Engaging Gen Z while honoring Del Monte Foods’ legacy in PR strategies with Bibie Wu

In this episode, Bibie Wu joins On Top of PR host Jason Mudd to discuss how Del Monte Foods balances innovation and tradition in its PR strategies.

Tune in to learn more!

Our guest

Our episode guest is Bibie Wu, chief communications and technical development officer at Del Monte Foods. She leads marketing, corporate communications, investor relations, product and packaging research and development, and environmental, social, and governance for Del Monte Foods' powerful portfolio of brands.

Watch the episode here:

Listen to the episode here:

5 things you’ll learn during the full episode:

1. Balancing a 130-year-old heritage brand legacy with innovation
2. Staying relevant with emerging trends 
3. The launch and strategic plan behind Joyba Bubble Tea 
4. Engaging Gen Z and Zillennials through influencer marketing 
5. The importance of synergy across teams during campaigns 

About Bibie Wu

Bibie Wu leads marketing, corporate communications, investor relations, product and packaging research and development, and environmental, social, and governance for Del Monte Foods' powerful portfolio of brands. She has over 20 years of consumer packaged goods marketing leadership experience with many well-known and respected brands at General Mills and Campbell’s. Before joining Del Monte in 2018, she served as Henkel’s vice president of marketing and head of laundry conditioners and home care. She was also responsible for Henkel’s omnichannel and visual branding departments. She is a graduate of Amherst College and received an MBA from Dartmouth College.

Quotables

• “We like to say, ‘This is not your grandmother's Del Monte.’ You can make so much more than just a green bean casserole. We’re innovating for today’s consumer and staying on top of what's popular in culinary flavor trends.” — @Bibie Wu
• “People are getting their ideas and the recipes from social, from TikTok, etc., so we're incorporating those trends into our product.” — @Bibie Wu
• “It’s all about synergy — integrating the PR agency, digital team, brand team, or internal media planning, it’s important to make campaigns that can be meaty across all those platforms.” — @Bibie Wu
• “We've been putting more of our efforts behind developing products and marketing campaigns that speak to these younger millennials and Gen Z because they're going to be the families of tomorrow.” — @Bibie Wu
• “That's why we name the show On Top of PR — because there are so many topics, tips, and trends that our audience has to stay on top of that we do our best to try to bring those relevant topics to the table.” — @JasonMudd9

Resources

• Connect and learn more about Bibie Wu on LinkedIn.
• Visit Del Monte Foods for more information.

Additional Episode Resources from Axia Public Relations:

• How influencer partnerships can boost PR campaigns
• Dos and don'ts of influencer marketing
• Listen to more episodes of the On Top of PR podcast.
• Find out more about Axia Public Relations.

Disclosure: One or more of the links we shared here might be affiliate links that offer us a referral reward when you buy from them.

Episode highlights

• [04:54] Balancing a 130-year-old heritage brand legacy with innovation
• [14:42] Staying relevant with emerging trends 
• [20:10] The launch and strategic plan behind Joyba Bubble Tea
• [26:00] Engaging Gen Z and Zillennials through influencer marketing
• [25:54] The importance of synergy across teams during campaigns

Enjoy the Podcast?

Thank you for tuning in! If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. You can also share this with your colleagues, friends, and family for professional insight into corporate communications.

Have any questions?

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and our LinkedIn Group. For more updates, visit our On Top of PR website or join the community. You may also tune in on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;09;29

Announcer

Welcome to On Top of PR with Jason Mudd, presented by ReviewMaxer.

00;00;09;29 - 00;00;33;14

Jason

Hello and welcome to On Top of PRX. I’m your host, Jason Mudd with Axia Public Relations. Today we are joined by Bebe Wu, chief communications and technical development officer with Del Monte Foods. Bebe leads marketing, corporate communications, investor relations, environmental, social and governance, and product and packaging R&D for Del Monte Foods powerful portfolio brands.

00;00;33;17 - 00;01;01;09

Jason

She is more than 20 years of consumer packaged goods marketing leadership experience with many well known and respected brands at General Mills and Campbell's. Prior to joining the company in 2018, Bebe served as Vice President of Marketing, head of laundry conditioners and home care at Henkel. She's also responsible for Henkel's omnichannel and visual branding departments. She's a graduate of Amherst College and received an MBA from Dartmouth.

