February 22, 2022 • 40 mins
Just when we were getting settled in with the target of millennials, a new generation has entered the scene—Gen Z! Young people born between 1997-2012 are included in this latest demographic. They are entering the workforce, increasing their buying power and have behaviors and values that both complement and conflict with their millennial elders. We'll explore the key attributes of Gen Z, why they’re important to marketers and how a common love of peanut butter will bring the two youngest generations together. Our conversation features Ginny Lewis from Golin, Brendan Brannock a Gen Zer, Jeanne Cashman from Hampton Farms, and Arkansas peanut farmer Greg Baltz.
Show Notes:
Peanut water usage data: This data presents U.S. water usage per ounce based on blue water (irrigation) for the period 2000/2016 and grey water (to assimilate applied nitrogen) for 2004/2013. The sources of the data are the California Department of Food and Agriculture; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Mekonnen, M.M. of the University of Alabama; and the United States Department of Agriculture. Limitations of the results include the quality and availability of data.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lindsay Stevens (00:11):
Hello, and welcome to the piano Podcast.
I'm Lindsay Stevens.
Lauren Highfill Williams (00:15):
And I'm Lauren Highfill Williams,
Lindsay and I, along with a fewof our other team members have
been on the road lately,attending our state grower and
industry meetings. And it hasbeen so wonderful to see many of
our peanut family members inperson after so long, it's been
great. It's also been excitingthat we've been able to share
(00:36):
some breaking news during thosepresentations and going around
the peanut belt. It's aroundwater usage. So we now know that
it takes just 3.2 gallons ofwater to produce one ounce of
shelled peanuts, and that isdown from 4.7 gallons in 2010.
So sustainability is incrediblyimportant to our industry, we
(00:59):
know that we have a wholeepisode about it. And it's
really a growing priority forour younger consumers too, which
ties really nicely right intoour topic for today.
Lindsay Stevens (01:09):
So speaking of younger consumers, we've talked
about Gen Z in the past,especially in episode four,
which our last episode, and itfocused on like marketing
trends, but today, we're goingto focus solely on Gen Z.
Lauren Highfill Williams (01:22):
Yeah, and while we're doing this
deeper dive on Gen Z in thisepisode, I don't want you to
think that we're completelyleaving Millennials behind. We
started focusing primarily onmillennials and our consumer
marketing several years ago, andthey are still a top audience
for us. So what we're doing withGen Z is more like inviting more
people and new friends to joinus at the table. So bringing the
(01:46):
two generations of Gen Z andmillennials together is a core
goal of our marketing campaignfor this year. So we're going to
talk more about how we'reincorporating Gen Z into our
2022 campaign a little furtheron in episode.
Lindsay Stevens (02:00):
So we thought the best way to tell you all
about Gen Z is by talking to oneour agency partner, Colin, as
well as the Gen Z person, inaddition to that, so for this
episode, I reached out to my 17year old cousin Brendan, so he
could talk to us a little bitabout what he and his friends
like and kind of backup whatwe're saying and show that it is
relevant. And these are all truethings that Gen Z's like so here
(02:23):
is a little bit about Brendan inhis own words.
Brendan Brannock (02:26):
My name is Brandon Brandon, I'm 17 years
old. I'm a senior in highschool, I go to Mill Creek. I'll
be attending the United StatesMilitary Academy at West Point
to be an officer in the army. Iam the team captain of the boys
varsity tennis team. And Ireally enjoy learning about
history and engineering.
Lindsay Stevens (02:46):
Ginny Lewis is the Senior Vice President with
Golin's digital practice.
According to Ginny, she spendsmost of her time keeping up with
what's happening in the digitalspace, helping NPB think about
an approach influencers andhelping from a consumer
perspective to target Gen Z.
Here's Jenny on who Gen Z is.
Ginny Lewis (03:04):
When I think about sort of any age group, I like to
remind myself how old they arebefore I kind of start talking
about them. And I think one ofthe biggest things, if you look
at any generation is there's apretty wide age range, right? So
Gen Z usually spans anywherefrom like 10 years old to 25
(03:26):
ish. Um, so if you think about a10 year old versus a 25 year
old, that's obviously a prettybig range. And there's a lot of
differences in variances withinthat group itself. But
generally, like, when I think ofGen Z, the sort of first things
that come to mind for me are,you know, pretty obvious.
They're obviously pretty extremedigital natives. They grew up
(03:52):
with social media, they grew upconnected to each other
virtually, whereas the othergenerations, I've had to grow
into it. So the way that theyuse it is just very innate to
their everyday lives.
Lindsay Stevens (04:10):
One of the most obvious differences is that
they're digital natives, meaningthey grew up on technology. So
I'm only older and a Gen Z onthe start is 1997. I was born in
98. And Lauren is a millennial.
So Lauren, I want to know howold were you when you got your
first cell phone?
Lauren Highfill Williams (04:27):
I was the ripe old age of being in
high school, I think it was 10thor 11th grade. And my phone was
like about the size of a staplerand it had a hot pink cover that
I loved. And I remember playingthat little game snake on it.
(04:47):
And a single block that was thehighlight of cell phone gaming
at the time. And you know, weuse the cell phone for like
calls occasionally, they wereusually really short, because
you only had a certain number ofminutes. And then you'd never
send a text message because itwas like 50 cents at text
(05:09):
message. But those are mymemories of my first cell phone.
What about you, Lindsay?
Lindsay Stevens (05:15):
So I was young when I got my first cell phone,
and I got mine in middle school.
So it was like, once I started,like going to the mall by myself
and making plans and stuff. Um,so it was an LG Juke, which I
don't know if you remember, itwas like the size of a first
generation iPod Shuffle. And ithad like a tiny little screen on
it, and it would flip like, itwas like flip around, instead of
(05:37):
flip up. So it was it was a goodstarter phone, and I had no idea
where the space key was for ayear. So I just all my texts
were just one word texts. So toput that into kind of context of
how old we were when we got ourphones and what kind of phones
we had, here's Brendon talkingabout his first phone.
Brendan Brannock (05:58):
So you know, I think like, kids my age and like
a year or two older are kind ofthe first ones who who grew up
with like cell phones and mobilephones since like I got I got
I've I've got my first phone Ithink when I was in like third
grade. And that was unheard offor like people my parents age
(06:19):
or, or older siblings, ages andstuff like that. So it's
definitely created a verydifferent social environment for
sure.
Lindsay Stevens (06:28):
So getting your first phone in third grade may
sound crazy. But even if Gen Z'saren't getting their own phone,
they're using their mom anddad's they're on the computer.
They're watching YouTube ontheir parents, iPads like
technology is still presentthere in most cases. Greg Baltz
is an Arkansas board member onthe National Peanut Board. Greg
operates running link farms andgrows runner peanuts, rice,
(06:49):
corn, and soybeans, hear histhoughts on Gen Z and technology
and why they're an importantaudience for the industry to
reach.
