MJR Creative Group

United Fresh 2013 Live Blog

Hello from the 2013 United Fresh show in San Diego, California!

MJR Creative Group has a number of clients that exhibit at the trade show, so we are here to support them and attend several of the symposium sessions. Like we have done for Fresh Summit, Unified Wine Symposium, and the NASFT Fancy Food show, we’ll be reporting from the education sessions and posting pictures and information about the trade show floor throughout the event.

Refresh this page to get the latest information.

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Friday, May 17, 10:48am

Produce Marketing & Merchandising Conference

We continue with June Jo Lee VP, Strategic Insights, Hartman Group. Her topic is Ethnography and the Impact of Social Technology on Food Culture, and all the research that will be presented by her today was conducted by June herself with a team of 6.

June is moving fast and communicating a great deal of behavior insights that are anecdotal, but supported deeply by her research. I will attempt to capture some of the key nuggets of her presentation as bullets. Her full presentation will be made available post-conference. I’ll link to it when available.

Social media has changed our whole relationship with food and places consumers in a mode of discovery versus planning.
It has also influenced our approach to food. Social media has changed shopping and meal times as well.
Primary barrier to online grocery shopping is it forces consumers to make a list and delays the immediate food gratification.
Single eaters no longer eat alone, they eat while socializing with their friends and families on Twitter and Facebook, often sharing their solo dining choices with others.
We now start planning with an image of what we eat, not from a shopping list.
Mobile has become a personal prosthetic, a natural extension of modern human experience. Consumers increasingly can not imagine a life without sharing and dsocivery made possible by mobile.
46% spend more time engaged with food on social media than any other topic. Makes new foods more desirable and familiar, less threatening.
Consumers no longer learn to cook from their mom, but from the internet: YouTube, blogs, Google Image.

Interesting moment. June is saying her research, developed from living with consumers, shopping with them, watching their behaviors, indicated that promotional efforts in the produce aisle have minimal effect. The best opportunity lies in connecting with consumers occurs before and after the shopping experience. While at the store, its about quality and price. The time to influence occurs before and after the shopping experience.

Email is the preferred communication channel between brands and consumers.
Social media should be used to create a personal relationship, not a new sales channel.

We are sharing our shopping experience. Case Study: Leigh buys her husband a grill

Pre-shop

Queried Facebook friends about grills
Read reviews on multiple retail websites
Joined 20,000+ followers of Weber on Facebook
Became a member of an online grille forum

Leigh chooses a Weber Summit Series Grill

Post Shop

Posted pictures of the grill on Facebook
Posted pictures of the first meal (husband’s birthday party)

Leigh loves the new grill and her new recipe and now her 550+ friends on Facebook do too.

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Coverage for the afternoon moves over to Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/mjrcg) where Geoff Johnson will be updating you for the rest of the program. Thanks for following along on the blog this week.

-Bradley Fitzhenry

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Friday, May 17, 8:30am

Produce Marketing & Merchandising Conference

Nick Schittone (@schittone118) VP of conference sponsor Hothouse has given some opening remarks and is handing over to Michael Sansolo (pictured above), President of Sansolo Solutions (@michaelsansolo). He will be leading the day’s program.

Michael is framing up a discussion about the state of the consumer. He’s reaching back to Sept 15, 2008 when Lehman Bros. collapsed, identifying that moment as pivotal in understanding the nature of the contemporary consumer.

He is using the famous Wired magazine cover to showcase four men who have forever changed marketing. Steve Jobs (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Larry Page (Google), and Jeff Bezos (Amazon). He is talking about how each man has changed the face of marketing – Jobs brought mobile, Zuckerberg brought social, Page brought search, and Bezos brought online shopping.

Michael is now introducing the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council study examining today’s consumer https://www.ccrrc.org/study-index/.

