Looking for ways grow your natural food or beverage business? Find actionable tips and insights from industry experts regarding why building a strong brand strategy matters not only to connect with your ideal audience but also when building relationships with external stakeholders like buyers, suppliers and investors. Continue the conversation by joining the Real Food Brands Marketing Round Table group on Facebook! Brought to you by Real Food Brands (www.RealFoodBrands.com) and hosted by Kat ...
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115. Your Big Shift: From Selling a Great Product to Building a Strong Brand
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Are you selling a product or building a brand? Everyone has to start somewhere, but in this episode, Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva shares what it means to go from making a great product to building a strong brand that stands out. Here's what's in this episode - you can find all the links on the episode web page. The event that sparked Katieāsā¦
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114. Intentional Marketing: getting ON the shelf, IN the cart, and OUT of the pantry (or fridge!)
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Have you thought much about the fact that you need to sell your product THREE times before someone can use it at home? I donāt share this to be depressing because sometimes one sounds like enough! And if it sounds like more work, itās just the reality of breaking down the process thatās already happening and being intentional with your marketing anā¦
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113. The Power (Struggle) of Focus...and How Your Brand Strategy Can Help
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In almost every client meeting or strategy session I hear food business owners relay concern over how many things are competing for their attention -- and how exhausting it can be. Some share they are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, and some just feel like they are being forced to wear too many hats at the same time every. single. day...and are searchiā¦
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112. Welcome Back! Doing the Right Things at the Right Time in Your Food Business
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The Real Food Brands Podcast is BACK and I'm so glad you're here. The topic of doing the right things at the right time is always a good concept to keep top of mind, and in this episode, you'll hear me (Katie Mleziva, your food brand strategist) talk about: What you can expect from new podcast episodes to help you Define, Align, and Activate your bā¦
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111. What to Do When Something Is Out of Alignment With Your Vision...and the Shift I'm Making
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Have you ever noticed something in your business isnāt working as you planned, or as it once did? Sometimes things that made sense just aren't a good fit anymore. We spend so much time and energy trying to keep pushing forward that it can be hard to step back and admit when things arenāt working the way we want them toāand decide what to do about iā¦
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110. 6 Copywriting Tips to Help Food Brands Stand Out with Celsea Jenkins of Grassfed Copy
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Have you ever thought about the difference between content and copy? And how each works differently to connect with your reader depending on if youāre talking about a website, social media, ads, packaging, etc? Today on Episode 110 of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, Host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva has a conversation with Celseaā¦
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109. Thinking BIG and Making It Happen with Monique & Chevalo Wilsondebriano
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Sometimes you need to let yourself dream and think big. Instead of letting other people tell you how things work and why you canāt do something, it can pay off to look at things from a new perspective. It helps, of course, to have a great story, which is something that brand strategy work can really help with. Today on Episode 109 of the Real Food ā¦
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108. 6 Brand Strategy Tips for Small But Mighty Food Businesses (Part 2)
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As youāre working to build your food business or farm, brand strategy and brand development may seem like something that can wait for later. The thing is, brand strategy work goes far beyond your logo or fonts or colors. When youāve done the work to create your brandās North Star, it serves as the guide and the glue for everything you do on the froā¦
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107. 6 Brand Strategy Tips for Small But Mighty Food Businesses (Part 1)
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Brand strategy work is something that is second nature for big brands, but not as common for small brands. Thereās so much to do when youāre wearing all the hats that it can seem like something youāll get to ānext.ā While big brands have access to brand managers and agencies, we can help even the score by providing streamlined versions of the conceā¦
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106. How Riemer Family Farm is Growing a Regenerative Brand
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A common approach for food and farm businesses is to think about offering a great product rather than building a strong brand. The thinking is that if a product is good enough, taste will ultimately win and of course, people will buy. While this is understandable as you perfect your craft, great taste and quality are expected these days so we donātā¦
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105. New Episode Index to Help Your Food Brand Stand Out
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With over 100 episodes of the podcast now available, we thought it would be a good time to go back and highlight some of the great content you may have missed to help you find the right resources at the right time for your food business. To help, weāve put together a list of some of our best episodes organized around the Brand Strategy Streamlined ā¦
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104. What Is a Brand Positioning Statement?
