Good students know research matters. And for its new youth-skewing line of soups, "Campbell's Go," the company has done its research, about 18 months’ worth (enough time for a course-loader to earn a Masters) to get insights around what 20- and 30-somethings want in life and food. And it's not a can of chicken Manhandler. It's flavor mashups like Creamy Red Pepper With Smoked Gouda, and Chicken Quinoa with Poblano Chilies -- two of the six soups under the new "Go" umbrella designed to appeal to peripatetic, multicultural young adults who grew up eating diverse cuisine. The company is hitting target markets to tout the pouch-based soups with "communal table" tasting events (think Pain Quotidien) with influencers and press. At one such program in New York’s Soho on Tuesday, Darren Serrao, general manager of innovation and new business development for the company, explained that the new line of soups also reflects a major shift since Denise Morrison became CEO a year and a half ago. "From that point, we started to do things differently than most CPG companies. We created breakthrough teams comprising smaller, dedicated work groups -- each one autonomous, self-directed and cross-functional," he said. Each comprises a marketer, researcher, R&D person, a chef and a packaging engineer. "While most companies start with ideation around a product, we set out to solve problems, spending lots of time with consumers in the process." Thus, he said, the company didn't set out to make new soups, but to address the fact that younger consumers love convenient meal options, but not so much purchasing it in grocery stores. Campbell's tested some 50 different flavor profiles, and did ethnographic research in "hipster market hubs" -- Austin, Texas, Portland, Ore., London and Washington, D.C., then middle-America cities like San Antonio, Des Moines, Iowa, Springfield, Ill. and Little Rock, Ark., per Charles Vila, VP, customer and consumer insights. "These are restless spirits with adventurous tastes," he said. "They grew up on sushi -- Mexican food, for example. It's not 'ethnic cuisine' to them." The company is promoting the new sku entirely online, per Nelson Warley, senior brand manager. "This is a highly social audience," he said, explaining that the company partnered with music, humor sites, and gaming platforms. Campbell tapped BuzzFeed to develop custom Campbell's Go posts; with Funny or Die, including around Don Cheadle's "Captain Planet" series; and Spotify, where consumers can create custom playlists built off the persona of the soups (the other four soups are Coconut Curry with Chicken and Shiitake Mushrooms, Spicy Chorizo and Pulled Chicken with Black Beans, Golden Lentil with Madras Curry, Moroccan Style Chicken with Chickpeas); and with "Angry Birds: Star Wars." All programs involve a coupon offer to drive consumers to Campbell Go's Facebook and Tumblr pages. Retailers are doing sampling programs at night, peak Millennial shopping hours. Serrao said the company communicates to consumers on social media directly through the personality archetypes for each soup, which are featured on the soup pouches, and appear in humorous videos.
Donald Trump, who has been known to treat facts as if they were expendable underlings, may be proving that bloviation has its limits. Or perhaps he has us just where he wants us -- i.e., talking about him. In any event, an online petition on SignOn.org asking Macy’s to dump his line of apparel in response to his “unpleasant, nasty and despicable behavior” in various venues has gathered enough signatures –- more than a half million -- to gather widespread media coverage over the last 24 hours. The story was teased at the top of America Public Media’s “Marketplace” last night and blogged about in the Washington Post’s “Election 2012” coverage. Why, it’s big enough news to compete with headlines like “Snooki Dyes Her Hair ‘Fireball’ Red” and “Keira Knightley Poses Topless” in Us. The “Urge Macy’s To Dump Donald Trump” petition started by Angelo Carusone starts off with “Macy's: Donald Trump does not reflect the ‘magic of Macy's….’” The lede paragraph of his background statement goes on to say: “Macy's has a special deal with Donald Trump. They invest in developing Trump's brand and sell his clothing line and fragrance at their locations. To this end, they have had major events at Macy's Herald Square location and they often feature and promote Trump in advertisements designed to celebrate the magic of Macy's.” The retailer says “it is sticking with the oddly haired mogul, who also appears in its holiday advertising,” reports Marketing Daily’s Sarah Mahoney. “Macy’s marketing and merchandise offerings are not representative of any political position,” a spokesperson tells Mahoney via email. “Many of the individuals associated with products sold at Macy's -- or at any retailer, for that matter -- express personal opinions that are not related to the merchandise we sell or to the philosophies of our company.” Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek Smith reports that “Trump’s products have reportedly been big sellers for Macy’s, but The Donald’s brand is changing, according to marketing consultant Faith Popcorn. ‘He used to be a lot more elegant and a lot more of an icon,’ says Popcorn. ‘But what he’s bringing to the brand is negative political kind of backlash.’” “The petition also paints the business magnate as a sexist hypocrite who ‘personally [attacks] women he disagrees with by calling them “unattractive,” ugly, or fat and complains about jobs being shipped overseas, ‘despite the fact that almost his entire clothing line sold at Macy's is made in China and other Asian nations,’” the USWeekly Staff points out. And would you believe that even Cher is having her say? “Feud Alert! Donald Trump and Cher's Twitter War Gets Ugly” screams the hed on E! Suffice to say that the Tweets it repeats prove the point. Commentators’ reactions to the story in Bloomberg Businessweek run the predictable gamut -- from right, left and patently obvious -- but most defend to the death Trump’s right, to paraphrase a quote oft wrongly attributed to Voltaire, to bloviate it.
