How To Extend Media Reach & Increase Added Value For Food Brands

When I was a kid in France, we travelled all over Europe camping with the family. My mother would always overpack our little French car, which would infuriate my dad, who tried his best to make it all fit.

Mom would keep all the family toiletries in the BOAC travel bag and throughout the trip, packing and unpacking, she’d repeatedly ask “Ou est le BOAC bag?”. And every time she did, we’d all remember the flights we had enjoyed aboard the airline that had given us the bag — free — just for flying with them.

I didn’t know it then, but that was my first exposure to added value, additional exposure for the BOAC brand at no cost to us.

Add Sizzle to the Media Buy with Added Value

When making a media buy on behalf of a food category client, adding merchandising value increases the reach of the brand at no extra cost. Media companies have access to a plethora of marketing extensions, but naturally their priority is simply to sell you the advertising space or time as profitably as possible. They’re not going to enrich our clients’ buys with added value just because we’re such nice people. So as part of the negotiating process, we like to do some homework so we better understand what might be possible.

For example, corporate mergers like that among Disney, ABC, and ESPN brand families have facilitated cross-brand extension possibilities. The “family” might offer new marketing touch points to package into your media as added-value extensions. That’s great for our clients and perhaps an important element in making the sale for the medium.

The key ingredient to a better content experience is relevance.

— Jason Miller, Global Content Marketing Leader at LinkedIn

As with almost every aspect of media selection, added value is only “valuable” if it is relevant. Using Disney as an example again, tickets to Disneyland are nice for the kids, but how will they be useful in advancing the client’s marketing goals? Maybe they’d make a fantastic sweepstakes prize, but who is going to manage and pay for the contest? How will it be promoted?

If You Don’t Ask, You Go Hungry

Typically, added value — beyond bonus spots, sponsorships, and pod positions — is an afterthought. The media company can’t be expected to automatically suggest more clever or effective programs… unless you ask them to. We make it de rigueur (sorry, more French) to ask for their dining, grocery, and food-related promotion calendars and to look into partnership opportunities. And not just with that particular medium’s brand, but with their corporate family as well. Also, we’re not afraid to make suggestions. In fact, we aim to do so.

After all, a more successful food marketing program benefits everyone concerned, including the media partner. And that’s what added value is all about.