If Willy Wonka had a Facebook page...

Thanks to the social web, you can now share anything with anyone anywhere in the world. The trend toward shared experiences online is being replicated offline and its impact can be felt in how we are choosing to eat. The rise of the ‘big night in’ has also placed greater emphasis on the need to provide products to capitalise on the desire to share.  This has given birth to a phenomenon of sharing which has been driving success and innovation in the confectionary category. Out-of-home snacking has dropped by almost 16% over the past 12 months. Kantar usage data shows in-home confectionery occasions are growing 3.4% year-on-year driven by in-home snacking – up 6.2%.

It’s an area in which chocolate brands are faring particularly well with value sales of sharing bags up 9.6% and volume up 8.3%. The sharing of ideas, opinions, media and status updates are all part of what makes social media a powerful force, and this is especially relevant for brands. Adding sharing options to content in online media can lead to more page views and better status in search results.

And with its sponsorship of London 2012 next year Cadbury has perhaps the biggest opportunity to capitalise on the spirit of sharing. In September Cadbury launched an £8m Keep Team GB Pumped campaign inviting consumers to record motivational power training songs via a webcam and share them online. Their Spots & Stripes campaign has also sought to encourage consumers to get involved in competition with their peers and communities. We’ll be watching with interest to see their next move as the games approach. 

Food Trucks Serving Up This Year's Hottest Trends

You know a trend has gone mainstream when the Wall Street Journal covers it. After taking the U.S. by storm (12 of the best-loved food trucks from across the pond) Europe has started to replicate the trend and especially London has seen its fair share of mobile food outlets over the last few months.

From The Meatwagon and Street Kitchen to the Pitt Cue Co, what these mobile eateries have in common is a relentless use of social media to drum up business. The Meatwagon alone has 5,000 followers on Twitter and 1,500 Facebook fans, not to mention the numerous food bloggers who have written about it (rumour has it that Street Kitchen is even working on an iPhone app). But we can’t help thinking that other factors are at play as well. “Food trucks are a combination of several food-related trends we have seen this year,” comments Phipps’s resident food blogger Rachael Everitt. “By serving British staples they let us indulge in comfort food at a reasonable price and offer a level of authenticity and food provenance you can’t get from traditional take-away food.” But with temperatures turning positively autumnal do we think the trend will survive the winter? Our take on this is that rain and colder temperatures might dampen our national obsession with queuing but if the quality remains high food trucks could give the trusted lunchtime sandwich a run for its money.

Posted by Toby Schuster

The truth about alcohol brands and social media. And nothing but the truth!

Not a week goes by that we here at Phipps won’t shake our heads at yet another piece of contradictory so-called research. This week’s winning entry comes courtesy of the Daily Mail and claims that 'alcohol brands are exploiting Facebook, Twitter and YouTube by 'targeting young people with drink campaigns’. Now, with some of us being mothers ourselves we’re the first to back any initiative that stops underage drinking. But we’re at a slight loss as to what to believe when only last week research in The Drinks Business claimed that 'social media presence is “not important” to drinks consumers'. Time for some sense-making we think. Already five years ago the amazing futurologist Richard Watson talked about us being increasingly “subjected to multiple truths (one minute coffee is going to kill you, the next it’s a miracle cure) and fed a seemingly endless diet of half-truths from companies that want to sell us something”. Looking closer at the Daily Mail story it becomes clear that Alcohol Concern is behind the research, while the contradicting piece of research in The Drinks Business stems from a digital agency obviously touting for more business from drinks brands. In both cases it’s not hard to spot the hidden agenda but the questions remains – is social media to blame for underage drinking or simply not a factor? We believe that social media in its purest form is nothing else than a reflection of what’s going on in society anyway so it’s neither the cure nor the cause. If anything, pretty much any drinks brands in the UK is bound by guidelines set out by the Drinkaware campaign that aims to increase awareness and understanding of the role of alcohol in society, therefore offering a much needed balance to alcohol-related internet crazes like drowning bottles of wine and posting it on YouTube. And as for the confusing research in the media we’re with Benjamin Franklin on this one who remarked that “half a truth is often a great lie.” 

Posted by Toby Schuster

Drinks brands mustn’t ignore social media

So apparently social media presence is “not important” to drinks consumers according to research published in The Drinks Business. Well, we at Phipps would beg to differ and we question the one dimensional interpretation of the facts. If value for money is what matters most to consumers then are we the only ones who are tracking a dramatic increase in money-off vouchers and promotions spread via Facebook and Twitter?

Yes, the fact remains that social media rarely leads to direct sales and the research concludes correctly that social media “is not a space for hard sell”. That’s true for drinks companies and equally true for any other consumer-facing brand. Recent research from analyst house Forrester indicates that less than 2% of online orders were the result of shoppers coming from a social network (via Mashable). Brand owners need to judge social media for what it’s good at which is facilitating conversations between consumers, and between consumers and brands. If done correctly social media is invaluable in creating greater brand loyalty, encouraging repeat purchase and driving recommendation. And for what it’s worth, we think that should be important to drinks brands.  

Posted by Toby Schuster

Fickle, cynical and vocal…welcome to Gen Y and the world of youth marketing

Today’s 16-24 year olds are a hard (but not impossible) to reach audience. Yes, they are fickle and extremely marketing-savvy but also a brand’s ideal customer thanks to their disposable income, brand loyalty and unprecedented ability to digitally spread your word. The decline of traditional media and advertising as marketing channels mean that knowing how to reach this audience has become the Holy Grail of PR. Especially when it comes to food and drink they are equally swayed by both various social media platforms such as Tumblr or Facebook and their parents (Faith Popcorn called their tendency to inherit their parents’ brand preferences ‘Brand-Me-Down’ way back in 2003). One thing is worth noting however – they rarely produce the content they so like to share. And this is where food and drink brands have a tremendous opportunity to connect. It’s precisely how the Forbes Magazine blog recently described the key to successful youth marketing but, maybe counterintuitive to this insight, is our belief that in today’s digital world 16-24 year olds also long for real experiences with real people. What does this mean for PR or brand managers? To find out follow the link to Phipps’s presentation on Gen Y…Where Are You?

Posted by Toby Schuster