The Digestible Brand -

How Smart Nutrition Marketing Built the “Millennial Snack Brand”

Hippeas makes their massive growth look easy peasy. Here’s how they hacked the system, and how your brand can do the same.

Peas are having a moment. Not those green things you used to push around your plate. These Snackaprenuers have discovered how to puff up peas into a delicious crunchy snack (and they’re better than Cheetos). A few months ago, I wrote about Harvest Snaps, a pea-based snack product with a big focus on health. Today, I’ll be taking a look at another popular pea-based brand that takes a different approach. Chickpea-based Hippeas, preaches peace and love — as in peas and love. You probably first spotted these bold bags at Starbucks. That’s because they were launched as part of a [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-11-16T22:52:08+00:00 December 10th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Experiential, General, Influencers, Marketing, Packaging, Public Relations, Research, Social Media, Tradeshow, Trends|0 Comments

Taking the Junk out of Nutrition Marketing

Part of gaining loyalty for your food brand involves having a clear mission on behalf of your consumers — if part of that mission is helping people eat better, take a look at what SnackNation has done, and apply those lessons.

The mission of some food brands is laser-focused. Enter SnackNation, who states it very clearly: “We got started with this crazy idea of making healthy food more convenient than junk food, and we’ve been on an epic ride ever since.” Perfect, especially when so many offices feature the old, boring source of super-junky-junk food — vending machines. If you don’t already know, SnackNation curates healthier snack foods for a ton of brands they personally vet, boxes it all up and sends it to your office (or home). Simple. My office has been a subscriber for around a year and it’s great [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-11-01T16:36:09+00:00 December 3rd, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Broadcast, Digital, Influencers, Marketing, Media, Packaging, Public Relations, Retail Support, Social Media, Tradeshow, Video|0 Comments

Nutrition Marketing That Tells a Story with One Look

Just Spices captures their brand purpose with vibrancy, simplicity and passion for good food. What can you learn from what they’re doing to spice up your brand?

If you’re like me, you probably have a kitchen cabinet that’s overflowing with spices. And if you’re really like me, other than salt, pepper, and a few of the other usual suspects, most of those items were purchased for one very specific recipe and have remained untouched since the day you bought them. That’s the tension behind Just Spices, a very groovy brand that’s recognized the need for all-natural seasonings that make experimenting in the kitchen easy and fun for millennials on a budget (or chefs of any age that want cooking to be easy and fun). I love [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-30T14:12:58+00:00 November 26th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Marketing, Packaging, Social Media|0 Comments

Nutrition Marketing Fodder: Six Foods That Could Be the Next Avocado.

What will be the next big “It” food? Here are my predictions. What could these unsolicited opinions do for your brand?

Hey, remember when avocado was just that weird, mushy green stuff you’d find on your sandwich when you ate at your healthy friend’s house? Now, we’re spending $10 to have the neighborhood coffee shop spread it on toast. When did that happen? From the Avocadossance to the Kale Boom to Cauliflowermania, overlooked fruits and vegetables are always taking turns as the new “It” foods we nutrition-obsessed Americans can’t seem to get enough of. Exactly why these foods blow up when they do is anyone’s guess, but betting on what’s next is fun. So, without further ado, here are six [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-30T14:03:39+00:00 November 19th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Marketing, Trends|0 Comments

How Influencers Can Keep Your Nutrition Brand Fresh

What you can learn from HelloFresh on making your social media game about more than just some pretty food photos.

As much as I try to live by the no phones at the dinner table rule— It’s hard to resist pulling out that appendage to snap a pic of an artfully plated meal. And I’m not alone — especially since that photo of an eye-popping smoothie bowl can get as many likes as a famous celeb these days. One brand that’s capitalized on food-fame is meal subscription service, HelloFresh. Their clever use of influencer marketing has created a unique brand story that’s all about the benefits of convenient, nutritious home cooking. Here’s what you can learn from this brand’s fresh [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-30T13:57:12+00:00 November 12th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Marketing, Packaging, Research, Retail Support, Sampling, Tradeshow, Trends|0 Comments

Nutrition Marketing That Makes the Truth Easy to Swallow

Your food brand has to decide between truth and spin, between helping people and only helping yourself — take a page out of The New Primal’s book if you’re deciding on the former rather than the latter.

