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.”

The post As Food Goes Global and High Tech, U.S. Brands Boost Authenticity appeared first on Fineman PR.

1) Non-Traditional Sources Are The Norm And Require Dedicated Focus (and Budget) What is it that is having the most impact on communications today?

“Social media and blogger influencers will gain even more relevance in playing a major role in consumer opinion and spending decisions and must be part of any integrated communications strategy.“

“Public Relations will evolve into a mar-com service as paid, earned and owned media continue to integrate. People are increasingly getting their news from social media and spending more time on those sites to connect with friends and family, so I think this channel will become even more important and prominent in public relations functions.“

“Non-traditional media spaces continue to increase in size and popularity. Newspapers are no longer the arbiter of what is or isn’t “news.” As social media/blogs/podcasts continue to capture and keep more consumer attention for longer amounts of time, there’s a need for professional communicators in these spaces.“
– PEW reports 68% of all American adults now use Facebook¹
– Popular YouTubers are hiring PR firms when they have a crisis²
– PEW reports as of 2016, 21% of Americans age 12 or older say they have listened to a podcast in the past month³

“There will also be a continuing need for content updates for Search Engine Optimization purposes. That includes the ongoing need to have the client’s voice heard and its values promoted to the audiences that will resonate with those values.“

2) Visual and Virtual Reality Platforms Are The “New” Storytelling, er, Storyshowing

“For Public Relations, storytelling and communication will remain important, but the medium for that storytelling will continue to evolve with even greater emphasis on visual communication.“

“And that goes for messaging, too. Visual mediums (especially video formats and virtual reality technology) will require specialized public relations professionals who are adept at developing technical, visually compelling content with ease. Agencies today are seeing the need to amp up their own offerings in this area, both for their clients’ business and for their own marketing purposes.“

“Virtual reality will transform how our industry tells stories. As VR equipment and technology become more accessible, public relations agencies will be able to construct entire worlds for fully immersive experiences.“

3) PR Pros Need Multifaceted Skills, Including Content Development, Project Management and Coding:

“On the issues and crisis side, the industry will need to continue to emphasize the need for timely, substantive communications with tools and technology that make the process more efficient. PR agencies are embracing an even more diverse mix of professionals with specialized experience in graphic design, content development and coding, in addition to traditional core communications skills.”

“Outstanding writing abilities alone won’t cut it for the next generation of communicators.“

4) PR Audiences Are Data Driven and Demand Multiple Sources for Credibility

“As public relations pros, our future with the enduring news media will be defined and enhanced by the data we’re collecting today and how we use it. It’s intelligence that is valuable and packaged conveniently if we are doing our job. We are constantly learning more about consumers – when they’re open to new messages, what influences their behavior and how to responsibly guide their decisions. For example, we’re seeing how brands break through the incessant clutter surrounding their audiences and make consistent gains toward building trust, reputation and loyalty, as well as recover from missteps.“

“That’s an important point.  I recently joined the PR profession because of its potential to grow. Mass communication is so cluttered and increasingly difficult to sort through. Consumers will want to get real information from reputable sources, and journalists will need resources to help provide for that need. As people become more and more wary of commercial advertisements, authentic stories and real news will be what they want. And crisis PR, I think, will always be significant especially as activism continues to rise and people seek consumers’ rights.“

“Corporate blunders will never end as they have their basis in human fallibility. There will continue to be a need to protect brand and organizational reputations from accidents that happen, libel, fake news and social media rants, and journalists will need resources to be sure they have both or all sides of the story.“

“It’s critical to point out that we are not necessarily talking about just press releases. I see more and more cases of journalists asking for statements, interviews, expert opinion and testimony, data and assets.“

“Communicators and credible journalists will have to work harder and together in the name of defending our professions and promoting real news.“

“Often, too, there is the multicultural component that will require journalists and PR people to work in tandem. Agencies and brands are seeing the need for hiring community and cultural insiders, people who know how to navigate the social space of each diverse community. This new reality is also an opportunity for creative development, as the mainstream becomes more accustomed and receptive to multicultural imagery, flavors, sounds, stories and products. I think the key to multicultural communications in the future will be subtlety, as opposed to, for example, trying to engage Latinos with a mustachioed guy in a sombrero speaking Spanish with Mariachi playing in the background.“

5) Constant Data Collection Sources Means Measurement Capabilities and Tools will only Increase. Get familiar with them.