Greg Baltz (06:57):
Okay, so just as I'll get comfortable trying to,
to just see how we advertise tomillennials. A bullet thing came
up a couple years ago that Gen Zis going to college. And I I
guess I had never anticipatedthat we thought the millennials
were or, or the up and cominggeneration and they are. But but
(07:21):
now we have a whole newgeneration, different media
tools with different aspects ofcommunication all based off of
that cell phone that we carry inour pocket, it is most important
that we we continue to let themsee who we are as a painted
industry, and also expose themto the products that we can
(07:45):
produce for them. It is a veryversatile product. It's
nutritious, it's it's rich, itmixes well with, with, from
anything from candy to jelly toapples. But it's a great
addition to any other food. Andyeah, that's this tale is Gen
(08:05):
z's.
Lindsay Stevens (08:06):
So moving on from technology, here's Ginny
with more on Gen Z.
Ginny Lewis (08:10):
They're also kind of the most diverse and
accepting generation, which isawesome to see how that plays
out in the world and in culture.
And they really expect more outof brands and companies that
they follow. Whereas in the pastgenerations have just followed
brands and companies that theylike Gen Z will actually take
(08:31):
the time to do research andfigure out you know, does this
brand or does this company sortof align with my ideals and what
I stand for, so that's reallyimportant to them.
Lindsay Stevens (08:46):
Like Ginny said, Gen Z is really looking
for companies to innovate andcreate better products.
According to an article fromBloomberg, Gen Z is estimated to
have $360 billion in disposableincome, which is why more and
more brands have startedmarketing to them. Gen Z are
considered thrifty consumers whohave been shaped by the economic
uncertainty we grew up with. Sofor context, I grew up and
(09:08):
started middle school during thegreat recession. So I can attest
to that. And then I graduatedcollege at the start of the
pandemic. So we've really beenshaped by this. And there's
actually a really good quotefrom the article that I read
from Bloomberg that said,they're kids of the 2008
recession, and now they'regraduate graduates of the COVID
pandemic. And I think that sumsit up pretty well. The same
(09:31):
article by Bloomberg reportedthat they save a third of their
income. All this to say isthey're picky with what they
spend their money on. Here'sBrendan on what he expects out
of brands.
Brendan Brannock (09:41):
So when I look at companies definitely being
you know, like, like before,honest about their work and
genuine about their work.
Especially, like if I buysomething from a company, it
ends up being not what they youknow, like advertised As it's
definitely kind of a veryupsetting and disappointing
(10:03):
moment. So definitely, you know,hard work and honesty and
diligence with with the productsthat they're making.
Lindsay Stevens (10:12):
Something that is particularly important about
Gen Z is that they spend amajority of their money on food,
according to fooddive.com, Gen Zspends 23% of their money on
food, which is more thananything else. Here's Ginny with
more.
Ginny Lewis (10:26):
They also spend, the last thing I'll say about
them, because I know you allhave covered them in other
podcasts, but the last thingabout them is they spend most of
their money on food, which isn'treally surprising, if you
consider most of them are stillliving at home, right, and they
don't have like living expenses,and whatnot, you know,
(10:46):
obviously, some of them are incollege or have just graduated,
but a lot of them have not. Andso food is a really big part of
their lives and where theydecide to spend their money. So
it's important that anything wedo to target them is really
authentic to their group, andthat spans to other generations
(11:08):
as well.
Lindsay Stevens (11:10):
According to Brendan, food isn't just for
eating. It's also socialexperience to him and his
friends.
Brendan Brannock (11:16):
Kids, my especially like, my age, where
we're about to go into collegeand an open world, we're looking
for new things to try and tryingto figure out what we like, as a
person and not just what ourparents forced us to eat and
stuff like that. So wedefinitely like exploring, I
(11:37):
mean, me and my friends will goall over the place where we live
will sometimes drive 30-45minutes just to go to a new
restaurant that we want to try.
And for us, it's it's just fun.
Like it's not because we havesome, like, we just want to hang
out and try new stuff together.
It's just what we want to do.
Lindsay Stevens (11:57):
Like Brendan said, Gen Z values, experiences
and trying new things. Thisquality is one they share with
millennials, the othergeneration NPB targets with
their marketing.
Lauren Highfill Williams (12:07):
As we've mentioned before, NPB is
targeting both Gen Z andmillennials. Like all
generations, they're not exactlyalike. So just a few examples
are that millennials areidealistic, and Gen Z's are
pragmatic. Both generationsturned to shopping online during
the pandemic, but Gen Z's aremore likely to return to in
(12:28):
store shopping. Gen Z focuses onsaving money, and millennials
are more focused on experiences.
Here's Ginny with more on Gen Zand millennials, I have
Ginny Lewis (12:39):
to think the generations have more in common
than they think, especially ifyou think about it, it's really
an age thing. Right? Like, in inmany years, we'll be talking
about Gen Z and how they arebasically dealing with the same
challenges as millennials. But Ithink from an overarching
perspective, some of the thingsthat are a little bit different
between generations are, youknow, millennials really grew up
(13:03):
in this era of perfection andidealism, if you if you think
about Instagram, which to me issort of like a millennial
platform. Obviously, there's alot of fancy on Instagram, but
you just you see, like traveland experiences and this perfect
sort of version of yourself,right? Like you were asked, you
(13:25):
weren't asked you were itbenefited you to, to show up
online as you wanted to appearto others, right? Where as Gen Z
is all about real and raw andsort of the opposite of
perfection. And that sort of hasbeen very apparent with a
platform like Tic tock right,where you are your real self you
(13:48):
don't it's not about photo, it'sabout, you know, bringing humor
and bringing levity and talkingabout issues and you know, it's
in the clothes that they wearand the things that they do, you
know, less makeup less, lessperfection, which, to me is fun,
because that gives brands andcompanies the opportunity to not
(14:10):
be so proud to be so perfect,right?
Lauren Highfill Williams (14:13):
While these two generations take pride
in being different from oneanother, they may be more alike
than they care to admit.
Ginny Lewis (14:19):
In terms of similarities. I mentioned it a
little bit, but I think they'reboth looking for brands and
companies that sort of stand forthe things that they stand for.
Probably more vocal in the Gen Zworld, but Millennials too. And
I think they're also looking forjust better food options in
(14:41):
terms of healthier, moresustainable, more plant based
more variety, more interestingthings. And I think obviously
peanuts and peanut butter iskind of the perfect intersection
of all of those things for bothgenerations. In
Lauren Highfill Williams (15:01):
A perfect cross section for these
two generations is what we'refocusing on for our 2022
campaign, their love for peanutbutter. In 2020. Alone, almost
300 million Americans consumedpeanut butter. Ginny has more on
what the beloved householdstaple means to each generation.