The study has found that demographics no longer tell the complete story. Michael is arguing that Need States are the new consumer definition. He is using phrases like SEEKER, DESPERATE, CARETAKER, RELUCTANT to define new types of shoppers. BARGAIN HUNTING, COURIER, HUNGRY are more categories. The study also found extremes and dichotomies in consumer behavior. Example: People obsess over food shows, but don’t cook cook at all. Another example: People can’t prepare a meal fast enough during the week, but will become Martha Stewart’s on the weekend with elaborate meal preparation.

Michael is concluding with illustrating how an amazing opportunity exists to communicate with consumers. He sees the biggest challenge for marketers today is in how to use the tools properly, and how to understand how consumer behavior has changed.

Michael is now introducing our next speaker, Terry Solo, President and CEO, About Marketing Solutions who will be discussing the It’s Mealtime with Hispanics study and offering some understanding the marketing and merchandising strategies for the Hispanic and other cultural populations.

Terry is presenting some data about the ethnic makeup of shoppers. While data shows that by 2050 the majority of American shoppers will be multicutural, the reality today is some of the largest consumer markets are already over 50%.

If total US Hispanic spending was viewed in terms of a country, it would represent that of the 12th largest country in the world. Within 15 years, they would move up to the world’s eighth largest spend. Additionally, multiculti consumers are driving 86% total spending growth in the United States.

Hispanics spend 35% more on groceries, and 55% more on produce than the average consumer. They shop less often than non-hispanic whites, but shop bigger baskets.

The It’s Mealtime with Hispanics report found some interesting data about consumption patterns of Hispanics in the United States. Heritage plays an important role in food preparation for at least two thirds of Hispanics and this must be considered when marketing to them.

Language proficiency is correlated to the degree to which Hispanics consume traditional foods.

Vegetables and legumes are deeply integrated into Hispanic diets. They are also used differently – not as side dishes, but incorporated into main dishes as ingredients. so, when marketing produce to the Hispanic market you need to take into account how they are integrated into their meals.

Mealtimes have varying meanings and behavior compared to Non-Hispanics. Heartier items are consumed during lunch time: La comida. Fruit is treated more like a snack than a meal item.

Additionally, there are fundamental differences in the perception of what defines health. Skinny people are seen as possibly sick. Whole milk is seen as more healthful than skim. A voluptuous figure is seen as healthy and prosperous. Furthermore, taste will trump most health-related choices.

Produce is king in Hispanic households.

Terry is now reviewing the Cocal-Cola Research she was developed that resulted in the report: Best Practices in Ethnic Marketing and Merchandising. that research resulted in the following somewhat obvious but often not addressed Best Practices in Ethinc Marketing:

Learn more about your ethnic shopper
Define your ethnic merchandising look
Tailor your offer
Enhance the in-store experience
Recruit and retaining a diverse staff
Communicate value at all points of contact.

The challenges of adoption of the best practices come from the nature of American grocery retailers: Unwillingness to customize store formats. Reliance on vendors for marketing insights, however those insights are often not used to make marketing decisions. Additionally, the American grocery industry is homogenous – a white male dominated industry.

Terry is going into great detail about the background on the best practices. To get all the data– and its worth exploring in detail– check out the complete report: Grow With America: Best Practices in Ethnic Marketing and Merchandising.

It’s time for a quick break, we’ll be back with a report from the Hartman Group’s presentation.

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Thursday, May 17, 8:30am

Produce Marketing & Merchandising Conference

A full day of educational sessions lies ahead. We’ll be posting about each of the sessions we attend. First, breakfast!

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Thursday, May 16, 4:30pm

Best of United Fresh Awards:

Best New Vegetable Product at United Fresh 2013 goes to AMF Farms – Pumpkin Pie Making Kit:

United Fresh 2013 Best New Packaging Mastronardi /Sunset :

Winner, Best New Fruit Product: Sunkist, L’il Snappers:

Thursday, May 16, 2:00pm

Sights from the show:

United Fresh’s famous Wall of Meeting Rooms

Mastronardi / Sunset easily had the strongest presence at the show:

Sunkist was serving up some amazing food.

Natural Delights and their delicious Medjool Dates:

The United Fresh 2013 Sponsor Wall.

