Made to Stick Part 3: Story

Messages are stickier when they exist as a story. Stories are most successful when the product is integral and it is difficult to tell the story without mentioning the product.

The “Puppy Love” ad that Budweiser showed in this year’s Super Bowl provides an interesting example.

In this story, Budweiser relies heavily on the association between their brand and their mascot, the Clydesdale horse.  The horse acts as a memory trigger because it has been used in a large number of previous Budweiser commercials and consumers are familiar with the connection.

Although Budweiser was not prominently displayed in physical product or in name until the end of the commercial, the message was still sticky because of this association.

Could this story be re-told without mentioning Budweiser beer? Possibly. It would be difficult, however, to tell the story without mentioning the Clydesdale horse, which effectively connects to Budweiser in the consumers mind.

It is important to note that Budweiser has invested millions of dollars in creating this association. Without this previous effort, this ad would be much less successful.

Takeaway: Not everyone has the time or money to create an existing association. Instead, create a sticky message by creating a story where the product itself is essential to viewer understanding of the ad.

Want more? Check out the rest of the Heath’s principles of stickiness in Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. 

Made to Stick Part 2: Emotion

According to Made to Stick, ideas are “stickier” when they evoke an emotion. When a strong emotion is attached to an ad, individuals are likely to spend more time thinking about it. The goal of an ad focused on emotion is not only to make viewers care, but to encourage them to further share the ad with others.

Chipotle’s animated ad “The Scarecrow” takes this approach. The ad uses a central character, the scarecrow, to explore food production practices.

Throughout the ad, the scarecrow is exposed to cruel factory farming practices such as chickens being injected with growth hormones and cows being confined to small boxes. The emotional appeal is the result of the obvious sadness such circumstances generate in both the on-screen character and the viewer.

The turning point in this piece, however, is also strongly emotional. It occurs when the scarecrow arrives at an idealized farm where he discovers the signature Chipotle red pepper and other healthy food alternatives to those previously presented.

This ad generated significant discussion about the use of emotional appeals and was both well received and criticized for its approach. While the emotional element of this ad does make it sticky, it is important to recognize the importance of creating a valuable connection between the emotion and a brand, as well as the ethical implications related to advertising in this way.

Recommended Reading: “What Does ‘The Scarecrow’ Tell Us About Chipotle” for more in-depth discussion of this topic. 

Made to Stick Part 1: Simple

In Made to Stick, the first principle of stickiness is simplicity. Simplicity is about finding the most critical essence of an idea, essentially its core.

Honeymaid highlights this principle in their recent ad, “This is Wholesome”.  The ad depicts non-traditional families that are multi-racial, composed of same-sex parents, and single parents amongst other differences.

In this example, the unifying idea is that each is a family and that family is wholesome. Because these families are shown enjoying Honeymaid products such as Teddy Grahams and Graham crackers together, it further suggests that Honeymaid is also wholesome.

The message is concise and explicit, and wholesome is the most critical message attached to the ad.  The simple message conveyed is a sticky message.

What other “simple” ads have you seen recently?

How to Make Your Message Stick

What sets a successful message apart?

According to Chip and Dan Heath the answer lies in the power of persuasive communication. In Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, the authors suggest that the key to idea success is to make the message “sticky”.

The framework that the Heaths identify pinpoints 6 basic, and often overlooked, principles that are extremely effective at increasing persuasiveness.

• Simple
• Unexpected
• Concrete
• Credible
• Emotion
• Story

At IN, we applied a few of the principles of stickiness to relevant ad examples in the food industry.  Next week we will begin a multi-part blog series we will explore how these principles have been used successfully and how you can use them to make your own messages stick!

Subscription Snack Boxes

Snacking just got easier.

Through new subscription snack box services like graze, NatureBox, and Nibblr, healthy, portion-controlled snacks are delivered on a recurring basis to your home or office.  Snack box services provide subscribers with a convenient and personalized variety of snacks to enjoy between meals and on-the-go. It’s a new way to think about how we snack.