“Program measurement is becoming more sophisticated, accurate and meaningful as technology continues to develop. Google, for example, is using credit card transactions to track how digital ad campaigns are linked to purchases. To extend that kind of technology means that we’ll be able to track how content consumed via online/mobile/digital channels impacts consumers’ offline purchasing behavior and vice versa. So, for example, say I read a magazine article about a new product and see an ad for that same product on Instagram; then after a few weeks, I decide to buy that product in a brick-and-mortar store. Measurement technology will be able to correlate my purchase to the magazine article and the ad. We have even more ways now to measure the value of our communications, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.“

“To Karmina’s point, we’re also seeing more companies using data collection in combination with technology to measure and influence consumer behaviors in new ways. The rise of smart personal assistant devices like Alexa and Google Home have brought behavior-tracking even further into consumer home-life, but are still trying to find the balance in what kind of content they can serve to consumers before it becomes too intrusive. Google Home recently came under fire for serving unsolicited ads to consumers who had selected to have their daily news voice-read to them. While technological capabilities increase due to better data collection, its more important than ever to craft stories that consumers will choose to listen to.“

As we look ahead to the second half of 2017, Fineman PR is fine tuning our own crisis, marketing and corporate public relations programs and service offerings accordingly. Which trends and predictions do you see changing our field? Join our conversation below.

^{1 http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/
2 https://theoutline.com/post/1472/a-youtube-family-accused-of-child-abuse-has-hired-a-crisis-pr-firm
3 http://www.journalism.org/2016/06/15/podcasting-fact-sheet/}

The post Five Trends and Predictions Changing the PR Industry appeared first on Fineman PR.

In the profile, I outlined what I see are emerging industry trends:

• Multicultural communications, whether it be in languages other than English or in being sensitive to niche cultural norms and expectations, is increasingly important for all industries. Our nation is ever the melting pot; however, these days, large segments of minority populations do not subscribe to immediate and total assimilation, proudly guarding their individual, cultural identities. Organizations hoping to earn the trust of these populations with ever-growing importance must build upon this recognition.
• Communicating with multicultural audiences is not simple, and it is much more than a matter of translation. Various Latino communities, each with their own identity, both share similarities and complex differences. For all of them, there are different levels of acculturation, native ethnicities, lexicons and geographic origins. Essentially, there are millions of youth growing up multilingual and multicultural, and the mainstream marketplace will most effectively reach their minds and hearts with culturally savvy insights and communications.

In regards to opportunities and challenges within my professional service segment:

• The proliferation of openly biased news, the practice of click-bait and the death of fact-checking is a challenge to public relations and the journalism profession. As news outlets continue to struggle for survival, it is unfortunate that outright bias and salacious headlines are becoming common strategies for capturing reader interest. Reporting unsubstantiated stories to get the scoop is common practice even among the old guard news outlets that one would expect to uphold the principle of fair and balanced reporting. But the news isn’t all bad. I see excellent journalism coming out of the new generation of media such as BuzzFeed Big Stories and even neighborhood-focused outlets like Hoodline in San Francisco.
• The growing influence of algorithms in how people discover and access information is both an opportunity and a challenge. Virtually all online/digital/social content is customized to each person based on past behavior (search, purchases, clicks, etc.). This means that there is significantly more competition for people’s time and attention while presenting an opportunity for communicators to be more targeted in their approach. There’s even more impetus now to create integrated campaigns with synergies between paid, earned, owned and shared media.

Our key initiatives to ensure the success of our business:

• Strategic partnerships with digital marketing firms
• Developing multicultural communications services
• Building niche industry strengths
• Risk management partnerships with other category professional service firms
• Ever-increasing sophistication in research and analytics
• Adaptability to industry and client trends while affirming our own core tenets of brand PR and crisis communications

And my career advice to those just entering or interested in entering the public relations profession:

• Be a voracious reader of the news and closely follow contemporary culture.
• Continually work at being a good writer and storyteller; no typos, no grammatical blunders, easy transitions, and no overkill.
• Keep up with the latest tools and trends in today’s communications.
• Find something that differentiates you from everyone else on staff; become the acknowledged go-to on specific issues and/or competencies.
• Go beyond tactics, and think of situations creatively and strategically. Be solutions-focused and avoid naysaying.
• Be a team player; you cannot create ongoing situations that define you as difficult to work with. Show your appreciation for the help you receive.

