How to Market a Food or Drink Product and Get Consumers to Take Notice
As a food or drink start up, you'll put everything you've got (and sometimes a bit more) into creating the best product possible. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing someone pick it up from a retail shelf, try it, and want it again and again.
But how do you get from having a product that you think is great to having a product that retailers and consumers are falling over themselves to try? Well, it's simply matter of how you market your food or drink product to your target audience.
I believe there are two stages that you need to be aware of, known in the industry as:
Stage One: Zero Moment of Truth
Stage Two: First Moment of Truth
From zero to hero
The first stage, Zero Moment of Truth, is an idea coined by the almighty Google (who technically nicked it from P&G but got away with it because they're Google).
The Zero Moment of Truth is how you first learn about a brand or product without physically interacting with it. So if you wanted to buy a television, for example, you'd probably go online, read some reviews, check out a price comparison site and make your decision about which one to buy without ever seeing it in the flesh (or whatever TVs are made of).
So if you want your consumers and retailers to want to try your product, the Zero Moment of Truth is the best place to start. That way, your audience will have some experience of your product before they see it on shelf. Here are some ways to make that happen.
Use word of mouse
If you haven't already, you should get set up on all the major social media channels. Building a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will not only help raise awareness about your food or drink brand, but will help drive word of mouth. And consumers nowadays expect to be able to find brands in these places, so if they look for you and can't find you then you'll be the one missing out.
It's all about PR, darling
PR isn't all fine dining and lunchtime drinking. Oh no.
Targeted PR can help get your consumers' attention in a subtle yet smart way. If you've got the cash, then do consider hiring a PR agency to build relationships with the press on your behalf. But if you don't, you can do your own PR. Think about what your core consumer reads (assuming they do). How can you influence journalists to talk about your brand?
Remember that if you don't give them anything to write about, then journalists won't write about you. They're not magicians. You need to find your angle and create a story around your brand if you want to stand out. Maybe you use a unique ingredient or a special manufacturing process that people would be interested to hear about. Or perhaps the story of how your brand started is really compelling in itself. Think about what makes your brand different and how it benefits your consumers and retailers.
You also need to take into consideration the time of year and remember that some journalists will be writing about summer in January and Christmas in July. Once you get your head around it, it makes perfect sense.
Put a face to the name
People love to get a glimpse of the face behind a company, so if you're not afraid of the limelight you can really use this to your advantage. And if you are afraid of the limelight, you just need to be a bit creative.
As a small, relatively unknown brand you can afford to be quite brave in your attempts at self-promotion and do something that really grabs people's attention and makes them want to know more.
I'm not going to tell you what to do, because then it wouldn't be an original idea that's relevant to your brand. But just to give you an idea of what's possible, have a look at dollarshaveclub.com and see how they went about showing their consumers what they do.
And remember, all of the advice above is aimed at making your target audience want to try you before they've even seen you in a shop. With the right exposure, they could be beating down the door of their local supermarket (or independent retailer) and demanding that they stock you.
A simple example: Graze
Graze products aren't available in shops, so they have to make you want to try their product without ever having seen a box in real life. They do this mainly through online marketing and word of mouth from existing consumers. And if you take a look at their website at Graze.com, you'll see that they make it really easy for potential consumers to understand how they work, using straightforward copy and step-by-step illustrations. They also make it really tempting to try with a half price offer on your first Graze box.
The all important first date
If you consider the Zero Moment of Truth as your online dating profile, then think of stage two - the First Moment of Truth - as your first date. The last thing you want is for your date to spot you through the window and turn and walk as fast as they can in the opposite direction instead of coming in to say hello.
So, once you've made someone pop into a shop to look for your product, there's still work to do to make them pick it up and buy it. We're now moving into the territory of the First Moment of Truth, where your consumer first physically interacts with your product.
Hook, line and sinker
What does your product do for your shopper?
Does eating your cereal bar fight off that late morning growling hunger pang? Is your energy drink enough to power them all day and all night and all through the next day as well? (If it is it's probably illegal.) Whatever your product, find a hook that quickly catches your consumer's attention as they wander by. Then, reel them in. Take some time to look at the rest of your food or drink product category and create a product that shines like a glittering beacon on the busy supermarket shelf.