Ginny Lewis (15:20):
Yeah, I think peanut butter across like both
Gen Z and millennials isobviously a very beloved food
item, I think there's hugeconversation about peanut butter
across both, I think probablyslightly more with millennials.
And when we look at that peanutbutter conversation, it's mainly
(15:44):
about sort of weird combos withpeanut butter and sort of the
best ways people think to eatit, which really makes sense if
you think about what Tiktok hasdone to food. So the top recipes
that have gone viral over thepast year kind of fall into one
of those categories, they'reeither like super weird, right
(16:07):
like that mustard, watermelonfun, or there might be like a
new way of eating or learning todo something like the baked feta
pasta, which went viral was justa really easy way to cook pasta,
like a cheesy pasta version,right. But either way, you kind
of see those two categoriesreally rising to the top for
(16:27):
them. So it's either superweird, interesting combos, or
it's like a new easy way ofdoing something. And that's
really, those are sort of thetwo main topics that peanut
butter really comes to the toparound. So we see like weird
combos with peanut butter. Wealso see like, easy ways to use
it in recipes, or easy ways toor interesting ways to use the
(16:50):
jar etc. So I think between bothgenerations, those are big
overall, millennials probablytalk about it more, and they
have a little bit more of anostalgic association with it.
And when they think about peanutbutter from their childhood,
whereas Gen Z doesn'tnecessarily have that nostalgia.
(17:13):
But what they do have is reallyan opportunity to show them the
unique ways to use peanut butterin their food. So do different
varieties, different types offood, different recipes,
culturally from around the worldare big with this generation.
(17:35):
And we know that peanuts are ahuge ingredient in those. So
it's a really good opportunityfor us to sort of show them the
value of peanuts and peanutbutter and continue to reiterate
that for this new generationthat already loves the food, but
may have that nostalgia that issuch a driver for millennials.
Lauren Highfill Williams (18:02):
So in 2022, we're using peanut butter
as a bridge to discover what GenZ and Millennials love about
each other's worlds. Ourcampaign Peanut Better Together
is all about connecting the twogenerations through their mutual
love of peanut butter. Ginny hasmore.
Ginny Lewis (18:18):
Yeah, so Peanut Better Together is basically our
year long campaign, which we'revery excited to get kicked off
here shortly. It's all aboutturning Gen wars into Gen love.
So I don't know if you all sawthis online, but there's tons of
(18:40):
conversation all about thegenerational wars. And it
started really with Gen Z andBoomers, right? Because that is
a very different mindset. Theyboth have very different
mindsets and how they wereraised, how they expect things
to be. And so there was a littlebit of banter back and forth
(19:02):
around those two generations.
And that really also kind ofthen forayed into this Gen
Z/Millennial, much morelighthearted, banter around the
differences. So it's thingslike, you know, millennials have
side parts and skinny jeans, youknow, whereas Gen Z, middle
(19:25):
parts and mom jeans, so verykind of silly, just top level
stuff. But there was a lot ofkind of cultural conversation
around that. And we were lookingat it and thinking, hey, in
fact, these two generations havea lot in common and specifically
(19:46):
from a food standpoint, peanutbutter, as I mentioned is
something that they both loveand that they both care about.
And so how do we kind of bringthese generations together? With
this perfect food for them, it'sreally, you know, unassuming,
it's delicious. It's got a greatnutrition and sustainability
(20:06):
story to tell. And bothgenerations can kind of get
around this. So you know, butteris really going to be our bridge
to help Gen Z, Millennials sortof rediscover each other in a
fun way. And the way that we arebringing this peanut better
together. campaign to life isthrough three really fun
(20:32):
activations. The first one,which will have just launched,
by the time that this podcastcomes out, it's all around
spice. So we've talked aboutkind of the changing food
landscape. And spice is a hugetrend, I don't even want to call
(20:53):
it a trend, because it'sbasically beyond that it's
everywhere. But youngergenerations absolutely love
spice. And they love exploringdifferent spice and challenging
themselves with spice. And sothe first activation we're going
to do is kind of introducingpeanut butter as the perfect
(21:13):
spice antidote. As we know,instead of potentially drinking
like milk, peanut butter couldbe a great way to kind of cut
spice in foods and recipes andso on. So we're gonna have a
really fun tick tock influencercampaign launching, where we're
(21:37):
gonna encourage five Gen Z andMillennial influencers to take
the peanut butter spicechallenge. And then we're gonna
promote those. And then we'realso going to be creating a
really fun sort of spice kitsthat we're going to be sending
to media influencers to showthem, or basically to encourage
them also to explore what peanutbutter and spice can kind of do
(22:00):
together and get some reallygood buzz that way,
Lauren Highfill Williams (22:07):
Greg Baltz has been on the board
since we started targetingmillennials. Here's how he
explains our marketing to othergrowers,
Greg Baltz (22:14):
Like we do have to talk to other growers about it
because because like they see itthe way or saw the advertising
doesn't particularly appeal to amiddle aged grower out in the
country. But it does. It doesneed to hit a new generation a
(22:35):
new audience, and, and NationalPeanut board, we represent the
growers throughout the country.
And they they pay a verysignificant setup fee to fund
the National Peanut board. So wehave to be very judicious in how
we spend money. Early on, Irealized that we can't spend
(22:57):
money the way a few other nutsycommodity scans. So So
traditional media didn't fit notto the level that we needed to
impact the market. So the switchand designed to go with digital
with internet based advertisingwith influencers and such, it's,
(23:17):
it's all new. But But as I'vecome to see, it's all exciting.
And it seems to be veryeffective. We see positive
results from what NationalPeanut Board is doing to promote
peanut butter to thisgeneration, and to the next and
the next step for that. So, sothat's exciting. I think I've
(23:39):
had to come around I hope mostpeople have as well. And as long
as we keep track of how it's howit's performing. I think we have
a great new tool that that maybenever dreamed of.
Lauren Highfill Williams (23:55):
If you're listening as a farmer,
you know the importance andvalue of taking thoughtful risks
when it comes to youroperations. And the same is true
with peanut marketing. Here'sGreg's perspective.
Greg Baltz (24:07):
Yeah, we asked, we asked National Peanut Board in
the marketing program to see ifI can take some new risks in
promoting our products. Butthat's also what we as farmers
do every day. Farming,unfortunately, is not a massive
windfall in every year, someyears are more challenging than
(24:28):
others. So so we have to becareful with our risks. But, but
even these things that beingsaid, we have to take risks. The
only way we can survive is tostep out and take a risk.
