Car Rides and Reflections

As I reflect on this past semester and the lessons learned, I’m currently en route to Madison, Wisconsin to visit with friends who are hops farmers and then support my husband’s cousin who will be participating in Madison’s Ironman race tomorrow…literally all day tomorrow.  As I sit in the passenger seat, watching 200 miles of corn pass me, it stuck me the connection both scenarios have with social media.

Take our friends the Dave and Christie Lietz, owners and operators of Lietz Hop Yards.  They utilize social media, primarily Facebook, to provide the latest updates on their farm and harvest to not only friends and family but also to potential hops buyers.  They share beautiful photos of the grounds and crops, as well as content from local brewers, as presumably those who follow a hops farm would also be interested in brewery-relevant content.  Social media provides them with the perfect opportunity to give real-time updates from their farm, as well as interact with fans, potential brewers and share similar content increasing b-to-b interactions.   

Tomorrow, as we embark on an all day marathon of viewing an all-day Ironman race, we will rely heavily on social media.  In preparation, we’ve visited blogs to find the best viewing spots and to gather spectator strategies.  We plan to take a lot of Instagram photos chronicling the day, and his sister-in-law is sure to post a few dozen Facebook photos.  We’ve also downloaded an app where we can follow his every move.  No doubt Cousin Mike has utilized Twitter, Facebook and blogs in preparation for his big race, researching expert information on training and nutrition.   

This semester has reinforced the remarkable amount of information that is accessible through the Internet and shared via social media.  Of course, in this super fast environment of info sharing, immediate news delivery, and news stories being condensed into 140 characters or less, great caution must be taken by consumers, media and PR professionals to ensure accuracy and credibility.  And brands, both big and small, should focus on the genuine conversations consumers want to have with them and appreciate the value of a like, a share, a retweet, a comment, etc., while trying to refrain from directly correlating these interactions into sales.  Social media is a wonderful way to share engaging stories, and no one wants to get to the end of a great story and then hear “So, what do you think…you want to buy it?”

Hopping off to the hops farm!

Stirring Up the Cocktail Conversation

In the spirits world, there are two very important audiences: consumers of legal drinking age and bartenders.  I heard a stat last week that 80 percent of folks who go to a bar, don't walk in with an order in mind.  Therefore, reaching those bartenders who are so often asked 'what would you recommend?' or 'what's your favorite?' or even encouraged to 'surprise me' is critical.

There are so many interesting trends happening in the spirits category right now.  Mixologists are playing more and consumers are open to new flavors, techniques (cocktails in aromatic bags...what?!) and spirits they’d typically be hesitant to try.  Therefore, connecting and engaging with those who influence the bartender community is incredibly important.  There are also those unique people who resonate with both bartenders and consumers.  It's critically important for these folks to maintain their relevance and credibity among those two groups.  My suggestions - stay approachable, remain consistent with your tone and be generous with your knowledge.  

Cheers! 



  

Here’s to Hoping Companies Step Up Their Kid Meal Game

About nine years ago, I was freelancing for a PR agency working specifically on a large food company account.  I supported two programs – one was launching their new innovative school food service menu items that incorporated 100% whole grain but maintained the flavor of white bread.  At the time, this was considered a huge breakthrough in school lunch meals.  The second program was promoting their frozen kids meals for back-to-school season.  This latter item was incredibly unhealthy with high fat, sodium and calorie values.  It was this moment that got me interested in kids and nutrition.  Here we had one of the country’s largest food companies with the ability to really improve the nutrition values of their products aimed at kids, and they’re only implementing these benefits across select items.  Why not incorporate the whole wheat technology that we’re promoting into their other products so as to provide some sort of nutritional benefit?  Perhaps I was naïve being just out of school thinking that if a company discovered something that made their products more nutritious, they’d incorporate it across their portfolio. 

It’s been interesting to see this recent shift in nutrition & wellness and especially the skeptical look at nutrition in schools…this movement, coupled with the greater transparency and engagement with corporations (thanks to social media) will hopefully ensure that experiences like I had will happen less and less frequently.     

