Food Trends to Watch for in ‘09

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Posted by Anastasiya Blyukher,  Proposal Coordinator, CPG Central

According to an article from MediaPost's Karl Greenberg, Market research firm Mintel says that 54% of people who dine out regularly are cutting back on this expense because of the economy.  Though consumers are trading restaurant booths for their dining room tables, they are by no means sacrificing on quality when it comes to what they eat.    Below are several of the trends that Mintel predicts will steer consumers’ palates in ’09:

• Comfort food – In these difficult times, consumers are seeking comfort food – food that is braised, grilled, slow baked, or poached.

• Cocktail Revival & Innovation – According to Mintel, we'll see a comeback in classic cocktails, plus some innovation with ingredients like ginger, cucumber, and chili pepper, paired with gin, tequila, pisco, and framboise.

• Fresh Ingredients – This year, consumers will seek more organic and locally-grown foods.

• Mediterranean Cuisine – Food from this region is a rising trend among Americans, and consumers will satisfy these tastes with more specific - and authentic - dishes.
  

• Research of food's origins and prep – In 2009, consumers will increasingly take interest in the origins, health benefits, and preparation techniques of their food.

Less time in restaurants means more time in the kitchen, which means more time spent online searching for recipes.  Increasing visibility during these searches is sure to make your brand a main ingredient in home-cooked meals – and home-mixed cocktails – all year long. 

Feeling Nostalgic?

Monday, January 26, 2009

Posted by Susan Minniear, Senior Account Manager, CPG West

Sometimes, upon hearing a Debbie Gibson song, I find myself transported to the eighties as a kid; fondly remembering puffy paint sweatshirts, “Family Ties” or when Bret Michaels was in a hit rock band and not on a VH1 reality show.  There’s comfort in remembering special moments, people, places or products from the past.

And of course, I’m not alone in this type of sentiment.  As it turns out, recent studies are showing that people turn to Nostalgia more often during tough economic times for comfort and memories of simpler, happier times.

A recent article in the LA Times suggests that Nostalgia “buffers people from loneliness and eases them through hard times”; “increases the perception of social support” and “gives us stability when we live in a time of constant change.”

 Considering the powerful emotion of Nostalgia will be critical for Marketers as we foray into the unknown this year.  It’s difficult to say how long this recession will last.  But in the meantime, consumers will be comforted with warm and fuzzy memories of days past.  So, it is even more important for us to consider a consumer’s emotional state when creating our messaging.  For example, perhaps it’s associating food products with special family memories, or lowering prices on products to remind consumers of what they used to pay in the ‘good old days’.

Some of the related top recommendations in an article from Harvard Business School include:

• Research the customer. Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less.
  
• Focus on family values. When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure and rugged individualism. Zany humor and appeals on the basis of fear are out.
  
• Adjust pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut list prices but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively.
  
• Maintain marketing spending. This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
  

Do More with Less

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Remember learning about Simple Machines? They are the 6 basic tools that can use leverage to multiple force....lever, pulley, incline plane...remember?

Well, we've pulled a lot of the simple tools Google offers to marketers into one place called domorewithless.

Together these are great tools that are pretty simple to use and can provide you and your brands with powerful information to improve your business. You'll find 15 tools at DoMoreForLess, many of them free, including:

Keyword Tool Insert your site's URL to get a better sense for all the search terms that fit with your website, or input your existing keywords to check out search volume and competition and get ideas for new keywords.

Webmaster Central can help you with your crawling and site indexing questions and driving more traffic to your site.

Google Analytics Our personal favorite freebie! Google Analytics offers a host of fantastic tools to help you figure out where your traffic is coming from and how users are interacting with your site.

Lots of other great tools there. We hope they help you to leverage your marketing muscles to multiply your branding force.

Rich




Posted by Rich Godwin, Head of Industry CPG West