The average supermarket contains 20,000 products, so making one that stands out is tough, but it's well worth doing.
A simple example: innocent drinks
In a category dominated by boxes of Tetra cartons, innocent launched their new range of juices in a plastic carafe that looks great and really stands out on shelf. The product was an instant success despite each carafe containing less juice than the competition.
Promote your product carefully
Promotions are an obvious way to make a consumer try your products, but with a huge number of items on offer every week in the supermarkets, you need to be careful. Putting your products on promotion could devalue your brand and set the wrong expectation for future pricing.
Promotions can also be tricky to manage as you need the retailer to implement them effectively for them to work, which can be particularly challenging if you sell mainly from independent outlets without set processes in place.
If you do choose to go on promotion, make sure it's one that appeals to your target consumer. And stop things getting boring by trying a mix of promotional activity including multibuys, price promotions, coupons and competitions.
Don't annoy your buyer
It's no good just getting consumers excited about your product. Unless you get retailers excited too, then your consumers won't be able to find it anywhere. But getting the opportunity to tell buyers about what you do is a huge challenge in itself.
No one enjoys being phoned up by a stranger who's trying to sell them something. So imagine how you'd feel if you got hundreds of these calls a day. Welcome to the world of a buyer. As well as getting into the mind of your consumer, you need to make sure that you understand prospective retailers too, which includes knowing what really annoys them.
One mistake that young brands often make is to call prospective buyers on a weekly, daily and sometimes even hourly basis. It's no wonder buyers never answer their phone. You need to be smart if you want buyers to take notice of you.
Remember, you want to form a relationship with your buyer, not harass them into submission. Buyers are just people, so think about how you can help them and make them want to speak to you.
And finally
The wonderful thing about a running a small food or drink brand is that it is an extension of you and your passion. You and your team are the most compelling part of your brand, so use that to your advantage.
If you only take 3 things away from this section, make it these:
Use the Zero Moment of Truth to make consumers want to find your brand
Make consumers want to buy using the First Moment of Truth
Be creative to stand out
Here's a simple step that you can take right now:
Think about what you can do to excite journalists and get them to write about your brand. Can you create a limited edition version of your product or make packaging changes to give your brand the edge over others?
As a food or drink start up, you'll put everything you've got (and sometimes a bit more) into creating the best product possible. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing someone pick it up from a retail shelf, try it, and want it again and again.
But how do you get from having a product that you think is great to having a product that retailers and consumers are falling over themselves to try? Well, it's simply matter of how you market your food or drink product to your target audience.
I believe there are two stages that you need to be aware of, known in the industry as:
Stage One: Zero Moment of Truth
Stage Two: First Moment of Truth
From zero to hero
The first stage, Zero Moment of Truth, is an idea coined by the almighty Google (who technically nicked it from P&G but got away with it because they're Google).
The Zero Moment of Truth is how you first learn about a brand or product without physically interacting with it. So if you wanted to buy a television, for example, you'd probably go online, read some reviews, check out a price comparison site and make your decision about which one to buy without ever seeing it in the flesh (or whatever TVs are made of).
So if you want your consumers and retailers to want to try your product, the Zero Moment of Truth is the best place to start. That way, your audience will have some experience of your product before they see it on shelf. Here are some ways to make that happen.
Use word of mouse
If you haven't already, you should get set up on all the major social media channels. Building a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will not only help raise awareness about your food or drink brand, but will help drive word of mouth. And consumers nowadays expect to be able to find brands in these places, so if they look for you and can't find you then you'll be the one missing out.
It's all about PR, darling
PR isn't all fine dining and lunchtime drinking. Oh no.
Targeted PR can help get your consumers' attention in a subtle yet smart way. If you've got the cash, then do consider hiring a PR agency to build relationships with the press on your behalf. But if you don't, you can do your own PR. Think about what your core consumer reads (assuming they do). How can you influence journalists to talk about your brand?
Remember that if you don't give them anything to write about, then journalists won't write about you. They're not magicians. You need to find your angle and create a story around your brand if you want to stand out. Maybe you use a unique ingredient or a special manufacturing process that people would be interested to hear about. Or perhaps the story of how your brand started is really compelling in itself. Think about what makes your brand different and how it benefits your consumers and retailers.