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Thursday, May 16, 10:30am

Mid-Morning General Session

Had an issue with wifi that has delayed my reporting today. The problem being, there is none. I know, right? Anway, got tethering going on my phone, so we are back live again, at least until the 40% battery I have left gives up the ghost.

What you missed while I was fighting the dark ages at United Fresh 2013 in San Diego:

Introduction of incoming Board of Directors by Tom Stenzel, current Chair. He reviewed the 2012 achievements of United Fresh, including:

Growing produce consumption – Student Fresh Fruit School Snack program.
School Salad Bar program: 436 salad bars to California schools

He also debuted two new programs:

United Fresh Recall Ready
Sustainability Guide

Next up, Greg Johnson, Editor of The Packer who presented the award for Man or Woman of the All Seasons – honoring lifetime of achievement in the produce industry. This year’s honoree was Mike Cavallaro Dole Fresh Fruit Company. He accepted his award with some surprise and a simple thank you.

Today’s keynote speaker is former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, covering “Fresh Produce Perspectives”. His counterpart on Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski was also supposed to speak, ,but there’s no sign of her yet. Maybe later? I’ll let you know.

Amazingly, I have not seen Joe before. I’m not much of a TV news fan. So I entered this event with a ho hum attitude. But I gotta say, Joe is a smart guy. He’s a Republican, so there’s that, but he’s a good speaker, and he’s making good points. He’s also pretty funny. But politics is his game and politics is the topic today. So you can probably guess the content.

Question from the crowd: “What’s your favorite vegetable?” Joe’s answer, “What the hell kind of question is that?!” (Spinach was his ultimate answer, by the way).

Joe has careened away from audience questions (they were amazingly dull, have to admit), pivoting off a question about sequester to go back to his point that Congress is broken. He predicts that immigration will not pass. He also notes that Repubs are dead wrong about Benghazi ruining Hilary Clinton’s presidential chances — she’s gonna take it and run with it, and they need to get their act together or she’s going to win it.

Another audience question: “Why did you leave Congress?” Answer: “Have you ever BEEN in Congress?” His serious answer was this: “I was gone 200 nights a year for seven years. I loved my job, but I missed my family.”

Last question: “Where is Mika?” Ah, now we get the dirt.

Answer? “She’s on a book tour.”

Huh. Ok.

Wait, one more question. Health care reform. This should be good. Joe’s answer: Small biz owners are going to get h

How To Avoid Getting Your Cover Image Banned By Facebook

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In April Facebook announced that Cover images and Promoted Post images could be comprised of no more than 20% text. Prior to the rule many business Pages were using that nice big cover graphic as a digital billboard, and we have to agree things were looking pretty spammy.

Facebook did not prohibit text outright, insisting instead that everyone tone it down a bit. Toning it down translates to a new 20% rule which mandates that text comprises 20% or less your cover image (and images used in your Facebook Promoted Posts and ads as well) real estate.

Ok, that’s all well and good, but how do you know if you are in compliance or violation of “20% or less”? To help, I prepared some images to assist visualizing what that actually means.

In the picture above we have a representation of a Facebook cover image. I’ve added a 5×5 grid to help guide us through the 20% discussion.

The above example shows how you could place some call to action text horizontally to span completely across your cover image. So long as your text stays within these dimensions, you are at 20% or less.

In this second example, a vertical copy space has been defined, again taking up only 20% of the image area. You could use any of the vertical columns in this graphic and be in compliance.

Finally, you can get more free-form, as shown above. You can even use non-contiguous blocks, just keep to five of them.

Remember, the 20% rule applies to Facebook Promoted Post images as well – and Facebook is being very rigorous with its enforcement of these rules. Hope this helps!

Want to share this? Here’s an infographic you can repost or pin

Bradley Fitzhenry, MJR Creative Group

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

5 Ways To Optimize Web Content For Mobile

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If you have not already, it’s time to do two things: 1) change the way you construct all content for the web, and 2) evaluate all the copy you have written that exists on the web and adjust it for mobile browsing.