Good students know research matters. And for its new youth-skewing line of soups, "Campbell's Go," the company has done its research, about 18 months’ worth (enough time for a course-loader to earn a Masters) to get insights around what 20- and 30-somethings want in life and food. And it's not a can of chicken Manhandler. It's flavor mashups like Creamy Red Pepper With Smoked Gouda, and Chicken Quinoa with Poblano Chilies -- two of the six soups under the new "Go" umbrella designed to appeal to peripatetic, multicultural young adults who grew up eating diverse cuisine. The company is hitting target markets to tout the pouch-based soups with "communal table" tasting events (think Pain Quotidien) with influencers and press. At one such program in New York’s Soho on Tuesday, Darren Serrao, general manager of innovation and new business development for the company, explained that the new line of soups also reflects a major shift since Denise Morrison became CEO a year and a half ago. "From that point, we started to do things differently than most CPG companies. We created breakthrough teams comprising smaller, dedicated work groups -- each one autonomous, self-directed and cross-functional," he said. Each comprises a marketer, researcher, R&D person, a chef and a packaging engineer. "While most companies start with ideation around a product, we set out to solve problems, spending lots of time with consumers in the process." Thus, he said, the company didn't set out to make new soups, but to address the fact that younger consumers love convenient meal options, but not so much purchasing it in grocery stores. Campbell's tested some 50 different flavor profiles, and did ethnographic research in "hipster market hubs" -- Austin, Texas, Portland, Ore., London and Washington, D.C., then middle-America cities like San Antonio, Des Moines, Iowa, Springfield, Ill. and Little Rock, Ark., per Charles Vila, VP, customer and consumer insights. "These are restless spirits with adventurous tastes," he said. "They grew up on sushi -- Mexican food, for example. It's not 'ethnic cuisine' to them." The company is promoting the new sku entirely online, per Nelson Warley, senior brand manager. "This is a highly social audience," he said, explaining that the company partnered with music, humor sites, and gaming platforms. Campbell tapped BuzzFeed to develop custom Campbell's Go posts; with Funny or Die, including around Don Cheadle's "Captain Planet" series; and Spotify, where consumers can create custom playlists built off the persona of the soups (the other four soups are Coconut Curry with Chicken and Shiitake Mushrooms, Spicy Chorizo and Pulled Chicken with Black Beans, Golden Lentil with Madras Curry, Moroccan Style Chicken with Chickpeas); and with "Angry Birds: Star Wars." All programs involve a coupon offer to drive consumers to Campbell Go's Facebook and Tumblr pages. Retailers are doing sampling programs at night, peak Millennial shopping hours. Serrao said the company communicates to consumers on social media directly through the personality archetypes for each soup, which are featured on the soup pouches, and appear in humorous videos.