00;01;01;11 - 00;01;02;26

Jason

Bebe, welcome to the show.

00;01;03;07 - 00;01;05;17

Bibie

Thanks, Jason. I'm really glad to be here.

00;01;05;17 - 00;01;26;00

Jason

Yeah, I'm glad to be here, too. And I'm glad you're with us. I know our audience is going to enjoy this episode today, so we're here to talk about how Del Monte embraces Gen Z and PR campaigns. But before we get started there, let me just ask you a couple of, easy questions, such as, how did you get into, public relations and corporate communications?

00;01;26;02 - 00;01;49;18

Bibie

Yeah. So, well, I've been a brand marketer for pretty much my entire career. So marketing communications and, you know, connecting with the consumer, through media, and through advertising has always been part of my career. It's interesting because about, eight months ago, I actually formally took on the role of public relations and corporate communications.

00;01;49;20 - 00;02;19;19

Bibie

So as I mentioned, I've always been part of the marketing organization running brands. And then interestingly enough, at Del Monte, I've also been in charge of the research and development organization, which then we can talk about all the benefits to, innovation. But we really saw an opportunity then to bring in corporate communications, and then public relations formally into my role, really to have a comprehensive and integrated and synergistic communication plan.

00;02;19;21 - 00;02;32;11

Bibie

360 right. Whether it's external to consumers, to media or internal with our own employee base. So there's been a lot of advantages to bring it all together.

00;02;32;13 - 00;02;38;23

Jason

Okay. Awesome. And, tell me a little about yourself. What you enjoy doing when you're not working.

00;02;38;26 - 00;02;56;04

Bibie

When I'm not working. Well. I've been very, very busy the summer. I actually just, moved, bought a new house, which seemed like a possibility at some point in the Bay area, but. So I've been very busy, nesting and, you know, putting up, curtain rods and calling and plumbers. So that's been part of my, my free time.

00;02;56;04 - 00;03;05;03

Bibie

And then I also like to take advantage of the great outdoors here in the Bay area. I'm really into things like mountain biking and climbing, so I really try to enjoy the great outdoors.

00;03;05;05 - 00;03;19;28

Jason

Oh that's great, that's great. I love to include this as part of our conversation for on top of PR because, you know, public relations is named one of the most stressful, positions you can have in the United States. So I think it's always good to talk about a little bit of work life balance. So.

00;03;19;29 - 00;03;20;12

Bibie

Yes.

00;03;20;13 - 00;03;39;16

Jason

Yeah. And, I know we want to talk about, you know, how, you embrace Gen Z and PR campaign. So let's set the table a little bit about that first by talking about, just in case our audience doesn't know or doesn't track, what who is Gen Z? And why is it important to your organization?

00;03;39;18 - 00;04;01;19

Bibie

Yeah. So, Gen Z, obviously it's the the younger and newer generation as we look at our generations and cohorts within our consumer group. So for most of our categories, which is, you know, fruits and vegetables, packaged fruits and vegetables, broth and stock, the target and the real core has been I would say, more of the established households.

00;04;01;19 - 00;04;24;28

Bibie

So, think of them as, Gen X, maybe some of the younger boomers, you know, older millennials. But obviously, the folks and the cohorts that are, growing up and establishing households and routines and starting to, established, you know, their definition of their families and households. That's really the younger millennials and Gen Z.

00;04;25;01 - 00;04;54;12

Bibie

And so, you know, one of our important priorities is to make sure that our categories like packaged fruits and vegetables, stay really relevant, to, to, to those cohorts. And so we've been putting more and more of our efforts behind developing products and flavors and entering new categories and developing marketing campaigns that speak to these younger millennials and Gen Z, because really, they're going to be, you know, the families, of, of tomorrow.

00;04;54;14 - 00;05;12;23

Bibie

And so there's a term that we actually have been using as we talk about, our targeting, which is the, the millennials. So capturing kind of that younger, Gen Z and millennials and kind of put together. So, you know, we do that with our, what I'll call our legacy categories, as well as new categories.

