Kristine Carey Brand Guide

2023 KERRY TASTE AND NUTRITION CHARTS

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:56:44 -0800

2023 KERRY TASTE AND NUTRITION CHARTS

The 2023 Kerry Taste and Nutrition Charts are a great guide for a food and beverage company product innovation pipeline. The report features key and emerging flavors and ingredients that are trending. These flavors might already be peaking in your product selection or it might be time to add them to your formulas.

The Kerry insights come from tracking menu trends, product launches and ingredient labels; listening to consumer preferences and scanning social media chatter; proprietary research and an analysis of the thousands of new product launches globally.

Here are a few highlights:

Kerry highlights the trajectory of Sriracha from a condiment and a single flavor, to inspiring innovation across food and beverage categories. In 2012, over 20 million bottles of Sriracha were sold, and today that iconic green and red bottle has amounted to $150 million in annual sales.
The fastest moving flavors you should be doing now or should be adding to your product formulas soon.

Sweet - Dulce de Leche, Macadamia Nut, Toffee, Fig

Salty - Caramelized Onion, Sesame, Truffle Mushroom, Korean Barbecue

Savory - Adobo, Sloppy Joe, Nashville Hot, Tonkatsu

Global Cuisine - Peruvian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Norwegian

Beverage - Horchata, Cardamom, Crème Brûlée, Licorice

Let’s talk about how I can help you build your food business and check out our client success stories at Read More

Connect With Consumers Beyond Your Products.

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 20:21:13 -0800

Connect With Your Consumers Beyond your Products. A powerful brand is built on emotions - and many purchasing decisions come down to how you make your customers and retailers feel.

Creating a personality and lifestyle branding for your food & beverage company can be complicated. But with a few defining guardrails your company can stand out against the competition. I believe there are six simple topics that will help your company connect with consumers beyond your products.

Vision, Values, Mission, Target Audience, Reasons to Believe and Brand Personality

When building your business it is important to go beyond your products features and benefits and connect with your consumer through a bigger story. Maybe as a lifestyle brand that is part of your consumers everyday life as a friend who shares ideas, connections and inspiration. I have outlined a few key topics that can help you build your story.

Define the vision and purpose of the company. What is the reason the company was started and what inspiration do you want to share with the industry and consumers?
What values or traits do you know to be true no matter the situation? Wellness? Sustainability? Giving back?
What is the mission of the company? What specifically does the company do (type of product or service)?
Who is the target audience and what problem are you solving for them?
What are is the #1 reason consumers will believe in you? What is the company's uniqueness? What makes you stand out from the competition? AKA the company’s unique selling proposition.
What are the key personality characteristics of the business that you can capitalize on? Is the company fun or educational; friendly and approachable or rebellious and innovative? Is the company family oriented or young and trendy?

Head over to my Read More

Naturally Boulder 2023 Trends to Watch What's in Store for the Industry Key Insights

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 15:11:32 -0800

Naturally Boulder 2023 Trends to Watch: What's in Store for the Industry

Key Insights

Naturally Boulder presented 2023 Trends to Watch - What's in Store for the Industry. There were so many insights for the coming year that can help your business grow. I have highlighted some key insights and trends from the panel discussion and included links to download reports from Nielsen IQ and New Hope Network. Bill Capsalis Executive Director of Naturally Boulder hosted the panel with panelists Jessica Rubino from New Hope Network, Sherry Frey from Nielsen IQ and Daniel...Read More

So You Want to be a FoodPreneur.

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 16:24:38 -0800

So You Want to be a FoodPreneur.

How To Get Started Building Your Food and Beverage Business

So you want to start a better-for-you food business. Congratulations! More consumers are shifting their attention to healthier options as wellness is top of mind. The road to success is a roller coaster ride, but one that is definitely worth riding. The goal is to understand the challenges and know how to improvise, adapt and overcome the ups and downs while still having a good time.

The FoodPreneur E-Book from Brand Guide is a roadmap to get you started down the path of success. Included are some initial recommendations to think about: category insights, networking connections, and brand positioning guidelines that will guide you as you build your food business. Great info is included with Natural Merchandiser market overview, SPINS data and a 12 month sales cycle. I top it off with a list of great resources for potential partners, industry news and data.

My goal with the book is to help foodpreneurs accelerate awareness and growth in your business through focused steps. You can check out more information about the E-Book on my website. And you can download a free excerpt.

Accelerate Awareness and Growth In Your Business

Know your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and strengths
Find the white space to be unique
Solve your customers problems
Know what is happening in your category
Innovate and build good partnerships
Share your story with consistency and authenticity
Stay Relevant and have fun

If you are looking for help with your food and beverage brand, I can help. Schedule...Read More

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Uncover Consumer Triggers & Identify Your Target Consumer.

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 14:31:36 -0700

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Uncover Consumer Triggers & Identify Your Target Consumer.

Brand positioning creates clarity and guidance around what you do and who you serve. It also defines to your target consumer why you are the best company for them and gives them reasons to believe in you and your products. Knowing your target audience is an important step to building the right messaging that connects with your customers and that connection builds engagement, conversion, loyalty, and ultimately advocacy. And that is something every brand owner is looking to achieve.

When you know your customers, your most loyal fans, then you can smartly craft specific messages that will connect with them right away. Your goal is to be focused on your Ideal Customer and then start to build look-alike customers to expand your reach.

I am sharing two exercises that you can do to identify your target audience. One is outlining the key identifiers to understand what is driving your consumers to purchase or not purchase. The second exercise is to conduct Validation Calls with your customers. These calls are In-depth, real-time conversations you have with your current and potential customers - consumers and retailers. You can uncover insights, fears, concerns, challenges, wants and needs of your target market.