It’s really not optional. In 2013 mobile browsing will surpass all desktop devices. If you are a content creator, you need to make changes now. If you are a content manager or purchaser, make sure that your writers and content creators are using the techniques we’ll be going over in this article. It’s an understatement to say that your site’s success depends on it.

Much of the copy that exists on the web today was written assuming viewership on a desktop monitor. As a result, certain conventions and writing habits make for some pretty painful mobile experiences. Since the majority of your website’s traffic will be coming from mobile this year its time to make changes. Let’s take a look at some new writing techniques that need to be used to create good user experiences.

No Forced Line Breaks

Adding <br> in headings and titles is a pretty common way to make sure a line breaks exactly the way you want it to for a website layout. However, using the <br> function makes for some pretty ugly headlines when they have to shrink to a mobile screen. So, avoid forcing line breaks.

Short Paragraphs

Seven typical lines of text written for a desktop reading environment can turn into a unreadable wall of text on a mobile device. It’s time to write short paragraphs to account for the fact that mobile screens have shorter line lengths. Aim for a range of 250-400 characters for average paragraph lengths to keep your copy comfortably readable.

Do Not Bury The Lede

Social media sharing is now a critical web traffic driver, so it is essential to understand how this content is shared. When a reader posts a link to your content on Facebook or LinkedIn for example, the first line of copy is typically displayed in the post along with the link. Make sure that line delivers your main point clearly and directly.

Use modular content structure

On desktop web experiences, much of the time all of the copy written for a page is available to be read once the page loads. For mobile, a better experience would be to use tabs, accordions and toggles to reveal content to readers as they follow their interest path through the page.

Content Choreography

Going hand-in-hand with content structure concerns is the concept of content choreography. Trent Walton describes content choreography:

The concept of permanently placing content on a web page for a single browsing width or resolution is becoming a thing of the past.

Media-queried responsive & adaptive sites afford us the ability to re-architect content on a page to fit its container, but with this exciting new potential come equally exciting challenges. Web designers will have to look beyond the layout in front of them to envision how its elements will reflow & lockup at various widths while maintaining form & hierarchy. Media queries can be used to do more than patch broken layouts: with proper planning, we can begin to choreograph content proportional to screen size, serving the best possible experience at any width.

Content stacking is what typically happens when a web page designed for a desktop adapts to a mobile device screen. the most common solution is to stack them on top of each other in chunks (fig. A):

Content choreography describes a different approach wherein content is folded into different elements as the view narrows to control the order of content to deliver the best content experience. This way, if you have call-to-action content on a right column, you can fold it higher up in the content order, rather than it automatically being shoved down to the bottom (fig. b).

Using this approach you can utilize media queries to identify what type of device is accessing your site and then deliver content ordering that works best for the screen size accessing it.

Writers and content managers, in conjunction with developers, have an obligation to use these techniques as part a strategy of creating an excellent cross-device user experience. I’m sure there are many other considerations, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

Bradley Fitzhenry, MJR Creative Group

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

The Best Facebook Promotions According to Facebook

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“Every day we work with brand and agency partners to help them understand the benefits of Facebook and leverage its creative canvas and unmatched scale. Last year, brands tried to push the technical limits of Facebook, and digital platforms overall. Now, in just one year’s time, we were pleased with the renewed focus on the craft of great storytelling through publishing.” – Mark D’Arcy, Head of Global Creative Solutions, Facebook

In March of this year, Facebook’s Creative Council reviewed hundreds of campaigns submitted for the second annual Facebook Studio Awards. Work was submitted by brands and agencies from almost 60 countries.

Notably, in 2012 innovation shifted away from application development to a focus on content that tells a story via the News Feed driven by compelling copywriting and photography.

The Oreo Daily Twist campaign mastered that approach and the Council selected it for the special recognition Blue Award. Celebrating the brand’s 100th anniversary, Oreo used Facebook to create 100 Page Post ads over 100 consecutive days. The beautifully designed ads referenced current events from around the world, such as the Olympics and Mars Rover Landing.

