0:11 0:11 All right, Hi, everyone, and thank you for joining today's webinar. It'll be on how food and beverage consumers are shopping and also what they're breathing. 0:21 Elizabeth Northrup from Kraft Heinz will be joining us for an interview after this insights presentation, but wanted to start by introducing you to myself and Alec. 0:30 My name is Sam Youngberg, I'm the divisional Vice President of Content Acquisition App as our voice. 0:35 0:35 I focus both on our CPG and retail verticals and work with our brand partners to drive content solutions across user generated content and ratings and reviews. 0:47 Hi, guys. 0:48 I'm out of school where I'm the director of brand Partnerships, overseeing content acquisition for enterprise. 0:58 So, we wanted to start by just giving you some quick context on bizarre boys, as well as our influencer platform. 1:05 For those of you who aren't familiar with bizarre ways, we are the leading provider of ratings and reviews, software, and also home to the largest network of brands and retailers site. 1:14 Our solutions help you reach in market shoppers, personalize their experience, and give them the competence. 1:21 And if you are already one of the 8300 brand and retail sites that partner with us, you probably know well, what it means to be part of this network. 1:29 1:30 When brands collect ratings and reviews, bizarre ways not only moderates and displace those reviews for your own site, but we also then have the capability to syndicate these reviews to major retailers. 1:41 In total, one billion monthly active shoppers interact with our content, which makes us the largest shopping network in the world. 1:48 And in addition to this network, we are also home to the influencer dot com platform and influencers like a TripAdvisor or a Yelp except for product. 1:57 It's where six million everyday shoppers come to share their opinions on products, as well as to discover new things to try. 2:05 Sense. In my role, I focus on content acquisition. 2:08 I spend a lot of my time working on or influenced your platform as it's one of the primary ways that we're able to drive user generated content for our brand partners. 2:16 2:17 And I can tell you, it's been an exciting week for us here at Influencer, as we just passed, 50 million reviews, that were left directly on our site by our community. 2:26 2:28 An influencer members aren't only posting reviews, They're also sharing photos, videos, and participating in Q&A, and that's all happening organically on the site and on the app. 2:39 2:39 We also give them the opportunity to try samples of products from brand, to then post about on the platform, as well as on their own social media channels, with Influencer, as well as, our recent acquisition of securely visual platform. 2:53 2:53 We're now the only team that can guide your user generated content strategy from end to end, which we accomplish by taking the content we collect, and then helping you display it across your own social channels, your brand site, and also your retailers. 3:08 And I know everyone here on the phone today is looking forward to learning specifically about food and bad consumers. So next, I'll hand it over to Alex, and he's really an expert on the category and works with a lot of our food and beverage partners already. 3:22 And she'll share how the influencer community engages with products in that category. 3:30 Exam. So when looking our influencer community, the food and beverage category X three is the second largest category with over a million reviews. 3:39 3:40 And a quarter million more pieces of a UGC uploaded daily ranging from actually cooking shots with kids. 3:48 Um, sharing recipes, engaging and so on. 3:52 There's definitely never a shortage of content. 3:57 So because of how people are reviewing what they're reviewing, the questions they're asking in the different ways they're engaging in the platform, we have, on average, 900 data points on every person within our network. 4:11 So for instance, we know details such as how much they're spending on groceries, or they're shopping for their trees. What? 4:17 They're buying the dyes. They've been trying, And their preferences. 4:21 Because these people are coming to our site all the time to upload and share thoughts and opinions, we can tap into these people and ask them questions, to learn directly about preferences, preference shifts, and adjustments. 4:36 So today we're going to talk about our, you know, how food and beverage consumers are shopping, what they're breathing. 4:42 4:42 And then we're also going to chat with Elizabeth Northrup from Kraft Heinz to learn how craft as approaching 20 21, and followed by any questions you may have. 4:51 4:52 In addition to this, we're also going to be doing a giveaway. So please stay tuned for the end, and I'm actually going to turn this over to Sam to chat through. food and beverage. 5:00 Consumers are shopping alec. 5:04 So since the start of Cobin and since it covered really began to think in, as our new reality, in March, we've been surveying the influencer community to better understand how everyday consumers are cobain shopping and spending during these times. 5:20 As you can imagine, our initial surveys back at the start of the pandemic picked up on a lot of anxiety, a lot of stockpiling and a lot of new product discovery simply due to their favorite brands being out of stock. 5:31 5:32 I know this rings true for myself personally. I feel like I continue to use some new grocery items that I discovered during those early days of the pandemic just because I couldn't find my goto brand. 5:45 And while those insight were incredibly helpful at the time, March to me at least feels like a lifetime ago. 5:51 5:52 And at this point what I've really been interested in understanding is how consumer behavior is different now, we're almost nine months into the pandemic and consumers are starting to adjust some of their shopping behavior for probably for good. 6:06 6:06 And this is why I'm really excited to dive into the specific survey results. They represent the opinions of 8300 influencer members who answered this survey back in September. 6:18 6:20 This first step here is probably not very shocking to all of you, food and bad marketers on the line. 6:26 In both North America and Europe, a large portion of consumers said that the pandemic has shifted their food and bad purchasing behavior with 42% pain, so in North America and then 43% in Europe. 6:38 6:40 And for grocery brands in particular, this impact has been felt in several different ways. 6:46 First, back in March, the concern I think you all would agree for many brands was keeping shelves stocked, supply chains blowing, and also just keeping America and Europe. 6:58 Today, grocery shelves are looking better, but there's still averaging 10% of their shelves out of out of stock, which is above the pre pandemic range of five to 7% that is seen as more usual. 