I have included a workbook “The Ultimate Cheat Sheet To Uncover Consumer Triggers” that provides more details and offers you a space to brainstorm and outline your Ideal Customer.

Key Consumer Trigger Identifiers

There are Five Key Identifiers that will help you outline your customer. I have defined each one below and my recommendation is to provide answers and descriptions to each identifier, writing up as many details you can about your consumer.

By understanding these...Read More

To Spark a Change - Brand Guide

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 19:49:51 -0700

Are you on the solopreneur path? I have been driving the solo bus for 7 years now helping other entrepreneurs in the food and beverage space spark a change in their business. Check out this Go Solo Subkit story about my entrepreneur journey. It was a really nice opportunity to share my accomplishments and challenges.

What Is A Brand Positioning Statement?

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 15:25:23 -0700

What Is A Brand Positioning Statement?

Why Do I Need One For My Company?

A brand positioning statement is an internal guiding compass for your business. It will effectively identify your brand’s path and you will be on your way to successfully communicate your brand story - consistently and authentically. You want your company positioning statement to be something that you and your team can repeat verbally and visually over and over again. Every sales, operation, product, and marketing decision you make regarding your brand has to align with and support your positioning statement. In simplest terms a brand positioning statement describes what your company does, the target audience, and what makes you different.

Your Brand Positioning Statement is a distillation of your brand strategy that outlines the objectives and tactics for your company so you stand out in the market. The overall strategy is crucial to grab the attention of your target audience and develop consistent and authentic communications tactics and messaging.

Your Positioning Statement Is Important Because:

It is an unmistakable and an easily understood picture of your brand that differentiates from your competitors
It brings credibility to your business and delivers on your promise
It is simple and memorable and tailored to your business
It “forces” you to develop consistent and authentic messaging

There Are Five Components...Read More

A Creative Brief Roadmap

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 16:00:28 -0700

A Creative Brief Roadmap
How To Write A Creative Brief That Gives You The Best Results
Starting the creative process for any branding or marketing project in your business can be a daunting task - if you let it. But if you have a roadmap and outline of what you need and your expectations you can manage the process with ease and have a little fun while you do it.
The job of a creative brief is to provide insights to help the creative team - graphic designer, copywriter, artist, web designer, or social media manager. You want to provide the right amount and the right data points for the team to provide you with “on-brand” creative and content that is consistent and authentic for your business. Don’t let your creative brief be a data dump of research and information that the team needs to sift through. Provide concise info that will help them gather the insights they need without getting too far into the weeds.
I have created a Creative Brief Template to help you down the path to your best creative development. I have 14 topics or “categories” for you to consider. You don’t have to include each topic in every brief but I am providing a topline overview so that you have a full outline of what is important for your creative brief. Here are the key topics to include:
Project Summary
Project Details
Key Message Objective
Current Assets
Company Vision and Values
Company...Read More

Execute, Engage, and Excite With Authentic and Consistent Content

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 14:06:27 -0700

Execute, Engage, and Excite With Authentic and Consistent Content
It is time to kick-start your content strategy and grow your business awareness. Every three months I like to have a post-it party for my clients’ content strategy. I jot down topics and ideas, build a timeline and start to batch write the content. I’m sure you are posting to social media and creating a blog post here and there. But it is time to pull together a content strategy that you can be proud of. But where do you start? You can start with your own post-it party and take a look at these three areas you can focus your energy and create content that is consistent and authentic.
Link Your Content Strategy To The Vision Of Your Company
Follow a 30/60/10 Content Strategy Rule
Create A Content Calendar And Bulk Write Your Content
Link Your Content Strategy To The Vision Of Your Company
Your Content Strategy, Objectives, and Tactics should all align with your company Vision - they are all connected as part of consistent messaging. Your vision is the inspiration that drives your business so be sure to connect your content strategy to this vision. Don’t just talk about your products, share ideas and topics that relate to the passion that drives your business. If your company’s vision and purpose are to change the behavior of consumers to help make an impact on climate, be sure to share stories, tips, and actions that your fans can follow to take action. Or for example, you could collaborate with The Sierra Club or 350 Colorado to generate action and awareness for key campaigns. Build a story that is bigger than your products that aligns with your vision. Your target audience will get involved with you and soon you will have a bigger community moving full steam ahead.
Follow a 30/60/10 Content Strategy Rule
Thirty percent of your content should be owned-original content to...Read More

Setting Your Marketing Budget To Get Results

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 19:02:42 -0700

Setting Your Marketing Budget To Get Results
Setting your marketing budget can be challenging and you don’t want to play with your business money like it is Monopoly money. It is important to set up a budget with key objectives so that you can prioritize and measure your success. Where do you start?
Start with your marketing strategy - what is your plan of action to attain your company vision and mission
Set your marketing budget
Prioritize your marketing tactics
Be realistic with the tactics and resources you are allocating - people and dollars. What categories of marketing tactics are most important to connect with your target audience? I have included a downloadable excel spreadsheet (Brand Guide_Brandamentals Academy_ Marketing Budget Template.xlsx) that I have bucketed the different categories you should consider for your business. When determining your priorities look at this as an evolving process, not a one-time exercise. Your marketing strategy should be focused but it is also a test and learn model. You should always be learning and adapting to what is and is not working.
The marketing and sales team should work together to determine priorities and allocations for the budget. The marketing budget has two compartments 1. the end consumer and 2. the retailer. Working together with sales instead of in silos will allow you to build a budget that will allow you to sell your products into retail and pull your products off the shelf with point-of-sale and retailer-focused tactics. The key is to understand the delineation of what is budgeted to marketing and what belongs to sales.
I have included 15 categories for marketing spend. Each one can be customized to your specific marketing tactics and highlights a few ideas where you can direct your dollars.
Social Media
Public Relations
Ecommerce and Email...Read More