D’Arcy again:

“Oreo, 360i and Draftfcb were successful because they had an approach that used creative talent designed around a marketing structure to keep pace with, listen to and connect with people. The structure is like a current-day version of a newsroom environment and people love it—and the numbers prove its success.”

Some of our favorites from the competition:

Oreo Daily Twist

In the 100 days, Daily Twist triggered over 1.3 million Facebook interactions (shares, Likes, comments)—an increase of 195% compared to the three months prior to the Daily Twist. Our share rate increased by 280%, with each post being shared approximately 1,472 times.

2012 Mustang Customizer

In Facebook, Mustang content performed very well. Unsponsored Customizer-related posts had an average post performance of 2.4%. 434,449 people participated via Facebook connect, triggering 2,350,505 custom actions and earning 16,901,484 impressions within Facebook.

The mobile app was downloaded 600,000 times. 6,687,748 users have visited the Customizer in 2012, 40% of them completing a customization.

Newcastle: No Bollocks

Total Newcastle Brown Ale conversations have increased increased by 12% since the campaign launch on May 1, 2012. In fact, a single out-of-home execution received eight million media impressions alone.

The brand’s Facebook fan base grew by an astounding 234% over the same six-month period and saw our engagement levels on the Page (the percentage of people interacting with content in any way) reach 25% compared to average social media engagement levels of 5%.

Overall communications awareness increased from 11% in February 2012 (a month prior to campaign launch) to 18% in August 2012. Newcastle Brown Ale is now the fastest-growing beer brand on Facebook.

See all the winners.

Bradley Fitzhenry, MJR Creative Group

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

Four in Ten Marketing Executives Unprepared to Meet Objectives

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Make no mistake: To survive beyond the next five years, your entire business has to adopt a digital orientation. Anyone with marketing responsibilities will tell you that everything that previously served as foundations of marketing are in a state of rapid change. This truth has created a state of confusion, panic in many organizations, with many risking failure as they refuse to change. The tried and true marketing strategies of just 5 years ago have been marginalized as a result of rapid channel proliferation, audience fragmentation, and the rise of mobile.

Based on the 2012 Accenture Interactive CMO Insights survey of more than 400 senior marketers from 10 countries, CMOs need to:

• Fundamentally change the marketing operating model.

• Build new skills internally.

• Get the right set of partners.

• Drive digital orientation throughout the enterprise.

Their ability to restructure the organization and work horizontally to deliver seamless and relevant customer experiences across all touchpoints all day, every day, will be essential to business survival.

Furthermore, nearly four in 10 CMO’s say they do not have the right people, tools and resources to meet their marketing objectives. This represents a 5 percentage point drop in preparedness compared to the same study in 2011.

Customer issues add to the pressure as consumer expectations for relevant experiences continue to rise especially as related to customer service and mobile.

Additionally, CMO’s find it difficult to quantify marketing return on investment (ROI). Nearly one in five score themselves as below average in multichannel attribution, correlating advertising to sales, and measuring media buying effectiveness.

In such a complex and unforgiving environment, CMOs capitalize on five capabilities to improve their company’s performance: offering innovation, customer analytics, digital orientation, customer engagement and marketing operations.

Digital Scores Weakest Performance

Of these five, digital orientation scores the weakest performance—at the exact moment when it needs to be the strongest. Digital orientation—which Accenture defines as working across the organization to infuse a digital focus in all business processes and functions—is critical to achieving success across virtually any marketing strategy. However, digital orientation has the largest “performance gap” (the spread between performance and importance) among the five marketing capabilities.

Yet digital orientation can have a profound impact on sales. The performance of digital orientation in high-growth companies is 21% greater than in negative sales growth companies (3.4 versus 2.8), even when the degree of importance is fairly uniform (3.81 versus 3.57). CMOs in high-growth companies have found a less turbulent path by improving their digital focus.

Two-thirds of CMOs recognize the need to work horizontally across the organization to infuse a digital focus, but only 7% say their efforts are leading edge. In fact, one in five believes their company’s digital focus is the weakest in the industry due to inefficient business processes, proliferating channels and talent gaps.