7:11 And, as brands and brochures have focused on keeping beloved items on shelf, new innovations have suffered delays with 52% of food and beverage brands citing a push back at least a few months for their new product launches. 7:26 7:26 Then this final stat here, as it became clear that we're all in this for the long haul. 7:30 Many brands have enough support to meet the demand of people shopping online, where sales for the grocery segment are growing an average of 22% year over year. 7:41 7:43 Consumer preferences have shifted as well. 7:47 In this survey question you see here. We asked consumers what they cared about the most when shopping for grocery items both before the pandemic and today. 7:54 7:54 What we saw is still ahead and focused on availability with consumers stating it as their third top priority. 8:02 Our earlier research actually towards the beginning of the pandemic showed that consumers were ranking availability first. So, this is actually a shift as consumers are considering price and taste again. 8:13 8:13 But it's still an indicator that priorities are different from what they were last year. 8:19 And even with this declining focus on ingredients, health has become top of mind for consumers in different ways. 8:24 And we've seen that in terms of the aisles that they're shopping. 8:30 Start with the image on the left. At the start of the pandemic shoppers were focused on stockpiling and buying up, what they could get in store and what would laugh. No, one is really sure what was going on or for how long it would be going on for. 8:44 Then over on the right-hand side the shoppers are less concerned about keeping full pantries or you know, today, maybe they're pantries are just already full and so what they're focusing on more now is fresh and healthy food items. 8:59 They are using these fresh ingredients to cook with 48% of survey respondents indicating that they have started cooking more home-made. 9:08 And one of the more interesting trends we observed is that 47% of respondents indicated that they are swapping out dairy for net bean and Green milk. 9:18 35% are doing so by choice for dietary reasons, 30% specifically for health reasons, and 13% simply because they realize they prefer these to do. 9:29 Are these alternatives to dairy? 9:32 Of the respondent to swapped out dairy, almond coconut And so are the most popular choices. 9:40 9:42 And dairy isn't the only category where consumers are seeking alternatives. 9:46 Plant based foods are also on the rise. 9:49 This is a trend that we actually saw take hold starting last year, but one that has continued to rise during the pandemic. 9:57 42% of consumers are looking for sustainable plant based options for protein and that's up 6% points from before the pandemic. 10:05 And as consumers are trying out new trends, they are also trying out new brands and recipes. 10:10 So, I'm going to hand it back over to Alex to share more insight, but also curious if you've tried any new brands or recipes over the past month. 10:21 10:21 Sam, All the time that was my activity for the evening, was to create a new recipe. So definitely fine. 10:30 But not yet. 10:33 Boehm. I feel like my kitchen hug, Ben. 10:37 I've been kind of like your traditional Instagram Bakker, where I was really into making bread for awhile. 10:44 Never banana bread. But I did. Try sourdough. 10:48 Now there's always room. 10:51 Cool, cool things. 10:53 Awesome, so one of the things that we wanted to kind of set the stage for and to bring awareness to is the shopping habits before, during and after locked down. 11:03 So during lockdown we actually found that over a third of respondents purchased new brands, even, they've never heard. 11:10 We looked at a recent McKinsey study, and they said that basically availability, convenience, and value were the strongest drivers and purchasing brands. 11:21 In addition to availability, convenience, and value, brands, response during the event, actually there's a large consideration amongst the respondents. 11:30 It doesn't end there, though, almost all the people who we asked when they consider new brands they were also continuing to repurchase beyond the pandemic. 11:41 Especially looking at those who are emergency demographic And those who are high earners are actually most prone to switch into those brands permanent. 11:48 11:50 It's important to know what's new and what's new to them, It also includes tried and true grants. Also, those big, established trusted brands also benefiting from those trends and senior 50% growth during the crisis. 12:04 12:06 Rotary Shoppers historically haven't been heavy review readers, but we're seeing those percentages rise as consumers are doing more of them shopping online must have been experienced going into stores first hands. 12:18 12:18 So as you can see, 61% of the shoppers in North America indicated that they're likely to read reviews before making their shopping list, Whereas 55% of European grocery shoppers are looking at reviews while buying online. 12:36 In addition to reviews, social media has a large impact on purchasing decisions. 12:41 We actually looked at 82% of respondents to indicate that social media is the most common channel to get information about brands products followed by the brand's website. 12:51 74% of those people who visit the brand's Social Media pages are being purchased as well. 12:57 12:57 A quarter of those indicated that they are actually interacting with food and beverage social media content on a daily basis. 13:05 So now we know what people are shopping for. 13:07 I'm going to turn it over to Sam to learn more about what they're breathing. 13:11 Sam, have you had any cravings? 13:15 Well, I feel like I just keep snacking on Ethereum. 13:19 13:19 Turn from a breakfast food for me into just and all afternoon food. 13:24 What about you alyse Yeah, I've been in big popcorn, snappily hasn't ended, fair enough. 13:33 Well during the pandemic, cravings for food preferences have shifted. 13:37 13:38 And that's one of the key reasons that consumers are spending their time in different ways. 13:44 According to McKinsey, people are dedicating more time to domestic activities media, as well as the news. 13:51 Approximately, 75% of respondents say they're cooking at home most days, or even every day, and nearly half report. 13:58 They're making more home-made food. 14:02 Also, of respondents who didn't cook at home before the pandemic and are cooking those days at home now they're doing so because, for 29% of them, they have more time to cut. And then for 27% of them, they're looking to make money. 14:16 14:17 And, as I think we're all well aware, being at home also means limited exposure to new experiences. 