Building Your Specialty Food Business Brand for Food Start Up Businesses.

1. BUILDING YOUR BRAND
Lizzy Caston
Business Advisor, GYRM
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

2. BUZZWORD BINGO? BRANDING?
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

3. BRANDING SPHERE
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

4. BRANDING IS
The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign,
symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and
services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of
other sellers. “
SORT OF. BRANDING IS REALLY…
To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your
customers and prospects. You do this by integrating your brand strategies
through your company at every point of public contact.
http://marketing.about.com/cs/brandmktg/a/whatisbranding.htm
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

5. BRANDING IS NOT
“Your brand is not just your logo, it is an experience that
lives in your customer's gut” - Robert Brunner for Citrix
Product Design Group
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

6. BRANDING EXPLAINED in 3 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKIAOZZritk
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

7. STRONG BRANDING IS CRITICAL
FOR FOOD BUSINESSES!
…AND I’M A BUSY MOM WHO NEEDS Low Sugar, Natural YOGURT FOR MY
CRYING TODDLER…RIGHT NOW
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

8. WHAT MAKES BRANDS GREAT?
•Different •Satisfy a Need or Solve a
•Superior Problem
•Perceived Value •Stays Relevant to Demand
•Trusted •Appropriate Price and Value
•Preferred •Well Positioned
•Profitable •Consistent and Reliable
•Recognizable •Cohesive & Integrated
•Sustained Over Long Term
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

9. IF YOU HAVE A WEAK BRAND
YOU HAVE A WEAK PRODUCT
OR….
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

10. 8 ELEMENTS OF BRAND BUILDING
1. Delight Your Customers
2. Position Your Brand
3. Be Consistent
4. Coordinate & Integrate All Marketing Efforts
5. Offer Appropriate Price/Value
6. Innovate
7. Execute With Excellence
8. Track and Adapt
http://www.slideshare.net/tammykatz/grow-
your-specialty-foods-brand-8-ways-to-grow-big-
while-spening-small-presentation
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

11. LISTEN, OBSERVE…
OBSESS ABOUT DELIGHTING YOUR CUSTOMERS…
http://www.covalentmarketing.com/index.php/2012/01/10/mind-the-gap-464-million-users/
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

12. RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH
1. Who is your brand?
2. What is your specialty?
3. Who is your target customer, and what are their needs?
4. Who are your competitors?
5. What is your key/unique benefit or differentiator over
competitors?
6. Why should anyone believe you can deliver the goods?
Is your best friend…
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

13. PRODUCT POSITIONING
Create a Brand Positioning Statement:
Positioning statements are a way to concisely communicate to web
designers, people designing your packaging and your advertising what
they need to do. They are also your grounding roadmap for your brand…
•For [target end user]
•Who wants/needs [compelling reason to buy]
•The [product name] is a [product category]
•That provides [key benefit].
•Unlike [main competitor],
•The [product name] [key differentiation]
http://www.johnmossmarketing.com/how-to-create-a-positioning-statement.html
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

14. FRESH POPPED POPCORN!
For [People who love popcorn, and make it at home]
Who wants/needs [But are frustrated with uneven popping results]
•The [Orville Redenbacher] is a [premium uncooked popcorn]
•That provides [That pops up fluffier, more even, with less unpopped kernels
leftover in the pan].
•Unlike [cheaper brands of Popcorn],
•The [Orville Redenbacher was developed by a multigenerational popcorn
farmer, and we grow the best corn and pick the corn at the right time. Orville
Redenbacher dedicated his life to making the perfect popcorn. We pass our
perfect popcorn onto you]
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

15. COORDINATE & INTEGRATE
ALL EFFORTS
• Integration = impact. Lack of integration =
fragmentation
• Consistent, strong messaging
• Do all your CHANNELS align?
• Do you have information ready for distribution?
• consistency = strength
Even something as
simple as Email should
be integrated!
http://www.slideshare.net/j4g2r/integrated-brand-
marketing-presentation
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

16. INTEGRATION =
STRONG CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Even something as
simple as Email should
be integrated!
http://www.amicusgroup.com/touchpoints.pdf
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

17. THE RIGHT VALUE & COST
Value is a simple equation. It is based on what you get for what you pay. It’s
about Perception, as much as it is more than True Dollar Costs
Experience, Self Reward, Peace of Mind, Comfort, Self Esteem & Image,
Time Savings, Lifestyle, Core Beliefs and Values, etc. ALL PLAY A BIG ROLE
http://logoblink.com/power-brand-haagen-dazs/
http://www.ipsos-na.com/dl/pdf/knowledgeideas/advertising/Ipsos_ASI_BrandValue.pdf
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

18. “INNOVATE OR DIE”
Enlightened companies innovate around life experiences and meanings
rather than competitive or functional features and benefits.
http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/09/innovation-growth-requirement-for-brands.html
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

19. EXECUTE WITH EXCELLENCE
Branding ENHANCES the EXPERIENCE. Branding is not the product
You Still Need an AMAZING (and SAFE) PRODUCT that DELIGHTS
CUSTOMERS
http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/09/innovation-growth-requirement-for-brands.html
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

20. BRAND ELEMENTS
Visual - Logo, Font, Color Palettes, Shapes,
Packaging
Verbal - Narrative, Tagline, Keywords,
Messaging
WHAT’S YOUR STORY?
WHY SHOULD PEOPLE CARE?
Narrative Marketing…Story Telling
A Good Story = a Good Brand
Tactile – Touch (packaging), Shapes, Scent,
Taste
http://www.slideshare.net/wizkidrx/brand-elements
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

21. BRAND CHANNELS
PACKAGING
Store Shelves
WORD OF MOUTH
Billboards
Signs (mobile signs)
Television, Radio
WEBSITE
Print Collateral: cards, stationary, brochures
Print Advertising: magazines, newspapers
Digital : keyword ads, banner ads, online ads,
Newsletters, Email lists, Customer Lists
Video
Social Media: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

22. WEBSITE
IF YOU DON’T HAVE A WEBSITE YOU ARE INVISIBLE
75% of Americans Use the Web – The
Majority Are Looking for a product or service
Search Engine Optimization – helps them find
you by keywords (organic, chocolate, ice-
cream, gluten free)
B2B – Sales – more and more business opps
happen on the web
The Web is the New Marketplace.
http://www.slideshare.net/wizkidrx/brand-elements
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

23. TRACK & ADAPT
The World Changes, Your Products, Image Should Too…
But Your Brand is Still Your Guiding Force…Core Values Remain the Same
•Identify Key Performance Objectives and Goals
•Commit to Measure Performance vs. Objectives
•Track Sales by amount, channel, cycles, trigger dates, trigger activities
•Track Brand Awareness – solicit input and feedback customers, buyers,
focus groups, surveys?
•Social Media Monitoring – what are people saying, what aren’t they
saying online about you, similar products, competition>
•Competitive Analysis – Continuum
http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2011/09/innovation-growth-requirement-for-brands.html
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

24. HAVE FUN!!!!
You are now living the dream…This is your time to create, grow, shine,
stretch, reinvent yourself, and work like you’ve never worked before…
Fun is Infectious!
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012

25. RESOURCES
Books
Websites
SBA
SBDC
FoodBizStartup
Professional Associations: American Marketing Assoc.
Schools: PSU, PNCA, Art Institute
North American Specialty Food Trade Association
Getting Your Recipe to Market. Spring 2012