It’s a similar story when trying to engage customers and create value through digital channels. Two-thirds of senior marketers feel it is an important capability to master. Only 13% believe their performance is leading edge, and 16% think it’s weak.

The Channel Explosion

With a multitude of channels in play—from face-to-face customer contact to paid search—CMOs find it increasingly complex to get the channel mix right. For example, two-thirds of marketers realize that social media is an important channel, but less than half think they are using it effectively.

“(The most fundamental change over the next five years will be) channel proliferation and the move away from traditional direct marketing to more effective ways of leveraging customer stories and referrals via interactive media.”

Figuring It Out: Digital Budget Gets Bigger

While marketing budgets are expected to show some growth next year, the allocation towards digital marketing is expected to jump significantly—a sign that CMOs understand their situation and believe digital is critical to their future.

Some 28% of marketers—an increase of five points over 2011—believe there will be significant growth in marketing budgets, but more than half the respondents expect flat or little growth.

Meanwhile, CMOs are aggressively increasing their budget allocation towards digital marketing, with 66% assigning more than one-quarter of their budget to digital next year. The heaviest investments are in customer experience and data and analytics. These investments align with the priorities to acquire and retain customers and increase sales.

It’s Time To Change

Given the increase in customer expectations and channel preferences, it’s not surprising that seven in 10 CMOs expect the marketing function to change fundamentally in the next five years.

Over the next five years the marketing function needs to undergo fundamental change to stay on top of changing consumer behavior and channel proliferation. CMOs are looking to improve innovation and internal capabilities.

“ (The marketing organization) has to change to stay up with current technology. Too much is the ‘old’ way and not getting results.”

CMOs that have already begun transforming their operating model are seeing significant sales growth. In fact, more than half (53%) of high-growth companies are relying on organizational transformation to meet their marketing objectives. The new marketing organization, powered by analytics and technology and focused on business outcomes, will play a critical integration role across channels and business units.

At MJR we have been helping our customers adapt, change and reinvent themselves to transform their marketing to match the needs of today and the future. We can help you too.

Get the full report from Accenture, Turbulence for the CMO.

Bradley Fitzhenry, MJR Creative Group

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

American Consumers Skeptical About Organic

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Harris Interactive has released results from a poll conducted March 13-18, 2013 that underpins a growing skepticism by American consumers about foods labeled “organic”.

The objective of the study was to determine if the improving economy was echoed by a corresponding increased interest in environmental issues. The findings point to a strong “yes”, with the poll results showing (38 percent versus 31 percent in 2012) a rising concern about the current state and future of the environment.

However, this concern is not matched by a similar interest in organic food items. A whopping 59% agree that labeling food or other products as organic is just an excuse to charge more.

“What surprised us most was that while Americans are showing more concern for the environment, they aren’t necessarily willing to pay more to do anything about it,” said Mike de Vere, President of the Harris Poll. “While Americans feel better about the economy, many are wary of the ‘greenwashing’ concept that gives companies a chance to cash in on consumers who want to help the planet but are confused by all the eco-friendly jargon.”

The poll points to continued confusion by the American public about just what organic means to them and about their food. While studies continue to show that organic produce and meat is not any more nutritious, 55% of Americans believe that organic foods are healthier than non-organic.

Going green is also an area of confusion by consumers, with nearly just as many (47%) perceiving living a green lifestyle as easy, as those that find it difficult (49%). Other interesting datapoints include:

48% think washing dishes by hand is more environmentally friendly than using the dishwasher, though a study from scientists at the University of Bonn in Germany found that the dishwasher uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water, and less soap than hand-washing an identical set of dirty dishes.
41% think organic food tastes better and/or fresher than non-organic.
Efforts to be green seem to have leveled off, with nearly two-thirds (63%) making the same amount of effort to be environmentally conscious as a year ago, up considerably from 2009 (51%).
The majority of Americans agree that labeling food or other products “organic” is just an excuse to charge more (59%).

Click here to read the entire report.