You also need to take into consideration the time of year and remember that some journalists will be writing about summer in January and Christmas in July. Once you get your head around it, it makes perfect sense.
Put a face to the name
People love to get a glimpse of the face behind a company, so if you're not afraid of the limelight you can really use this to your advantage. And if you are afraid of the limelight, you just need to be a bit creative.
As a small, relatively unknown brand you can afford to be quite brave in your attempts at self-promotion and do something that really grabs people's attention and makes them want to know more.
I'm not going to tell you what to do, because then it wouldn't be an original idea that's relevant to your brand. But just to give you an idea of what's possible, have a look at dollarshaveclub.com and see how they went about showing their consumers what they do.
And remember, all of the advice above is aimed at making your target audience want to try you before they've even seen you in a shop. With the right exposure, they could be beating down the door of their local supermarket (or independent retailer) and demanding that they stock you.
A simple example: Graze
Graze products aren't available in shops, so they have to make you want to try their product without ever having seen a box in real life. They do this mainly through online marketing and word of mouth from existing consumers. And if you take a look at their website at Graze.com, you'll see that they make it really easy for potential consumers to understand how they work, using straightforward copy and step-by-step illustrations. They also make it really tempting to try with a half price offer on your first Graze box.
The all important first date
If you consider the Zero Moment of Truth as your online dating profile, then think of stage two - the First Moment of Truth - as your first date. The last thing you want is for your date to spot you through the window and turn and walk as fast as they can in the opposite direction instead of coming in to say hello.
So, once you've made someone pop into a shop to look for your product, there's still work to do to make them pick it up and buy it. We're now moving into the territory of the First Moment of Truth, where your consumer first physically interacts with your product.
Hook, line and sinker
What does your product do for your shopper?
Does eating your cereal bar fight off that late morning growling hunger pang? Is your energy drink enough to power them all day and all night and all through the next day as well? (If it is it's probably illegal.) Whatever your product, find a hook that quickly catches your consumer's attention as they wander by. Then, reel them in. Take some time to look at the rest of your food or drink product category and create a product that shines like a glittering beacon on the busy supermarket shelf.
The average supermarket contains 20,000 products, so making one that stands out is tough, but it's well worth doing.
A simple example: innocent drinks
In a category dominated by boxes of Tetra cartons, innocent launched their new range of juices in a plastic carafe that looks great and really stands out on shelf. The product was an instant success despite each carafe containing less juice than the competition.
Promote your product carefully
Promotions are an obvious way to make a consumer try your products, but with a huge number of items on offer every week in the supermarkets, you need to be careful. Putting your products on promotion could devalue your brand and set the wrong expectation for future pricing.
Promotions can also be tricky to manage as you need the retailer to implement them effectively for them to work, which can be particularly challenging if you sell mainly from independent outlets without set processes in place.
If you do choose to go on promotion, make sure it's one that appeals to your target consumer. And stop things getting boring by trying a mix of promotional activity including multibuys, price promotions, coupons and competitions.
Don't annoy your buyer
It's no good just getting consumers excited about your product. Unless you get retailers excited too, then your consumers won't be able to find it anywhere. But getting the opportunity to tell buyers about what you do is a huge challenge in itself.
No one enjoys being phoned up by a stranger who's trying to sell them something. So imagine how you'd feel if you got hundreds of these calls a day. Welcome to the world of a buyer. As well as getting into the mind of your consumer, you need to make sure that you understand prospective retailers too, which includes knowing what really annoys them.
One mistake that young brands often make is to call prospective buyers on a weekly, daily and sometimes even hourly basis. It's no wonder buyers never answer their phone. You need to be smart if you want buyers to take notice of you.
Remember, you want to form a relationship with your buyer, not harass them into submission. Buyers are just people, so think about how you can help them and make them want to speak to you.
And finally
The wonderful thing about a running a small food or drink brand is that it is an extension of you and your passion. You and your team are the most compelling part of your brand, so use that to your advantage.
If you only take 3 things away from this section, make it these:
Use the Zero Moment of Truth to make consumers want to find your brand
Make consumers want to buy using the First Moment of Truth
Be creative to stand out
Here's a simple step that you can take right now:
Think about what you can do to excite journalists and get them to write about your brand. Can you create a limited edition version of your product or make packaging changes to give your brand the edge over others?