The right to participate within the public dialogue has always come with responsibility. Television had its obligation to share the news. Radio and television participate in the Emergency Alert System. Newspapers have a self-enforced responsibility as the “fourth estate.” As brands become more like publishers every day, we have to start asking ourselves if there is a higher level of responsibility for participating in the public discourse – a responsibility beyond that to shareholders and investors. In the 1980s, independent dairies famously began showing missing pictures on the sides of milk cartons. It was an opportunity, and for some an obligation, the dairies felt obliged to take. More recently, in 2008, members of the Outdoor Advertising Association (aka Clear Channel, CBS Outdoor, etc.) started using their digital billboards to broadcast Amber Alerts. Even more recently, we saw businesses of all shapes and sizes stepping up to help in the aftermath of Sandy. However, much like healthy eating, the best success comes from consistency, not from occasional focus. Yet, how many social media editorial planning sessions include time for social responsibility integration? I’d wager less than 1%. I’m guilty. Sure, like most agencies, our agency tries to convince clients to incorporate cause marketing into most of our social programs. Beyond support of non-profits, what about information and advocacy we can provide to our audience? We often overlook this opportunity. Imagine if, by law, you were required to incorporate social responsibility projects into your social editorial. Amber Alerts Speaking of Amber Alerts, imagine if geotargeting within social media was utilized to spread alerts of child abductions, weather warnings, major traffic incidents, etc. Could we expand national efforts like Amber Alerts and the Emergency Alert System to capitalize on the reach and usage of social networks? Of course, it could be argued that this social responsibility goes beyond brands and businesses. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, et al could easily integrate systems like these to spread public service messages. These social platforms could become the next milk cartons or digital billboards. Education Rewards I’ve seen more brands than not post social media messages like “Vote!” and “Thank you to our veterans!” While these messages are worthwhile, they are simply participatory. They are not messages that drive action. Gamification is huge in social media. What if brands rewarded consumers for learning about important social information? An automotive company could reward consumers for learning about safe driving habits. A data company could share metrics on important issues of the day. Any company could reward consumers for learning about the policies of both sides of an election. The more educated, the healthier, the more aware consumers become, the more it benefits socially responsible brands. It would be amazing to see education ingrained into the American way. Healthy Lifestyles As I’ve mentioned in a previous column, I’m in the middle of a 90-day fitness challenge, so healthy eating and fitness is top of mind. As a foodie, I thought I knew a lot about food. I didn’t know squat. It’s shocking how undereducated we are on how to fuel and care for ourselves. Through a lot of education and a little hard work, I’ve lost 25 pounds in seven weeks. And, yet, it’s the simplest thing that can do the most good: encouragement. What if brands, on a consistent basis, used social media to encourage healthy lifestyle choices? What if brands educated the public on simple facts about eating and exercise? A Cue From The ‘80s My son is about to turn 4 years old. He’s the main reason I started the 90-day challenge. I look at him and then look in the mirror asking the question: How can I be a better role model? He’s the inspiration for many of my thoughts in this column and in day-to-day work. I’m not sure if it’s the right move or not, but I recently introduced him to the cartoon “He-Man.” Like many ‘80s cartoons (see “GI Joe”), “He-Man” ended every episode with a moral lesson for the kids watching. Just because we market to adults doesn’t mean the country doesn’t need businesses involved in social responsibility. After all, knowing is half the battle!
Donald Trump, who has been known to treat facts as if they were expendable underlings, may be proving that bloviation has its limits. Or perhaps he has us just where he wants us -- i.e., talking about him. In any event, an online petition on SignOn.org asking Macy’s to dump his line of apparel in response to his “unpleasant, nasty and despicable behavior” in various venues has gathered enough signatures –- more than a half million -- to gather widespread media coverage over the last 24 hours. The story was teased at the top of America Public Media’s “Marketplace” last night and blogged about in the Washington Post’s “Election 2012” coverage. Why, it’s big enough news to compete with headlines like “Snooki Dyes Her Hair ‘Fireball’ Red” and “Keira Knightley Poses Topless” in Us. The “Urge Macy’s To Dump Donald Trump” petition started by Angelo Carusone starts off with “Macy's: Donald Trump does not reflect the ‘magic of Macy's….’” The lede paragraph of his background statement goes on to say: “Macy's has a special deal with Donald Trump. They invest in developing Trump's brand and sell his clothing line and fragrance at their locations. To this end, they have had major events at Macy's Herald Square location and they often feature and promote Trump in advertisements designed to celebrate the magic of Macy's.” The retailer says “it is sticking with the oddly haired mogul, who also appears in its holiday advertising,” reports Marketing Daily’s Sarah Mahoney. “Macy’s marketing and merchandise offerings are not representative of any political position,” a spokesperson tells Mahoney via email. “Many of the individuals associated with products sold at Macy's -- or at any retailer, for that matter -- express personal opinions that are not related to the merchandise we sell or to the philosophies of our company.” Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek Smith reports that “Trump’s products have reportedly been big sellers for Macy’s, but The Donald’s brand is changing, according to marketing consultant Faith Popcorn. ‘He used to be a lot more elegant and a lot more of an icon,’ says Popcorn. ‘But what he’s bringing to the brand is negative political kind of backlash.’” “The petition also paints the business magnate as a sexist hypocrite who ‘personally [attacks] women he disagrees with by calling them “unattractive,” ugly, or fat and complains about jobs being shipped overseas, ‘despite the fact that almost his entire clothing line sold at Macy's is made in China and other Asian nations,’” the USWeekly Staff points out. And would you believe that even Cher is having her say? “Feud Alert! Donald Trump and Cher's Twitter War Gets Ugly” screams the hed on E! Suffice to say that the Tweets it repeats prove the point. Commentators’ reactions to the story in Bloomberg Businessweek run the predictable gamut -- from right, left and patently obvious -- but most defend to the death Trump’s right, to paraphrase a quote oft wrongly attributed to Voltaire, to bloviate it.