is it a technology that currently saves time or provides the convenience it promises? Also, how robotic are we getting with our in-store customer service, and don’t we still need a human to monitor the transaction anyway?
HE: SEAN BOICE: TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT
What is NFC?
NFC holds a lot of promise in the hearts and minds of the Geek Elite. If you haven’t heard of NFC, maybe you’ve heard of and even used its predecessor, RFID. If you’ve used a Mobil Speedpass to pay for gas or suffered the always embarrassing blaring security sensors on your way of out a store, then you’re familiar with RFID. Both RFID and NFC allow for a powerless, tiny transmitter to communicate with the merchant for commerce purposes, and NFC chips are currently embedded in the latest and greatest smartphones running Android and are expected to be included in future iPhones, although their omission from the last release has fueled speculation about the technology.
NFC Applications
Google has already developed the most obvious and well-supported use of NFC, the Google Wallet. Google Wallet allows you to link your credit card to your cell phone and complete transactions with your cell phone. It’s expected that soon consumers will be able to utilize NFC for check-ins (foursquare), highway tolls, parking meters, and much more.
Merchant participation and consumer adoption are always the metric of success with these technologies, so, merchants and vendors are forced into a chicken-or-egg puzzle. Fortunately, supporters of NFC are the biggest and boldest industry players in the world, including partnerships with MasterCard, making the adoption rates grow and making the technology very viable.
SHE: REBECCA GARNICK, VICE PRESIDENT
NFC in practice
I agree with you, Sean, that the technology behind NFC and its predecessors is viable. Especially as someone who spent time in a grocery line this weekend waiting as the customer in front of me painstakingly wrote a check. And certainly there are retailer benefits, like lower transaction fees.
However, I worry about its implications in basic human contact and transactions. The NFC technology depends on a human interaction, and as anyone who has tried using SquareUp to pay for a cup of coffee can attest, the hassle may not be worth the time. The merchants who sign on for these programs often forget that they have high retail sales associate turnover — training is secondary — and therefore the benefits of the technology are lost in translation.
Even if the technology works seamlessly in action, I also worry about what this does to make us all feel like a number. Will NFC allow for my Chai Tea Latte to be ordered when I enter my favorite coffee shop, and will it know I like non-fat milk? And do I want that? Or will NFC simply be a payment tool that depends on us consumers thinking it is a huge hassle to pull out our wallets even though we must still carry them for ID purposes?
Until the technology can be applied quickly and can prove beneficial to the user, I wonder about consumer adoption rates, even if merchants are on board. And does this technology reduce staff needed at retail or cut costs for merchants in any way? If not, what is the true benefit?
What do you think?
Have you used a mobile payment tool and, if so, was it a positive experience?
- Feb 23, 12
On January 26, I wrote about the importance of great partners when building a campaign or brandscape. I was encouraged to see a group of brands aligned to literally rebuild a community in an authentic manner, while also finding a way to help themselves.
ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, along with Crate & Barrel, The Land of Nod, and the Red Cross, worked to rebuild the homes of people impacted by the catastrophic tornado that ravaged the town of Joplin, killing approximately 160 people and destroying nearly 8,000 houses back in May 2011. In addition to rebuilding 7 homes in 7 days, the team put in a playground and a memorial, and CVS even donated survival kits should this ever happen again.
Charity and commerce are not mutually exclusive
On the Crate & Barrel website, it is clear that they not only support the Joplin cause and have dedicated quite a few of their pages to the effort, but they also are capitalizing on the commerce aspect of the partnership. Sure, they can donate product to the families in need, but if someone else likes the decorating, why not make it easy to purchase?
It would be great to build a case study about this so that other communities or charities or brands could know what it means to rebuild after devastation and could use this as a learning opportunity.
On the makeover pages, Crate & Barrel has call-outs on their products — click on them and consumers see more detail and pricing for the selected item. This does not mean that their charity efforts are simply to benefit their own top line, but rather shows that they can authentically align charity and commerce.
Big charity feels authentic
One of the reasons the campaign feels altruistic is that a real charity organization is participating. Joplin had started a fundraising site, but certainly it is not going to get the same national exposure as the Red Cross.
Though brands often turn to charities to help promote their own cause for events or promotions, often the alignment does not feel right. Why are there $1000 dinners to raise money for charity — why not just donate that money? I understand the people who can afford the dinner will then pay a lot during auctions and fundraising that night, but still it feels at odds with the mission.
However, in the case of Extreme Home Makeover, the inclusion of the Red Cross feels right. I only wish that if I bought the items highlighted on Crate & Barrel’s website, a portion of the proceeds would also support Joplin. (If it does, I apologize for not seeing that.)
The reveal is more than the makeover
As encouraged as I am to see these complimentary partners working together, I would have loved to better understand the metrics and numbers involved. It would have been great to partner up with IBM (already a Red Cross supporter) to create some compelling stats about the campaign, similar to this and this. 13000 volunteers were needed for the Joplin endeavor. How much money or product was donated by the partners? How much was donated by manpower? How much was raised? How much was needed? It would be great to build a case study about this so that other communities or charities or brands could know what it means to rebuild after devastation and could use this as a learning opportunity.
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