3 High-Impact Marketing Strategies for Food and Beverage Brands

A recent research indicated inflation remains a top global concern, with over one-third of survey respondents expressing this sentiment. In a separate global consumer survey, over 20% of consumers said they would reduce spending in response to inflation. In addition, 20% of the respondents said they would look for cheaper or better-value products. As consumers tighten their budgets and rethink their brand loyalty, no food and beverage product is safe from being eliminated from grocery lists.

Brand marketers are facing inflation hurdles of their own. A recent Gartner survey found on average, marketing budgets have fallen by up to 15%. F&B marketing leaders are feeling the pressure to produce more marketing content with less to maintain a competitive edge.

How can Food and Beverage brands be noticed in today’s ultra-competitive market, while also staying affordable and relevant with consumers?

Adopt the Right Strategies to Optimise Efficiency and Value

Despite budget challenges, F&B brands still have opportunity for growth, while at the same time dishing out value and savings to consumers. And, with the right strategies and technologies in place, there’s potential to gain new customers - particularly those who are ditching brand loyalty for product value.

To achieve improved marketing efficiencies and consumer value, here are three areas F&B brand marketing managers can optimise:

1.  AI and Technology

According to a prediction made by Ethan Soloviev, chief innovation officer of HowGood, within three years, 90% of the food we eat will be touched by AI. More than a buzz word, AI holds powerful potential to positively affect the entire F&B industry ecosystem - production, marketing, supply chain, customer experience, and sustainability. Future technological advancements will lead to even greater improvements in efficiency, sustainability, and a more personalised culinary landscape. For food and beverage marketers aiming to get ahead today:

• Elevate customer service: Adopt automated systems throughout customer digital touchpoints in the aisles and on the shelf to manage frequently asked questions about food products, leveraging authentic-voiced chatbot interactions to gather valuable data and customer feedback.
• Deliver personalised experiences: Use AI-enabled, tech-driven tools to enhance first-party data collection and analysis to deliver personalised product recommendations based on browsing history and purchase behaviour.
• Adopt smart & sustainable packaging: Utilise AI to predict consumer preferences and optimize packaging designs, implement smart systems for real-time tracking and management of packaging materials, and use AI to streamline packaging design processes, reducing costs and environmental impact, while enhancing performance and efficiency.

2.    Retail Media Networks (RMNs)

Retail media in on-target to reach its 22% predicted increase, outperforming all other forms of advertising. By incorporating digital offers and sprinkling food and beverage trends into retail media placements across retailer digital properties including websites, apps, social media, and in-store channels, a brand’s performance, customer engagement, and overall product value has even greater potential to reach and resonate with the right customer. The benefit of partnering with RMNs is that retailers know their audience—where they shop, what they shop for, who they shop for, and how often. Important to remember: the combination of targeted media and monetary incentives is crucial for maximizing ROI and driving incremental sales and loyalty in 2024 (Food Dive).

To maximise RMN potential, here are a few hyper-targeted approaches:

• Leverage RMN personalisation: Target regular web or app shoppers with new product recommendations that align with their product favourites. For example: featured next to the shopper’s favourite Greek yogurt, a vibrant ad featuring a new blueberry-infused honey, complete with a smoothie recipe. For in-store digital screens, create dynamic, interactive ads featuring in-store customers’ favourites to encourage quick or last-minute check-out line purchases.
• Create loyalty with Incentive Programs: Based on individuals’ purchasing habits, create exclusive offers and incentives to enhance customers’ sense of value and motivate brand engagement and affinity. Consider enlisting your most loyal customers across target demographics as micro-influencers to help promote the program, reach new customers, and encourage repeat purchases.
• Leverage food, beverage and social media trends: Identify emerging F&B trends, analyse consumer insights to determine which trends resonate most, and create engaging RMN content using fun recipes and contests. The RMN F&B trends placements can be complemented with Instagram or TikTok content, capitalizing on popular challenges and hashtags to boost visibility and engagement. For example, if plant-based foods are trending, showcase plant-based products across all RMN channels, and feature a bean burger recipe next to interactive retail media placements. For Instagram and TikTok, curate videos of people preparing the bean burger recipe and then cooking and tasting the bean burger.

 3.  Sustainable Practices

As Consumer Packaged Goods companies (CPGs) face rising supply costs and increased environmental guidelines, F&B brand marketers and their teams’ procurement of sustainable design and packaging materials is best provided by accredited partners and suppliers. Also important: brand’s consideration of the client’s sustainability commitments and new country regulations within the entire packaging design process is essential to achieve the best possible environmental and ecological outcome.

F&B brands can improve their efficiencies, and align with internal and external sustainability goals by adopting these sustainable practices:

• Use sustainable packaging: Switch to recyclable, biodegradable, or compostable primary and secondary packaging materials, invest in innovative packaging solutions that minimise material use, and educate consumers about the importance of recycling and proper disposal of packaging materials.
• Source local ingredients: Source ingredients from local suppliers to reduce transportation emissions, focus on seasonal ingredients to ensure freshness, promote sustainable agricultural practices, and provide transparency about sourcing practices to support consumers’ informed choices.
• Minimise food waste: Partner with local food banks and charities to donate surplus food, implement composting programs for inedible food waste, and use technology to track and minimize food waste throughout the supply chain.

In today’s economic landscape of shrinking F&B marketers’ budgets and consumers’ wallets, adopting effective marketing strategies underpinned by efficient technology-led, sustainable sourcing solutions, brands can remain competitive and relevant while staying in tune with consumers’ increasing needs for quality and value when purchasing food and beverage products.

Want to know how Tag Food and Beverage Experts can help your brand? Contact us today!

Tag, through its Food and Beverage Marketing Center of Excellence, The Hot Plate, is the premier marketing services partner to leading food and beverage CPG brands globally, with a 96% customer satisfaction rate over the past five years. By leveraging advanced technology, strategic partnerships, and innovative solutions, Tag helps brands create impactful content at speed and scale, ensuring their marketing strategies are effective in today’s competitive landscape.