How to Advertise and Promote Food or Beverages to Attract More Customers?

Discover what I learned during my project at an international client, active in the food and beverage sector.

What is food and beverage marketing?

Food and beverage marketing is all about advertising and promoting food and beverages to attract your ideal target group. The aim is to make the product that you’re selling more appealing to the customer. This will lead to a higher revenue and more customers.

My client

My client is an Italian-based, global leading company, specialized in food & beverage concepts. Besides having its own brands, it also has licensed brands. These licensed brands are from 31 countries, based in Europe and North-America. The company mostly operates on highways, airports and train stations.

My project

During my project, I mostly worked for a coffee licensed brand. Besides that, I also worked for some of the company’s own brands at Brussels Airport. More specifically, I was responsible for the look & feel of each point of sale, as well as for the communication channels in each point of sale.

My main duty was to write clear and good briefing and to coordinate the POS material for each brand. The various points of sale within the airport are constantly evolving, which means that the prices and offers are constantly evolving too. I followed these changes and adapted communications, price cards, and menus to this.

Besides that, I informed the managers and assistant managers at each point of sale when certain changes were made. Briefings were sent to a digital agency.

My learning points during this project and main findings about the food and beverage sector:

1. Target audience and customer experience

It’s important to know which audience you are targeting. Besides that, it’s also important to think about what kind of customer experience you want to give to your audience.

Do this by describing the feeling you want to give your customers from the moment of order to the moment they step out of the restaurant or bar. Write down the different online and offline touchpoints and collect them in a customer journey map.

2. Brand guidelines and brand positioning

There must be an alignment between the brand positioning and the brand guidelines.

The look and feel of the restaurant or bar should match with the food and beverage that you are offering. Always keep the consistency in mind.

3. Online brand image

As we live in a digital world, it’s important to put your business online and to have a good online reputation.

Make sure to follow-up both positive and negative reviews. Positive reviews can boost the growth of your business and negative reviews give you the chance to perform better next time.

Furthermore, social media has become more and more important for companies. Social media is a platform to attract more customers. People love to search for and click on pictures of food and beverages. Based on this insight, you can start highlighting your seasonal and new products online to attract more potential customers to your restaurant.

Conclusion

In a food and beverage company, it’s key to identify who your customers are and how to target them with the right messages.

Besides that, it’s also important to have a good online brand image and to stay consistent. The food and beverage sector is always innovating so you must follow the trends as it’s a fast changing world.