00;05;12;26 - 00;05;31;22

Bibie

For example, you know, Del Monte, we're actually, in beverage in a big way. We have a brand called Joya, which is a, popping, boba tea beverage that has been, all the rage. And that's something that's right in, you know, the crosshairs of, what Gen Z and younger millennials like to enjoy these days.

00;05;31;24 - 00;05;52;08

Jason

My wife and daughter definitely have that product in our fridge now that you mention it. So that does sound familiar. So, we were going to talk about, your renovation of the Heritage brand, and to appeal to new consumers while keeping the loyal base happy. I'm not the primary, shopper in my household, so I don't know if I'm familiar with heritage brand.

00;05;52;11 - 00;05;54;10

Jason

Could you talk a little bit more about that?

00;05;54;13 - 00;06;19;04

Bibie

Yeah. So the bulk of our portfolio is in, what I'll call kind of packaged fruits and vegetables and tomatoes. So brands obviously like Del Monte, which has been around for 135 years, and people are very familiar with it, whether it's because of the, green bean casserole that, you know, for generations they've enjoyed at Thanksgiving, or the canned peaches that are used in, you know, their favorite peach cobblers.

00;06;19;07 - 00;06;42;12

Bibie

And it really runs the gamut. I mean, we are the leading brand within those categories. It's also, very popular with, families, with children. They, you know, throw a Del Monte, fruit cup into the lunchbox and so the kids can enjoy a nice healthy, fruit snack, while at school. We also are big players within the canned tomato, industry.

00;06;42;12 - 00;07;08;29

Bibie

So, you know, another, multibillion dollar category. And we have a variety of brands, in that category, ranging from Cantina, which is, a real high quality everyday Italian brand, to, which is a west, coast, brand, as well as new brands like Take Root Organics, which we just launched, within the past couple of years, which really plays in the fast growing organic tomato segment.

00;07;09;01 - 00;07;16;08

Bibie

So those are just some of the brands that you may be familiar with and, you know, are very popular within many people's households.

00;07;16;11 - 00;07;21;03

Jason

And are you responsible, an overseer of all of those brands?

00;07;21;05 - 00;07;43;26

Bibie

Yes. Yeah. So, you know, the, the, the retail branded business, that's kind of what I'm describing there. And so I work really closely, with our, brand teams and our commercial teams and our sales force, to ensure that we have great quality product, that we bring out new innovation, new flavors, new packaging formats. And that's the R&D side of my job.

00;07;43;29 - 00;07;54;21

Bibie

And then support all of that was very, very strong marketing and public relations campaigns to really talk about the brand narrative and, really speak to consumers about how these products meet their needs.

00;07;54;23 - 00;08;00;05

Jason

You have a significant amount of responsibility. What does your internal team look like?

00;08;00;07 - 00;08;26;23

Bibie

So, my team, I kind of break it up into, I'd say about half of it is the research and development team. So, these are the folks that are the food scientists. They're the packaging engineers. They're really, the people who are, ensuring the quality of the products, working consistently with our operations and plants to ensure that quality and then doing, you know, all of the innovation, you know, formulating new flavors and products on the Benchtops.

00;08;27;00 - 00;08;54;21

Bibie

So that's about half my team. And then the other half of the team is the communications team. So, public relations, corporate communications, digital, and media and integrated, marketing communications, as well as, ESG. So those, those teams all work really, tightly. As I mentioned, we found a lot of synergies, in bringing all those messages and those strategies together.

00;08;54;23 - 00;09;04;18

Jason

Okay. Excellent. And then I know you use an outside agency. What kind of resources, what other type of resources do you use outside of your internal team?

00;09;04;20 - 00;09;10;05

Bibie

Yep. So for sure, we're connected at the hip with our agency partners. On the PR side,

00;09;10;05 - 00;09;14;08

Bibie

it's been, really great to work with such creative minds like those.

00;09;14;10 - 00;09;26;06

Jason

Good. Excellent. And, so how do you kind of go about your day? How do you structure your day, manage your day to stay on top of all those, moving parts and, teams, if you will?

00;09;26;09 - 00;09;44;16

Bibie

That is a really good question. So, you know, I want I would love to say that it's 100% planful and it's never reactive. But as you know, as you just mentioned, you know, PR can be a very stressful, job. And that's just part of my job. So there's always the reacting to, you know, whatever is, cropping up.