14:24 As a result we've seen a craving for Nunez therapist in our influencer community and that means searching for new products: new to them products and new ways to try and make up their beloved staples. 14:35 So how are they feeling that craving? 14:39 Well, two beverages but emerged, where infusions and Matchups: 38% of respondents have already tried tea infused with botanical ingredients, such as Rose, Lavender, Antabuse Gifts. 14:51 And of those who haven't, 42% are very interested in trying. 14:56 And 20% of respondents have tried drink mash ups. and that's everything from fear with Cold Brew, espresso martini, coconut water with espresso and tea with sparkling water. 15:07 15:07 Of those who haven't, 70% are interested in trying these drink matchups in the future. 15:13 Mashups are not limited to beverages. 15:15 15:16 The image on the left is, from an influencer members, Sarah H, who created an amazing new mash up with brownies, peanut butter, cups, m-and-m.. 15:25 I see some oreos and money buddy, which honestly sounds amazing. 15:30 And the image on the right is from Tamara .... And she was very creative and that she took the white cheddar from her craft Mac and cheese and paired it with rice noodles, making her own version of it. 15:44 On the influencer app, we encourage our community to post photos to galleries. 15:49 And one gallery that has been trending lately is hashtag healthy snack. 15:53 We have over 1300 photos, submissions and prompting. 15:58 And here, you can see an example of how consumers are highlighting their new healthy Snacks recipes, using everything from Iodized salt to jif peanut butter. 16:08 And the creativity in our food and Beth galleries these past nine months, has been one of my favorite parts of the Influencer platform. 16:16 In addition to healthy snacks, we're also seeing weeknight meles, late-night snack, my favorite food and Coffee Club all galleries with incredible content showing all of the ways that consumers are keeping their food and beverages exciting. 16:29 For me, as someone who works really closely with the grocery industry, it's honestly just reiterating why this category is so important during these times, when consumers are just really limited on what they can do, based on public health restrictions and also their budget. 16:43 16:44 What we've seen is food is providing an outlet for comfort, for creativity, for fun, and for new experiences. And I think it just goes to show how incredibly important the work of everyone on the phone is to consumers right now. 16:56 16:56 They need you to keep their favorite items available, and to keep providing them with both new products and new recipes. 17:06 And with that, we'll end our overview of our consumer insight. 17:10 17:10 Alex and I will be available at the end of the webinar for any questions, but for now, and without further ado, I'm going to pass it off to Alex to introduce our special guest speaker, who I'm extremely excited to hear from me, to, say, we're so excited to be joined by Elizabeth Northrup. I actually have a quick by, I want to share with you, I'm gonna make sure you get it right, I'm gonna read off a sprint. 17:33 Um, so Elizabeth has been with Kraft Heinz for three plus years, currently working as a brand associate, owning Innovation and Comms. 17:41 17:41 She has worked in a variety of notable brands, including craft dressings, Hynes, Vinegar, and Brief. 17:47 She has also had the opportunity to launch two new brands in the dressing category. 17:52 Before before Kraft Heinz, she started her career at Hormel Foods in the category marketing management across a variety of meat and grocery brands. 18:00 18:01 I personally have the pleasure to work with Elizabeth, directly on a variety of sampling programs, and we're so excited to have her. So welcome. Elizabeth. 18:11 Thank you. So happy to be here, guys. 18:14 Awesome. 18:16 So we definitely would love to do some sort of like fun question to kick off the Q&A. Here, there are four IP. 18:24 Yeah, let's do it. 18:26 OK. 18:26 So if you had to try one Kraft Heinz product keep it, in your refrigerator, or your household, the rest of your life, what would it be? 18:35 18:36 Yeah, There are definitely a lot. I think, just for its versatility. Both like you can use it on sandwiches and you can use it in recipes dressings. 18:45 I'm gonna go with the gray Poupon Dijon Mustard. Again, I think it's just like a really versatile product and it stays good for a really long time. So, you know, you never have to worry about it going bad, really. So, yeah, that's definitely the product I would choose, but there's lots of close. 19:00 Second, that's a good one. Samm, what about you? 19:08 19:11 Much. 19:13 Tamara? 19:16 Sure. 19:18 Blah. 19:19 I would say, Kraft Singles, honestly, also for the versatility, something that's super easy. Grid on a lot of different things. 19:28 Yeah, definitely can't live without those, but thanks for humoring us with that. 19:33 OK Cool, so I know you worked with us you to just figure out trends and things like that. 19:41 We went through And what we're seeing on our end in terms of trends in the food and beverage category from where you sit. What are the key trends that you're seeing right now? 19:51 Yeah. So, I think the trends you guys called out about the changing shopping and eating behaviors is definitely seeing, like, fitting what I'm saying. So, of course, in March, we saw covert drilling a huge stock up period when we were seeing, like, tons of out of stocks empty shells. 20:08 But now, the continued growth of cooking at home and recipe exploration, because people maybe aren't doing as many things as they used to, or they aren't able to do a lot of the things that they used to do, is something we're seeing just months after startup. 20:23 I think one thing that I saw that wasn't talked about as much was, well, I totally agree. Consumers were totally open to trying new brands, even if it was, because it was really the only thing on shelf. 20:34 I think the importance of our historic, and like iconic brands that have been around for so many years. 20:40 It's a huge trend that we saw. We saw some unprecedented, new buyer growth with some of our oldest brands. 20:46 So, again, I think food at home is kind of filling a void for a lot of consumers. 20:50 And they're looking for more familiar or reliable brands that have like quality or taste advantage, you know, things that they're just used to. 20:59 And there could even be like some nostalgia uncovered that, that, those more historic brands spring. 21:04 Definitely, I agree, we've been doing a lot of clicking my hustle these past couple of months. 21:11 Am oppression violence. And I'm just curious about one comment that you've seen. And, if you haven't asked, like, why do you think? 