The post Preparing for the Future of PR appeared first on Fineman PR.

However, with the explosion of social media and a marketplace that’s bursting at the seams with new products and services, this generation has become extremely picky about the information it consumes.

So what do we know about “millennials,” other than that they have made the business world sit up and take notice?

• Millennials’ penchant for social media is akin to the devotion of a bike enthusiast for a vintage Honda CB750. Not only does technology rule over their every moment – from email to Facebook to documenting their experiences on blogs – when it comes to purchasing or researching a buy, most millennials prefer to do it online. Impulse buys are a thing of the past. As a millennial myself, any purchase I’ve made this past year has first been thoroughly vetted. This involves combing through Yelp and Google for customer reviews, checking out blog posts with brand mentions, and scanning the brands’ own social media pages for purchasers’ opinions.
• Social media is thus an essential tool for millennials, both for research and for sharing their post-purchase experiences with friends and followers. Social media provides a platform to interact with both brands and people. This makes it essential for a business to hone its brand message before unveiling it to an audience that uninhibitedly airs its likes and dislikes for the whole world to see.
• Millennials’ conversations about a brand cannot be controlled. They prefer to be “talked with” rather than “talked to,” and they are not afraid to explore. Once a brand has passed their exacting screening standards, it will have an active brand advocate because millennials are looking for brands they can trust and grow with. Think of them as commitment-phobes looking to build relationships with only “ideal” brands, much like the quest for an ideal mate. The search for this ideal can be complex, but once they’ve found what they’re looking for, their chosen “ideal” brands have in them a treasure trove of influential defenders and promoters who will amplify brand messaging and attract new customers.
• Millennials gravitate toward brands that produce content that relates to their lives. They prefer to consume this content on their own terms and through their own preferred social media channels. So it is important to balance a “traditional” campaign (broadcast ads, billboards, print) with a healthy dose of social media. Social media channels are springing up everywhere, multiplying like feral cats. And while it’s not necessary to join every new social media channel that bursts upon the scene, it is critical to participate actively in the ones that appeal to your target audience.

Brands can post content in varied ways – infographics, videos or snapshots – that can be shared on their Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest pages. The number of consumers digesting this content is hard to quantify but gratifying to ponder because can be quite large. Choice is the key word. You may not be able to control millennials’ buying practices, but you can definitely sway their opinions with your message, giving them the opportunity to pick you.

Sound complicated? It doesn’t have to be. Give us a call, and let us help you get get your message across to this generation of highly influential players.

The post Social Media – Bringing Brands and Millennials Together appeared first on Fineman PR.

For agencies, CMOs and in-house communication teams, January also means revising timelines and 2013 campaigns, identifying key target audiences, tweaking integrated marketing strategies, pooling human and digital resources for the big launch, and establishing benchmarks for success.

January also kicks off a new year of trend watching as trade show season brings forth thrilling new products launches. Take this week’s CES in Las Vegas as a prime example:

Remember the scene from Minority Report (2002) when a hologram salesperson from the Gap scans Tom Cruise’s stolen eyeballs, then proceeds to ask about his recent purchase?

11 years ago this movie was nothing more than science fiction fantasy, but this clip is a creepy reminder that the future is, in fact, now.

Taking cues from immersive consumer research, manufacturers are revealing exciting new interfaces, smart TVs, eye-tracking devices, mobile and wireless automated control,  gaming and social media integration, 3D printing and other home manufacturing products to drive the ‘consumer as producer’ trend even further in 2013.

No matter what category you’re in, keeping an eye on the trends that emerge from cross-disciplinary industries is a trick of the PR trade for calibrating exciting, newsworthy initiatives and understanding the standards that drive buzz and claim rank amongst top-tier media.  And I’m not just talking tech here, this is true across all consumer product goods and services. Whether from CES, SXSW, BIOMED, Fashion Week or The Fancy Food Show; when industries collide and cross-pollinate, innovative concepts are born for breakthrough campaigns.

