Brandi Ray

When is it too soon to refresh your brand? While Sweety has only been around in its current state since 2019, we saw how quickly start up brands in CPG have evolved and we wanted to do a better job of telling our family story on pack. Sweety's #rebrand has been in the works for well over a year - and has been a labor of love for me personally and professionally. For those who know me, my past jobs have been strategic, quantitative, analytical...but never creative or artistic. Stepping into #entrepreneurship has meant that I wear a lot of hats, and the one that has surprised me the most in how much I enjoy it is that of a creative leader. I wanted to make sure we had the right partner in place to guide us in this journey, and manifest our brand vision into reality. I researched brands I loved and which agency did their branding work. After many agency interviews, we found Chase Design Group. The team, comprised of Paula Hansanugrum, Annie Dodge, Ryan Doro, Elisabeth O'Brien, Narae Park and John Tanner is like family to us now. We loved loved loved working with them, and they were so respectful of our wants, desires, our family history, while bringing in such creative ideas and knowledge about how to highlight products in store to the table. They really did a phenomenal job of bringing the fun, joy, family, heritage and shelf appeal to our brand. Oh they may have done Haagen-Dazs rebrand recently - so we know we're in good company. And now the feather in our cap is a feature by Dieline....if you asked Stacey and I, a sure sign that we've done it right? It would be an article like this about the rebrand. So now the rebrand is in the world - and I can't wait to see it in the wild (along with that childhood picture of the 3 of us). #aapimonth #foodandbeverage #design #branding

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The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola zero sugar...after a stronger-than-expected second quarter 2024 performance that was announced today, which saw net sales revenue increase 3% to $12.4 billion, the Coca-Cola Company has raised its full-year outlook. Coca-Cola’s latest earnings success comes at a time when the soda business as a whole is in decline. Between 2004 and 2023, the volume of carbonated soft drinks bought and sold in America decreased by -27%, according to trade publication Beverage Digest. Still, amid the category’s downward trajectory one brand has continued to rise, capturing more market share in the past 20 years than all the others. That brand: Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is an ongoing example of how superior taste drives consumer demand, with Coca Cola Zero seeing a +20% global volumes increase. The strong performance of Coca-Cola's Zero sugar variants, is reflective of an overall beverages category move to Zero sugar offerings as consumers look for healthier beverages choices, with zero calories and sugar. For any beverages brand owner or manufacturer looking to create great tasting 😋 beverages innovations 💡 with reduced or zero sugar, please reach out to the beverages team at Kerry, we are here to help. #cocacola #cocacolazero #zerosugar #sugar #softdrinks #taste #zerocalories #refreshingbeverages #tastsesense Erlon Pereira Marc LEJEUNE Breda Kelly Tiphaine BEAU Farrah Gilsenan Thomas Hahlin Ahlinder Sheelagh Pentony Carol Dunne Gwyneth Kelly Michelle Osagie Mark Allen Leigh-Anne Vaughan Massimo Barbeni Romel Doshi, MBA Sam Choucha Nina Riggins Sergio Saavedra Rodríguez Birgit Schaaf Ian Chesworth Erika Minaguchi Magdalena Edyta Przewoźnik Barbara Lezzer David Deeley Brian Short Aoife Mc Donald Elaine Druhan Juan Soto Daniel S. Xavier Herrera

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Cautious lower-income consumers and slower restaurant sales are squeezing Kraft Heinz. The packaged food product company on Wednesday (May 1) released earnings showing a 1.2% drop in sales, driven by lower-income consumers spending less at both the supermarket and on meals away from home. The company said it raised its prices 2.7% year over -year to offset the cost of goods such as coffee. “The gap between high and low earners continues to remain wide, and it shows a clear and continued bifurcation,” CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera said during an earnings call. “So the lower-income consumers are challenged with interest rates remaining high, gas prices elevated and savings dwindling. So there’s a clear pullback of restaurant spend by these lower-earning households, especially in restaurants and convenience stores. These consumers instead are looking for value as they prepare more meals at home.” #inflation Kraft Heinz #groceryindustry