21:21 21:22 Yeah, So Obviously, cov, it's been crazy and we don't know exactly what will happen. But I think the two biggest things that I saw was one. Again, that huge spike in demand during the initial quarantine and stock of time when people were kind of just panic buying and buying whatever they could, which was more earlier in the year. 21:39 Whereas now we're definitely seeing like steadier but much higher demand that we've seen in the past. 21:44 Those are the two biggest things that I feel like I've seen, and even though there's now no way to know what comes next and what might happen, I do think that some of those behaviors, again, like cooking at home and online shopping, are going to be things that just continue to be important. 21:59 21:59 So we're working hard to keep our brands at top of mind so that we're there for all of those new behaviors. 22:06 Yeah. 22:08 I personally, I become a lot better home chef. nine months. 22:13 22:14 I stay on for a lot of people that probably. 22:18 How did you find yourself and your team having to adapt your priorities during front end? 22:24 Yeah, I totally agree with you, one, on becoming like, a chef now. 22:27 I feel like that was one thing I used to fill the time. So adapting personally, definitely agree. In terms of how our team adapted, we first really had to shift a lot of our focus, just to make sure we could get items on the shelf, because we know that's, first and foremost, was most important thing to be there for consumers. 22:44 So a lot of great work was done across all areas of our business to do this. 22:49 People were working overtime and everything. But you know, we did have to delay some programs in order to kind of focus there. So you know, just making sure our priorities were in order and first and foremost, just being on the shelf for people. 23:02 23:02 That's great. 23:05 Yeah. 23:10 Marshalls are championing. 23:11 Like on our, at what's being done in the factory to ramp up production and chop them just as great to be And you are also communicating with consumers, sorry, onto the unit, Act. 23:23 They're good. 23:25 So we know, you know, staying relevant and staying on shelves are the most important things. 23:29 How are you staying relevant with your consumers and what specifically should be done during this time? 23:35 Yeah, so while consumers haven't been able to do a lot of their normal activities, or, again, are really just, like craving new recipes, or, you know, maybe they brought like a huge amount of a product, like a huge thing of Mayo. So they really were, like, hey, I, you know, I can eat sandwiches. But now what do I do? So, You know, creating messaging around recipe, inspiration and how they could use that, was, you know, some of what we did around that. 24:00 Awesome. That's really cool. Yeah. 24:02 And I imagine your marketing plans initially were turned, probably upside-down. So, as you look towards, you know, your current strategy. 24:12 And that's why you charge, how has to obey teach that. 24:16 Yeah, for sure. I would definitely say it turned everything upside down and pretty much changed every plan we had. 24:22 So, first and foremost, I think making sure that E com, an online shopping, is a top consideration, and has a place and execution for all future campaigns, is a major change that we're making. 24:34 So, as you guys know, some shoppers try it out online shopping for the first time, just out of pure necessity. 24:40 And now they just want to do that because they prefer it. Or even if they can't go to the store now for health and safety reasons. That's why they're gonna continue, but. either way, we're making sure that every program that we have for next year has both in the store, and an e-comm execution element. 24:54 24:55 Whereas, I feel like before, that was maybe an afterthought or something we tried to add on eventually, but, you know, just given that unprecedented growth, definitely keeping data. 25:05 You really are absolutely preaching to the choir on this one, and Sam, and I have, those aren't, boys, are really focused on ratings reviews. So, we totally hear you, they're excited to see what's what's next with just looking at the grocery transit and where people are finding information. We do definitely agree, it's it's important to have that ready at your fingertips when you're searching for products online. 25:30 25:30 I have another question. I know from our work together and sampling and the Martian beer strategy. 25:38 25:39 And I'm just curious how sampling has helped generate within your target audience for different initiatives that you've used the tactic. 25:47 25:48 Sure. So, I think, like, two huge things that sampling helps for, for all of our brands. is that, it gives us reviews that are truly from our consumers, and that it also gives us amazing user generated content. So, I think both of those things are ways where we can drive awareness with our brands. 26:06 With specifically, who we want to talk to. So, again, able to hyper target people. And, for example, for the Trusted Branch program, which we can talk about a little more later, we were able to even identify people who loved ranch, or like branch lovers, Like those are the people who are most likely to continue to buy our products and love our brands. So, the ability to hyper target and drive, but it's not just with everyone, but with people who are truly going to build brand love. 26:31 I think that was huge. 26:32 I also think it allowed us to hear directly from consumers about their experiences. So, again, we have been able to identify specific attributes that people really enjoyed about our products to the sampling programs. 26:43 But we've also been able to identify areas of improvement, and some things we're even able to, like, take action on. So, you know, it's almost like free consumer research, these days, because, you know, obviously, not able to do in store sampling or some of our traditional consumer research given the time. So, I think that it's just a huge way that you can kind of hear from your consumers directly, and then make changes and improvements to their experience. 27:09 27:11 Interesting, Touch again. 27:13 My research, kind of different now, last, in person, focus groups happening, I love that you're thinking of sampling and consumer. 27:23 A lot of time sampling the file and the user generated content, and the reviews, which are all super important in the fact that you're taking that opportunity. 27:35 Awesome. 27:36 27:38 So, I would say, you know, what are the things are. The different ways that you would recommend brands, occurrence, coach, new launches, or, you know, just general strategy around that, as we look towards 2021. 27:51 Yeah, I think, you know, when you think about how to support new launches, it's great to drive overall awareness and buzz. 27:58 But keeping that target, consumer, and mine, through all the steps would be my biggest advice, and where we found the most success. 