00;09;44;16 - 00;10;05;05

Bibie

But, you know, I think obviously, it starts with a strong, vision and strategy, right? That the entire company and all departments ladder up to, and so our purpose has been to be growers of good. Right? If you think about the DNA of a company and a brand like Del Monte, which is, you know, I like to say kind of like we're the original plant based food company.

00;10;05;08 - 00;10;26;02

Bibie

It's all about delivering goodness in our products and, and goodness in terms of how we, you know, touch consumers lives. And so as I structure my day, I think about the communications portion of it and, you know, actively working on then our annual planning, our messaging and our communication to support all of the news, which is a lot of times based in product news.

00;10;26;02 - 00;10;43;13

Bibie

Right? So that's the other half of my job, which is the, R&D side. So the products that are in-market, the products that we've just launched in market, how are they doing, how are we supporting them from the messaging and then importantly, the products are working for that we're working on for the next year and beyond. So like our innovation pipeline.

00;10;43;15 - 00;10;54;19

Bibie

So it's just a constant, as you can imagine. Jason, balancing act between making sure you're pushing, you know, the ball forward on your long term strategic plans as well as than just reacting to the here and now.

00;10;54;21 - 00;11;02;15

Jason

Right, right. And then simultaneously, you're trying to appeal to new customers while keeping a loyal, customer base happy.

00;11;02;18 - 00;11;20;13

Bibie

Yes, yes. Yeah, absolutely. And so one of the things that we talk about quite a bit here is, you know, first of all, these are billion dollar categories, right? And they are, really relevant. And they provide, you know, very relevant benefits in terms of being healthy for you because many of our categories, as I just mentioned, are fruits and vegetables.

00;11;20;16 - 00;11;53;08

Bibie

They're convenient or high quality. You can really depend on them. So, but how do we get more and more engagement, and usage from, you know, the new generation that maybe has, a different, kind of taste profile or maybe they're following different influencers or types of media, to get their, food ideas. So, for example, with our flagship Del Monte brand, one of the things that we're really working on is, a pivot from, hey, speaking to the core audience at the center.

00;11;53;08 - 00;12;15;21

Bibie

And when I say core, I'll maybe call it like the older millennials and and the younger boomers, keeping them obviously is still part of our, our target. But putting at the center more of those. Zeleny right. So, knowing that they're trendsetters. Right. And they're the ones that you really kind of need to maybe give them some new information or maybe change their minds about certain things.

00;12;15;27 - 00;12;42;09

Bibie

And so how do we put the millennials at the center of our communications while still appealing to and not alienating our core? So we're having a lot of fun doing that with, our core Del Monte brand, for example. Not only through, our media choices, you know, obviously doing, a whole lot more, in social, you know, hooking up with, influencers to bring, bring out, recipes that are relevant for them.

00;12;42;09 - 00;13;08;01

Bibie

And then, as I mentioned, with our innovation, bringing out new flavors of, you know, canned vegetables, like a Mexican street corn or a southern style green beans. So, so that's going on with our master brand, Del Monte. And then as I mentioned, we have new brands and new categories like Joy bar, which is the bubble tea beverage, which is, you know, growing astronomically and exponentially.

00;13;08;04 - 00;13;20;05

Bibie

And that's what we started with, you know, Gen Z and maybe even, you know, Gen Alpha, you know, at its core, because that's really, the cohort that's, leading the growth in those categories.

00;13;20;07 - 00;13;28;22

Jason

Perfect. Well, baby, with that, we're going to take a quick break and come back on the other side, talk more about jojoba, and also talk about influencer campaigns.

00;13;28;24 - 00;13;29;17

Bibie

Great.

00;13;29;19 - 00;13;33;00

Jason

All right. So we'll be right back on the other side. Stay with us.

00;13;33;00 - 00;13;57;18

Announcer

You're listening to On Top of PR with your host, Jason Mudd. Jason is a trusted advisor to some of America's most admired and fastest growing brands. He is the managing partner at Axia Public Relations, a PR agency that guides news, social and web strategies for national companies. And now, back to the show.