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For CPG brands, transparency with buyers is critical. You need to be transparent about what your capabilities are, as well as what they ARE NOT. Promising a buyer you can do something and then not delivering on that promise is the surest way to lose their trust forever. I was reminded of the importance of transparency by the latest of Ryan Holiday's books, titled, "Right Thing, Right Now." It's part of his Stoic Virtues series, and it focuses on the value of doing good in this world. One quote from the book on this topic really stood out to me: "How many marriages would survive our spouse looking at our phone? Or our boss seeing what's in our email? How many reputations would survive a lawsuit that made it to discovery? If we are inclined to hide it, we probably shouldn't do it. If we dread the publicity, maybe we are not living or doing right. " We should strive for the opposite. We want people to see what we are doing. We want to be the city on a hill. We should be the kind of person [or brand, in this case] who the more they hear about us, the more they respect and admire us." Can your company survive being an "open book" to your buyers and consumers? If not, perhaps it's time to take a look inward. #business #smallbusiness #cpg #retail #ethics #ecrmrangeme ECRM RangeMe

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💡 Innovation fuels food volume recovery amidst inflation challenges. Conagra Brands CEO highlights a positive shift in consumer behavior, with new products drawing shoppers back to frozen and snack aisles. While inflation's still a hurdle, we're seeing "green shoots" of recovery as shoppers return to their habits. 💪 Conagra's revamped, trendy product lines are a prime example of innovation in action. 🤔 For CPG brands in the food & beverage sector, innovation is a MUST. At IBDC, we're helping our clients navigate this ever-changing landscape with innovative solutions.  What innovative strategies are YOU seeing in the market? Share your insights below! 👇 #innovation #CPG #foodandbeverage

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Coke vs. Pepsi? Not so fast.   For the first time, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. has now claimed the #2 soda spot in America, surpassing PepsiCo, who had held the position for over two decades. Their innovative marketing initiatives and unique blend of flavors have truly set them apart from the competition. I had the chance to discuss Dr. Pepper's remarkable rise with The Food Institute, emphasizing their strategy and how they have particularly resonated with the younger demographic, who crave diverse flavors beyond traditional cola.   In the article, I mentioned: "Dr. Pepper has distinguished itself through effective marketing campaigns that emphasize its unique flavor and individuality. This strategy resonates particularly well with younger demographics seeking alternatives to traditional cola drinks."   With Dr. Pepper's leap to the #2 position, do you think they have a shot at dethroning The Coca-Cola Company from the #1 spot? In which other categories do you think a shift like this is possible? Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g572y5jv   #MarketingStrategy #BeverageIndustry #Innovation #DrPepper

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There was a moment in last week's Roundtable when Emily Flannery declared, "that's right: beverages are officially a snack, too." The way we see category lines blurring, overlapping and/or completely falling away is fascinating, and a huge opportunity for food & bev brands with the nerve to keep up. Did you see it yet? Give the convo a watch right here: https://okt.to/XpGrUZ And if this glimpse into the future inspires you, let's chat! #futurefluent #futureofsnacking #cpgtrends

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I was really inspired by Angela Marturano's post about trailblazers. Now is the time for trailblazers. In the consumer packaged goods space we need to start building brands better. This hockey stick growth model with VC $ just doesn't make sense for all brands or meet their goals. It is time to explore a more strategic way to build a brand with the right retail partners and a distributor model that is supported by the system the brand has in place or can afford to build. Some trailblazers below to connect with: Kathryn Flouton Sara S., Kathryn Tuttle Elliot Begoun Annie Woo Tal Garden🎗️ #salesleadership #advisor

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Modernizing legacy brands for a new generation of consumers is no easy feat. Earlier in my career, I was fortunate to work on teams that accomplished that for two legacy Kraft Heinz brands: Jell-O and Crystal Light. Critical to those successes were the same lessons Gail Hollander discusses in this article: * how to successfully update a brand by understanding its role in the culture and category without walking too far away from the brand truth and its DNA * creating winning marketing strategies by leveraging the art (creative thinking) and the science (data-driven decisions); and * breaking down silos to align the entire organization around long-term brand building I took these lessons I learned and recently wrote an article about how integral they also are for building successful CX strategies: https://lnkd.in/ecPhFpMz