28:04 So, you know, when you think about the audience that you are targeting, They should really inform everything you do. 28:09 28:10 You know, obviously not just around sampling, but like your messaging, your creative and where you show up in the world, because for a couple of the campaigns we've done with you guys, we were looking at capturing like a younger audience with specific motivations. 28:24 We knew that Instagram was where we needed to focus the majority of our time and our focus, because that is where those people were. So that was the best chance. 28:33 And then, again, I think just going back to listening to the consumers, you know, sometimes reading through consumer reviews can be like, it's tedious or those verbatim. Sometimes you're like, Oh, no, they hated it. But, there's also people who loved it. And, again, even though people who aren't as positive, you can take away learnings. 28:50 28:50 So consumers are really loving to share their online experiences and just sharing with their friends. 28:55 So I think that's valuable information that, that we used to get from paid focus groups, sometimes only like we discussed. So, definitely just using that information where you can. 29:05 29:05 Absolutely. 29:07 Totally agree. 29:14 Your favorite campaign that you've done to your brand. 29:18 Yeah. So, I think, I'll give an example with, influenced her, because I do love you guys and love our program so much. 29:25 And then, I'll give one, just outside to give a little more. a little more example. So, the first program I really want to highlight would be our twisted ranch box box, which I have with me. 29:37 Thank you guys. Are getting this. That out, is all. 29:41 Just to give, like, a high level, like background, what we did was, we targeted about 3000, 500 millennial women, and we really, again, we layered on some of those hyper targeting things, like people who love ranch, and people who are really open to that. And basically, we sent out these custom box boxes. With, inside, we had this beautiful postcard that had a really nice assets that we developed for twisted ranch, as well as a really cool description of just like what's the brand was, unlike how we were created. 30:14 Because the brand has a fund backstory, it's actually a restaurant in saint Louis that we found. They had a video go viral on buzzfeed and we basically contacted them and we were like, we must make your ranch and they they worked with us. So it's a really, really fun partnership. And then we sent out our top flavor, which is garlic smashed Buffalo as well as the new flavor we want launched this year, which is .... So, I think that was definitely my favorite one. 30:41 It led to some really great results. 30:42 We had over five million impressions, 3800 reviews, and 79% of participants indicated that they were likely to purchase the product, and 17% even said they purchased again. 30:56 Well, take at the time of the survey, so, You know, not only was that cool just to see the really great results, but the user generated content, you know. 31:06 Being on salad dressings at the time was my business, though. It's great to see it on a salad, but with Twisted ranch people got super creative about, like, they were like, I love ranch shirts, and they were, like, squeezing it on their pizza. Or like, the french fries. 31:18 So it was just a really fun, creative way to see products used, and then, again, we got really great insights into what people were loving and then maybe not so much loving about about certain products, so that was great. 31:31 So that was my influenced or in. With inputs or example, outside of influencer, I would definitely say another brand I worked on is bitten dressing, very similar to choice of drenched, in terms of launch timing. 31:44 It was a smaller brand that we launched It was really all about having combining creamy and fruity because that was really a white space in the salad. Dressing area. Right, you had these pretty vinegar rights, you have creamy savory, but we really wanted to create this kind of white space and get people there who are looking for something. 32:01 So one thing that we did that was super fun was we partnered with refinery 29. And they have this tour. They do every year called 29 rooms. So basically, I don't know. If you guys have been to them, they're pretty fun. 32:14 Basically they set up in like a warehouse. Yeah. 32:16 Or like somewhere, and they put all these really cool rooms where you can take pictures and interact with brands, so that was just a super out of the box and experiential way. 32:26 And on the flip side, you know we were able to sample virtually kind of here with Britain and the refinery 29 we had in person sampling. 32:34 So again, it's kind of like, you can do both. 32:36 And you probably should do both. But, there are, time, and a place for each of them right now, more virtual, but, you know, eventually, someday, again, I'm sure we'll have pieces that are truly in personal sampling as well. 32:49 32:50 Example, I mean, obviously, the Influencer program, it was one of my favorite, like, following our campaign, hashtag Instagram, and just like being on SharePoint, like how creative people the way they use branch. 33:05 But I want that. Experience. 33:11 And you're doing a good job of giving consumers experience and whether or not they can, you know, experience at home, when they're cooking or when I'm coming from our experience the brand. 33:26 And I think it's super important to consumers to have that connection, especially with new brands and products. 33:32 I love them. 33:36 My next question, I am curious, did you see any product? 33:43 We're going out of stock, or just the demand during come in, especially kind of like nothing? 33:53 Yes. Yeah, I honestly think literally every product that we've had at one point was like, out of stock or not on shelf or not available. 34:02 But the thing that was most shocking to me and actually was one of my brands at the time was Heinz vinegar. 34:08 Vinegar was just like booming like I was so interested in this because I guess when I was thinking about things people were stocking up on, it just wasn't a product that came to the top of my mind. 34:18 34:18 You know, I obviously thought, like, pantry staples are like, you know, even like some kind of ensure that makes sense, but when I saw vinegar, I was shocked. So kind of was looking into it and found trends where, you know, vinegar has a lot of uses, one being cleaning a lot of people because they couldn't get a lot of cleaning products because those were like nowhere to be found. 34:37 People were kind of placing that in as a different way to be cleaning, and also, vinegar has like, you know, it's very, very food safe. 34:46 34:46 So a lot of people like using it as like a further veggie wash and obviously people are being even more aware of those kinds of things now. Just, you know, given everything going on, doing those extra steps to make sure that they are being safe and healthy. 