The Lifecycle of Nutrition Education from a Sprout to Living Strong

As we grow up, it’s interesting to reflect on how our influences and interests develop and adapt and how those change from generation to generation.  When I was growing up in the eighties, nutrition was something my mom talked about, and healthy foods were widely accepted among my friends as boring and tasteless.  I’d like to think that we’re making strides in turning this around and that healthy eating isn’t something only adults care about or discuss in hushed tones.  With a little thing called the Internet, sites can be hyper targeted to speak to any aged group, in a language to which they relate and addressing their relevant concerns.  Let’s take a gander at three nutrition sites that target specific generations:

Super Sprowtz:  Super Sprowtz is all about nutrition education for children.  Its founding principle is to change the culture on how kids perceive vegetables vs. hiding vegetables.  The organization educates elementary school kids on nutrition and wellness with a multi-media and multi-pronged approach, such as live shows, a mobile app, school curriculums and programs for grocers and hospitals.  The goal is simple – get kids to eat more vegetables. 

While their organization is New York based, their reach potential via social channels is vast.  Super Sprowtz’s YouTube channel contains several videos reaching tens of thousands of viewers (one video exceeds 80,000 views).  Their Facebook page has about 9,000 likes fans, and Twitter weighs in at about 3,000 followers.  These two sites announce not only upcoming appearances and new video launches but also contain humorous content for mom and dad. 

The key piece for Super Sprowtz is their content.  With their entertaining videos, fun recipes and games & activities, the site is a great place for families to have fun learning about vegetables.  My advice would be to focus on how to gain greater traction on Facebook and Twitter to increase their fan base across the country.  They have a lot of celebrity friends featured in some of the videos…perhaps asking them to tweet out their support could also help garner more fans. 

Seventeen:  Growing up, Seventeen magazine was THE source of all things cool and loaded with tons of advice for the advice-seeking pre-teen and teen.  I, of course, was not allowed to read this magazine, which was probably obvious to anyone who saw me seeing as I would wear my brother’s Umbros to school…something I’m sure the Seventeen fashion police would consider arrest worthy.  Anyway, the brand is still a powerhouse in reaching girls and young adults and is considered a very reliable source (by its readers) during a critical age span.  Seventeen.com is an incredibly robust site covering essentially every facet of tween and teen life.  It was hard to sift through all of the content and find good nutritional information.  However, it wasn’t hard to find an “Am I a Good Kisser” article. 

Most of the content is in article form.  I was hoping there would be more multi-media content, as that’s most engaging, especially for this audience.  After about 15 minutes of surfing, I found a “body peace” initiative that Seventeen has launched with a bunch of celebrities encouraging readers to take a pledge for greater self-acceptance.  However, it didn’t seem to be a hugely important program, as it wasn’t prominently featured.

In terms of social media, Seventeen has 1.9 million Facebook fans, over 650,000 Twitter followers, 210,000+ Pinterest followers, nearly 770,000 Google+ followers, and a Tumbler page.  Three Pinterest boards are devoted to health & wellness…hairstyles have four dedicated boards.  Seventeen has a robust Facebook content calendar, and in the last 25 posts, one was “nutrition” related.  However, this post stated: “6 sneaky habits that are probably messing with your health” and led to an article entitled “Weight Loss Tips for Teenage Girls”…this wasn’t exactly the sound advice I was hoping Seventeen would bestow.  Net/net: Seventeen has a huge audience at a very important age for health and wellness education.  I wish the brand would put as much attention into ensuring their reader stays healthy as they do in ensuring she learns a flirty French braid.

Livestrong: I’d argue that Livestrong has truly made a name for itself separate from its founder Lance Armstrong, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect.  Right on the homepage, it’s obvious that the brand’s focus is health, wellness and nutrition (for adults).  And while some sites struggle with establishing credibility, Livestrong showcases its advisory board prominently on the homepage.  They cover a wide range of content with very specific content pieces, great imagery and videos, as well as mobile apps.  Livestrong also has an incredibly robust catalog of food nutrition content…Google “how many calories are in…” and I bet that just about whatever you enter, Livestrong will be among the top results.  The brand is truly establishing itself as a go-to resource for all things healthy living, and while they also have general lifestyle content, wellness will remain their core pillar. 

Livestrong has 1.7 million Facebook fans, and 510,000+ Twitter followers.  However, those channels focus more on the organization’s cancer initiatives than promoting the nutrition content on their site.

Is Dining Out Destroying Your Diet?

I sure I’m not the only one who has had every intention of eating healthy while dining out only to later discover that my choice wasn’t waistline friendly at all…or the first who has watched an “Eat This, Not That” segment panicking that something I’ve ordered might be included on the “not that” side of the table.  The truth is, when eating out, we’re really putting a lot of faith into the hands of strangers.  How can we be sure that we’re making our intended choices?  Can we trust the restaurant-endorsed healthy option symbol?  For those states that mandate calorie disclosure, are we confident in that number? 

Kitchen’s Closed (as my mom would say)

Digging deeper into the nutrition counts of restaurant meals is particularly important, as more consumers are eating outside of the home more frequently.  According to a 2011 LivingSocial survey, Americans are eating nearly 5 restaurants meals each week.  That’s almost 250 meals every year!  These out-of-home consumption stats combined with America’s growing obesity rate, which according to the CDC is one-third of Americans, only reinforces the need for those looking to eat healthier to be confident in their selection at restaurants and the information these restaurants provide (if any).   

Perhaps There’s No Need to Stress…Perhaps

Maybe all my worrying is a bit excessive.  According to a study in JAMA from the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University, researchers discovered that overall, the calorie counts from restaurants were quite accurate.  Ironically, the items most frequently off were those with the lowest reported calorie counts, which ended up testing about 100 calories higher than the reported value.  While it is reassuring to know that the restaurant-reported values are, for the most part, accurate, perhaps the greater concern is where consumers can receive this information.  Living in Chicago, I always appreciate visiting New York City and seeing the calories on menus.  I’ve absolutely used it as a helpful guide in determining my selection.  That said, this information isn’t always widely available or accessible.  Pulling up the website and searching for the nutritional data on my phone while I comb through the menu is hardly appealing.  I’d love to see greater transparency in restaurants so consumers who are looking for healthier meals can trust that there are options for them and be confident in the accuracy of this information.

What do you do to eat healthy while dining out?

Chocolate Milk is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Lunchroom…Gets No Respect

For the past three or so years now, there’s been a very contentious debate on the admission of chocolate milk in the lunchroom.  The blogosphere is packed with both supporters and critics, and some districts across the U.S. have issued a ban (in some cases, only to reinstate the beverage soon after).  In terms of the scientific support, there is both national survey information, as well as localized research both leading to similar results.  There are two commonly referenced data points.  Approximately 70 percent of the milk served in lunchroom nationwide is flavored, and when flavored milk was removed from schools, children drank about 35 percent less milk.  This latter figure I find the most interesting.  Of course, chocolate milk is not as healthy as plain milk, but is this the lunchroom food fight we should be having? 

Kids are already falling short on essential vitamins and minerals, and milk, including chocolate milk, is loaded with Vitamins A and D, as well as calcium and potassium.  According to the New York Times, nearly three-quarters of teens are deficient in Vitamin D, and The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development claims less than 10 percent of girls and only 25 percent of boys 9-13 years old meet or exceed adequate intakes of calcium.  The primary argument for banning the beverage is in regards to the sugar content.

I found Chef Marshall O’Brien to have a fair assessment of the situation in his blog post entitled “Chocolate milk for school lunch? Yes, with an asterisk.”  In the current state of school lunches, kids will have a hard time obtaining the nine essential nutrients chocolate milk brings to the table.  The budgets are large enough and the culinary skills aren’t sharp enough to bring balanced, diverse and nutritious options for kids.  The countless studies can’t be denied.  Let’s focus the conversation on fried foods, heavily processed foods and beverages laden with empty calories like sugary fruit drinks and sodas.

The new direction with chocolate milk is the right one.  ABC News reports that chocolate milk is now being reformulated with reduced calories and fat, more natural sugars and the elimination of high fructose corn syrup. 

Now what about the rest of the food tray?

First Course

This is my first attempt at having a blog.  While I work on crafting my overall theme, I'd like to think of this blog as starting off shall we say tapas style...a little of this and a little of that.  Hopefully, in the end, it'll all seem to blend together quite nicely.  And if not?  Then, I hope I had a good time trying!  In the meantime, order the patatas bravas...they're always a hit.