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Here's an example of big companies making a deeper play into private label brands. Walmart's bettergoods offers customers a new elevated experience delivering quality #food at a great value. With #inflation holding fairly steady, consumers are looking for good value and great quality. It’ll be interesting to see how #cpg brands fight back with customer loyalty, brand building, pricing, and innovation. #FoodandBeverage #cpg

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How I almost screwed up Betty Crocker - a 2 part tale of failure and redemption Many years ago (too many) I was an innovation associate at General Mills in the convenience division. That meant my job was to take our awesome brands and create new items in convenience stores. The current playbook most successful companies were using was to take well established grocery items and make them bigger - super size it baby! The convenience channel wasn’t typically one where consumers spent a lot of time browsing - the average in and out time was less than 5 minutes. That’s gotta be just small thinking right? So I launched Betty Crocker Devils Food Bites and Cookie Bars. These things tasted amazing and I committed nearly every innovation sin in the process. I say nearly because they did taste great - thanks R&D team! So where did I F up? 1. There was no frame of reference. Consumers weren’t buying these items at their grocery store so they couldn’t walk in to a c-store and say ‘wow, how cool for me to be able to get these here’ - I was relying on a consumer to discover something new in a channel that was already more $$ where they were time constrained 2. We wanted to be in the confection set because these tasted like ‘sweet rewards’ - problem is Betty wasn’t known for confection, we didn’t have any relationships to get them in there so we ended up in the warehouse set with things like Chips Ahoy. This meant we were now a fish out of water. Future me would have stopped right here when we found out it was a no go. But I was new with an MBA so why let that stop us. 3. The brand fit was off. Berry is known for accessible, easy to make, homemade treats. These were already made and seemed fancy. Not the traditional offering so even for Betty super fans it was a stretch. We even had fancy gold packaging. So… suffice to say. It didn’t work. It was short lived and I learned a lot. 1. It’s hard to break channel and category norms. If you want to break from the pack you need a lot of time, $, and a dash of luck. 2. If you can’t land in the aisle you need to, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Don’t just take distribution to get it. Not all distribution is good and the turns data for like items in the space should have stopped us from shipping out of the gates. 3. If you’re going to take a 100 year old brand and extend it to a new channel - start by doing a job it does well. And then, maybe only then, get fancy with the gold packaging. :) Stay tuned tomorrow for how I learned my lesson and made it up to Betty Crocker. But first, I can’t be alone here. What innovation sins have you made and what did you learn. Comment 👇🏽 ----- Enjoying these posts? Don't miss out! Click the 🔔 on my profile, I post every day around 7 central. And be sure to follow me for the latest and greatest. #innovation #consumerproducts #brandbuilding #brandidentity #positioning

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I recently met a gentleman who retired from Pepsico after over 25 years as a VP of Operations. During our conversation, he mentioned being occasionally invited to participate in brand initiatives for Doritos. One interesting anecdote he shared involved a Doritos brand standard—the signature triangle shape. This standard was overridden by a marketing executive to greenlight a partnership with a major fast-food brand, even though the shape requirement couldn't be honored. He noted that this decision didn’t seem to hurt the brand, justifying it with "flat sales figures." However, there are several flaws in this thinking: -Sales or other behavior metrics aren't always true indicators of brand injury. Attitudes typically precede shifts in consumer behavior, meaning there can be a lag before the impact is realized. Measurements should include what happens in the mind, not just on spreadsheets. -While truly egregious acts might result in an instant knockout (36% of consumers will outright stop using a preferred brand according to our national research), most damage comes from repeated jabs. Starbucks' ongoing issues can be tied to many off-brand decisions that have relegated it to a commodity. -Most troubling is the marketing executive's decision to let the toothpaste out of the tube. Good luck getting it back in. It reminds me of when Papa Johns, which once touted "better ingredients," decided Cheetos was one of them. How can you then say no to broccoli or sardines? Brand standards are not guidelines, suggestions, or conditional. They are there to protect the brand that your consumers come to expect. No amount of money or opportunity should lead to compromising them. Just ask Boeing.