Here at Fineman PR, we’ve been fine-tuning our pitch-perfect process by keeping our fingers on the pulse of emerging consumer trends in 2013 to help us predict fresh angles and stay ahead of the curve. Trendwatching.com recently revealed its top 10 consumer trends for 2013, and below are  five which held some strong PR implications. You can read the full list on Trendwatching.com:

1.   PRESUMERS and CUSTOWNERS

2013 will see a rise of Presumers and Custowners. Presumers love to get involved with, push, fund, and promote products and services before they are realized. Custowners are consumers who move from passively consuming a product towards funding/investing (if not owning a stake) in the brands they buy.  Blame it on Kickstarter and guilty-pleasure TV shows like Shark Tank – business-savvy consumers are investing financially and emotionally into brands. The new U.S. Jobs Act will also help realize this by now allowing non-accredited U.S. investors to buy micro-equity in start-ups. 

What it means for PR:   The innovation story always garners attention and established brands will be tasked with tracking momentum from competitive projects. Crowdsourcing platforms can be PR opportunities in and of themselves as more reporters and bloggers track submitted concepts and project funding status. The proliferation of start-ups and investors personally attached to pet projects will result in loyalists and self-promoters who will start claiming associations on social media profiles, and this can be an opportunity for identifying influencers early on for activating partnerships. Brands can take bold initiatives and ask more from this participating audience which can result in a better social media voice and engaging content.

2.   MOBILE MOMENTS

The next 12 months will see an explosion in Mobile Moments: products, services and experiences that will enable mobile-loving consumers to embrace (seamless) lifestyle multi-if-not-hyper-tasking. A survey of U.S. adult smartphone owners found that 63 percent of female respondents and 73 percent of male respondents don’t go an hour without checking their phone (Harris Interactive, June 2012).

What it means for PR:   When the QR code first burst on the scene a few years ago, skepticism and questions of ROI and integration for campaigns were abound. Now they are on many new CPGs (consumer packaged goods) and are relatively commonplace in major metropolitan markets. Wireless technologies and location services will be able to pull more customer information and lifestyle data on the go. As marketing seeks to draw information from consumers, it’s the job of PR to provide new brand narratives for customer participation.  Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest are giving consumers more good reasons to like or share stunning displays, visual stories and mood-setting imagery for communicating brand values in a snapshot.  If the question arises for quick and easy mobile access to content, the answer should always be “yes.” If content isn’t yet mobile friendly, 2013 is the year to make it happen.

3.   ECO-CURIOSITIES

Dubbed “New Life Inside” products by Trendwatching, an eco-mini-trend for 2013 is the phenomenon of products and services that quite literally contain new life inside. Rather than being discarded or even recycled, these products can be planted and grown, with all the eco-status and eco-stories that come with that.

What it means for PR:  Consumers are paying attention to socially responsible initiatives and ‘eco’ still excites. Trendwatching makes a good point here – that symbolic, even playful statements of brand values will resonate with consumers, especially if they are seen as expressions of larger intent to take more meaningful action.

4.   APPSCRIPTIONS:

With more than 13,000 health apps in the Apple App store, it’s not a case of finding an app but finding the BEST one and – given that this is a health issue – one that is accurate and safe. In 2013, expect consumers to turn to the medical profession and medical institutions to certify and curate these products, with doctors also ‘prescribing’ them, much as they prescribe medicines, as part of a course of treatment.

What it means for PR:  Information overload and resources for categorizing, curating and sifting content will remain a top trend story not just for healthcare, but across all other industries. Healthcare is most impacted in this arena and opportunities for streamlining electronic medical records and updating the International Classification for Diseases are important issues facing the industry in 2013.  Products or services which offer a solution, including credible third-party certifications and populating peer-reviews will need to take center-stage for SEO initiatives and for keeping reputation in check.

5.   MADE IN THE USA:

In 2013, manufacturing is coming home.  Four out of five U.S. shoppers (76 percent) notice “Made in the USA” claims and labels and are more likely to purchase products labeled as such ( Perception Research, July 2012).

What it means for PR:  Product origin stories remain stronger than ever – especially locally-sourced, hyper-local, niche online/offline communities and self-sustaining/sustainable principals. Sponsorship can go beyond visible brand associations and up to the next level of participation. Breakthrough stories can include corporate operations which are beneficial to “the greater good” but counter to growing profit-margins. Of course transparency, honesty and content remains king.

So what are your resolutions and plans looking down the barrel of 2013? We hope to see you in the future…

The post A New Year: PR Resolutions, 2013 Consumer Trends and What Minority Report Tried to Tell Us appeared first on Fineman PR.