Making the Most of Picnic Season

Making the Most of Picnic Season

July is National Picnic Month; leverage the season to make your brand top-of-mind amongst consumers

For many Americans, vaccines are done and masks are coming off. Regardless of either of those, people are coming out into the world again as we enter our post-vaccine phase and prepare to welcome the new summer season. Seasons, holidays and even “food marketing holidays,” like National Picnic Month, can represent big opportunities for brands and retailers. National Picnic Month, during July, is especially relevant to the snack and beverage categories.

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HERE’S A TEST YOU CAN EASILY DO RIGHT NOW

Open a web browser, like Google, or a social media platform, like Instagram, and type in the search area “your product category or product name + picnic” and see what search results come up. For example, type:

• “charcuterie + picnic,”

• “sparkling water + picnic,”

• “wine + picnic basket,”

• “healthy snacks + picnic.”

If your brand is not a part of the results, mark that down as a conversation you need to work to be a part of, and possibly even lead, or attempt to “own.”

Photo source: Google.

Food and beverage brands should naturally have marketing communications campaigns around their biggest selling seasons and holidays, but don’t forget about occasions you can own as well, like picnics. Might your snack product or sparkling water be the product people think of when they plan their picnic? When couples, for example, plan a picnic date, or a group of moms plan a mother-baby picnic at a playground, don’t you want to be the brand that they think of when they plan their ideal picnic experience.

According to our shopper research, we know American consumers are currently very keen to gather with friends and family again (after over a year apart,) and feel more comfortable doing so outdoors. Many of the people we’ve recently interviewed proactively brought up spring and summer picnics are something they are already doing or planning to do soon. We also know that amongst the more natural consumers, they are even more focused now on minimizing single-use plastic in food & beverage products they buy.

For example, one millennial woman in Washington, DC shared with us…

““I used to pop into a grocery store and buy ready-made sandwiches and appetizers on the way to picnic in the park, but so much of that stuff has way too much plastic, some that’s not even able to be recycled. I now prefer to prepare food at home and am using reusable containers from home. For wine, I’m bringing stainless steel cups or glasses. I feel much better about making a pretty picnic out in Mother Nature if what I’m consuming is not bad for the Planet.””

We know consumers that feel good about what they purchase are more likely to tell others, who will also potentially buy your products.

- Lisa Mabe-Konstantopoulos, Founder & CEO, Green Purse PR

Are you ready to start owning occasions and seasons?

If you’re keen for your brand to start owning occasions for your category, like picnics, the backyard BBQ, pool parties, etc, let’s talk about how to make that happen. Contact us to learn more.

Consumers are Bored, Frustrated & Lonely -- How Brands Can Help

American Consumers are Bored, Frustrated & Lonely — How Brands Can Help

Twenty-twenty has made a lot of American consumers miserable. Whether they’ve contracted the virus or not, the amount of time spent at home (working from home, virtual homeschooling, financial loss, etc.) and isolation from others is having a debilitating impact on many Americans. Everyone is more stressed and many are even experiencing mental disorders that psychologists are calling “COVID Fatigue,” thanks to COVID-19, as well as “Election Stress Disorder,” given all the election drama.

While better days are certainly on the horizon as a vaccine for COVID-19 is just around the corner, we’ve likely got several more months of pretty intense hardship. We recently surveyed our online panel of American consumers to ask how they are doing mentally and what they need to stay as sane as possible this winter.

Here’s what some of them shared with us.

• “Getting outside does me a world of good. When I steal away to get a nice walk or jog in by myself, it helps me so much. I plan to get as much exercise outside to myself as possible - even when it’s freezing cold.”

• “I don’t think of myself as fragile by any means (quite the opposite,) but we all need to get away from the negative news and focus on the positive. Those of us who are still breathing have a lot to be thankful for. I am literally counting my blessings, taking a bunch of supplements & vitamins, eating well, and exercising more.”

• “This is the worst year ever! Just about everything has gone to crap. Lots of alcohol, Amazon purchases and loud music to drown my sorrows.”

• “Even while keeping some distance, I have to get in some people time. I’ve been walking with some of my friends in the neighborhood - it helps tremendously to have someone to talk to (from outside your house) and feels good to exercise while doing it. I’ve also been buying quite a bit of athletic clothes and home gym equipment to motivate me.”

• “I’m so over the coronavirus! I’m still being careful, but I’ve got to keep on living. I’m basically doing everything I normally would, but doing it outdoors and with a mask.”

• “I’ve got a bunch of candles, reading & listening to more books, playing more music, getting outside when it’s sunny, doing exercise at home and doing video calls with friends and family.”

• “I’m sick of everything - coronavirus, political drama, the election, people, everything! I’m investing my extra time in offline activities like being outside in nature as much as possible. I’ve bought binoculars and a telescope recently for my new hobby of stargazing.”