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If you want to understand brand positioning, think of Kia, Volvo, and Tesla. Sure, all three are car companies but theyāre each very different brands with their own unique, loyal audience, product benefits, and customer experience. All of these factors combined for each brand create a very different offer for each and attract different groups of peā¦
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103. How Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Food Are Shifting with Sarah Marion of Murphy Research
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Weāve been through a lot of changes in the past few years, and as a result, consumer behaviors are shifting. But as a food business owner how do you know what changes are temporary and what changes are here to stay? And how can you meet the evolving needs of your consumers? In Episode 103 of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Braā¦
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102. Are you inviting people into a brand story or sharing brand history?
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Have you thought about the difference between brand story and brand history? While your brand history can certainly be a part of your brand story, the history is about the past and the story is about the future, and what youāre inviting people to be a part of. Today on episode 102 of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Stratā¦
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101. Brand Strategy 101: Positioning Your Food Brand to Stand Out
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After episode 100, Katieās daughter suggested that she āstart over,ā and it only seemed fitting that episode 101 should be a brand strategy 101āan intro-level class, so to speak. Today on episode 101 of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva goes over the five Wās of how Brand Strategy can help you go fā¦
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100. Celebrating 100 Episodes With Gratitude, Gear & Giveaway!
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When we launched the podcast in March 2018, we didnāt know exactly what the future would hold but we took a leap. Itās been a steady build over the past few years and weāre so thankful for all our listeners and guests who have made this show an enriching and rewarding experience as we work collectively to help more people get access to real food. Tā¦
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99. Strategy Does Not Have to Come at the Expense of Action
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For a food and beverage business, it can be a big benefit to choose to go slow to go fast. While that may sound counterintuitive, taking a little time to plan can increase efficiency and help you accelerate more rapidly because youāve got the clarity and confidence to know what to do next. Today on episode 99 of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcaā¦
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98. Insider Tips to Get on Podcasts and Boost Your Food Brandās Visibility
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Podcasts have exploded in popularity, and being a guest on one can be a big boost for both your brand and your credibility. But what kind of show are you looking for? How do you reach out? And how do you make it a success once you get a YES? Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva shares how to ā¦
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97. Unlock Your Best Ideas: My NEW Self-Paced Brand Strategy Course is Live!
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While Katie loves her 1:1 work with clients, sheās become increasingly aware that her impact is limited by the number of hours in the day. At the same time, while the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast can help you piece together the process, thereās space for something in between the twoāa self-guided but structured resource to help you create a sā¦
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96. 5 Steps to Accelerate Progress Towards Your Vision
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Most of us are in the food and bev business because, in some way, we want to make a positive impact on how people eat. Most of us also have a Vision for the impact we want to make but might not know exactly how to accomplish this big dream. You may have heard the old phrase āa vision without a plan is just a dream.ā Today on the Real Food Brands Maā¦
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95. DTC Ecommerce Tips for Food Brands with Adam Pollack
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Selling direct to consumer can create new sales opportunities for your food brand, but it can still be hard to stand out with the marketplace as crowded as it is. Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva sits down with Adam Pollack, Head of Content at Rodeo CPG, who has some practical tips for hoā¦
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Brand Strategy FAQ: Setting Priorities and Building Your Team
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After you invest time developing your brand strategy to position your brand to stand out then youāre ready to put your plan into action. You see all the opportunities to make changes but there are so many opportunities that it can be intimidating. So the big question at this phase is typically what āwhat should I do first and who can help me?!" Todā¦
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REPRISE - 4 Common Brand Strategy Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
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This week, weāre revisiting episode 49 from last year that is still super relevant today. Weāve been talking through brand strategy our last few episodes, and this refresher on common brand strategy mistakes and how to fix them is worth a second look. Enjoy! Brand strategy is an essential part of building a business that will grow, but we see a lotā¦
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Does Your Food Brandās Personality Shine Through?