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CPG Panel — “More than commerce”: 🔥 We are working on a mega panel (June 13) of CPG powerhouses right now including some of my great friends: Jamie Schwab (Colgate-Palmolive) Jamie Decker (Del Monte Foods, Inc.). We will be diving into the importance of driving direct-to-customer engagement through digital, not just commerce. Topics: (4) 1. First-party data strategies 2. Customer engagement 3. Omnichannel marketing 4. No doubt AI! We still have a few panelists spots remaining, feel free send me a DM or comment below if you may be interested or know some who would be great for this topic. #ecommerce #digital #omnichannel #strategy #cmo #cdo #ceo #cro #leadership #retailecommerceclub #cpg #privateequity #playtowin

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Great time with Elanie and Kay from the Renegade Nutrition Podcast! Their content is always so timely related to changes in the science of nutrition, it's impact on our wellness, and how we can all be better at 'biohacking'. We discussed the importance of polyphenols in the diet for longevity, data from blue zones, and Goode Health. Give it a listen (if you have an hour or listen at 1.75x speed) and follow Renegade!

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We have seen remarkable performance from our clients who have adopted a strong digital shopper marketing strategy. These clients have enhanced customer engagement, boosted digital retail sales, and increased brand loyalty. Our latest article explores the most effective strategies. By implementing these tactics, brands can stay competitive, build deeper customer connections, and achieve sustained growth in today's dynamic retail market. #celeritycpg #digitalshoppermarketing #retailmedia #cpgnews

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Did you ever think of shopping as a team sport? Our #pepviz Hispanic Shopper Insights reveal that 79% of Hispanics go shopping with someone else. This makes them twice as likely to shop with others than shoppers in general and also 77% more likely to like and engage with store displays. This is why it’s so important for us at PepsiCo to innovate products and create new campaigns to engage with all of our customers and consumers.   Learn more interesting Hispanic Shopper behaviors and findings here: https://bit.ly/pepviz-data   Kate Garner, Antonio Escalona, Esperanza Teasdale, Erin Ness Cathey, Shannon Amundson, Ryan Sexton, Aracely (Cely) Moreno-Mosier, Valeria Rivas, Monica Bauer Mengelberg

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The moderation trend is continuing to accelerate! The NA segment of on-premise beer sales in the U.S. jumped 33.7% over the last 52 weeks with broad-based gains in all 50 states! 💪 📈 🍻 At Partake Brewing we are seeing on-premise operators move from offering 1 NA beer option to now several with macros and craft represented in addition to house mocktails. 🍺 🍷 🍹 This is an exciting time for the non-drinker and moderator alike! Gone are the days of water, juice, milk, and soda as the non-alcoholic options. 🤩 https://lnkd.in/gibbdbPB

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What might the next big thing in plant-based beverages be? Our unique, collaborative, data-driven foresight methodology is designed to help you create your future business in plant-based beverages. #plantbased #foresights #insights

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Walmart is launching a premium private label tier – bettergoods – to offer trendy, chef inspired items at the accessible price points Consumers expect from Walmart. In an interesting strategy twist, the +300 items in the line will have no direct national brand competitor, instead focusing on bringing Walmart Shoppers an expanded offering of culinary inspired tastes, plant-based offerings and “made without” options in categories like frozen, dairy, snacks, beverages & more.   The move appears to be a way to draw higher income shoppers from Costco, Whole Foods & Trader Joe’s – retailers known for their rotating selections and in-store discovery experiences. The bettergoods launch is also a way to tidy up the Walmart private label portfolio because they’ll be eliminating the Sam’s Choice product line altogether and pivoting those SKUs into Great Value, bettergoods or full discontinuation. Personally, I’m skeptical that the presence of these premium offerings on Walmart shelves will be enough to lure higher income shoppers because Walmart will still lack the more intimate and experiential shopping environment that those winning in the super premium grocery space can provide. Nonetheless, I’m excited to try the hot honey butter, raspberry cardamom & rose fruit spread, and the coconut lime seltzer water. #Walmart #PrivateLabel #CPG https://lnkd.in/gBQ64Q8y

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