Leveraging Brand & Marketing Strategies to Increase Participation

Meg Bohart, RDN, LD

October 2018

Learning Objectives

After this presentation, the audience will be able to:

1. Discuss the why behind marketing in K-12

2. Define marketing and how to incorporate into their districts

3. List at least two ways to succeed with marketing

4. Identify how brands can increase ADP when used on

school menus

Challenges Facing School Food Today

School Meals Have Changed

As the lunch room continues to move away

from traditional entrées the demand for

innovation has increased

Then Now

Today’s Main Challenges

Labor Costs & Budget

Constraints

Increased pressure to

compete with restaurants

Creative & Innovative ways

to bring life to old favorites

Face Challenges Head OnThrough Marketing

The action or business of promoting and selling

products or services, including market research

and advertising1

The activities that are involved in making people

aware of a company’s products, and making

sure that the products are available to be

bought, etc.2

Source: 1https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=definition%20of%20marketing. 2Mariam Webster

Marketing helps grow ADP &

utilize commodity and commercial

products to the fullest!

Tools for Success

•Use Data to Make Decisions

•Be Creative

•Leverage Product Brands

•Don’t be Afraid to Fail!

Use Data to Make Decisions

Investigate the Menu

Review current sales to determine what’s popular

Use data from your sales to make strategic decisions

Test Menu Items

Educated decision on if an item

should be placed on the menu

Students feel involved in the

planning process

Staff gets to work with new item

before committing to a menu

slot

Get to Know Your Customers

Consumer Insights & Trends

Work with manufacturers to learn

about latest trends in foodservice

and retail space

Consumer insights are a

great way to support new

flavor profiles or products

Be Creative!

Gain Menu Inspiration From…

Other Districts

Local & Chain Restaurants

Cooking Shows

Magazines & Websites

Social Media

Classroom to Cafeteria

Partner with

Teachers

School

Gardens

Materials with a Purpose

Wildcat Burger

Nutrition + Marketing:

Encourage students to try new items and

learn why it’s good for them!

Utilize Resources

Feature menu items during

school announcements

Display daily or weekly

menu items on TVs

throughout school

Leverage Product Brands

Why Do Brands Matter?

Name That Brand!

What words or phrases do you associate with these brands?

Starbucks Adidas Nike

PR, Radio, TV, Word of

Mouth, Online Ads

Social Ads, Reviews, Blog,

Email, Media, Direct Mail

Ecommerce, Store,

Website

Community Forum, FAQ

Base Knowledge

Promotions, Blog, Social

Networks

Importance of a Brand

Brand: A type of product manufactured by a particular

company under a particular name; "a new brand of detergent”

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/brands

Brand the offerings you most wish your

customers would take advantage of

A business or marketing statement that summarizes

why a consumer should buy a product or use a

service.

Purpose: convince a potential consumer that one

particular product or service will add more value or

better solve a problem than other similar offerings.

VALUE IS AT THE CENTER

OF THE CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISION

Value Proposition

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valueproposition.asp

Attitudes Toward

School Lunches Strongly agree or agree

Base: 2,800

Q39: How much do you agree with the following when thinking about school

lunches? Please use a scale from 1 to 5 where 1=strongly disagree and

5=strongly agree.

77%

77%

73%

72%

71%

67%

56%

56%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

They are healthy

It's important to know where the

food/beverages are coming from

I wish schools provided

nutritional information

It's important that no antibiotics

are used in school lunches

It's important that no artificial

ingredients are used in school

lunches

I wish my child could digitally

provide feedback on school lunch

offerings

I know/understand the

government regulations for school

lunches

I'm knowledgeable about

antibiotics/hormones in raising

practices

Most Parents Agree

School Lunches are

Healthy, but also Feel it

is Important to Know

Where the Food and

Beverages Come From

Reasons Parents Trust a

Brand for At-Home Use

54%

50%

42%

41%

33%

26%

23%

22%

21%

19%

16%

Has a good reputation

Well-known brand

I’ve always used this

brand

Recommended by

friends/family

Labeling on the

packaging

No bad press in the

news/media

Has values that are

similar to my own

Local brand

Is socially responsible

Has advertising that I

can relate to

Supports local

community activitiesBase: 2,800

Q32: What makes you trust a brand that you purchase at

retail stores for at-home use? Select all that apply.

A Good Reputation is

Key when Considering a

Product for At-Home Use

“If it’s a brand I trust at home, I would

feel more comfortable in knowing the

same high quality, nutritious products

are being used for my child’s school

lunch.”

“If my preferred brands were used to

make school lunches my child would

be more likely to eat at school, which

gives me more time in my day to get

things done instead of making his

lunch.”

Likeliness to have Children Eat Lunch at

School if Preferred Brand is Used

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Much

more

likely

Somewhat

more

likely

Neither

likely nor

unlikely

Somewhat

less likely

Much less

likely

Base: 2,800

Q33: If you find out that a brand you are loyal to is available at your child(ren)’s

school cafeteria, would you be more or less likely to have your child(ren) eat

lunch at school?

Q34: Why would you be <more/less> likely to have your child(ren) eat lunch at

school?

Recognizable + Trustworthy + Home Use =

Lift in ADP

Brand Equation

• Branding increases ADP (lift)

• Data determines best branding

opportunities

• Parents want branded products in school

cafés

• Proven results with branded products

Apply Branding to Menus

Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

Take Chances!

Experiment with various

marketing ideas

– Start simple

– Track your results to

measure the impact

If one marketing idea doesn’t

work, don’t give up!

In Review

Use data to make decisions

Be creative!

Leverage Brands to increase ADP

If one marketing strategy doesn’t work, try something else!

Thank you!