35:00 So I definitely think that those were a couple of things like why we saw vinegar pop. But that one was was pretty shocking to me at the time. 35:08 Hi! 35:11 I'm telling you, Not me either. That is very fun fact. Definitely Interesting. 35:18 35:19 Switching gears a little bit, and this is the last question I have for you. So, where do you see 21 going? What trends are you seeing? Where do you see it heading any insight and share with us? 35:32 Yeah, for sure. So I feel like, you know, who knows. 35:34 But at the same time, you know, we can look at some trends And in my, in my opinion, I think as we see consumers spending more time at home because I don't see that going anywhere and just more time eating at home. 35:46 35:46 And just overall adapting to a new way of life, whether that be working from home more often or just like totally different activities they didn't used to do. 35:54 I think one area they're going to continue to focus is choosing their food items a lot more thoughtfully. And that's like across the board. 36:02 Think that includes things like, you know, health related choices or swaps like, different sweeteners, not just sugar anymore, or plant based protein. 36:11 Instead of like choosing a burger, you might choose a veggie burger these days. Also, looking for additional benefits from their products like super nutrient dense products to support that immune health or even things like that are helpful for gut health. 36:25 I think those are all gonna stay important. But, I also believe things like sustainability and transparency on like, where is my food coming from? You know? What? 36:35 does this brand stand for? I think those are going to be even bigger trends in 20 21, because, again, people just have a lot more time to be focus there now. And if they're eating more at home, I just think they're going to be thinking a lot more about that. 36:47 Absolutely. That is really awesome to hear. I think people are going to be more creative with what they're, what, They're eating their comments, and things of those, nature. 36:56 So we're always looking for more ideas, so thanks for really, super excited to have you today. So, thanks so much for your time Excited for you to come back and visit us. 37:07 Yeah, I can't wait to see you guys in person again, someday. 37:11 Well, thank you. 37:14 Thanks, Matt. 37:25 All right. 37:27 Thanks again to Elizabeth. 37:28 I hope you guys enjoyed that conversation as much as we did. 37:32 Alex and I are going to stick around for Q and A I think, for those of you who have submitted questions already, and if you haven't, so feel free to go ahead and submit questions. 37:41 37:42 We have about 20 minutes last. We can use all of that time, or or end early, based on what comes then. I did want to start, though, as promised, with our giveaway. 37:54 I'm really excited about this giveaway and a lot of you will have an opportunity to go ahead and win a box box. 38:02 Within the interview with Elizabeth, you saw her unbox for Twisted Ranch Box box, and as a range, whatever it is. one of my personal favorite box boxes, I will admit. 38:12 Bye. 38:13 It is one of many of our boxes that we have shipped out. 38:15 It influenced her as looking at our most recent count. And we've sent over 700,000 box boxes in the past year. 38:23 And for those of you on the call, we wanted to give you an opportunity to get a free, fall themed Box box, so you can experience firsthand the excitement that our members feel when one of these custom sample kids arrive at their doorstep. 38:36 38:36 This box that's going to include some of our favorite all things here at ... are bizarre voice. 38:41 This will include apple cider treat an apple cider moulin faces really just a collection of things to help you settle into the changing seasons and the cooler weather. 38:52 So, in terms of how to enter, we are about to share a link in the chat window of the webinar control panel. All you need to do is click this link, and you'll be taken to a registration page. 39:03 We have 50 Vox boxes available, so we're just going to do first come first serve the first 50 to sign up. We'll go ahead and get one. 39:12 39:15 OK, so it looks like the link is in the window, feel free to fill out a form, as Sam said, the first people to fill it out, we'll contact you via e-mail and get that box shipped out to you. 39:27 39:29 Awesome, OK, switching gears a little bit, we're actually going to get into the Q&A, So if you haven't already asked a question, feel free to do so in the chat box in Sam and I will get to them. 39:41 Cool, Sam, if you've got any questions, Yeah, I'm seeing a couple come in. 39:47 Yeah, I can get started. 39:49 The first question I have is from Janet. 39:51 And she was asking, Our company is meeting the demand for online consumer spending trends and are we seeing more Q and A and ratings and reviews on Bizarre boy. 40:02 So it really good questions. I can tell you, the data you have and it's also brings my ideas for some more data that I'd love for our analytics team to go ahead and poll. 40:12 On the Bizarre Boys Retail Network, we have seen over 70% year over year growth on ordered count in the food and beverage category. 40:21 And I'm not sure on the on our retail network what the growth has been for food and beverage views, I will have to get back to you on that portion. 40:30 I can say specifically for our influencer platform, I know we saw quite a significant uptick in ratings and reviews at the start of the covert 19 pandemic. 40:41 It has been leveled out, but we've seen food and Bev, outpacing other categories on the platform, and also within our survey results within our community that more shoppers are reading food and beverage reviews than they previously were. 40:58 And with that, I think that partnered with the fact that consumers are just shopping more online for groceries in general, or using buy online and pick up in store tactics. 41:09 Food and beverage brands have been responding by investing more in their e-commerce strategies. 41:15 I loved Elizabeth's point about how, for all of their 2021 marketing plans, they're not only looking for that in-store element, but also ensuring that every single plan is the burning e-commerce as well. 41:26 And that's a trend that we've seen across the industry. 41:30 Food and beverage brands are just starting to look at things into more of an omni channel perspective. 41:38 Totally. 41:40 And I have a question from Jonas, and what do you think will small and or new grants in food startups benefit from the shift of traditional slash stationary retail to online shopping or do you think they will suffer? 