While the snacking options differ between companies, the majority of the foods offered meet consumers’ demand for health-focused items. Most consist of traditional fruit and nut type snacks re-invented in unique sweet and savory combinations.

Because the types of items offered in snack boxes are so similar, the key to success in this market seems to be personalization, a growing consumer trend.

Both graze and Nibblr utilize customer ratings to determine the types of snacks that will arrive in the subscriber’s box. Based on subscriber preferences, these companies select different items to be sent in each box. However, both services have limitations on these preferences. NatureBox is different in that it allows customers to directly choose which snacks they will receive in each box. Unlike graze and Nibblr, it also allows customers to sort and choose snacks by dietary needs, with options to choose gluten, soy, nut, or lactose free snacks, amongst several other options.

Although all of the services provide customers with the healthy product offerings that are easily accessible, it is the levels of customization that snack box services can offer that will determine which snack box subscriptions consumers will choose moving forward.

Have you tried a snack box subscription? What has been your experience?

The Best Food Apps

There are a wealth of apps available out there to enhance your food experience. It can be hard to wade through the clutter to find a great app, so here are a few that we INdorse! Just download and enjoy.

What to eat:
Harvest – The perfect app to help you choose produce at the grocery store with specific tips about how to select the best fruit or vegetable from the pile, how to store it after you’ve bought it and the level of pesticide residue commonly associated with it. We love it because the interface is quick and easy to use when you’re standing in the produce section.

Where to eat:
Foodspotting – Know what you’re getting yourself into before you walk through the restaurant doors by perusing photos uploaded by past diners. You can search for photos from restaurants nearby or get a glimpse of the menu from a specific restaurant. Users can also mark a specific photo if they want it, if they’ve had the item and if they loved it. You’ll know what’s popular and maybe even what you want to order before arriving.

How to eat it:
Epicurious – You can browse recipes by category, e.g. Chocolate Desserts, Oscar Party Drinks or Super Bowl Snacks, or find recipes in their great search feature. You choose the main ingredients, dietary considerations and dish type and they generate a list of possible recipes.

When to eat:
OpenTable – Enjoy free instant and confirmed restaurant reservations through this easy-to-use app. Search for a specific restaurant or a restaurant nearby—filtering by neighborhood, cuisine and/or price—then read reviews before reserving your table. You can even get parking information.

Black Forest Inn Campaign

Kudos to Black Forest Inn and GDB on their recent campaign!

According to their website they’ve been running their tongue-in-cheek campaign for 12 years, but we love this clever adaptation offering an element of visual humor. It’s rare to see an ad where people aren’t grinning. The juxtaposition of this grouchy looking woman and the headline “Another satisfied customer.” makes you do a double take. After a second of confusion, their tagline “As German as it gets.” delivers the punch line.

As food marketers, we appreciate breakthrough creative. What campaigns have you seen lately that deserve a thumbs up?

NRA Show Recap

The 2011 National Restaurant Association Hotel-Motel Show was held at Chicago’s McCormick Place from May 21-24. Thousands of exhibitors polished and shined their booths and cooked up samples for hungry attendees. And tens of thousands of hungry attendees walked the tradeshow floor for 4 solid days while they packed away those samples.

Attendance was up this year and it was noticeable on the crowded show floor. A number of exhibitors we talked to were having a fabulous show, although there were also some who had less than ideal booth locations who hadn’t seen the best foot traffic.

Highlights from the show floor:

Food Trends:

• Tea was hot (and cold): Iced and hot tea was abundant! (It was great to wash down some of the pies we sampled.)

• Gluten-free, which has seen a couple years of growth, shows no sign of stopping. It was everywhere.

Most over-used word: Solutions. Everyone is touting that they sell solutions to operators’ problems. Please don’t use this word in your marketing materials. You’ll only get lost in the crowd.