00;13;57;18 - 00;14;16;08

Jason

Welcome back to On Top of PR. Glad you stuck with us. We've got Bobby Woo with us from Del Monte Foods and Bobby we were just talking during the break a little bit about, you know, how do you go about keeping 130 year old company, fresh and innovative, especially when that kind of falls under your, domain and your responsibilities.

00;14;16;10 - 00;14;42;05

Bibie

Yeah, absolutely. So, we definitely stay on top of the trends. We're always looking at what's popular in culinary, what's popular in terms of flavors. Obviously, we were talking a lot about influencers earlier. As you know, people are getting their ideas and the recipes, from social, from TikTok, etc. so on top of all of those things, and, you know, as I started to mention, we're incorporating those trends into our product.

00;14;42;05 - 00;15;00;05

Bibie

So 135 years, you know, Del Monte. But really we like to say this is not your grandmother's Del Monte. Right? You can make so much more than just a green bean casserole. So, staying on top of the flavor trends and, you know, we're doing a lot of work in terms of, spicy. We're doing a lot of work in terms of sweet and salty.

00;15;00;05 - 00;15;22;15

Bibie

So you'll be seeing, in addition to the flavors, like I mentioned, like the Mexican street corn in the southern style green beans, you'll be seeing things like, you know, hot honey, sliced carrots. You'll be seeing, you know, brown sugar on sea salt, peaches. So really bringing kind of a whole new generations, love of different flavors, into these categories.

00;15;22;15 - 00;15;41;29

Bibie

So that's been a really important to us as well as, you know, hooking up and linking up with those voices of today, influencers like, Alessandra Truffaut, who is a, a Gen Z, chef, you know, in her early 20s. And we actually, you know, partnered up with her on, the national launch. Launch of Joy bar.

00;15;42;02 - 00;15;55;19

Bibie

In addition to using big names like Michael Simons from, you know, Food Network, fame. And he's one of our, primary spokespeople on our content, you know, everyday Italian, tomato brands. So that's how we stay relevant and, and interesting.

00;15;55;22 - 00;16;02;22

Jason

Very nice. How do you go about, staying on top of, trends, setting and trend spotting?

00;16;02;24 - 00;16;29;26

Bibie

You know, you know, we have a team that's really engaged. We are out there and participating and actively use all of the channels, obviously, that our consumers, are active with. You know, you don't get into the food industry without being, a lover of, food and culinary trends. So, we're always out there trying, the latest visiting the latest and greatest barbershop to, to shop a just opened up, maybe in your neighborhood.

00;16;29;29 - 00;16;42;26

Bibie

And then in addition to that, going out to all of the, the big kind of, food, forums and expos, so just really, you know, being open and curious, I think is the number one thing.

00;16;42;29 - 00;16;50;11

Jason

And ballpark, how long does it take you from identifying an idea to getting it on store shelves? Is that a long process?

00;16;50;14 - 00;17;16;13

Bibie

That is a great question. So, you know, if it's something that is, incorporated as, a twist or a pivot on an existing item, so a new flavor of peaches, we can go from concept to market within a year. And honestly, the thing that's probably the most, time limiting there is matching it up with our customers, shelf reset cycle.

00;17;16;15 - 00;17;28;19

Bibie

But, you know, getting a new flavor and incorporating that into our production within a year. So, and we're always looking to shrink that timeline because, as you know, the pace of innovation, it's it's, you know, it's fast and furious.

00;17;28;21 - 00;17;47;26

Jason

Yeah. We've worked with a, fast casual restaurant who was telling me it was an 18 month process. And I said, that sounds about like ten months, way too long to me. If you want to stay fresh and innovative and, and, you know, he he was thinking more about retirement than he was about innovating at that stage, kind of fell on deaf ears.

00;17;47;26 - 00;17;49;25

Jason

He wasn't too interested in having a conversation.

00;17;49;25 - 00;17;51;07

Bibie

About, that's not going to work. Yeah. Yeah.

00;17;51;07 - 00;18;08;16

Jason

Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, we want to talk about, how you introduced, a new project, Joy bar. Yes. And we also want to get into the brand purpose and its focus, which I think will be really interesting. So, will you set the table and kind of give a background introduction on that for us?

00;18;08;18 - 00;18;28;19

Bibie

Absolutely. So, Joy, bubble tea is, our, newish, I'll call it newish item because we've been out there experimenting with it for at least a couple of years. But we had the big national launch of Joyful Bubble Tea, back in about, April of, this past year. And it's been a really big hit. So how did it start?