I can just think back to anaspect early on 20 years ago
before hardly anybody in theindustry knew much about the
(24:50):
technology starting to become avital I didn't either. And I
just said you know with mybackground with my love for
electronics and computersI wanted to tackle this so, so
we were, we were in thebeginning of field monitors, one
of the first things everdeveloped auto steer, we, we
bought the first auto steertractor in the county, we moved
(25:13):
on just stayed with thetechnology that was available on
on farm equipment and tried tostay on top of it. So now, it's
not just about technology in thetractor, it's it's apps on our
phone, it's its resources forfinancial analysis, as well as
(25:34):
your analysis and everythingelse. And soil samples can go
into a digitalplatform and actually
prescription for an applicationand display so. So we didn't
start early with taking risks ontechnology, there's no way we
could come up to speed on what'savailable. So we don't have to
(25:55):
go to someone else to teach usthat technology. We just have to
build on what we've alreadylearned in technology. And we're
right there ready for the next,the next tool to come down the
pipeline and fall in place so wecan take advantage of it. And
I've seen both financialbenefits and just pure knowledge
(26:17):
benefits from knowing. field byfield farm by farm exactly each
crop and each field are knowingour profitability knowing our
costs and our income alphabet.
Never could have gotten here whowouldn't have taken this
business.
Lindsay Stevens (26:45):
Taking risks and changing market strategies
to reach new groups is somethingthat a growing number of brands
are doing. For example,StateFarm made headlines in
January for deciding to turn toTik Tock instead of running an
ad during the big football game.
And while other companieshaven't fully given up their big
time ad space, they have startedweaving Tic Tock into their
campaigns. They do this bybuying video ads and working
(27:06):
with influencers within thepeanut industry. Jif partnered
with rapper ludicrous to launchthe little Jif project campaign.
Jif released a series of TV anddigital ads social media
activations on platforms likeTikTock and an original song by a
rapper named Gunna. One of themore popular activations played
off the comment that somerobbers sound like they're
(27:27):
rapping with a spoonful ofpeanut butter in their mouth and
they created a viral trend whereusers literally mumbled wrapped
with a spoonful of peanut butterin their mouth. Another peanut
brand that's pivoting to includeGen Z is Hampton Farms. Jeanne
Cashman is the Director of BrandMarketing and innovation for
Hampton Farms. Here's what shesays they've done in our doing
to target Gen Z,
Jeanne Cashman (27:49):
Some of the programs that we're working on
that would appeal to them. Onethat will be our second year,
but is a national parkscampaign. So it involves a lot
around camping, how you canincorporate peanuts into that.
It's a lot of gaming, as well.
So it's called play for peanuts.
(28:12):
So there'll be a sweepstakes andthen giveaways of fun camping
games and activities. And as faras COVID, and the national parks
and attendance there, it's justreally spiked during that time
period anyway, so we find thatthe younger part of the Gen Z, I
(28:32):
mean, they're there with theirparents, but the older part of
the Gen Z, you know, college andjust out of college, like
they're really into hiking andcamping, and it kind of appeals
to everyone. So campers, in acamper or in a tent or
backpackers. So you really needthat hydration, the water and
(28:52):
the salty snacks and you hit thetrail. And so that's kind of
what we're going after with thiscampaign. We think that's a real
fun one just as far as lifestyleand fitting in with where COVID
is kind of directed us to be,which is more outdoors. So we're
kind of enjoying that program.
So that's one for sure. Someothers that we're kind of
(29:14):
hitting hitting on with theyounger demographic is
Spikeball. So I think we're inour second year was Spikeball.
So that's just a fun, like 24years and younger, you know,
outside there's lots of theyhave all these games and
sponsorships, the kids, youknow, they're outside athletic
(29:38):
and the son having fun at thesedifferent tournaments. And so we
go to those differenttournaments. It's very outdoors
like at the beach, but it fitsin really well with camping as
well. So that's been a lot offun to get involved with that
demographic.
Lindsay Stevens (29:55):
Although it's different Jeanne is enjoying the
challenges of working into Gen Z
Jeanne Cashman (30:00):
It's kind of fun, how it's evolving. And
just, I guess my daughter's atthat age to where she's, you
know, always on tick tock andtelling you different things. So
I think I just, it's fun for me,because I think I just have to
be more aware and think outsidethe box and listen to ideas that
come from all over the place,you know, now they can come from
(30:20):
anywhere, right. And then Ithink, probably the most
challenging for me is I need tochange my mindset from, you
know, the tried and true waysthat we've done brand marketing
for so long, and just realizethat it needs to feel less
sponsored and more trulyauthentic, right. And know that,
you know, this age group caresmore about like, causes and
(30:46):
cause based marketing, and theydo love food, which is great for
us. And they like an authentictrue story, which I think I've
already mentioned, I think isreally strong. For us. That's a
good thing. I think I just needto continue to learn how to
market to them in a way that iscompelling and interesting, you
know, because we do have inShell peanuts, which do skew
(31:08):
much older and then trying toappeal to, you know, the younger
generation, but I think there'ssomething sweet in that, right?
Like remembering going to abaseball game with your
grandfather and eating peanutsand like your parents or aunt or
uncle or whatever sharing thatexperience with you and your
younger like this, you know. SoI think there's something fun
(31:32):
about the marketing, but I stilldo the some of the Mainstays I
don't put everything obviouslyinto tick tock and Instagram or
you still have to do some of thetried and true brand marketing
tactics. I feel like but I thinkthis is the future, right? And
definitely, Gen Z's are thefuture. So we have to learn how
to talk to them.
Lindsay Stevens (31:52):
Hampton Garms also appeals to Gen Z's tastes
with new flavors and productinnovations.
Jeanne Cashman (31:58):
Yes, we do have a variety of flavors, we do some
flavors in the shell. So we havea Cajun in the show, and a hatch
chili inside the shell. So thereBrian inside the shell. So
that's, that's fun. But then wealso have a lot of flavors, you
know, outside of the shell too.
And we're working right now withlike peanut flour, and trying to
create more recipes, you know,around protein balls and shakes
(32:22):
and those sorts of things. Sothat's, and then we have some
other innovation that we'reworking on. So yeah, hopefully,
over the next year or so. Butyou know, it is fun to keep it
exciting. I mean, people do likethe flavors, and especially that
age group, like the spicier, youknow, fun things. So I do think
(32:43):
that the innovation is importantfor to keep it kind of new and
exciting.
Lindsay Stevens (32:53):
Marketing to Gen Z can be fun, and it gives
marketers an opportunity to getcreative and try new things. But
it's important to maintain areal authentic brand image and
campaign, here's Ginny fromGolin
Ginny Lewis (33:05):
The one thing that I would sort of take away or
think about as sort of a goldstar is if it feels forced,
don't do it. Um, all of theactivations that we come up with
for National Peanut Board arereally based on real human
truths, either about peanutbutter, or about things that
(33:27):
people are doing or trying,right, that we can kind of
naturally insert ourselves into.
So if you think about spice, um,that's something people are
already doing spice challenges,they're already making their
food spicy, or they're alreadyexploring recipes from different
countries that are spicy innature. And we know that
sometimes things are too spicy,and they go to find ways to
(33:51):
mitigate that and so peanutbutter is a really nice story,
it's a new use for something youmay not have known, right? It's
we're not creating somethingfrom scratch, we're playing into
something that exists and thatfeels really authentic for us to
do um, it's when you start kindof trying to force things and
(34:14):
trying to create things fromnothing that Gen Z in particular
can sort of call BS and knowthat it's doesn't feel right to
them and they will call you outon it. So I think just being
authentic and not forcing thingsthat don't feel right
Lindsay Stevens (34:38):
Our Gen Z perspective, Brendan emphasized
the point of wanting brands oronline influencers to be real or
authentic while talking aboutsocial media ads.
Brendan Brannock (34:47):
Some of my idols like um, you know, like
Roger Federer, who's a big timetennis player, like the reason
that that I follow him so muchis because he has genuine talent
with tennis or like ask actors,you know, they have they have
genuine talent with their actingabilities and stuff like that.
Well, you know, yeah, it's it'scool to like, look at someone
(35:08):
and think, oh yeah, they lookreally good. But if that's all
they have, then it's there's noretention to their fanbase in my
opinion, and it ends up doingmore more harm than, than good
on the community, especiallykids my age because we're,
again, that's what we're goingup with. And we're so
susceptible to that type ofstuff.
Lindsay Stevens (35:28):
Like Brendon said, at the end of the day, Gen
Z is looking for somethingauthentic and real. Whether
that's through advertising yourexperiences, the way to Gen Z's
heart is through showing yourbrand is authentic, and can
offer something new, and addvalue to their lives.
Lauren Highfill Williams (35:44):
So Lindsay, I know this is a
particularly fun episode foryou, since you got to talk to
your cousin Brendan, I'm curiouswhat that was like for you if
there were any surprises? Orwhat kind of learnings you came
away with from that?
Lindsay Stevens (36:01):
Yeah, so um, Brendan, it was funny, he was
talking about all the differentthings that him and his friends
do. And it was like, all theresearch beforehand was a
checklist. And we were justchecking off. Like, it was like,
I was checking off the thingshim and his friends do. Like, it
was very funny how he and allhis little buddies are all very
(36:23):
like Gen Z with the stuff theydo their interests. He's like,
Yeah, we just like to go out toeat and like, we're really Asian
food right now. And I was like,Oh my gosh, that's really funny.
And then some of the otherstuff. I don't know if it made
it or not, we were talking aboutspice. And he was like, oh,
yeah, like, I love spice. Like,you know, like, my friends are
really into it. So it's justfunny to see all that and kind
(36:43):
of play out and, you know, arevery, like, aligned with our
plans and kind of our thoughtsand on what Gen Z is. So yeah,
that's fine.
Lauren Highfill Williams (36:54):
I think that was a great addition.
And props to DeMarquine'Houston, our team member for her
idea to include that. We, youknow, sometimes around here we
say, you know, in n equals one,and you're just talking to one
person. So what could thatreally tell you about, you know,
larger trends. But I think likeyou said, in talking to Brendan,
(37:15):
he was just checking all theboxes. So I was glad that we had
his real voice and realperspective and appreciative of
that idea, and your willingnessto volunteer him and also for
him to do it. That's awesome.
Lindsay Stevens (37:31):
Yeah, him and I both went to the biggest high
school in the state. So I don'tknow if it's still the biggest
high school. So I was like, he'sgot to have some different
perspectives to bring to us. SoI'll ask him. But yeah, it was
super fun. Um, so Lauren, wekind of went all over this, and
you've seen a lot of his answersand stuff. Was there anything
that was kind of surprisingabout Gen Z that you didn't
(37:52):
know, coming into this?
Lauren Highfill Williams (37:54):
Oh, that's a good question. I don't,
I don't want to be cocky. But Ithought nothing really surprised
me because I feel like, youknow, especially working with
our partners at Golan, they'vekind of they're great about
keeping us in the loop on newnew generations and what's going
(38:19):
on with with trends and thingsto keep in mind and keep a pulse
on. So I feel like we've beenpaying attention to Gen Z,
definitely in in the backgroundeven for several years. So the
fact that they're coming more tothe forefront, and we have these
specific, you know,characteristics that they
(38:41):
embody. It wasn't particularlysurprising to me, but I do love
the idea of, you know, beingmore inclusive with our
marketing and making sure thatwe're paying attention to those
younger generations and invitingthem to join the table and enjoy
more peanuts and peanut butter,right. Oh, yeah. All right. So
(39:07):
the time has come for our funfact or our trivia question. And
this month, we have a triviaquestion. So Lindsey, I will ask
you, where do you think thatpb&j ranks on the list of
America's favorite sandwiches?
Lindsay Stevens (39:26):
I'm gonna be cocky. I'm gonna say number one.
Lauren Highfill Williams (39:30):
I wish it were number one and probably
if you asked anybody here oranybody listening they would
probably say number one ornumber two, but surprisingly, it
is number nine on this list ofAmerica's favorite sandwiches,
but number one is the grilledcheese sandwich. So I think we
could find like a happy medium.
If we have more people try that.
(39:54):
You know, the pb&j grilled thatI rather my go to any other
industry events they arecranking out those grill pb&j.
So I think we need to get theword out on that one. But yeah,
it's kind of a fun little factto come across.
Lindsay Stevens (40:11):
Together.
Number five.
Lauren Highfill Williams (40:14):
That's pretty good of all the
sandwiches.
Lindsay Stevens (40:17):
Yeah. Number nine.
Lauren Highfill Williams (40:20):
All right. Well, thank you to
everyone for joining us foranother episode of the peanut
podcast. We'll see you on March29 When our new episode comes
out about peanuts and baseballand sports marketing, so thank
you for tuning in.
Lindsay Stevens (40:34):
Yeah, thank you so much for joining us. I can't
wait to see you in March.
Hello, and welcome to the piano Podcast.
I'm Lindsay Stevens.
Lauren Highfill Williams (00:15):
And I'm Lauren Highfill Williams,
Lindsay and I, along with a fewof our other team members have
been on the road lately,attending our state grower and
industry meetings. And it hasbeen so wonderful to see many of
our peanut family members inperson after so long, it's been
great. It's also been excitingthat we've been able to share
(00:36):
some breaking news during thosepresentations and going around
the peanut belt. It's aroundwater usage. So we now know that
it takes just 3.2 gallons ofwater to produce one ounce of
shelled peanuts, and that isdown from 4.7 gallons in 2010.
So sustainability is incrediblyimportant to our industry, we
(00:59):
know that we have a wholeepisode about it. And it's
really a growing priority forour younger consumers too, which
ties really nicely right intoour topic for today.
Lindsay Stevens (01:09):
So speaking of younger consumers, we've talked
about Gen Z in the past,especially in episode four,
which our last episode, and itfocused on like marketing
trends, but today, we're goingto focus solely on Gen Z.
Lauren Highfill Williams (01:22):
Yeah, and while we're doing this
deeper dive on Gen Z in thisepisode, I don't want you to
think that we're completelyleaving Millennials behind. We
started focusing primarily onmillennials and our consumer
marketing several years ago, andthey are still a top audience
for us. So what we're doing withGen Z is more like inviting more
people and new friends to joinus at the table. So bringing the
(01:46):
two generations of Gen Z andmillennials together is a core
goal of our marketing campaignfor this year. So we're going to
talk more about how we'reincorporating Gen Z into our
2022 campaign a little furtheron in episode.
Lindsay Stevens (02:00):
So we thought the best way to tell you all
about Gen Z is by talking to oneour agency partner, Colin, as
well as the Gen Z person, inaddition to that, so for this
episode, I reached out to my 17year old cousin Brendan, so he
could talk to us a little bitabout what he and his friends
like and kind of backup whatwe're saying and show that it is
relevant. And these are all truethings that Gen Z's like so here
(02:23):
is a little bit about Brendan inhis own words.
Brendan Brannock (02:26):
My name is Brandon Brandon, I'm 17 years
old. I'm a senior in highschool, I go to Mill Creek. I'll
be attending the United StatesMilitary Academy at West Point
to be an officer in the army. Iam the team captain of the boys
varsity tennis team. And Ireally enjoy learning about
history and engineering.
Lindsay Stevens (02:46):
Ginny Lewis is the Senior Vice President with
Golin's digital practice.
According to Ginny, she spendsmost of her time keeping up with
what's happening in the digitalspace, helping NPB think about
an approach influencers andhelping from a consumer
perspective to target Gen Z.
Here's Jenny on who Gen Z is.
Ginny Lewis (03:04):
When I think about sort of any age group, I like to
remind myself how old they arebefore I kind of start talking
about them. And I think one ofthe biggest things, if you look
at any generation is there's apretty wide age range, right? So
Gen Z usually spans anywherefrom like 10 years old to 25
(03:26):
ish. Um, so if you think about a10 year old versus a 25 year
old, that's obviously a prettybig range. And there's a lot of
differences in variances withinthat group itself. But
generally, like, when I think ofGen Z, the sort of first things
that come to mind for me are,you know, pretty obvious.
They're obviously pretty extremedigital natives. They grew up
(03:52):
with social media, they grew upconnected to each other
virtually, whereas the othergenerations, I've had to grow
into it. So the way that theyuse it is just very innate to
their everyday lives.
Lindsay Stevens (04:10):
One of the most obvious differences is that
they're digital natives, meaningthey grew up on technology. So
I'm only older and a Gen Z onthe start is 1997. I was born in
98. And Lauren is a millennial.
So Lauren, I want to know howold were you when you got your
first cell phone?
Lauren Highfill Williams (04:27):
I was the ripe old age of being in
high school, I think it was 10thor 11th grade. And my phone was
like about the size of a staplerand it had a hot pink cover that
I loved. And I remember playingthat little game snake on it.
(04:47):
And a single block that was thehighlight of cell phone gaming
at the time. And you know, weuse the cell phone for like
calls occasionally, they wereusually really short, because
you only had a certain number ofminutes. And then you'd never
send a text message because itwas like 50 cents at text
(05:09):
message. But those are mymemories of my first cell phone.
What about you, Lindsay?
Lindsay Stevens (05:15):
So I was young when I got my first cell phone,
and I got mine in middle school.
So it was like, once I started,like going to the mall by myself
and making plans and stuff. Um,so it was an LG Juke, which I
don't know if you remember, itwas like the size of a first
generation iPod Shuffle. And ithad like a tiny little screen on
it, and it would flip like, itwas like flip around, instead of
(05:37):
flip up. So it was it was a goodstarter phone, and I had no idea
where the space key was for ayear. So I just all my texts
were just one word texts. So toput that into kind of context of
how old we were when we got ourphones and what kind of phones
we had, here's Brendon talkingabout his first phone.
Brendan Brannock (05:58):
So you know, I think like, kids my age and like
a year or two older are kind ofthe first ones who who grew up
with like cell phones and mobilephones since like I got I got
I've I've got my first phone Ithink when I was in like third
grade. And that was unheard offor like people my parents age
(06:19):
or, or older siblings, ages andstuff like that. So it's
definitely created a verydifferent social environment for
sure.
Lindsay Stevens (06:28):
So getting your first phone in third grade may
sound crazy. But even if Gen Z'saren't getting their own phone,
they're using their mom anddad's they're on the computer.
They're watching YouTube ontheir parents, iPads like
technology is still presentthere in most cases. Greg Baltz
is an Arkansas board member onthe National Peanut Board. Greg
operates running link farms andgrows runner peanuts, rice,
(06:49):
corn, and soybeans, hear histhoughts on Gen Z and technology
and why they're an importantaudience for the industry to
reach.
Greg Baltz (06:57):
Okay, so just as I'll get comfortable trying to,
to just see how we advertise tomillennials. A bullet thing came
up a couple years ago that Gen Zis going to college. And I I
guess I had never anticipatedthat we thought the millennials
were or, or the up and cominggeneration and they are. But but
(07:21):
now we have a whole newgeneration, different media
tools with different aspects ofcommunication all based off of
that cell phone that we carry inour pocket, it is most important
that we we continue to let themsee who we are as a painted
industry, and also expose themto the products that we can
(07:45):
produce for them. It is a veryversatile product. It's
nutritious, it's it's rich, itmixes well with, with, from
anything from candy to jelly toapples. But it's a great
addition to any other food. Andyeah, that's this tale is Gen
(08:05):
z's.
Lindsay Stevens (08:06):
So moving on from technology, here's Ginny
with more on Gen Z.
Ginny Lewis (08:10):
They're also kind of the most diverse and
accepting generation, which isawesome to see how that plays
out in the world and in culture.
And they really expect more outof brands and companies that
they follow. Whereas in the pastgenerations have just followed
brands and companies that theylike Gen Z will actually take
(08:31):
the time to do research andfigure out you know, does this
brand or does this company sortof align with my ideals and what
I stand for, so that's reallyimportant to them.
Lindsay Stevens (08:46):
Like Ginny said, Gen Z is really looking
for companies to innovate andcreate better products.
According to an article fromBloomberg, Gen Z is estimated to
have $360 billion in disposableincome, which is why more and
more brands have startedmarketing to them. Gen Z are
considered thrifty consumers whohave been shaped by the economic
uncertainty we grew up with. Sofor context, I grew up and
(09:08):
started middle school during thegreat recession. So I can attest
to that. And then I graduatedcollege at the start of the
pandemic. So we've really beenshaped by this. And there's
actually a really good quotefrom the article that I read
from Bloomberg that said,they're kids of the 2008
recession, and now they'regraduate graduates of the COVID
pandemic. And I think that sumsit up pretty well. The same
(09:31):
article by Bloomberg reportedthat they save a third of their
income. All this to say isthey're picky with what they
spend their money on. Here'sBrendan on what he expects out
of brands.
Brendan Brannock (09:41):
So when I look at companies definitely being
you know, like, like before,honest about their work and
genuine about their work.
Especially, like if I buysomething from a company, it
ends up being not what they youknow, like advertised As it's
definitely kind of a veryupsetting and disappointing
(10:03):
moment. So definitely, you know,hard work and honesty and
diligence with with the productsthat they're making.
Lindsay Stevens (10:12):
Something that is particularly important about
Gen Z is that they spend amajority of their money on food,
according to fooddive.com, Gen Zspends 23% of their money on
food, which is more thananything else. Here's Ginny with
more.
Ginny Lewis (10:26):
They also spend, the last thing I'll say about
them, because I know you allhave covered them in other
podcasts, but the last thingabout them is they spend most of
their money on food, which isn'treally surprising, if you
consider most of them are stillliving at home, right, and they
don't have like living expenses,and whatnot, you know,
(10:46):
obviously, some of them are incollege or have just graduated,
but a lot of them have not. Andso food is a really big part of
their lives and where theydecide to spend their money. So
it's important that anything wedo to target them is really
authentic to their group, andthat spans to other generations
(11:08):
as well.
Lindsay Stevens (11:10):
According to Brendan, food isn't just for
eating. It's also socialexperience to him and his
friends.
Brendan Brannock (11:16):
Kids, my especially like, my age, where
we're about to go into collegeand an open world, we're looking
for new things to try and tryingto figure out what we like, as a
person and not just what ourparents forced us to eat and
stuff like that. So wedefinitely like exploring, I
(11:37):
mean, me and my friends will goall over the place where we live
will sometimes drive 30-45minutes just to go to a new
restaurant that we want to try.
And for us, it's it's just fun.
Like it's not because we havesome, like, we just want to hang
out and try new stuff together.
It's just what we want to do.
Lindsay Stevens (11:57):
Like Brendan said, Gen Z values, experiences
and trying new things. Thisquality is one they share with
millennials, the othergeneration NPB targets with
their marketing.
Lauren Highfill Williams (12:07):
As we've mentioned before, NPB is
targeting both Gen Z andmillennials. Like all
generations, they're not exactlyalike. So just a few examples
are that millennials areidealistic, and Gen Z's are
pragmatic. Both generationsturned to shopping online during
the pandemic, but Gen Z's aremore likely to return to in
(12:28):
store shopping. Gen Z focuses onsaving money, and millennials
are more focused on experiences.
Here's Ginny with more on Gen Zand millennials, I have
Ginny Lewis (12:39):
to think the generations have more in common
than they think, especially ifyou think about it, it's really
an age thing. Right? Like, in inmany years, we'll be talking
about Gen Z and how they arebasically dealing with the same
challenges as millennials. But Ithink from an overarching
perspective, some of the thingsthat are a little bit different
between generations are, youknow, millennials really grew up
(13:03):
in this era of perfection andidealism, if you if you think
about Instagram, which to me issort of like a millennial
platform. Obviously, there's alot of fancy on Instagram, but
you just you see, like traveland experiences and this perfect
sort of version of yourself,right? Like you were asked, you
(13:25):
weren't asked you were itbenefited you to, to show up
online as you wanted to appearto others, right? Where as Gen Z
is all about real and raw andsort of the opposite of
perfection. And that sort of hasbeen very apparent with a
platform like Tic tock right,where you are your real self you
(13:48):
don't it's not about photo, it'sabout, you know, bringing humor
and bringing levity and talkingabout issues and you know, it's
in the clothes that they wearand the things that they do, you
know, less makeup less, lessperfection, which, to me is fun,
because that gives brands andcompanies the opportunity to not
(14:10):
be so proud to be so perfect,right?
Lauren Highfill Williams (14:13):
While these two generations take pride
in being different from oneanother, they may be more alike
than they care to admit.
Ginny Lewis (14:19):
In terms of similarities. I mentioned it a
little bit, but I think they'reboth looking for brands and
companies that sort of stand forthe things that they stand for.
Probably more vocal in the Gen Zworld, but Millennials too. And
I think they're also looking forjust better food options in
(14:41):
terms of healthier, moresustainable, more plant based
more variety, more interestingthings. And I think obviously
peanuts and peanut butter iskind of the perfect intersection
of all of those things for bothgenerations. In
Lauren Highfill Williams (15:01):
A perfect cross section for these
two generations is what we'refocusing on for our 2022
campaign, their love for peanutbutter. In 2020. Alone, almost
300 million Americans consumedpeanut butter. Ginny has more on
what the beloved householdstaple means to each generation.
Ginny Lewis (15:20):
Yeah, I think peanut butter across like both
Gen Z and millennials isobviously a very beloved food
item, I think there's hugeconversation about peanut butter
across both, I think probablyslightly more with millennials.
And when we look at that peanutbutter conversation, it's mainly
(15:44):
about sort of weird combos withpeanut butter and sort of the
best ways people think to eatit, which really makes sense if
you think about what Tiktok hasdone to food. So the top recipes
that have gone viral over thepast year kind of fall into one
of those categories, they'reeither like super weird, right
(16:07):
like that mustard, watermelonfun, or there might be like a
new way of eating or learning todo something like the baked feta
pasta, which went viral was justa really easy way to cook pasta,
like a cheesy pasta version,right. But either way, you kind
of see those two categoriesreally rising to the top for
(16:27):
them. So it's either superweird, interesting combos, or
it's like a new easy way ofdoing something. And that's
really, those are sort of thetwo main topics that peanut
butter really comes to the toparound. So we see like weird
combos with peanut butter. Wealso see like, easy ways to use
it in recipes, or easy ways toor interesting ways to use the
(16:50):
jar etc. So I think between bothgenerations, those are big
overall, millennials probablytalk about it more, and they
have a little bit more of anostalgic association with it.
And when they think about peanutbutter from their childhood,
whereas Gen Z doesn'tnecessarily have that nostalgia.
(17:13):
But what they do have is reallyan opportunity to show them the
unique ways to use peanut butterin their food. So do different
varieties, different types offood, different recipes,
culturally from around the worldare big with this generation.