Best Booth: Coca-Cola. You couldn’t miss this hot-spot of activity. Their booth was abuzz with excitement every time we passed by. They had incredible graphics and an engaging live performer touting their latest and greatest – the Coca-Cola Freestyle dispenser. The Freestyle dispenser is a touch screen kiosk that allows patrons to choose their own soda flavor from 125 options and dispense right in front of them. There was a huge line at NRA to get a taste and we must say – tried it… loved it!

Biggest Growth Area: Technology. This pavilion has grown significantly in recent years. Online ordering systems, customer loyalty solutions, mobile apps, Groupon and more!

After walking for hours and sampling more sandwiches, baked goods and appetizers than should be legal, we wrapped up our day with a soda and a quick flight home. We wonder what next year’s hot new items will be! Any bets?

Are social buying websites right for your company?

If you live in a populous area, chances are you have heard of social buying websites like Groupon and Living Social. (For those of you who aren’t on the up and up, these are online companies that negotiate saving opportunities with local businesses and offer a deal daily in your area.) Restaurants make up a large percentage of businesses participating in this trend and I am often asked if this is a good marketing tactic. My answer is yes…and no, it all depends on your food operation and what your expectations are.

Here are a few items to take into account before you decide if daily deal sites are right for your restaurant.

Exposure is everything. Social buying sites are a great form of non-traditional advertising. If your goal is to gain exposure in your community and get consumers to give you a shot, than I highly encourage your business to give it a go. Just make sure their experience is a good one, so they keep coming back for more – without a coupon.

Know what you’re getting into. Bottom line, you will be busy the duration of the offer, significantly more so at the beginning and at the end of the offer. Success after the promotion relies on the customers’ experience and if you are not equipped to handle the influx of customers that are bound to be attracted by a Groupon, than online couponing may do more harm than good.

Make sure your offer is right. You want your offer to seem like a great deal and also reflect your menu price points.  For example, don’t offer a $15 Groupon for $7 if most of your menu items cost around $10.  You also may want to look into adding restrictions, such as not offering the deal on high traffic holidays or during happy hour.

Be realistic about your expectations. The most popular offers are usually discounted at 50% or more, so business should prepare themselves that they might not see their revenues skyrocket…in the short term. The key is to get customers to spend more than the amount of their coupon during their visit and to maintain them as customer in the long run. If you can achieve both of these, then I guarantee you will see revenue growth.

Mobile Marketing – Finding The Sweet Spot

Let’s face it. We love our phones. We talk, text, surf, tweet, post, check-in, schedule, update and play on them every single day. (And possibly in the middle of the night when insomnia strikes.)

And let’s also face the fact that we love to eat. The extra pounds we put on over the holidays are proof of that.

Restaurants who are able to reach us when our hunger hits, probably when we’re calling our spouse to ask the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?”, may have landed on the sweet spot. Mobile marketing can help get diners back in their seats after a rough couple of years.

More and more restaurants are turning to mobile technology and social media to help lure in customers. According to Nation’s Restaurant News Chef Survey: What’s Hot in 2011, 74% of operators already use, or plan to use social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The mobile application Foursquare elicits mixed feelings in operators. A recent reader poll from the Restaurant SmartBrief shows 47% feel it’s an interesting concept, but view it as a fad, 35% aren’t fans and don’t feel compelled to give away free things to Foursquare’s “mayors” and a solid 18% think it’s a great marketing tool to drive loyalty and traffic.

A few local restaurants we think do a great job with mobile marketing and social media are:

Punch Pizza: This terrific Neapolitan pizza place generates loyalty through Facebook and Twitter, offering up frequent coupons to keep enthusiasts excited.

OM: This Minneapolis hot spot did a great job with Twitter when they opened. They had customers vote on everything from the colors and upholstery used to the type of soda they would carry.

Parasole Group Restaurants: This uber cool line up of restaurants does a bang up job of getting the word out via Facebook and Twitter.

Joe’s Garage, Barrio Tequila Bar, La Belle Vie and Rudolph’s Bar-B-Que are a few of the many local restaurants offering up deals on Foursquare. Check in and find out more!

What do you think? Who’s doing mobile well? We’d love to know!