In recent conversations with our agency’s clients, more food and beverage communicators are embracing artificial intelligence technology, specialized influencer marketing and increasingly sophisticated social media content to increase brand authenticity and improve the overall consumer experience.

Artificial Intelligence? Wine Not?

For many food and beverage artisans, the environment in which a product is grown or made is a vital part of the overall product experience. Quintessa is a renowned 280-acre wine estate in Rutherford, one of Napa Valley’s most distinctive properties, with five soil types, hills, valleys, a lake and a river. The diverse estate inspires the impressive wines for which it is known.

“At Quintessa, our strongest asset and differentiator is the world-class estate from which we source our wine,” said Leslie Sullivan, DWS, Napa Estates Director of Huneeus Vintners, who manages communications for Quintessa.

“For those consumers and trade who are able to visit the estate, we are able to build ambassadors; however, our reach is limited. As a result, we’ve begun to better utilize technology to connect with our consumers and trade. For instance, we’ve used video, drone footage, 360 video and virtual reality to allow our consumers and trade to engage with our property. While nothing compares to the full sensory experience of enjoying a glass of Quintessa at the estate, we are able to better express and share what Quintessa is all about.”

Photos courtesy of Quintessa Instagram

Community, Convenience, Quality

With a 68-year heritage and nearly 12,000 locations worldwide, Dunkin’ Donuts continues to evolve while keeping its focus on fast, friendly service and community involvement.

According to Public Relations Senior Manager, Justin Drake, Dunkin’ Donuts maintains its focus on fast, friendly service while delivering innovations that today’s consumer expects from sophisticated food brands:

“As Dunkin’ Donuts continues to grow and evolve, remaining authentic to the core of our brand is very important. Dunkin’ Donuts was founded as a brand offering high-quality coffee and baked goods to our guests, all served with fast, friendly service and at a great value, and we remain true to this mission to this day.”

“We’ve expanded our coffee and espresso menu in recent years to include options like Cold Brew, Rainforest Alliance Certified Dark Roast Coffee, and Macchiatos. These menu additions remain true to our 68-year heritage as a coffee company, while also staying on trend in terms of what customers are looking for today from a coffee brand. We’ve launched On-the-Go Mobile Ordering for DD Perks members through the Dunkin’ Donuts mobile app, where guests can place their order in advance and then speed past the line in-store to pick-up their order. This innovation remains true to our mission of offering fast service and unparalleled convenience to our guests.”

Photos courtesy of Dunkin’ Donuts Instagram

Community giving is a core value for Dunkin’ Donuts that empowers franchisees around the world to give back and strengthen their own communities:

Continued Drake, “At Dunkin’, we feel fortunate that our restaurants are part of the fabric of so many communities and neighborhoods around the globe, and our franchisees value the role they can play in strengthening their communities. Our franchisees donate millions of dollars annually to local non-profits. Additionally, our organization collectively supports our national foundation, The Joy in Childhood Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing joy to sick and hungry children.”

Consumers Seek, Expect Info Online

For family-owned poultry producer Foster Farms, a robust social media presence is required to address the questions and provide the reassurance that consumers actively seek.

“Increasingly consumers are asking more and more questions about where their food comes from and how it is made,” said Ira Brill, Foster Farms’ Director of Communications. “Our commitment to product quality is at the heart of authenticity, and Foster Farms is one of the west’s true authentic brands — having been founded in 1939 on the values of locally grown, and continuing as a family owned company today — has continuously evolved to include digital and social media tools to enhance our consumer engagement and contribute substantively to consumer conversation. From engaging influencer programs, to enticing recipes and social media content, Foster Farms aims to be a part of the discussion at every touchpoint.”

Photos courtesy of Foster Farms Instagram

Building Authenticity with Influencers

Social marketing strategists at Collectively understand how deeply consumer brands and consumers value authenticity.

“Influencer marketing works best when creators are empowered to make decisions about how best to present a brand story to their audiences,” said Natalie Silverstein, Collectively Vice President of Brand, Marketing and Culture.

“Creators are truly the experts in understanding what resonates with the people they’re in dialogue with every day. Authenticity shines through when an influencer actually believes in the product and has integrated it into their content in a way that feels almost effortless.”

Photos courtesy of Collectively Instagram

“For our food and beverage clients, we’re bringing opportunities to a wider set of creators beyond the more expected food and cooking influencers — lifestyle, health and wellness, parenting, photography, and more.”

Silverstein agrees authenticity is a higher priority now for food and beverage brands: “‘Authenticity’ has been the most-used buzzword of the industry for quite some time, and it continues to be a key goal for most brands. We believe this is a direct result of the broader cultural transformation around trust in institutions and other traditional gatekeepers of information.”

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It’s award season in the PR industry, and we are proud to update you on recognition for Fineman PR’s work over the past year.