00;18;28;19 - 00;18;46;16

Bibie

It actually didn't start with beverage, you know, because as you know, most people don't think of Del Monte as a beverage company. But we are now in really a big and growing way. But it started with fruit cups because, being a leader in the fruit cup, arena, we're always looking to, stay fresh. And so we said, hey, what are some trends out there?

00;18;46;16 - 00;19;11;05

Bibie

Some interesting flavors, textures, inclusions that we can bring to really, bring some new news to our business. And we said, hey, popping boba really, really popular, with, kids and tweens, in, in beverages and in, like, froyo shops. And so we launched bubble Fruit, a few years ago into Africa business. And it was a really big success, you know, like, so we have these wonderful fruit cups.

00;19;11;07 - 00;19;28;13

Bibie

They're healthy, they're good for you. Nice sweet treat. And then they had these popping boba. So it was a perfect fit. And then we asked ourselves, wait, what else. You know, can we do something even more innovative with this. And we said, you know what? We actually think that we can put out a really, really distinctive, bubble tea, you know?

00;19;28;13 - 00;19;49;00

Bibie

So, because we know how to work with plastic cups, we know how to fill them and we know how to make great flavors. And so, lo and behold, we came up with, Joy bar, bubble tea and, you know, it sounds simple, but it's really not because it's, from a processing perspective, it's really kind of a cross between beverage and food.

00;19;49;00 - 00;20;10;28

Bibie

So there's more complication with that. But I think part of the magic is that we have a really talented, team here that came up with a unique package. So driver bubble tea, it gives you the full boba tea shop experience. But in one package, that's all ready to go. So it's a plastic cup. It's got, you know, kind of the, the seal on top that you're used to from a boba tea shop.

00;20;10;28 - 00;20;33;00

Bibie

And it's got this integrated straw, which is really fun. You kind of, telescope it and then you pop it into, the top of the lid, much as you would if you got your, boba tea from the corner store. And, and so we just started, you know, we started small, we started with a rotation and Costco a couple of years ago, and it was just on fire, like, literally no joke.

00;20;33;03 - 00;20;54;17

Bibie

Viral TikTok, 8 million views within the first few weeks. You know, people love the packaging. Loved experience. Loved the product. And, and so it really just grew from there. And we just kept building on it and, building up distribution. And then as I mentioned, launched on National Boba Tea Day, last April.

00;20;54;17 - 00;21;15;13

Bibie

So that's it's been really exciting. And so now we're having a ton of fun marketing it. And I know we'll kind of talk a little bit more about the marketing it and, you know, our partners. But one of the things I'm really excited about is that we are partnering with Alex Cooper, and we all know Alex Cooper, the Gen Z apparel, you know, social media darling, podcast darling.

00;21;15;15 - 00;21;31;29

Bibie

And, and she, you know, we're going to be one of the title sponsors for her, Unreal Tour. So, you know, talk about really, you know, figuring out the right way, to speak to, Gen Z, in their own voice. So that's a really exciting partnership that we have.

00;21;32;02 - 00;21;39;10

Jason

Well, that's exciting. And you also have, perhaps other, influencer campaigns going on as well. For that product.

00;21;39;17 - 00;22;01;21

Bibie

We do. Yeah. So, you know, through, through that tour and as part of it, we're also, working with, I call it kind of, mid to, micro influencers as well. So for example, later on this week, I'm going to be going off to, Denver, to be part of, the, Unreal Tour as she kicks off her West coast tour there.

00;22;01;21 - 00;22;20;10

Bibie

And we'll have influencers like Raina King and Chloe Christian and, Eleanor Lee, and they'll be part of, that experience. So, you know, being part of that, Alex Cooper on, well, experience at the same time bringing their followers, along for the journey.

00;22;20;13 - 00;22;35;00

Jason

And so when you're talking about, influencers and campaigns for this product, you also have this this brand has a purpose and a focus. Tell us more about that. And then how do you integrate that into your influencer campaigns as well?