41:53 So what we're finding is that a lot of these consumers who are purchasing products, that they wouldn't like to jump in store in front of the grocery list every week, They're just picking up items in testing new things. 42:04 Because who knows if we're gonna run out of food again? It's important to be aware of products that are out in the market that are similar to the ones that you're already trying, or gain exposure. 42:13 So one of the things that I would definitely say is, make sure consumers know where to find your product. Whether you're positioning on social media, letting consumers who have already tried your product to talk about, include links, do whatever, you kinda kinda spread the word. 42:29 But, I would say it could definitely benefit. 42:32 I've been personally trying a lot of new products that I haven't been trying in the past. So, it's really broaden my eyes. 42:37 And we're kind of seeing that same data, too. Well, thanks, Alex. And I have another question from Jana which was, how have we been planning or giving out samples in the time of Kobe and specifically, what are tactic that we can leverage for refrigerated products. 42:56 It's a really good question and one that Alex and I get. Often. 43:00 43:00 When we're speaking with our food and beverage partners, particularly when it comes to refrigerated and frozen products knowing that it's more difficult to ship, I'll start with the shelf stable product. 43:11 Our box box programs have been just going on as usual. 43:16 At the startup ..., we were a little unsure how consumers would feel about marketing type initiatives. 43:22 43:23 So what we did was we just surveyed them and ask them, where they interested in receiving samples from brands at this time. What should we be shifting in terms of our general strategy with our engaging our community? 43:35 And the overwhelming response was like, I want to Vox box now more than ever sitting at home for a lot of the day. And I have less exciting things in my life in general. So the box box. And opportunities that we're providing our community with were like a really good opportunity to still have that newness and discovery and knowing that it might be lacking from their daily routines. 43:59 Without acquires, we've been working very closely with our warehouse to ensure that everything is being checked out in a way that's safe for our warehouse partner and socially distance on their end. 44:09 Then to answer the second part of your question, specifically about refrigerated products now, lump frozen products into that question as well. 44:17 We have an offering, an influencer called a cashback sampling where instead of shipping a box like the one that Elizabeth showed us to a member's doorstep when said, ask them to go ahead and purchase products. 44:30 And once they do so, they submit their receipt to us, and we pay them back for the cost of that purchase. 44:36 So, it's kind of just another way to drive that sampling experience without meeting to ship something physical because it's just, it's pretty expensive for refrigerated products. 44:45 In particular, with adding with co bid for those programs, we've just been shifting messaging with our brand partners to ensure that we're always offering omni channel opportunities to approach or purchase products that will never ask someone just to go and store. 45:00 But, if we want to ask our community to purchase in the way that they typically are getting their other groceries and that can be in store, curbside pickup or online than those programs have also been running as usual. 45:14 And I'd say we've seen an increase in them, just as more brands are looking to drive reviews, as consumer shopping is changing as well. 45:22 Awesome. Thanks, Sam. 45:25 I have a question from Janet and she said, So, for online food and beverage companies, how important the sampling should be off our samples now, due to trends? 45:34 Sampling is super important, and specifically targeted sampling is really important, And I would say, making sure that you're, having consumers who you think you're gonna love of the products, tested it, and give you their honest feedback, is something that is really valuable. 45:46 Not only because you learn a lot about your product, if there are any improvements, something to me. But, also, these people, if they do love it, they're going to share with their friends to come and talk about it. 45:55 So I would say definitely get some sort of sampling initiatives that you can get people trying and talking about products. 46:04 Thanks, Alex. And I have another question from Don, which was around volume purchases. 46:10 And if we're seeing that more people are buying in bulk to shop less, and then specifically to add onto that how does is affected purchasing refrigerated storage for their products? 46:20 Freezers bridges wine, or beer, fridges, just knowing that a lot of appliances are sold out right now. I think the answer to the first part of the question for the second part would be a little bit more speculative just in that I've also, in a lot of appliances or really anything I'm looking to leverage for my at home setup. 46:42 The more unavailable right now and I think, to your point, it is just that increase in consumer demand is people are add purchase need more to bulk add when it comes to bulk purchases though, I was reading an e-marketer report this weekend, and they were reporting that as they think. We'd all expect. 47:01 Shopping trips are down right now, but converse laid basket size is up significantly. And I think a big contributing factor to that is the fact that people are buying in bulk, they need to shop last. 47:14 They're trying to shop last, And, in order to accomplish that, they're looking for something that is going to last them longer. 47:23 47:24 Awesome. That's a great question. 47:26 Have a question from Amber, and she said, Maybe I missed it, but how do you do digital sampling, just a sample request reviews? And so this actually touches on what Sam just mentioned. So we have what we call cashback, same thing, where we will actually ask consumers to buy the product in store or online, or maybe even delivered to their doorstep in. Exchange for receiving the product will ask them to write a review work of social. 47:53 And Then once they complete the action, will then give them money back on their purchase up to a certain dollar amount. So that's been a really great way to activate different types of people at scale and kind of get the sort of content that you're looking for us. That's a really great option. 48:09 48:12 Thanks, Alex. And the next question I have is from Jeremy. And I love this question, which is around what social networks are the most influential E grocery brands and trends for millennials? 48:26 And is that something like Tiktok or Snapchat, or anything that's new or on the horizon? 