• “Drugs; I’m sorry to say it, but I am coping with 2020 with sex, drugs and rock & roll. Marijuana has never been more useful as I need chilling out very badly.”

• “Netflix and Disney Plus for us, especially now that it’s cold outside.”

How Brands Can Help Address Boredom, Frustration & Loneliness this Winter

Stop talking about COVID & politics - Stay in your lane! Unless your company is an authority on COVID or politics, stick to your day job. Consumers don’t need food companies to tell them how to think about pandemics or politics. Trust me, everyone knows all they can take about either topic, so unless you’re a real authority on either, let consumers hear it elsewhere, not from your company.

Stay positive - Remind your community that we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Their is good reason to be hopeful (the vaccine is coming soon.) We are Ameri-CANS; we will make it!

Offer up entertainment ideas using your products - Do share any and all ideas you have that can distract or entertain consumers in the home environment. Does your company make outdoor entertaining equipment, like fire places or grills? Show us your best and most creative ideas to entertain folks in their backyards this winter.

Encourage consumers to be outside, healthy & active - Show consumers how to incorporate your products into their daily lifestyles at home, but in an even more healthy and active way. We know one of the best investments we can all make right now is to get as healthy as possible. And even though it will be cold outside, getting sunshine and fresh air is very important. Do you make supplements? Use visual media to show consumers using your products while they are outside exercising or doing yoga in a sunny spot in the backyard this winter.

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Work with Green Purse PR

As we continue to navigate through the various phases of the COVID-19 pandemic here in the USA, Green Purse PR is committed to helping our clients keep a constant pulse on the voice of the consumer.

Learn more about our PR services and consumer insights work by contacting us here →→→ www.greenpursepr.com/contact.

- Lisa Mabe, Founder & CEO, Green Purse PR

Grocery Shopping During Pandemic Times

Grocery Shopping During Pandemic Times in America

Whole Foods Market Does Social Distancing

Here are some photos I recently took, showing what grocery shopping looks like during these pandemic times here in the USA. Whole Foods Market was quick to adjust its in-store messaging, and add wayfinding signage to ensure the safest flow of foot traffic. Have a glance at the photos below.

Speaking of Whole Foods Market, if your products are sold there, you need to be working with us as we keep a constant pulse on how Whole Foods Market shoppers think, behave and buy. Schedule a one-hour 'Winning with Whole Foods Market Shoppers' consult session with Green Purse PR to learn more about Whole Foods Market shoppers and best practices for how your brand can successfully connect with them. Learn more about the retail intel on Whole Foods Market here, and contact us to schedule your session.

- Lisa Mabe-Konstantopoulos, Founder & CEO, Green Purse PR

Coronavirus is Changing Everything | Those Who Know Their Consumers Best Positioned to Thrive

Coronavirus is Changing Everything

Those Who Know Their Consumers Best Positioned to Thrive

Now that we are in the pandemic times, consumer behavior has dramatically changed from what it was just a few months ago. Answer this — how are your target consumers learning about your brand and products now? How are consumers shopping for your products? How are they using your products in their home? All of these areas of consumer behavior have changed and are still evolving.

Photo source: Getty Images

Shoppers are now much more intentional about what they plan to buy.

Many of the folks I've interviewed so far, since the COVID-19 lockdown, (see our recent shopper research looking ahead to Summer) are what I call "mission shoppers" - consumers who are looking to get what's on their list and get out ASAP.

Since the pandemic started, I’ve had several clients and new clients hire us to conduct virtual research for them as they seek to keep a constant pulse on how their consumers think, behave and buy during these changing times. Our clients are testing marketing concepts, everything from TV spots to social media posts, and how to announce things like new product launches, all to ensure the messaging and imagery resonates, and is not perceived as inappropriate for the times.

Food & grocery, beverages (alcohol & non-alcoholic,) household products (like disinfectants and cleaning products,) and children’s products (educational, food & entertainment) have been the categories we’ve conducted the most research for recently.

As you may know, we most often focus on in-person, qualitative research, in the form of shop-alongs inside stores or inside consumers’ homes. For the foreseeable future, all of our shopper interviews will be conducted virtually.

Conducting Consumer Research to Better Adapt to Evolving Needs & Expectations

During difficult economic times, we often see the bigger, better-known brands perform the best. While there are certainly many factors that play into why that is, one of them is certainly research. The likes of Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Johnson & Johnson, The Clorox Company and The Coca-Cola Company are constantly keeping a pulse on how their target consumers are learning about, shopping for and using their products. Knowing your consumer, not just guessing, is always important, but now more than ever. If you want to survive, or better than that, thrive, during this new age, you better be a few steps ahead. In order to do that, you must know what your consumer is thinking and doing now so you can adapt and best serve their needs.

Contact us to stop the guessing game and get real insights about your consumers that you can start putting into practice now. We can leverage our own panel of consumers, recruit your consumers or help you build your own consumer panel.