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If your food brand were a person at a party, what sort of person would they be? The loud, bold life of the party? Or the more relaxed, reserved, and clever person? Just like with people, our brands can take on personalities based on our vision and positioning in order to connect with the right people. Itās important to let your brandās ātrue colorsā¦
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The 3-Step Brand Strategy Streamlined Process
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It can be hard to know where to start when youāre thinking about how to set your food brand apart. You believe in the potential for your product to turn into a strong brand but, as the saying goes, āa vision without a plan is just a dream.ā Thatās why we spend so much time on brand strategy: to give you the framework you need to put your vision intā¦
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One of the best things you can do for your brand is to talk to people. But how do you know if youāre asking the right questions to the right people? Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva shares a trick she normally reserves for her 1-on-1 clients: the two best questions you can ask when youāreā¦
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Every time we take a leapāwhether we fly to the level we wantāwe are strengthening our wings. But we donāt have to just wait and see what happens when we leap because itās never good to feel like weāre stuck in mid-air for too long. The resources, tools, and people we surround ourselves with make an enormous difference in terms of how likely we areā¦
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When Is the Right Time for Brand Strategy?
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Developing your brand strategy helps you get clear about how you can stand apart in your category and reach the people you need to speak to in order to grow. But when should you do this work? Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva illustrates why the best time to get started on your brand stratā¦
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3 Things That Brand Strategy Does NOT Cover
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A potential client once asked a really good question as he was reviewing his proposal from Katie: what is not included in the scope of the brand strategy work we will be doing together? Not only is this is a great way to be clear with collaboration in an area of your business that you are less knowledgeable about, but it also helps you understand mā¦
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Developing Your Food Brandās Growth Hypothesis with Elliot Begoun
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When you start a business, there can be a lot of pressure to find instant success and rapid growth. The truth is, however, that you can build sustainable long-term success without needing to be the next unicorn brand. Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva is talking to Elliot Begoun, founder oā¦
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How Well Does Your Food Brand Use Appetite Appeal?
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How can you get the right people excited to try your products, know what to expect, intrigue them to think about how else they can use it, AND be excited to part with their money to get their hands on what youāre selling? Itās a simple answer that applies to every food and beverage business in some way, yet many emerging brands donāt spend enough tā¦
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Why Being Consistent Isn't Boring... It's Brand Building!
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When youāre working on marketing and promoting your food business day in and day out, itās normal to start to feel like youāre repeating yourself and to worry that you may sound boring. However, consistency is a vital part of building a strong brand. Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva explaā¦
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Understanding the Difference Between Features & Benefits
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An old saying in Marketing is ādonāt talk about features, talk about benefits.ā And while many of us nod our heads in agreement, the truth is that you need to understand both, and many business owners and marketers donāt know how to get started and put that advice into action to build a strong brand. Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast,ā¦
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Amazon Tips for Food Businesses Part 2: Optimizing Your Amazon Advertising with Shannon Roddy
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In Part 1 of this two-part series on Amazon you learned how SEO and search terms work on Amazon, and in Part 2 weāre continuing the conversation about using that information to create advertising campaigns on Amazon that convert and how to get the data that will help you optimize over time. For part two of our Amazon Series on the Real Food Brands ā¦
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Amazon Tips for Food Businesses Part 1: How to Use SEO Keywords to Get Found with Shannon Roddy
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Amazon is a growth channel for many food and beverage brands, but how do you stand out in the sea of options? And how do you improve the chances that your brand will show up in searches that will actually convert to sales? In this episode of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks with Shannoā¦
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4 Ways to Improve Efficiency and Drive Value Using Lean Principles with Alan Goodman
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On the path to build your brand, there are always new developments that force you to consider whether you should stay the course or make an adjustment. But how do you know when itās time to make a pivot? And what can you do to make sure you stay aligned with your core brand strategy principles? This week on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, hā¦
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How to Develop an Ecommerce Strategy That Drives Sales & Builds Loyalty with Chelsea Jones and Rachel Saul
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Ecommerce is one of the hottest topics in the food business. However, if you try to jump straight to tactics without thinking through your goals, youāre likely to run into trouble. Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks to Chelsea Jones and Rachel Saul, founders of Chelsea and Racheā¦