But how do you get from having a product that you think is great to having a product that retailers and consumers are falling over themselves to try? Well, it's simply matter of how you market your food or drink product to your target audience.
I believe there are two stages that you need to be aware of, known in the industry as:
Stage One: Zero Moment of Truth
Stage Two: First Moment of Truth
From zero to hero
The first stage, Zero Moment of Truth, is an idea coined by the almighty Google (who technically nicked it from P&G but got away with it because they're Google).
The Zero Moment of Truth is how you first learn about a brand or product without physically interacting with it. So if you wanted to buy a television, for example, you'd probably go online, read some reviews, check out a price comparison site and make your decision about which one to buy without ever seeing it in the flesh (or whatever TVs are made of).
So if you want your consumers and retailers to want to try your product, the Zero Moment of Truth is the best place to start. That way, your audience will have some experience of your product before they see it on shelf. Here are some ways to make that happen.
Use word of mouse
If you haven't already, you should get set up on all the major social media channels. Building a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will not only help raise awareness about your food or drink brand, but will help drive word of mouth. And consumers nowadays expect to be able to find brands in these places, so if they look for you and can't find you then you'll be the one missing out.
It's all about PR, darling
PR isn't all fine dining and lunchtime drinking. Oh no.
Targeted PR can help get your consumers' attention in a subtle yet smart way. If you've got the cash, then do consider hiring a PR agency to build relationships with the press on your behalf. But if you don't, you can do your own PR. Think about what your core consumer reads (assuming they do). How can you influence journalists to talk about your brand?
Remember that if you don't give them anything to write about, then journalists won't write about you. They're not magicians. You need to find your angle and create a story around your brand if you want to stand out. Maybe you use a unique ingredient or a special manufacturing process that people would be interested to hear about. Or perhaps the story of how your brand started is really compelling in itself. Think about what makes your brand different and how it benefits your consumers and retailers.
You also need to take into consideration the time of year and remember that some journalists will be writing about summer in January and Christmas in July. Once you get your head around it, it makes perfect sense.
Put a face to the name
People love to get a glimpse of the face behind a company, so if you're not afraid of the limelight you can really use this to your advantage. And if you are afraid of the limelight, you just need to be a bit creative.
As a small, relatively unknown brand you can afford to be quite brave in your attempts at self-promotion and do something that really grabs people's attention and makes them want to know more.
I'm not going to tell you what to do, because then it wouldn't be an original idea that's relevant to your brand. But just to give you an idea of what's possible, have a look at dollarshaveclub.com and see how they went about showing their consumers what they do.
And remember, all of the advice above is aimed at making your target audience want to try you before they've even seen you in a shop. With the right exposure, they could be beating down the door of their local supermarket (or independent retailer) and demanding that they stock you.
A simple example: Graze
Graze products aren't available in shops, so they have to make you want to try their product without ever having seen a box in real life. They do this mainly through online marketing and word of mouth from existing consumers. And if you take a look at their website at Graze.com, you'll see that they make it really easy for potential consumers to understand how they work, using straightforward copy and step-by-step illustrations. They also make it really tempting to try with a half price offer on your first Graze box.
The all important first date
If you consider the Zero Moment of Truth as your online dating profile, then think of stage two - the First Moment of Truth - as your first date. The last thing you want is for your date to spot you through the window and turn and walk as fast as they can in the opposite direction instead of coming in to say hello.
So, once you've made someone pop into a shop to look for your product, there's still work to do to make them pick it up and buy it. We're now moving into the territory of the First Moment of Truth, where your consumer first physically interacts with your product.
Hook, line and sinker
What does your product do for your shopper?
Does eating your cereal bar fight off that late morning growling hunger pang? Is your energy drink enough to power them all day and all night and all through the next day as well? (If it is it's probably illegal.) Whatever your product, find a hook that quickly catches your consumer's attention as they wander by. Then, reel them in. Take some time to look at the rest of your food or drink product category and create a product that shines like a glittering beacon on the busy supermarket shelf.
The average supermarket contains 20,000 products, so making one that stands out is tough, but it's well worth doing.