00;22;35;03 - 00;22;53;15

Bibie

Yeah, yeah. No thanks for asking about that. So for joined by, you know, we define our purpose kind of a higher order emotional purpose as bringing a little joy to every day, which is perfect for the name joy. But and, you know, you can't help but feel kind of joyous and happy, when you're, experiencing the bubble tea.

00;22;53;15 - 00;23;21;10

Bibie

It's light and fruity, and the packaging experience is just so much fun. And we know that consumers like to enjoy that with their friends. So it's all about connecting. So, to bring that to life. Earlier on, we, started a relationship with Lady Gaga's Born This Way foundation. And, and, you know, that was really, great and influential because, with them, we worked on a campaign called, Real Tea, real Talk.

00;23;21;13 - 00;23;46;11

Bibie

Again, going back to that boba tea experience, you know, you're relaxing with friends, you're getting real, you know, you're enjoying the beverage. And so really talking about, how, teas like, Joy can be that platform for connection and, and support kind of everyday mental health. And so that's an ongoing relationship we have there. And, you know, there are other ways that we kind of bring that spirit to life.

00;23;46;13 - 00;24;18;28

Bibie

So, for example, we have, as part of our marketing initiative, a college ambassadors program, where, you know, we have influencers on different college campuses. And, they, promote and just kind of socialize and introduce, joy, to their friends and their friend group, on campus. Not only is a great product, but again, going back to our purpose, you know, bringing joy a little bit of joy to every day, that connection, you know, growing the friendships around, sharing a beverage like, joy bubble tea.

00;24;18;28 - 00;24;25;25

Bibie

So that's all kind of part of our marketing message, but it's also very much a part of, you know, what this brand DNA is.

00;24;25;28 - 00;24;41;22

Jason

When I was in college, I was hired to do a little influencer work as well. But, it was for, it was for a tax preparation service, H&R block. So a lot less, lot less interesting than, than boba tea, I would say,

00;24;41;24 - 00;24;44;25

Bibie

Different people bond over different things.

00;24;44;27 - 00;25;02;01

Jason

I don't know how much I bonded over it, but they picked me to be, like, an ambassador for it. And, yeah, I don't know how many students were very interested in H&R block's tax return, but, our services as college kids. But, you know, it was a gig and, you know, it was it paid pretty well for the time.

00;25;02;01 - 00;25;16;01

Jason

So, let's talk just for a minute as we're wrapping up here about influencer campaigns. You know, how do you how do you approach them? What are some of your best practice recommendations and maybe some lessons learned along the way?

00;25;16;03 - 00;25;54;13

Bibie

Yeah. So, I'll go back to, a word I used earlier, which is synergy. So, we were all connected at the hip, right? Whether your the PR agency, the creative agency of record, media planning internally for us, digital team, brand team, etc.. So, I think really looking for, campaigns and activations that are going to be meaty across all those platforms and, you know, making sure that one moment can be, you know, blown out across all of those things.

00;25;54;13 - 00;26;18;00

Bibie

So, for example, talking about Joy bar and the national launch, that we just did back in late April, having it be around, National Boba Tea Day, starting with, more of a mid tier influencer, but that's right in the heart of, the target, like Alessandra Truffaut, a Gen Z, up and coming chef.

00;26;18;03 - 00;26;39;07

Bibie

Bring that to life with, you know, a satellite media tour. Bring that to life with activations, in-store through our shopper marketing, team and our agency collaborative Media group, bringing that to life internally. Right. Because in this day and age, you know, your brands have got to stand for something really meaningful, not only to the consumers but also to the employees to feel good about.

00;26;39;07 - 00;27;00;23

Bibie

Right. And so we brought that to life internally with a lot of celebration at all of our sites on, National Property Day. So, that's, you know, synergy and, you know, making sure that we, really kind of light it up, across all of those things. I think the other thing we think about when we think about our, you know, influencers and our kind of, partnerships, externally is having lots of different levels.

00;27;00;23 - 00;27;21;17

Bibie

Right? So, a big name that can really get a lot of awareness and buzz, like, like an Alex Cooper who, is so hot right now, cover of, you know, New York Times Magazine, type of hot as well as then, you know, working the network, through all levels, mid and micro-influencers, as I mentioned.

