{"id":3541,"date":"2018-03-22T11:29:56","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T15:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acaweb.ca\/en\/?p=3541"},"modified":"2018-03-23T09:11:45","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T13:11:45","slug":"disruption-food-marketing-heres-brands-respond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/2018\/disruption-food-marketing-heres-brands-respond\/","title":{"rendered":"Disruption In Food Marketing: Here\u2019s How Brands Should Respond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"food<\/p>\n

Baby boomer consumers may still have most of the food purchasing power in Canada, but millennials are changing the way we shop for food, cook and eat it.<\/p>\n

That was the overarching theme of an ACA webinar<\/a> delivered by Jo-Ann McArthur, president and chief strategist of Nourish Food Marketing, earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Millennials] are behaving significantly different than previous generations,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they are starting to become parents.\u201d In other words, their influence will only grow and spread into new categories. <\/p>\n

That, combined with other sweeping, macro-level trends, means the food industry is in the midst of profound disruption and marketers in the space need to adjust their brand strategies and tactics accordingly, said McArthur.
\nOne of the biggest factors reshaping the food industry is the near ubiquity of technology in consumers\u2019 lives\u2014particularly with millennials. For instance, research shows 51% of consumers watch videos for food and drink ideas, how-tos, and recipes, 59% of those 25 to 34 cook with a smartphone or tablet nearby, and 68% of millennial moms watch videos while they are cooking, said McArthur. <\/p>\n

At the same time, kitchens are becoming more connected and voice assistants\u2014like Amazon\u2019s Alexa and Google\u2019s Home\u2014have become the latest must-have technology. \u201cThis should cause concern for brands because when a consumer shouts an order for milk across the kitchen, who is deciding which brand to choose,\u201d asked McArthur. <\/p>\n

Marketers need to ensure their website is optimized for voice search and start doing more voice SEO, she said.
\nSimilarly, blockchain is a super-hot topic and it too could affect the food industry. Consumers care more and more about where their food comes from and what was involved in bringing it to store shelves, said McArthur. \u201cIt used to be that consumers wanted to know, now they think they have a right to know.\u201d And they expect that with technology they should be able to trace the entire journey of food along the supply chain and validate whatever health claims are made. Blockchain, which has transparency as its defining attribute, will make this even more possible than it is today. Look for big food players to adopt blockchain-based processes and other traceability measures to demonstrate to their customers that they have nothing to hide. <\/p>\n

And finally, with e-commerce gaining popularity, the food retail industry has been focused on online shopping, though the market remains relatively underdeveloped in Canada, accounting for just 2% to 3% of sales. <\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s acquisition of Whole Foods is a \u201cgame-changer,\u201d she said and Nielsen in the U.S. forecasts online to account for 20% of the market by 2025. We\u2019re also seeing new iterations and options starting to emerge, from in-store to curb-side pickup, to delivery services that will put the groceries into fridges and pantries for the customer. \u201cCreepy maybe, but in the world of the connected home this is a… reality,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Here are just a few more of the tasty information morsels McArthur served up during her fast-paced, insight rich presentation. <\/p>\n