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

Boston Tragedy Underlines Needs for Best Practices in Social Media

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Social Media

It is always surprising the number of people that are at the helm of corporate and brand social media accounts that have received no guidance or education about best practices in social media.

And we are talking some BIG brands. CEO’s, VP’s, Directors of Marketing etc., I’m looking at you. This is your responsibility to make happen, and this is your company’s reputation on the line. The stakes are just as high as inappropriate accounting practices, and you sure as heck make sure best practices are in place there, right?

A Social Media Best Practices (or Rules of Engagement) document provides guidance to community managers about a wide variety of situations where social media intersects sensitive topic areas. Situations like the Boston Marathon tragedy are just one area where a set of rules help define appropriate communications and help avoid often well-meaning but ill-advised posts that can damage a company’s or brand’s reputation.

In situations of national events, both tragic or serious, MJR advises clients to

Immediately suspend all pre-scheduled social media posts. Sending marketing-oriented and light-hearted public communications during times of national concern is inappropriate and reflects poorly upon your brand.
Stop posting. Responding to direct questions or DM’s is ok, but ignoring that a devastating event is in progress is not advised.
Stay out of the breaking news streams. Unless you have particular knowledge about an emerging situation, we advise our clients to avoid the temptation to play journalist. Twitter in particular is a volatile environment, and uncorroborated assertions run rampant. Under no circumstance should you participate in speculative information sharing.
Understand that you are not expected to specifically acknowledge that the event is taking place. Sending out “good vibes” and “praying” seems like a reasonable response, but it is actually reflective of your personal feelings about what is taking place. Those kinds of communications are appropriate for your personal Twitter and Facebook accounts, but usually not the company or brand you are representing.
Once the serious event is no longer developing or in progress, regular posting can resume, but stay sensitive to tone and timbre. If a nation is in shock or mourning, your messages are going to naturally be received differently. Do NOT reference the event in relation to your products or services. Ease back into the normal routine and reflect the mood of your audience.

Exceptions to these rules exist and are always covered in a good Rules of Engagement best practices document. If your company resides in the vicinity of the tragedy there may be appropriate ways your social accounts can help. If aid or law enforcement groups are asking for information to be shared, you may elect to use the reach of your account to help. Again, your Best Practices document will cover these situations and offer guidance. More importantly, rules like these protect community managers from making missteps that are not in compliance with a company’s expectations, missteps that will often cost someone their job.

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

How To Use Social Media To Maximize Your Conference Networking

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The networking power of social media really shines around industry conferences, trade shows and events. Although SXSW is the darling of the social media set, there has been a rapidly growing use of social media around trade shows, conferences and expos across all industries.

I’ve compiled a few tips about how to prepare yourself and your social accounts for your trade show season, plus strategies for how to use social media to enhance the value of your industry events.

Rework your social profiles

If you are like most people, you have not updated your social profile information in, well, let’s not speculate how long. Instead, head over to your Twitter and LinkedIn (and for some folks, Facebook, particularly your company Page) and do some Spring cleaning. If someone you met at a conference goes looking for you with a Google search, there is almost a 100% certainty your LinkedIn and Twitter profiles will be in the top 5 results returned. Make sure they reflect well on you.

Create a list

If you have not discovered Twitter lists, now is the time. A Twitter list is a list of specific Twitter users you create. The advantage of lists is it allows you to view the twitter post feed of just those accounts on your list, giving you a clean feed around topics or, in this case, events.

Build your list

Create a list for each show you are going to attend. Go through the people you follow on Twitter and add them to any of your event lists that they will be likely a part of. Next, go to the website of each event and look for the list of speakers, presenters, awardees, etc. Most of the time their twitter handles will appear in their bios. Add them to your list. This is a great way to get a nicely focused list of influencers around each show. As each show nears, you can view the list you made for a tidy flow of show comments.

Reach Out

As you build your lists, reach out to people you would like to meet or make a connection with at the show. Many times these friendly engagements can turn into meeting arrangements, dinner plans, ride sharing – or just a connection that may be fruitful in the future.

