Eddie Bauer: The Wrong Way to Use Email

Sad to say, I've just unsubscribed from Eddie Bauer emails, because ... Oct. 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28, 30, Nov. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11,13,15, 16 ... I couldn't take the barrage any longer. I suggested they try the REI way: once a week, on the same day. I look forward to their promotional emails.

Bing and Facebook

There's been a lot of discussion about Google Instant Search. I'm waiting to see how that will change search engine optimization for my clients. But no one seems to be talking too much about the expansion of the relationship between Bing and Facebook.

We are rolling out some new features that allow you to take your friends with you into your Bing experience, both at www.bing.com as well as within the search experience at www.facebook.com. We will enable a great search experience for people queries, by bringing in information from your Facebook friends and people who share networks with you, and we will show you what your friends have liked (using Facebook's public like platform) as you navigate through search results in Bing.

You can see some screenshots here.

This is an interesting development, as both Bing and Yahoo keep trying different tactics to try to grab search engine market share from Google, but I can't help but see an elephant (Google) ignoring the mosquitoes trying to bite through its thick hide - and getting nowhere.

iPhone Apps

Are you an entrepreneur doing market research, or are you a market researcher? Check out iPhone Apps for Researchers, written by Patrice for Freepint.

Milk Made: Ice Cream by Subscription

Frozen Hot Toddy (honey ice cream, organic spices, lemon zest, bourbon). Coffee+Donuts (coffee ice cream and chunks of donuts). Sound yummy? These are the January flavors from Milk Made, a company offering a $50, 3-month membership that provide hand-delivered, homemade ice cream in parts of NYC. I'd sure like to try these flavors!

Many entrepreneurs plan to start selling at a local Farmer's Market. But some of these are hard to get into because the vendor demand is so great. Maybe this is an alternative model to consider.

As with anything, good market research will let you know if this is a model that can work for your product. For example, who will buy your product? How much (if anything) will they pay? What geographic area should you target? This is an unexpected model for ice cream, but the questions Milk Made needs to answer are still very similar to those of any other product-based business!

If you're a small foodie business in the SF Bay Area, let me know: I'd like to profile you here.

Fancy Food Show: Glacia

Despite a move (in the SF Bay Area, at least) away from bottled water, Glacia is pushing "water in a box". Their FAQ says, "we will actually bio-degrade over time" but doesn't say how long it will take. Glacia joins a few other companies introducing carton-ed water. Cartons don't feel any more environmentally friendly to me.

Fancy Food Show: Market Research Snippet

Here are a few highlights from my primary market research work at the Fancy Food show:

Arette Foods sells organic tea seed oil, cold pressed from the seeds of a cousin to the tea plant. I tried several of the flavors, and they were good. I found myself drawn to the booth because they had signs saying tea oil, and I think we've all been fairly well conditioned to think of tea as healthy for us.

Although Arette is only a year old, I was told that China has been using this oil "for thousands of years." It could be interesting to watch Arette, as it tries to introduce a new healthy (think olive) oil to the American consumer. The person in the booth I spoke with said it had been a challenge so far. Lurking in the background for a few minutes, I watched and listened as two buyers came to the booth and dipped a piece of bread into the sample. They both thought it was good, but didn't request any literature. How many times have you tasted something good but not thought to integrate into your cooking or grocery shopping? I wonder what sort of market research Arette did before launching their line?

Food Trend Alert: Sweet Potato

Food forecasters are saying that the sweet potato is going to be an up and coming food. The sweet potato is loaded with fiber, vitamins B6 and C, and beta carotene. The continuing trend toward healthy eating, plus the simplicity of fixing the sweet potato - pop it in the microwave and in a matter of minutes you have a baked potato - may increase its popularity beyond winter holidays.

How can a food entrepreneur use this information? Here are some examples:

• If you're a baker, try making a sweet potato pound cake.
  
• Own a food cart, or thinking about it? Sweet potato pudding is a very popular recipe. If there's a creme brulee guy, why not a sweet potato pudding or sweet potato pie chick?
• Can you serve locavores by growing sweet potatoes?
• Can you create sweet potato recipes?
• Any other ideas?
  

The key here is to tie your entrepreneurial ideas to a growing trend, then test it to see if there might be a market. The health consciousness of the Bay Area makes it a likely geographic area for a healthy food like the sweet potato to take off. Now you can refine it by considering who is most likely to want to eat healthy.

Doing Market Research at a Tradeshow

I've just attended the 35th Winter Fancy Food show, one of the best places to find trend data for the cost of getting into the tradeshow. (The cost for the Fancy Food show was $35).

When you plan to do market research, create a plan before you go. Think about the questions for which you need answers. Write them out, and be sure they are open-ended, not questions which can be answered with a yes or no. Top up your business cards.
When you're at the tradeshow, don't forget to grab all the information you can find. At the Fancy Food show, I was able to get several copies of industry trade magazines, a newspaper, and sign up for an electronic newsletter when I got back to my office.

Most importantly, never break the cardinal rule: Do Not get in the way of a potential sale! Wait until the booth is not busy. If, while you are talking to the person, a prospect approaches, step aside. You can quickly ask if you can call them later, trade business cards and move on.

Between talking to various conversations, take a moment to make notes about what you learned so it's fresh. Then, when you get back to your office, fill your notes in so you don't forget anything.

San Francisco Fancy Food Show

I just attended the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. I spoke with many entrepreneurs, just brief conversations. Here are some of them:

• Leah of Mrs. A's Famous Salsa Buena, a teacher, who was encouraged to start her company by her high school class.


• Hattem, who is bringing the U.S. the healthful and delicious fava bean


• Mathieu, co-founder of Alter Eco, which makes an amazing (one of my personal Best in Show choices!) Dark Quinoa chocolate bar. (Quinoa is pronounced "keen-wah".)


• Geline of Italian Heritage Foods, who's title on her business card is "Mamma" (love that), is introducing amazingly delicious frozen Italian crepes.


• Kari, of Kari's Malva Pudding - an incrediby delicious South African dessert, and Nelson Mandela's favorite.

Watch this space for their stories, as well as information on food trends.

Nickelodeon Study

Renaissance graduates know that psychographics are critical to launching a new product or service. A study from Nickelodeon is worth a read. Here's a highlight:

“As Millennials become parents and Baby Boomers become grandparents, today’s families are different from what we’ve seen and come to expect from previous generations, in that staying together and playing together are the top priorities among everyone in the household,” said Ron Geraci, Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Research. “Instead of being divided by tastes and clashing over values and things like music and entertainment choices, today’s parents, kids and grandparents are being drawn closer together by them, as well as embracing new value systems of tolerance and acceptance.”

The study is called The Family GPS, reasearch by Harris Interactive. What do you think about the findings?