Food Business Entrepreneurial Training Academy #6: Marketing & Communications

1. Food Business Entrepreneurial Training Academy#6: Marketing & Communications Alameda County SBDC FREMONT, CA 1/24/2019

2. Thank you to our partners

3. Thank you to our sponsors

4. Marketing & Communications So, what’s the deal? • Brand Story or DNA • Positioning • Brand Identity • Local Marketing Strategies • Social Media

5. MarComm Strategy • Marketing communication helps to develop brand awareness, which means that consumers translate product information into perceptions about the product’s attributes and its position within the larger market. Businesses also use marketing communication to retain the product’s current customer base, and to cement relationships with customers. • Marketing communication strategy defines the business’s plan for product information dissemination and brand awareness development.

6. Elements of Mar Comm Strategy

7. Components Marketing is in everything you do: • Name and logo • Uniforms • Customer service • Product design • Pricing • Community connections

8. Branding leads to Positioning • What’s a brand? • How to create the brand story • What’s positioning? • How do we measure a brand? • How do we measure a position? • What goes into each?

9. What’s the cost of a Brand? • Far less than the cost of not creating one. • Marketing • Branding • Positioning

10. Positioning Positioning is the process of creating an image or identity in the marketplace in relation to others. Positioning is more about an external perspective. Position on a playing field. Every brand positions itself with consumers, some do it passively (unintentionally) and some do it actively (on purpose). You want to position yourself Actively!

11. Positioning Statements A positioning statement has 3 components: • Defines the target audience • States the category in which brand competes • Points out the benefit over other brands Ex.: For upscale American families, Volvo is the family automobile that offers maximum safety.

12. Formula for a Positioning Statement If you are stuck building your statement, try this formula: “ For (target customer) who (statement of the need or opportunity), the (product name) is a (product category) that (statement of key benefit – that is, compelling reason to buy).”

13. The Four P’s Your Position Statement helps you to determine the 4 P’s (and they, in turn, influence your position with customers): • Product- attributes and features and benefits • Promotion - what you say about your business in the media, in advertising, on the web, etc. • Price - how you set the prices for your products • Place - where you locate your shop and how you decorate it, or what your packaging looks like

14. Brand Identity Your brand should be recognizable throughout everything you do: • Voice & tone of the brand • Logos • Uniforms • Menus • Ads and Promotions • Web Site • Media • Blogs • Social Media….

15. Consistent Branding: Brand Book Always use the same: • Colors • Fonts • Designs • Tagline • Positioning statement

16. What is Local Marketing? • The basis for local store marketing is simple: • Build new first-time customers • Increase guest frequency • Check averages and party size • Local store marketing is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to build sales.

17. Building Brand Ambassadors First impressions are everything in your business. • Starts with Customer Service • Train your staff to put customers first • Staff that believe in your business, in your values and in your product will share that • Ask customers to share with friends • Let them know that you value their good word

18. Local Marketing Strategies • Loyalty and Rewards Programs • Retain your customers, get repeat business, increase the frequency of visits • Drink and Dessert Specials • Increase check averages • Get Connected to the Community • Join Chambers, Rotary, Lions • Have a spot for a community bulletin board

19. Why Social Media? • This is no longer a real option for businesses today. If you don’t have a presence on the web, it doesn’t mean you aren’t on there - the review sites are listing you and talking about you, you just aren’t in control. • It’s free. It’s easy. It’s the best way to shape your brand and share who you are with the people who are looking for you. • What is the 1st rule of social media?

20. Rules of the Road • Separate yourself from your business • Think about your business’ “voice” and try to write from that place consistently • Everything you say online lives forever • Don’t type anything you don’t want everyone to see

21. Start with Review Sites Register yourself at: • Yelp • Urbanspoon • Yahoo Local • Google Places for Business • YP.com (yellowpages.com)

22. What About Bad Reviews? • Handling a negative review well can make you look good and help you fix problems. • Key is to check your reviews often and respond quickly to negative reviews. • Thank them for pointing out the issue, apologize for the inconvenience, assure them that is not how you do things at your shop and it won’t happen again. • Make yourself the good guy!

23. Facebook Basics • As a business you will start a page • People who “like” your page will be your “fans” • Your fans will be able to see what you and other fans post to the page • You can add other “administrators” to the page to help you run it

24. Posting on Facebook • Post about : • Menu items • Employee of month • Milestone events as you grow • Holidays, etc. • Photo albums are a great feature: • Your shop/kitchen • Your food!

25. Twitter Twitter is great for quick updates about what’s going on: • New menu items • Changes in store hours • Specials or sales • Announcements of events

26. Course Syllabus

27. Resources • The Brand Called You • https://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you • Top 10 Branding Mistakes • http://brendabence.com/mediaroom/articles/Top_10_Branding_Mistakes_Entrepreneurs_Make.pdf