Conference Hashtag Feed

Every trade event now has a hashtag to aid in the filtering of tweets around conference happenings. Make sure you are using Twitter client that makes it easy to see hashtag feeds. My personal recommendations are HootSuite for the desktop, and Tweetbot for your mobile device, but there are many options that also work well. As we discovered in our Relevance by MJR report that took a look at the influence of social media at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit event, event hashtag traffic starts a slow ramp about three weeks prior to an event, then sharply peaks upward as the event approaches.

Talk about the event

Use your social streams to post about your event experience. Make sure to use the hashtag on all your Twitter posts so your content shows up in those feeds. Don’t forget about starting discussions on LinkedIn as well – not everyone that wants to attend events gets to go, so share your experience.

Use your existing contacts

Check your LinkedIn and Twitter followers for people in the area that the event is taking place. If they are not at the event you are attending, use conference breaks to facilitate a coffee or tea meeting. Or a bourbon meeting, one of my favorite types of meetings.

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

How To Survive the Coming Chaos

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Last year the head of MIT’s Media Lab, Joi Ito, shared with Wired Magazine his evolving strategy to dealing with a business world in constant disruption brought about by technology. I’m just encountering it now, but it’s just so relevant to so many discussions we are having with clients right now, that I feel compelled to share it today:

Wired: And in the face of that we ought to do what?
Ito: What you need to do is understand these changes are happening, and build systems and governments and ways of thinking that are resilient to this kind of destructive change that is going to happen. It’s a kind of change that is really hard to predict, it’s really hard to control, so how do you as a human being, or as an organization, survive in this chaotic, unpredictable system where planning is almost impossible?

Wired: Please tell me you have an answer.
Ito: There are nine or so principles to work in a world like this:

Resilience instead of strength, which means you want to yield and allow failure and you bounce back instead of trying to resist failure.

You pull instead of push. That means you pull the resources from the network as you need them, as opposed to centrally stocking them and controlling them.

You want to take risks instead of focusing on safety.

You want to focus on the system instead of objects.

You want to have good compasses not maps.

You want to work on practice instead of theory. Because sometimes you don’t know why it works, but what is important is that it is working, not that you have some theory around it.

It’s disobedience instead of compliance. You don’t get a Nobel Prize for doing what you are told. Too much of school is about obedience, we should really be celebrating disobedience.

It’s the crowd instead of experts.

It’s a focus on learning instead of education.

We’re still working on it, but that is where our thinking is headed.

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup

New Work: Fresno Food Expo – A Local Success Story

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In 2010 MJR Creative Group was asked by Mayor of Fresno Ashley Swearengin and the City’s Local Business Initiatives to help create an innovative program to assist local food industry companies grow their business. In 2011, the City of Fresno in partnership with MJR, Cohen Communications and David Nalchajian, Inc., hosted the first annual Fresno Food Expo.

Now in its third year, the Fresno Food Expo is a tremendous success. This year over 640 buyers ranging from local and regional businesses all the way up to representatives from Walmart attended the show. Featuring 106 locally-owned and headquartered food and beverage companies from the San Joaquin Valley, the 2013 Fresno Food Expo also served as a launchpad for 55 new products and two start-up companies.

MJR’s primary contribution was through our strategic marketing and web design and development services. The website www.fresnofoodexpo.com spearheads the marketing effort for the event, and is a rich experience for exhibitors, attendees, media and the community.

New for the site this year was the addition of public participation in a New Product competition. Fans could vote via Facebook or email, helping to choose the People’s Choice Award for new product of the year. Voting was very competitive, and added a fun, real-time element to the site, plus a direct connection to the community. 55 products competed in the New Products competition.

We are excited to be a part of this economic development initiative for the City of Fresno. This year’s Fresno Food Expo just concluded and we are already working on the 2014 Fresno Food Expo (to be held in July for 2014).

Visit fresnofoodexpo.com.

Account Director: Geoff Johnston. Designer: Nico Dondlinger. Developers: Ryan Foote and Evan Johnson.

Bradley on Google+ | twitter: @mjrcg | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjrcreativegroup