1.0Food+Tech Connecthttps://foodtechconnect.comGuesthttps://foodtechconnect.com/author/guest/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="rLglbP6RIl"><a href="https://foodtechconnect.com/2021/02/01/how-thrive-market-once-upon-a-farm-omsom-and-tagger-media-are-reimagining-discovery-acquisition-and-loyalty/">How Thrive Market, Once Upon a Farm, Omsom and Tagger Media Are Reimagining Discovery, Acquisition and Loyalty</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://foodtechconnect.com/2021/02/01/how-thrive-market-once-upon-a-farm-omsom-and-tagger-media-are-reimagining-discovery-acquisition-and-loyalty/embed/#?secret=rLglbP6RIl" width="600" height="338" title="“How Thrive Market, Once Upon a Farm, Omsom and Tagger Media Are Reimagining Discovery, Acquisition and Loyalty” — Food+Tech Connect" data-secret="rLglbP6RIl" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> https://foodtechconnect.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Article-Image_-Reimagining-Retail-Video-Recap-.png1280720This is a guest post by Tonya Bakritzes, Senior Vice President of Marketing at S2G Ventures. The unprecedented events of the last year forced food brands to quickly adapt to their customer’s needs and shopping behaviors, while also navigating a rapidly changing grocery retail landscape.   Last week, Food-Tech Connect and S2G hosted the second conversation in our Reimagining Food Retail Conversation Series to explore how emerging food brands are navigating this pivotal moment in time and growing their businesses through new approaches to customer discovery, acquisition and loyalty. We spoke with Vanessa Pham, Co-Founder at Omsom, Jeremiah McElwee, Chief Merchandising Officer at Thrive Market, Katie Marston, Chief Marketing Officer at Once Upon a Farm and Kelsey Formost, Director of Content Strategy at Tagger Media. Omsom, Once Upon a Farm and Thrive Market all grew during 2020 and attributed their success to a common set of themes: purpose, customer-focus and community. Tagger has a wealth of data across social platforms and Kelsey Formost shared her perspective on the increasingly important role social and specifically social influencing is playing in the strategy of successful food brands.  All the panelists shared actionable advice and specific techniques that emerging food brands can use to improve their marketing efforts. The following are some of my key takeaways and favorite excerpts from the conversation. Access the full video and join us for the rest of our Reimagining Food Retail Conversation Series where we’ll be talking with Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, Jody Kalmbach, Group Vice President, Product Experience at The Kroger Co., Birgit Cameron, Head of Patagonia Provisions and Errol Schweizer, Host of The Checkout Podcast, and more about reimagining retail for resilience and to better serve all stakeholders. Purpose, Allyship & Community Were Keys to Growth in 2020 “This is a really challenging time. Knowing who you are and what you’re trying to do in the world allows you to react and respond quickly, both to serve your customers, but also to do greater good in the world.” – Jeremiah McElwee, Thrive Market As a result of Covid, consumer interest in healthier food choices was amplified.  Farmers, producers and food workers became essential workers. The spotlight placed on our food system raised consumer awareness of a complex set of questions about our food, beyond just price and taste, to animal welfare, source and authenticity, environmental impact, and the working conditions and compensation of employees that produced it. Transparency has become critically important.   Our panelists shared their perspectives on the importance of being very clear in your brand’s mission and how that should direct marketing and communications but more broadly how it gave their companies a north star by which to make critical business decisions.  For Once Upon a Farm, that meant sending the proceeds of their new Farmer Jen’s Sweet Potato Pie product to Save the Children in support of their emergency food relief efforts.  Vanessa shared that Omsom’s mission to honor and celebrate Asian American communities inspired them to partner with iconic chefs of the backgrounds of each cuisine they represent to showcase their flavors and integrate them into the product development process in return for a portion of sales into the future.  Jeremiah shared that Thrive’s core mission and belief structure afforded them the opportunity to create a COVID-19 relief fund that has since grown to $3 million, and use the proceeds to give away free groceries, stipends and memberships to hundreds of families across the U.S.  Once Upon a Farm, Omsom and Thrive Market all experienced significant growth in 2020 demonstrating that customers value brands that take action to live up to their values and want to be associated with that greater purpose.   Customer-Focus: Being an Ally to Your Customer Builds Loyalty “In 2020, it was about recognizing the need for seamless integration into her life, versus selling. Our customers are very busy moms that were all of a sudden dealing with work at home, school, intermittent childcare at best. We considered it our jobs to make things easier and best in class for her, from where she was going to learn about us, purchase us and try us.” – Katie Marston, Once Upon a Farm When Covid shelter-in-place restrictions came into effect, a series of events changed customer’s lives in big and small ways. It’s no secret that more people have been shopping online during COVID. As a result, online grocery penetration rose to 8% in 2020, up from 4% last year. Beyond shopping, people are eating and cooking from home more than ever before, many are juggling remote work and virtual school, navigating the challenges of essential work or dealing with layoffs.    Our panelists touched on the need for successful brands to play a supportive role in customer’s lives more than ever during this time. Katie shared that Once Upon a Farm started with a focus on their loyal customers. She said, “We went right to the source and concentrated on our current customers over new customer acquisition and worked with our retailers on the retail.com platforms, our own e-commerce, rethinking trade programs and stacking influencers.”  Kelsey shared her perspective on why influencer marketing is such a valuable tactic for reaching customers where they are spending time.  She cited two facts  – that the amount of time we spend on social media doubled in 2020 and that  influencer marketing campaigns saw an 11 times higher ROI, as compared to traditional display ads. Thrive Market has a very curated model and small number of SKUs as compared to the average grocery store, so one way they are constantly adapting to customer needs is through the product mix.  Jeremiah said, ”It’s first and foremost, choosing those brands and finding those partners and finding really compelling, amazing brands and products that we can bring to our members that we know they’ll want.”   Download S2G Venture’ Future of Food: Through The Lens of Retail Report to understand how innovations in content, commerce and community might transform the shape of the […]