There’s never been a better (or worse?) time for content. Anyone with a url or social media account, including me, can churn the stuff out. But ever since I met them at Expo West 2018, the guys at The New Primal have helped keep this wanna be wanting to help. They know I need to make a living, but they’ve engaged with my dumb little blog, never categorizing me as a guy trying to make a sale. What’s the point? It’s simple: their people-ness is the same as their brand — honest, helpful and just damned nice. Look at [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-30T13:45:38+00:00 November 5th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Broadcast, Digital, Marketing, Packaging, Retail Support, Sampling, Social Media, Tradeshow, Video|0 Comments

Get Creative with Your Nutrition Brand Marketing and Enjoy Sweeter Success

Smart Sweets proves, getting creative and knowing your audience is the way to hearts (and pantries). What can you learn here, sugar?

Nutritious candy is a rising trend with the Whole Foodies. One of my personal favorites is Smart Sweets, a gummy bear, etc. brand with 85% less sugar than the normal stuff. Don’t worry kids — your Halloween candy is still safe. These snackable bags taste just like your favorite sweet treats, minus the sugar freak out. The brand was created by then-23-year-old Tara Bosch who experimented in her kitchen to cook up a candy that could satisfy her cravings without all the sugar. She and her brand may be young, but it’s this youth and innovation (plus some super-colorful [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-30T13:36:37+00:00 October 29th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Digital, Experiential, Influencers, Marketing, Packaging, Research, Sampling, Social Media, Trends|0 Comments

Gluten-Free is More than a Bandwagon: Marketing Nutrition that Backs it Up

Glutino is the O.G. of gluten-free foods. Their marketing focuses on being a solution for celiac, how else can this brand grow their audience?

I’ve been gluten free for about three years. For me, it’s because of a gluten-intolerance, for some, it’s a choice to be healthier. No matter the case, there’s a common misperception that “gluten-free” is simply a diet trend. But this is not a bandwagon. Just take a look at Glutino. This g-free brand has been around since the 80s — a time when their products were stuck over in the diabetic portion of the Health and Beauty aisle. Glutino was the first brand to lead the charge in creating delicious, snackable, gluten-free foods. And those who had suffered or [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-24T16:49:32+00:00 October 22nd, 2018|General|0 Comments

A Tough Nut to Crack: Nutrition Marketing for a Rapidly Expanding Brand

How Justin’s Nut Butter achieved massive expansion, while staying true to their roots. How can you apply these lessons to your brand?

There are brands people like, brands people love, and then, those that tap into the most coveted rank of consumers: the brand obsessed. Justin’s Nut Butter has managed to do that from the beginning — winning over consumers with their farmer’s market roots, simple ingredients, and addictive flavors. But, this could have become a riches to rags tale when Hormel Foods, the Skippy Peanut Butter giant, acquired the company in 2016. When I heard the news I thought it might be the beginning of the end of the Justin’s tribe. I waited to see if their cult following of [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-15T22:46:01+00:00 October 15th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Marketing, Packaging, Public Relations, Retail Support, Tradeshow|0 Comments

Nutrition Marketing That Puts Some Skin in the Game

If you really, truly, passionately believe your food or beverage product offers a big benefit to people, go all in, take the consumer’s side in a big way. And watch interest grow into fervor.

I try to do double duty with these articles — be super respectful toward someone’s life’s blood while offering suggestions that might help their brand and yours. But this time, especially given Vital Proteins’ Collagen Peptides is a cow-based product, I might just step in it. Here goes. We’ve come a long way since “glucosamine.” You know, the stuff that was supposed to help our joints get some young back in ‘em. RIP old school, long live Collagen Peptides. New, better, sexy name and the promise of additional good stuff for hair, skin and nails — all kinds of [...]

By Eric Kiker| 2018-10-08T16:40:10+00:00 October 8th, 2018|Brand Positioning, Branding, Broadcast, Digital, Influencers, Marketing, Media, Packaging, Public Relations, Retail Support, Social Media, Tradeshow, Video|0 Comments