48:32 I would say when it comes to the millennial audience, we're still seeing that Instagram and Pinterest are the two key platforms that are driving her discovery in it, driving her discovery more so now that she's doing last wandering around in stores and instead coming into store with her shopping list. 48:53 So if you're looking to target a Millennial audience, specifically, would definitely recommend recipe content on Pinterest, as well as just general user generated content and buzz for your brand. 49:04 On Instagram, where she is spending the majority of her, her social time, Tech Talk, though, is a really interesting platform and something that we've seen spiking significantly with, I'd say, younger Millennials and more Gen Z And I don't know if you've ever fallen down the rabbit hole. 49:23 That is watching like recipe X, and videos on Tiktok. But why not Gen Z, I can get why it is. So entertaining, it's like perfect for today's attention span, and that most of the video there can be around, in seconds, or less. 49:37 And we are seeing huge uptick in activity on tiktok as a result. 49:43 And then when it comes to our influencer platform, we've even noticed as sites just in terms of our membership or review volume, tied to tick tock, where we'll see You know maybe a spike in a new country where we typically have had less members and are able to track it down to something on Tech talk that went viral. 50:01 50:01 So I think Tiktok if you are looking to go a little bit younger is a great way to kind of segment your overall social strategy. And where you have the offered to break through in a way that might be more difficult on traditional social platforms. 50:15 Absolutely. 50:16 one of the things that I've also been seeing just to add to that is Instagram reels. So it's kind of like tick tock honestly. But you may get a little bit more traction there. 50:25 one last app you have to use the app. Totally agree with you, Sam. 50:30 OK, question from Chris, she said, for influencer marketing and how do you determine which influencers to target? 50:38 So this is a really great question and that's something that a lot of people don't don't think about, I'd say, in a way that makes sense to their brand. So one of the things that I would definitely recommend is make sure they align with your brand's message and feel. 50:52 You want to make sure, again, that you're targeting the right people for your brand, right people to test it and be your brand advocates because people and I'll touch on like word of mouth spreads like wildfire. So, it's one of those things where it's just targeting the right people at the right scale and at the right time in three really long lasting relationship with these people. 51:11 You want them to try at least once, but you want to create some sort of brand association with them. So keeping them on a constant cadence of testing your products, insuring Muslim or sharing about like brands is something that we definitely want to keep the focus on. 51:26 51:26 one of the things that we really pride ourselves on is that the content is super organic. one of the things that people are believing lesson is when you see sponsored across everyone's page. So, that's probably my biggest piece of advice, is to ensure that it does feel organic and authentic to their to their feed. 51:46 Well, I would totally agree with Alex. 51:49 And, this might be my last question, unless anyone else has any other more questions to fire away, but I received it from Krista who is asking what's working well for new brands that are launching, that have limited retail distribution and also are specifically available on Amazon? 52:07 When it comes to new brands, I'd say, today's times actually are really exciting to be a new brand, because in a way, an opportunity to discover new products have really been democratized. 52:21 They're no longer really just governed by what shelf space you have in store because, as, you know, we're talking about previously and some of the insights, consumers are coming in with their list of products to buy and spending less time doing that In-store discovery. 52:37 52:37 What we're seeing instead is that discovery really shifting to the social channels I was talking about such as Instagram or to Alex's point at Instagram, Real, Pinterest and tick tock. 52:48 So I would My main recommendation would be to get your product in the hands of as many consumers as possible and get them talking about your product on. So. 52:58 If it's something that's incorporated into a recipe, encouraging it to be also be included within recipes and Pinterest content. 53:06 And that's a really key way to drive that awareness right now. 53:12 And that can also work for Amazon. 53:15 and that you can let consumers know via that social content where your product is available, if they have an easy opportunity to then purchase product and try it for themselves. 53:28 Awesome. Alex, do you have any more questions? 53:31 Last one. 53:32 But they're pretty similar regarding cash back. So the first question is: Do you get the participation of cash back sampling? 53:41 The answer is yes, we've driven hundreds of in-store traffic, people going into store. 53:49 We can help you generate traffic online, store delivery, kind of. However, you will set those goals with you upfront. 53:57 But we can talk about that. Definitely, e-mail you want us. Then in terms of, you know, what makes something successful for initiatives in order to generate reviews on the platforms? I would say, again, the Cashback sampling is a really great ready to drive those reviews quickly, along with Box Box in Blaine. 54:16 So it's one of those things where it's a really fun and customer experience. So we actually just sent out a couple thousand boxes to people to try no lights alongside a branded pot holders. 54:28 So it's really about creating that really fun environment that gets people excited about the product. And then driving them and store in exchange for something. So you're just giving them a little something upfront, and then asking them to do something in return. 54:40 So I think that really fun, engaging ways are ways to get people chatting about it, but that also getting them to do what your return. 54:49 Yeah, That's pretty much it. 54:53 Sorry, Sam, I think, and let's see if any last minute questions. 54:59 I think that's it on my end. I so just wanted to thank everyone for joining today and watching this webinar. 55:07 If you would like to download the handout. 55:10 You can find that in the handouts pane of the goto Webinar and if there's any other additional questions after today's Alex and I are happy to chat further or brainstorm any specific strategies for your initiatives. But thank you again for joining us today. 55:26 We really appreciate it and hope you found the content helpful.