A simple example: innocent drinks
In a category dominated by boxes of Tetra cartons, innocent launched their new range of juices in a plastic carafe that looks great and really stands out on shelf. The product was an instant success despite each carafe containing less juice than the competition.
Promote your product carefully
Promotions are an obvious way to make a consumer try your products, but with a huge number of items on offer every week in the supermarkets, you need to be careful. Putting your products on promotion could devalue your brand and set the wrong expectation for future pricing.
Promotions can also be tricky to manage as you need the retailer to implement them effectively for them to work, which can be particularly challenging if you sell mainly from independent outlets without set processes in place.
If you do choose to go on promotion, make sure it's one that appeals to your target consumer. And stop things getting boring by trying a mix of promotional activity including multibuys, price promotions, coupons and competitions.
Don't annoy your buyer
It's no good just getting consumers excited about your product. Unless you get retailers excited too, then your consumers won't be able to find it anywhere. But getting the opportunity to tell buyers about what you do is a huge challenge in itself.
No one enjoys being phoned up by a stranger who's trying to sell them something. So imagine how you'd feel if you got hundreds of these calls a day. Welcome to the world of a buyer. As well as getting into the mind of your consumer, you need to make sure that you understand prospective retailers too, which includes knowing what really annoys them.
One mistake that young brands often make is to call prospective buyers on a weekly, daily and sometimes even hourly basis. It's no wonder buyers never answer their phone. You need to be smart if you want buyers to take notice of you.
Remember, you want to form a relationship with your buyer, not harass them into submission. Buyers are just people, so think about how you can help them and make them want to speak to you.
And finally
The wonderful thing about a running a small food or drink brand is that it is an extension of you and your passion. You and your team are the most compelling part of your brand, so use that to your advantage.
If you only take 3 things away from this section, make it these:
Use the Zero Moment of Truth to make consumers want to find your brand
Make consumers want to buy using the First Moment of Truth
Be creative to stand out
Here's a simple step that you can take right now:
Think about what you can do to excite journalists and get them to write about your brand. Can you create a limited edition version of your product or make packaging changes to give your brand the edge over others?
As a food or drink start up, you'll put everything you've got (and sometimes a bit more) into creating the best product possible. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing someone pick it up from a retail shelf, try it, and want it again and again.
But how do you get from having a product that you think is great to having a product that retailers and consumers are falling over themselves to try? Well, it's simply matter of how you market your food or drink product to your target audience.
I believe there are two stages that you need to be aware of, known in the industry as:
Stage One: Zero Moment of Truth
Stage Two: First Moment of Truth
From zero to hero
The first stage, Zero Moment of Truth, is an idea coined by the almighty Google (who technically nicked it from P&G but got away with it because they're Google).
The Zero Moment of Truth is how you first learn about a brand or product without physically interacting with it. So if you wanted to buy a television, for example, you'd probably go online, read some reviews, check out a price comparison site and make your decision about which one to buy without ever seeing it in the flesh (or whatever TVs are made of).
So if you want your consumers and retailers to want to try your product, the Zero Moment of Truth is the best place to start. That way, your audience will have some experience of your product before they see it on shelf. Here are some ways to make that happen.
Use word of mouse
If you haven't already, you should get set up on all the major social media channels. Building a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will not only help raise awareness about your food or drink brand, but will help drive word of mouth. And consumers nowadays expect to be able to find brands in these places, so if they look for you and can't find you then you'll be the one missing out.
It's all about PR, darling
PR isn't all fine dining and lunchtime drinking. Oh no.
Targeted PR can help get your consumers' attention in a subtle yet smart way. If you've got the cash, then do consider hiring a PR agency to build relationships with the press on your behalf. But if you don't, you can do your own PR. Think about what your core consumer reads (assuming they do). How can you influence journalists to talk about your brand?
Remember that if you don't give them anything to write about, then journalists won't write about you. They're not magicians. You need to find your angle and create a story around your brand if you want to stand out. Maybe you use a unique ingredient or a special manufacturing process that people would be interested to hear about. Or perhaps the story of how your brand started is really compelling in itself. Think about what makes your brand different and how it benefits your consumers and retailers.
You also need to take into consideration the time of year and remember that some journalists will be writing about summer in January and Christmas in July. Once you get your head around it, it makes perfect sense.