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Using Social Media to Inform and Validate Your Brand Strategy with Hillary Houghton
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Social media is a powerful tool to learn about and connect with your consumers. But what are you doing with those insights? Are you using them to really inform and shape your brand strategy and brand activation? If your food business isnāt currently leveraging insights from social media, you may be wondering how you even get started? For this episoā¦
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Optimize Your Brand Story Using These Brand Strategy Principles
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On February 5th, Katie is launching her new Brand Strategy Streamlined program, which provides content, coaching, and collaboration to define, align, and activate your brand strategy. Itās a combination of on-demand content you can move through at your own pace and live coaching and guidance to help you along the way. One of the key outcomes of a sā¦
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Your consumer needs and company advantages are at the core and your brand strategy, but you need something to tie everything together into a unified front. You may hear it referred to as your Brand Essence, or Big Idea. Itās the singular idea or concept that you want to come to life and run throughout everything you do to bring your brand strategy ā¦
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The 3 Pillars of a Successful Food Business: A Roundtable Conversation with Industry Experts
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In this special bonus episode of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Beverage Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva sits down for a roundtable discussion with industry experts Alli Ball, of the Food Biz Wiz podcast, and Sarah Delevan, of the Good Food CFO podcast, to talk about the three pillars of a successful food business. Youāll heā¦
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Brand Strategy can feel like a topic that is reserved for big food businesses more than emerging food businesses, but the concepts matter to brands of all sizes and make a big difference if you take the time to get clear about who your brand is at the core, who you serve and how you meet your consumersā needs in a way your competitors canāt, or wonā¦
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3 Steps to Start the Year Strong by Rewriting Your Story
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Itās safe to say that no matter who you are or what your goals were for 2020, things probably didnāt quite go as planned. The critical thing to remember is that with everything thatās changed in 2020, there are also new opportunities weāre not seeing if we focus only on what didnāt go as planned. For our end-of-the-year episode of the Real Food Braā¦
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3 Steps to a More Effective Food Marketing Plan
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When it comes to Marketing Planning, Katie likes to say that 1+1=3. In other words, when all of your tactics are working together based on your marketing strategy, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This week on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva shares a three step process for maā¦
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How Unwrapp'd Uses Brand Strategy to Set Their Brand Apart with Maria Capecelatro and Tom Miner
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Brand Strategy is the āNorth Starā to guide everything you do in your food business, but how do you actually go about using it in the day-to-day decision making that comes with leading a business? For this episode of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva sits down with Maria Capecelatro and Tom Mā¦
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Why You Should Write a Creative Brief Before Working with an Agency
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Collaborating with a marketing agency can do a lot of good things for your brand, but you need to do some homework to make sure you find the right partner for your business, and then align them with your brand strategy. What you need is a creative brief, something that helps your potential partners know what youāre looking for and how they can knocā¦
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An Insiderās Tips on Food & Beverage Distribution in Grocery with Sandra Velasquez
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Sales is an important channel to bring your Brand Strategy to life and set you apart in a crowded market. But how do you put on your sales hat and adapt your Brand Strategy specifically to a conversation with buyers? And what goes into a successful sales pitch? This week on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategisā¦
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Turn Your Marketing Plan into a Consumer Connection Plan
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When most people think of marketing, they think about promotionāpushing out your message to people and hoping theyāll decide to buy. But who wants to be āmarketedā to anymore? Instead, what if we thought of marketing as connecting? For this weekās Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Beverage Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva lays out aā¦
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5 Brand Strategy Activation Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
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Now that weāve reviewed how to create a brand strategy in the past 3 episodes, hopefully you are excited to put those ideas into action! As you work to bring your brand strategy to life and move into the brand strategy activation phase, however, there are a few common mistakes you can avoid by learning from other emerging food brands. This week forā¦
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[Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 3: Company Strategy
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During this three-part Brand Strategy series, weāve covered competitors and customers, so now itās time to look at the final C: Company. This is where we put together all of our inputs and start to look at outputs. Get specific about these components of company strategy, and youāll figure out how to really set your brand apart. Today on the Real Foā¦
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