00;27;21;17 - 00;27;42;10

Bibie

So no matter the city, if it's, you know, Denver or Austin or Oakland, we're going to be reaching out to a whole network, of, relevant influencers and micro celebrities within each of those areas, to bring their fans out, to bring that awareness at a more of a of a local level. And those are, you know, that's just make sense from your coverage.

00;27;42;10 - 00;27;54;19

Bibie

That makes sense from how you want to manage your budget. So those are, you know, kind of just two themes. I would I would say synergy and then making sure you have different levels of, partnerships.

00;27;54;22 - 00;28;10;04

Jason

Perfect. Well, I appreciate you sharing all that with us because I think it's, something that people often want to try and haven't yet done or, you know, they're they they're doing it one way, and maybe they could always learn other ways and opportunities to do it. So.

00;28;10;07 - 00;28;11;14

Bibie

Yeah, it's my pleasure.

00;28;11;16 - 00;28;16;20

Jason

Yeah. Any closing thoughts before we wrap up that you wanted to share with our audience today?

00;28;16;23 - 00;28;51;23

Bibie

Yeah, I would just say, you know, I know most of the listeners here are in this industry of communications and public relations and, it's just, it's it's a lot of fun, as you know, and I'm sure you have a lot of fun talking to, the folks that you interview. But I really do think that, it is a, blessing that we get to work with great, brands and really bring them to life, to, audiences today, whether it's, you know, your current, cohorts and consumer base or the newer ones that are coming up.

00;28;51;25 - 00;29;15;06

Bibie

And it really, challenges us as, PR and communications professionals to just stay on top of those trends and on top of, you know, how consumers like to consume media. So, you know, yeah, it's kind of like, how do you plan your day? You know, some of it's about just kind of putting out fires, but a lot more of it, I think, is about just really reflecting the consumers and what they're interested in.

00;29;15;06 - 00;29;23;09

Bibie

And making sure that you're on the same channels and platforms that they're engaged with. And that's that's going to lead to success for, your products and your brands.

00;29;23;11 - 00;29;46;09

Jason

Yeah, I really like that. In fact, that's kind of why we name the show on top of PR because there's so many topics, tips and trends that our audience has to stay. On top of that, we do our best to try to bring those relevant topics to the table, into the conversations for them, and kind of like you said earlier, you know, you know, I'm going to misuse what you said, but, you know, kind of like spilling the tea or having tea talk, you know, about those types of things.

00;29;46;09 - 00;30;06;19

Jason

Right? So this is a great place where people can get their tea and listen in and get some professional development time, throughout their busy day at their convenience and on demand. So, with that, baby, I want to thank you for being on the show. If somebody wants to get Ahold of you, has a question for you or has a, partnership opportunity or something like that, what's the best way to to reach you?

00;30;06;19 - 00;30;08;14

Jason

Is that through LinkedIn?

00;30;08;16 - 00;30;13;13

Bibie

LinkedIn would be great. I am always looking at my messages. So yeah, that's a great place to start.

00;30;13;16 - 00;30;30;09

Jason

Okay. Wonderful. Excellent. Well, if you reach out to be sure to tell her that you learned about her or met her through on top of PR and, she'll be glad to know kind of how you heard of her. And why she should, accept your, LinkedIn message. So, with that, I'm going to sign off here and, thanks again, Bebe.

00;30;30;09 - 00;30;47;26

Jason

Really appreciate you being on the show today. So, this has been another episode of On Top of PR. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I want to thank, Bebe for being here and for Holly, our podcast coordinator, for putting it together for us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a friend or colleague who you think would benefit from it.

00;30;47;29 - 00;30;55;15

Jason

You can also share it on your social media. I'm sure your followers and fans would appreciate that as well. And so would, would we? So with that helping you stay on top of PR, this is Jason Mudd signing off with Axia Public Relations. I hope something great happens to you today.

00;30;55;15 - 00;31;51;07

Announcer

This has been On Top of PR with Jason Mudd presented by ReviewMaxer. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode and check out our past episodes at ontopofpr.com.

About your host Jason Mudd

On Top of PR host, Jason Mudd, is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America’s most admired brands and fastest-growing companies. Since 1994, he’s worked with American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon. He founded Axia Public Relations in July 2002. Forbes named Axia as one of America’s Best PR Agencies.

Find more On Top of PR episodes on: