Leveraging Marketing Data for Success in the Food & Beverage Industry

About the Episode

The power of successful marketing comes down to data. Michael Wangbickler is CEO of Balzac Communications & Marketing, a bespoke marketing agency for the F&B industry. He discusses changes in the industry that are impacting marketing campaigns, shares insights into the power of data, making customers feel special, building trust with consumers, and stories of marketing successes and failures. Michael also introduces the Balzac Method for gathering and applying data to create a successful marketing campaign.

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“Invest in data. Put some strategies in place to be able to collect that data and be able to collect as much as you possibly can. It’s simple as asking guests what their birthday is so that you can send them a gift, or when somebody makes their table reservation and says they have an anniversary, put that in their customer profile. Note their anniversary date, and then six weeks before their next anniversary, send an email: ‘Your anniversary is approaching! Would you like to make a reservation for a memorable celebration? We’ve got something extraordinary in store for you’. Data is really powerful. The more data you can collect and leverage, the more success you’re going to see.”

Mike Wangbickler

In this Episode

1:21 What major F&B industry changes are impacting companies’ marketing strategies?
5:17 What are some of the significant differences that companies are employing in their marketing tactics?
8:15 How can companies build trust with their customers?
9:47 What was the main mistake made with the “New Coke” marketing campaign failure?
11:38 How important is it for brands to build up trust with their customers?
15:34 What lessons can be learned from the Bud Light marketing controversy?
17:30 To what extent should a company exercise caution on social media, and what potential impact could this have on a brand?
20:26 Which are some food and beverage companies that have well-established values that strongly resonate with their customer base?
21:38 How important is consistency in the food and beverage sector, in terms of customer experience as well as from a marketing and PR standpoint?
24:15 What is the Balzac Method?
27:04 What tools should a smaller company be using to gather data?
30:55 What information in the data drives tactics and strategies?
36:51 How many segments does a typical small company have?
37:46 How much overlap of tactics might there be across the segments?
38:53 Balzac Method Step 4: Tie marketing to your sales and distribution partners and channels
40:44 Advice to owners of food and beverage companies.

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Meet Our Guest

Michael Wangbickler

Michael Wangbickler

President of Balzac | Sonoma, California

Mike Wangbickler is President of Balzac, a boutique marketing communications company based in Napa, California. Balzac Communications & Marketing offers bespoke marketing and PR services to food and beverage companies, helping them create their brand, tell their story more effectively, and gain more recognition in the marketplace. Before following his heart to wine country, Mike followed his head to Silicon Valley, where he spent eight fast-paced years in communications, but finally concluded it wasn’t for him. Mike entered Balzac’s life in 2004 and became the agency’s President in 2016, guiding successful marketing and communications campaigns for more than 100 global companies from a dozen countries. Among his many achievements, Mike holds a WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wine & Spirits and a WSET Level 3 Award in Sake. In addition, he is a Certified Wine Educator (CWE) and WSET Certified Educator.

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