I recently wrote about two food products that intrigued me – Halo Top Ice Cream and Beyond Meat. Their stories caught my attention, and they both had approaches to marketing that offered distinctively different promise.
Since I hadn’t tried either product, I felt like I needed to see if they lived up to their promise or if the product fell short of what I expected.
The score is one kept its promise and one failed.
The Winner
Beyond Meat is a plant-based protein product that claimed to deliver a chicken-like texture product. I was skeptical that the product would be edible as other similar products were hard to swallow. I found their Vegetarian Vietnamese Lemongrass Beyond Chicken sold in the freezer case at a new Sprouts that opened near my home.
The pea-protein chicken had a texture that was extremely close to real chicken. The entrée was under $5.00 and the lemongrass, ginger flavors were subtle and delicious. I’m hooked and I hate peas.
The Loser
I found Halo Top at Whole Foods and was anxious to taste this ice cream made to reduce the calories using several different sweeteners dramatically. Sadly, the product was icy and disappointing. It reminded me of ice milk – a terrible product from the past that tasted like flavored ice chips. I bought their original product – 240 calories per serving, and it didn’t do the job for me. If I want lower calories while consuming ice cream, I will hire single serve frozen yogurt bars or another single serve, proportioned products to meet that need.
Marketing Lessons and Promises
You only get a chance or two to deliver on your promise. A brand’s reputation is the greatest asset it can have as it tries to gain and maintain customers while growing.
- Is your promise clear to your customers?
- Do you know if they believe you are delivering on your commitment?
- Are you losing customers because you say one thing, but do something else?
- Is your promise BIG and BOLD and HAIRY so that it gains attentions and awareness?
- Do you live up to your claims?
- Have you really created something different and can you promise a truly new experience?
Food brands that don’t keep their promises don’t get invited into the shopping cart again.
I promise I can listen to your situation and will offer a series of ideas and recommendations to help you improve your marketing. My promise is to provide you with an alternative approach to solve your marketing challenges. To learn more, call me at 919 720 0995. Watch this video to get a sense of how I view marketing and brand building.
I love to cook. Check out my video about making stuffed cabbage!
https://pixabay.com/en/lying-promises-deception-dishonesty-1562272/ tswedensky