The best news first: our agency is honored to receive a Media Relations award from the prominent PR industry outlet Bulldog Reporter. Fineman PR won “Best Campaign Under $50,000” in the Bulldog Bronze category for our work with HNTB – lead designer of the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium. This will be Fineman PR’s third Bulldog Award in two years.

Earlier this month, we told you about becoming a Holmes Report 2016 Sabre Awards, North America finalist. We’re also a finalist for Ragan’s PR Daily Media Relations Awards 2016 in the category of Brand Messaging or Positioning for our Foster Farms Raises National Thanksgiving Turkey Fit for a President(ial Pardon) campaign.

It takes a village to run a successful campaign, and from producing events to digital/social impact, we are so proud of our teams’ work for masterful execution on these stellar projects.

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Our team was recognized as a Gold SABRE finalist in the Institutional Image practice category for our consumer education and media program, “West Coast’s Leading Poultry Producer Raises National Thanksgiving Turkey Fit For a President(ial Pardon),” in partnership with longtime agency client, Foster Farms.

Many thanks to Paul Holmes of the Holmes Report and to the distinguished panel of judges for this recognition and for an inspiring evening. Congratulations to our fellow finalists and winning industry partners on their achievements and for continuously upping the ante for PR excellence.

The #SABREAwards, which attract close to 5,000 entries globally each year, provide the premier showcase for the best that public relations has to offer, celebrating winning work via an annual awards dinners (attended by more than 1,000 industry leaders every year).

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That’s the scenario California-based Foster Farms faced at the start of the recession a few years back…consumers finding ways to cut costs but negating the quality difference.

For the company, the mandate was clear: 1) develop a powerful communications program that would stop the impending loss of market share to out-of-state, cheap chicken and 2) make sure that consumers understood why the company’s branded product was worth every penny every time.  In other words, create such a clear and dependable value for the brand in the mind of the consumer that other factors, including price incentives, would lose relevance — the very definition of Brand PR.

During this time, the out-of-state competitors were bannering their packages as “fresh and natural,” attributes that family-owned Foster Farms had maintained in its market for decades.  In the past, those labels had real meaning; they signified that Foster Farms products were delivered fresh from nearby ranches and, thus, never had to be frozen like more distant producers’ chicken did coming in from the East Coast or the South.

What changed, we found, was the competition’s practice of injecting saltwater into poultry to help keep the product “fresher” longer for those long rides while enhancing their products’ flavor and, not so incidentally, package weight.  In essence, consumers were unknowingly paying for useless saltwater.

The story elements were compelling and provocative:  hidden sodium, unseen costs to consumers’ wallets and to their health, and a timely and topical labeling issue.

The sum total — a real position to differentiate the Foster Farms brand.  Not least, it gave us the opportunity to educate and inform the public about the real costs of cheap chicken.  By revealing the saltwater-injection practice of other producers, a process Foster Farms coined as “plumping,” we would demonstrate why these other brands weren’t so natural…or, even, cheap.

We launched a far reaching consumer education campaign with media relations in the West and nationwide, including publicizing the results of a consumer awareness survey about the issue.  There were television appearances by a nutritionist who discussed the hazards of hidden sodium.  She helped to demonstrate the issue with facts that included graphic images of packages containing up to $1.50 each of saltwater content and higher sodium levels than a large order of French fries.  The campaign also included entertaining consumer interaction at high traffic public events, petitions to support label lobbying efforts in Washington D.C.; and, of course,social media engagement.

In the end, we earned 300 million media impressions, 50,000 signatures on petitions to the USDA to disallow the “fresh and natural” labeling on “plumped” chicken and these efforts were championed by a U.S. Senator from California (still under review by USDA.).  The Los Angeles Times endorsed the Foster Farms campaign, possibly the first commercial campaign endorsed in a Times editorial.  The campaign also earned Foster Farms, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and Fineman PR an Effie, one of the most prestigious ad and marketing industry awards.  Foster Farms won solid consumer positioning as a trusted brand, providing consumers what they wanted: optimal value at a time when many food producers were shrinking packages to leverage profit.

Consumers got it.  Market share was maintained during this period, and that was especially notable compared to most industry producers’ loss of market share to private label during the same period.

While Fineman PR has certainly had its Brand PR case studies over the years – mainstreaming and raising the profile of now well-known natural foods companies (Republic of Tea, Clif Bar, Vitasoy, Muir Glen, Fantastic Foods, et al), involvement in the introduction of the Wrapp concept, and demonstrating the value-add of packaged salads, all in the ‘90s; the introduction of many high profile dot coms across varying sectors  (sporting goods, cosmetic and lifestyle, luxury, healthcare), most still in existence today; and working with established wineries to both differentiate their brands (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Chateau Montelena, Hanzell Vineyards) among the hundreds of new wineries; and launch new high end brands (Derenoncourt California, Moone-Tsai, Arkenstone) – the Foster Farms “Say No to Plumping” campaign is a powerful and comprehensive picture of how a well-considered, brand-focused  public relations program can have a direct impact on sales, market share and bottom line revenue, and all while promoting brand values.

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