Put a face to the name
People love to get a glimpse of the face behind a company, so if you're not afraid of the limelight you can really use this to your advantage. And if you are afraid of the limelight, you just need to be a bit creative.
As a small, relatively unknown brand you can afford to be quite brave in your attempts at self-promotion and do something that really grabs people's attention and makes them want to know more.
I'm not going to tell you what to do, because then it wouldn't be an original idea that's relevant to your brand. But just to give you an idea of what's possible, have a look at dollarshaveclub.com and see how they went about showing their consumers what they do.
And remember, all of the advice above is aimed at making your target audience want to try you before they've even seen you in a shop. With the right exposure, they could be beating down the door of their local supermarket (or independent retailer) and demanding that they stock you.
A simple example: Graze
Graze products aren't available in shops, so they have to make you want to try their product without ever having seen a box in real life. They do this mainly through online marketing and word of mouth from existing consumers. And if you take a look at their website at Graze.com, you'll see that they make it really easy for potential consumers to understand how they work, using straightforward copy and step-by-step illustrations. They also make it really tempting to try with a half price offer on your first Graze box.
The all important first date
If you consider the Zero Moment of Truth as your online dating profile, then think of stage two - the First Moment of Truth - as your first date. The last thing you want is for your date to spot you through the window and turn and walk as fast as they can in the opposite direction instead of coming in to say hello.
So, once you've made someone pop into a shop to look for your product, there's still work to do to make them pick it up and buy it. We're now moving into the territory of the First Moment of Truth, where your consumer first physically interacts with your product.
Hook, line and sinker
What does your product do for your shopper?
Does eating your cereal bar fight off that late morning growling hunger pang? Is your energy drink enough to power them all day and all night and all through the next day as well? (If it is it's probably illegal.) Whatever your product, find a hook that quickly catches your consumer's attention as they wander by. Then, reel them in. Take some time to look at the rest of your food or drink product category and create a product that shines like a glittering beacon on the busy supermarket shelf.
The average supermarket contains 20,000 products, so making one that stands out is tough, but it's well worth doing.
A simple example: innocent drinks
In a category dominated by boxes of Tetra cartons, innocent launched their new range of juices in a plastic carafe that looks great and really stands out on shelf. The product was an instant success despite each carafe containing less juice than the competition.
Promote your product carefully
Promotions are an obvious way to make a consumer try your products, but with a huge number of items on offer every week in the supermarkets, you need to be careful. Putting your products on promotion could devalue your brand and set the wrong expectation for future pricing.
Promotions can also be tricky to manage as you need the retailer to implement them effectively for them to work, which can be particularly challenging if you sell mainly from independent outlets without set processes in place.
If you do choose to go on promotion, make sure it's one that appeals to your target consumer. And stop things getting boring by trying a mix of promotional activity including multibuys, price promotions, coupons and competitions.
Don't annoy your buyer
It's no good just getting consumers excited about your product. Unless you get retailers excited too, then your consumers won't be able to find it anywhere. But getting the opportunity to tell buyers about what you do is a huge challenge in itself.
No one enjoys being phoned up by a stranger who's trying to sell them something. So imagine how you'd feel if you got hundreds of these calls a day. Welcome to the world of a buyer. As well as getting into the mind of your consumer, you need to make sure that you understand prospective retailers too, which includes knowing what really annoys them.
One mistake that young brands often make is to call prospective buyers on a weekly, daily and sometimes even hourly basis. It's no wonder buyers never answer their phone. You need to be smart if you want buyers to take notice of you.
Remember, you want to form a relationship with your buyer, not harass them into submission. Buyers are just people, so think about how you can help them and make them want to speak to you.
And finally
The wonderful thing about a running a small food or drink brand is that it is an extension of you and your passion. You and your team are the most compelling part of your brand, so use that to your advantage.
If you only take 3 things away from this section, make it these:
Use the Zero Moment of Truth to make consumers want to find your brand
Make consumers want to buy using the First Moment of Truth
Be creative to stand out
Here's a simple step that you can take right now:
Think about what you can do to excite journalists and get them to write about your brand. Can you create a limited edition version of your product or make packaging changes to give your brand the edge over others?
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