Even well established, very successful food and beverage brands and products can begin to lose their appeal. When that happens, truly great brands and products can most often be resuscitated by a brand refresh. These four time tested approaches still work wonders if they are well planned and executed. Remind consumers why you’re a great [...]

For food and beverage marketers, there are nuggets of new product inspiration to be found in listening to consumers. The proliferation of social media provides food and beverage marketers with a rich source of data about consumer engagement with specific brands and products, as well as consumer behavior within product categories. Consumers often tell marketers what [...]

When it comes to purchasing decisions, consumers appear to be a little conflicted. In the past, they relied more on positive information in making purchasing decisions, but recent research reveals that negative information is now equally important in purchasing decisions. Of particular interest to food and beverage marketers is the fact that consumers are finding [...]

Many food and beverage marketers have jumped on the social media bandwagon and there are many valid reasons to do so. However, jumping on the bandwagon and actually conducting the band are two different things. Social media can be a great promotional and marketing tool, but it must be used effectively. Here's some questions to [...]

Food and beverage marketers spend a considerable amount of time and resources annually on tradeshows, but they don't always "Press" for all the opportunities to promote. Obviously, impressing existing and potential new customers is one of the primary objectives in exhibiting at tradeshows. But, there is another very important objective that many marketers overlook or [...]

Food and beverage marketers are always racking their collective brains to develop new products and line extensions. Sometimes the shortest distance to success is to watch and listen to how consumers use and define food products. Hidden Valley Ranch has taken a cue from consumers and acknowledged that their product is so much more than [...]

Grocery shopping, along with meal prep, have historically been moms' responsibility. However, according to a recent survey from Cone Communications, 52% of dads claim to be the primary grocery shopper. That "dad" claim is supported by 35% of the moms in the survey who agree. Food and beverage marketers need to rethink how they message [...]

With all the hype about all the social media channels commandeering consumer attention, the fact is email still dominates online time spent by 25+ year old males and females, according to a recent survey by Netpop Research.  That's not to say that food and beverage marketers can ignore the fact that in 2012, 79% of [...]

With all of the avenues to communicate with consumers, there has been an explosion of branding efforts, particularly among food and beverage marketers, aimed at getting up close and personal with consumers. Creating brand fans and champions has become a national pastime, but how close do consumers want brands to actually get? The Journal of [...]

Food market research firm The Hartman Group, Inc. has been looking at food trends for over 20 years, and through their experience they have identified some great food trends that have stuck around, and some others not so much. Here are a few of the "sticky" trends that still offer lots of food and beverage [...]