One of my favorite marketing books is, Made to Stick: While Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. In the book, author Chip and Dan Heath teaches that “sticky” ideas that are: simple, concrete, credible, emotional and tell a story.

I have sought to apply these principles as I’ve planned annual campaigns, interactive learning activities, tradeshows and recipe contests. 

Redefining Local:

Be Honest. How many times have you seen the words “Buy Local” or “Shop Small” without even registering the words? As program manager of a local food program, I had to recreate a way to capture an over-saturated message, while still capturing viewers and scrollers. So, I fired the word “local” and tried to capture simplistically how I wanted consumers to behave. Hence the Eat. Drink. Buy Utah’s Own campaign was born.

The message was promoted across multiple platforms: billboards, Utah-based farm and food magazine, consumer and membership promotional swag, as well as social media messaging. I provided our local farmers markets and food shows with free a-frames to spread the word.

Our annual campaign targeted and successfully reached more than 1.5 million consumers. In addition membership feedback was extremely positive: all producers proudly wore their shirts to spread the “local love” and remind people that local means: Eat, Drink and Buying Utah’s Own.

Utah-Grown Fruits & Vegetables:

Recent research revealed that while buying local produce was important, it wasn’t the determining factor for purchase. Instead, consumers rank quality, price and convenience as heavy factors when determining where to purchase their fruits and vegetables.

Hence, we opted to speak directly to them. Why purchase Utah-grown fruit and vegetables? Well, frankly we KNOW it tastes better. With a federal grant and a local produce association, we embarked on a seasonal campaign to challenge consumers to purchase based off of quality taste.

Through a multi-media campaign we were able to capture consumers attention via print and digital billboards, news websites, social media, as well as distribute recipe and point-of-sale cards to assist consumers find new ways to taste Utah fruit better.

Here’s what the campaign accomplished:

Heber Valley Artisan Cheese: Experience the Difference

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When I joined the Heber Valley Team, they were a fairly new company. I had the rare opportunity to help a local dairy family refine their mission, hone in on their branding and messaging and spread the word about their award winning cheese.

From the beginning, I knew how passionate Grant & Russ Kohler were about their dairy and cheese heritage. We spent a morning wandering the farm to capture the essence of their operation, beautiful scenery and amazing cheese. 

Company Branding & Sales:

In various meetings we discussed brand style, messaging and consumer outreach. I was able to design sales and marketing materials that helped expand sales from Utah to the Western US.

Agritourism:

As a marketing director I was also instrumental in helping increase agritourism dollars to the operation. By adding an easy-reservation option online, increasing tastings and classes, as well as hosting seasonal events, I was able to increase their revenue farm based event sales revenue by 400 percent in three years.

In addition we were able to increase foot-traffic to the farm store by investing in some roadside a-frames to draw consumers from a popular traffic circle to the creamery for tours and treats.

Utah’s Own Store & Cafe: Tradeshow Idea

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The Utah’s Own Store & Cafe demonstrates how a simple, concrete and emotional idea can change the monotonous interaction one often experiences at a tradeshow.

During an Associated Foods Show, my team and I created the Utah’s Own Grocery Store and Cafe featuring more than 200 Utah products from Logan to St. George.

Our booth became interactive as we asked attendees to spin a wheel to determine how many items (1 to 3) they could take home in their free Utah’s Own bag; this simple concept, increased the exposure of the products at the show, as attendees truly shopped, scanning all products to make their selection.

The Utah’s Own Cafe gave local companies the opportunity to sample onsite; during the show, we combined products to make a breakfast and lunch menu, as well as an afternoon snack feature. The response was phenomenal – despite the abundance of food available on the show floor, our booth became the place to eat for breakfast and lunch.

With the combination of the customer interaction, grocery shelving and cafe – my team was successful in creating the emotional feel of a hometown retailer. People tended to linger at our booth, engage in conversations, instead of hurrying on to the next deal or pitch.

At the end of the two-day show, the Utah’s Own Team estimated they talked to nearly three-times as many attendees compared to previous annual shows.