Why are there so many foodies? What to do with them?

I have been giving some thought to food programmes on TV recently. I don’t watch them very much but so many of my friends and family do, I have always been curious as to the appeal. I will admit to having watched two series of New Scandinavian Cooking but that was because I had a horrible crush on Tina Nordström which I think does account for the popularity of certain well known culinary personalities. What does strike me from looking into this phenomenon is that Foodies are a huge market. The sales of celebrity chef cook books attest to that as well as the numerous hellish spin offs of Gordon the Swearing Scotsman. (No not the former PM)

Why are foodies so numerous? Because nearly 100% of the consumer base cook on a daily basis and they don't want to have the same chicken and potatoes every night. Amateur chefs are moms, dads, young adults, retirees and busy families. With the ongoing recessionary conditions (it can be argued that the recession is over but inflationary pressure is driving up all prices) many people are looking at their kitchens as a way to spice up their lives, pardon the pun, restaurants are suffering slightly as Jack and Jill experiment in the kitchen rather than take that easy meal out.

Given the size of this market, how can brands engage foodies? The obvious answer is through advertising and social media.

If you are selling a directly related product, knives or crockery then the route to the hearts of your clients is through their stomachs. It is easy to see how a brand associated with a celebrity chef like Tefal with Jamie Oliver could use the likes of Facebook and Twitter to great effect to grow a following of Jamie fans and indeed convince them not only to buy Tefal but to promote it to their “Friends”.

Marketing experts around the world are telling businesses to get involved with social media, but many companies are not clear on what to offer to a social network. Cooking and recipe information can’t work for all brands, but for food or cooking supply brands it is an easy fit. This type of information is exactly what their customers are after. Social network features such as recipe of the day or encouraging their fans to add their own recipes can be really powerful loyalty builders.

As far as advertising is concerned, a recent study from About.com discovered that there is a new community of cooks out there who are active online and searching for recipes, tips, equipment and secrets to improve their cooking and meal planning. Companies are presented with an opportunity to reach this group, just as they discover a need for a particular item. This could lead on to a quick sale if there is advertising directly to an e-commerce store or a coupon that offers an in store discount.

Mobile applications are another way that brands can engage with foodies. A food or diet related application could capture useful demographic data. This data can be used to thoughtfully target advertising at consumers. The Advertising need not necessarily be food related as having good demographic data to hand the advertising could be targeting the wider interests of each group.

I hope this has wetted your appetite for marketing to the hungry masses and I have not left a bad taste in your mouth with one too many food puns. Bon Appétit!

Holiday shoppers spending more online than in-store

The latest Compete Holiday Insights survey shows that in recent weeks more money was spent online by holiday shoppers than in-store.

As of Sunday, November 7, almost two-thirds of respondents to Compete's survey had begun their holiday shopping and 14% had made more than half of their intended purchases.

Many are going online to do their holiday shopping and, for the first time since the beginning of October, more money was spent on holiday items online than in-store.

On average, in the week to November 7, consumers spent $185 online, up 30% from 2 weeks prior, whereas offline spend averaged $175, down 32% from 2 weeks prior.

While increased shopping across all product categories was apparent, the largest increases were in clothing and shoes, toys and games, and movies and video Games.

Other recent data from Compete indicates that holiday shoppers are turning to the Internet for upcoming Black Friday deals. While traffic to Black Friday websites has already exceeded 2008 levels, there is some way to go before it tips those of 2009.

Get Your Message to High Net Worth Individuals.

Pretty much every day, I speak to clients who want to "contact" high net worth individuals. There is a common perception that NHW folk have too much disposable income and are just falling over themselves to buy stuff from websites. The Truth is that they are probably slightly less likely to sacrefice the instant gratification of the high street to save a few pennies. They are probably also less likely to object to the £4 parking charge in town too.

However there is one thing that people with lots of money usually have? That's right - gadgets. It's therefore not surprising to learn that affluent members of society are choosing to get their newspaper and magazine fix via their digital gadgets. As a result, readership of the printed editions of popular broadsheets has dropped.Ipsos Mendelsohn has recently published a report indicating that the vast majority, (98%) of the affluent are now online compared to 70% of the rest of population. The effect on offline newspaper and magazine readerships isn't hard to work out.

The Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey found readership of paper publications among the affluent has dropped by 16% in the last year while time spent on the Internet rose 13%.While this survey doesn't necessarily ring the death knell for printed media, it does demonstrate the need for publications to offer a digital channel.

Around 20% of U.S. homes, or 44 million households, qualify as affluent in 2010 meaning they had an annual income of $100,000 or more a year. If you are one of my clients and you want to ask me how to contact Affluent people, use digital versions of popular publications. Leading Weekend newspapers, the Financial Times, New Scientist etc... have on-line advertising and affiliate schemes to market your products. If these work in conjunction with a quality on-line proposition. You may be onto a winner.

Social media users' brand-love limited, wrath unlimited

This year's Cone New Media Study contains some interesting findings around the limit of a consumer's brand loyalty on social media. Cone's study found that while millions of brands are accessible on social platforms, just five brands can command the loyalty and trust of your average social media user at any one time.

"With the world's most loved brands a click of the mouse away, new media users still choose to demonstrate affinity (e.g., "like" on Facebook, "follow" on Twitter or subscribe to an RSS feed) for an average of only 4.6 companies online, making this club one of the most exclusive to which a company can hope to gain access," says Cone.

Consumers are fickle and, while tempting them to Like or Follow a brand may be as easy as offering discounts and promotions, unless they have good reason to sick they are likely to walk on. To this end, social media marketing must engage punters with compelling content and an ongoing,conversation.

And, be aware that the flow of information on social media sites isn't always positive. The wrath of a dissatisfied social media user can travel far and wide. Cone found that over half of dissatisfied consumers (58%) remove their support on Facebook and Twitter.

Worse still, some unhappy social media users will use every social outlet possible to make sure the world and his dog know about a blunder.

European shoppers are ready for m-commerce

Retailers across Europe need to develop their m-commerce strategies fast as many shoppers across the region plan on using their mobile devices for m-commerce in the next year.

Just as most of us are getting used to e-commerce, a new kid rocks up and starts throwing his weight around in the digital marketplace. That is right, m-commerce is here and its getting all up in your face!

According to new figures released by Akamai, media distribution specialists, a third (30%) of consumers across Europe are using, or plan to use, their mobile devices to conduct e-commerce.

Ten percent of them are already using mobile devices to make purchases and 20% intend to start doing so within the next 12 months. I must add that I personally have completed a number of purchases from my mobile phone, from pizza to dvds.

The evidence indicates that despite there being thousands of mobile apps relating to retailers and brands, consumers in prefer to use mobile browsers to access the Internet. I have done both and although the Amazon app is adequate, a mobile friendly website is much better and usually more up to date with offers and your shopping history.

Recent research by Orange indicates that, mobile browser use was found to be highest in the U.K. (70%) although a similar percentage of French mobile users also prefer browsers (68%). The Spanish are split evenly between browsers and apps while Poland is the only country to favor apps over browsers (45% vs. 39%).

"With increasing numbers of shoppers going online with mobile devices, it is important for retailers to get their mobile e-commerce strategies right the first time and the need for security, website performance, scalability and availability has never been more important to underpin success in the online marketplace," says Akamai's international marketing vice-president, Martin Haering.

Akamai's research also indicates an increase in online spending among 30% of the 1,500 respondents while Spain emerged as the fastest growing e-commerce market in Europe, where 44% of consumers reported a willingness to spend more on-line. The highest spenders online in Europe tend to be aged between 35 and 54 years of age, each spending around $2,111 per year.

Nearly two thirds (62%) of respondents purchased clothes and footwear online, making this the largest category of spend in the survey, followed by more 'traditional' online items such as books and magazines (59%). Online travel accounted for nearly half (47%) of spend.

"E-commerce sales keep growing - despite the recession online sales grew by over 20% in 2009 - and the market is rapidly diversifying," commented Ivano Ortis, research director at IDC Retail Insights, which carried out the research.

"Basket size is increasing, as is the level of services and support that customers are expecting from e-commerce websites."

The moral of the story is, if your customers are diversifying the way they shop, are you diversifying the way you sell? If you are still holding out in going e-commerce, this is the time to address that and look at making your new site mobile friendly.