(17:35):
And we know that peanuts are ahuge ingredient in those. So
it's a really good opportunityfor us to sort of show them the
value of peanuts and peanutbutter and continue to reiterate
that for this new generationthat already loves the food, but
may have that nostalgia that issuch a driver for millennials.
Lauren Highfill Williams (18:02):
So in 2022, we're using peanut butter
as a bridge to discover what GenZ and Millennials love about
each other's worlds. Ourcampaign Peanut Better Together
is all about connecting the twogenerations through their mutual
love of peanut butter. Ginny hasmore.
Ginny Lewis (18:18):
Yeah, so Peanut Better Together is basically our
year long campaign, which we'revery excited to get kicked off
here shortly. It's all aboutturning Gen wars into Gen love.
So I don't know if you all sawthis online, but there's tons of
(18:40):
conversation all about thegenerational wars. And it
started really with Gen Z andBoomers, right? Because that is
a very different mindset. Theyboth have very different
mindsets and how they wereraised, how they expect things
to be. And so there was a littlebit of banter back and forth
(19:02):
around those two generations.
And that really also kind ofthen forayed into this Gen
Z/Millennial, much morelighthearted, banter around the
differences. So it's thingslike, you know, millennials have
side parts and skinny jeans, youknow, whereas Gen Z, middle
(19:25):
parts and mom jeans, so verykind of silly, just top level
stuff. But there was a lot ofkind of cultural conversation
around that. And we were lookingat it and thinking, hey, in
fact, these two generations havea lot in common and specifically
(19:46):
from a food standpoint, peanutbutter, as I mentioned is
something that they both loveand that they both care about.
And so how do we kind of bringthese generations together? With
this perfect food for them, it'sreally, you know, unassuming,
it's delicious. It's got a greatnutrition and sustainability
(20:06):
story to tell. And bothgenerations can kind of get
around this. So you know, butteris really going to be our bridge
to help Gen Z, Millennials sortof rediscover each other in a
fun way. And the way that we arebringing this peanut better
together. campaign to life isthrough three really fun
(20:32):
activations. The first one,which will have just launched,
by the time that this podcastcomes out, it's all around
spice. So we've talked aboutkind of the changing food
landscape. And spice is a hugetrend, I don't even want to call
(20:53):
it a trend, because it'sbasically beyond that it's
everywhere. But youngergenerations absolutely love
spice. And they love exploringdifferent spice and challenging
themselves with spice. And sothe first activation we're going
to do is kind of introducingpeanut butter as the perfect
(21:13):
spice antidote. As we know,instead of potentially drinking
like milk, peanut butter couldbe a great way to kind of cut
spice in foods and recipes andso on. So we're gonna have a
really fun tick tock influencercampaign launching, where we're
(21:37):
gonna encourage five Gen Z andMillennial influencers to take
the peanut butter spicechallenge. And then we're gonna
promote those. And then we'realso going to be creating a
really fun sort of spice kitsthat we're going to be sending
to media influencers to showthem, or basically to encourage
them also to explore what peanutbutter and spice can kind of do
(22:00):
together and get some reallygood buzz that way,
Lauren Highfill Williams (22:07):
Greg Baltz has been on the board
since we started targetingmillennials. Here's how he
explains our marketing to othergrowers,
Greg Baltz (22:14):
Like we do have to talk to other growers about it
because because like they see itthe way or saw the advertising
doesn't particularly appeal to amiddle aged grower out in the
country. But it does. It doesneed to hit a new generation a
(22:35):
new audience, and, and NationalPeanut board, we represent the
growers throughout the country.
And they they pay a verysignificant setup fee to fund
the National Peanut board. So wehave to be very judicious in how
we spend money. Early on, Irealized that we can't spend
(22:57):
money the way a few other nutsycommodity scans. So So
traditional media didn't fit notto the level that we needed to
impact the market. So the switchand designed to go with digital
with internet based advertisingwith influencers and such, it's,
(23:17):
it's all new. But But as I'vecome to see, it's all exciting.
And it seems to be veryeffective. We see positive
results from what NationalPeanut Board is doing to promote
peanut butter to thisgeneration, and to the next and
the next step for that. So, sothat's exciting. I think I've
(23:39):
had to come around I hope mostpeople have as well. And as long
as we keep track of how it's howit's performing. I think we have
a great new tool that that maybenever dreamed of.
Lauren Highfill Williams (23:55):
If you're listening as a farmer,
you know the importance andvalue of taking thoughtful risks
when it comes to youroperations. And the same is true
with peanut marketing. Here'sGreg's perspective.
Greg Baltz (24:07):
Yeah, we asked, we asked National Peanut Board in
the marketing program to see ifI can take some new risks in
promoting our products. Butthat's also what we as farmers
do every day. Farming,unfortunately, is not a massive
windfall in every year, someyears are more challenging than
(24:28):
others. So so we have to becareful with our risks. But, but
even these things that beingsaid, we have to take risks. The
only way we can survive is tostep out and take a risk.
I can just think back to anaspect early on 20 years ago
before hardly anybody in theindustry knew much about the
(24:50):
technology starting to become avital I didn't either. And I
just said you know with mybackground with my love for
electronics and computersI wanted to tackle this so, so
we were, we were in thebeginning of field monitors, one
of the first things everdeveloped auto steer, we, we
bought the first auto steertractor in the county, we moved
(25:13):
on just stayed with thetechnology that was available on
on farm equipment and tried tostay on top of it. So now, it's
not just about technology in thetractor, it's it's apps on our
phone, it's its resources forfinancial analysis, as well as
(25:34):
your analysis and everythingelse. And soil samples can go
into a digitalplatform and actually
prescription for an applicationand display so. So we didn't
start early with taking risks ontechnology, there's no way we
could come up to speed on what'savailable. So we don't have to
(25:55):
go to someone else to teach usthat technology. We just have to
build on what we've alreadylearned in technology. And we're
right there ready for the next,the next tool to come down the
pipeline and fall in place so wecan take advantage of it. And
I've seen both financialbenefits and just pure knowledge
(26:17):
benefits from knowing. field byfield farm by farm exactly each
crop and each field are knowingour profitability knowing our
costs and our income alphabet.
Never could have gotten here whowouldn't have taken this
business.
Lindsay Stevens (26:45):
Taking risks and changing market strategies
to reach new groups is somethingthat a growing number of brands
are doing. For example,StateFarm made headlines in
January for deciding to turn toTik Tock instead of running an
ad during the big football game.
And while other companieshaven't fully given up their big
time ad space, they have startedweaving Tic Tock into their
campaigns. They do this bybuying video ads and working
(27:06):
with influencers within thepeanut industry. Jif partnered
with rapper ludicrous to launchthe little Jif project campaign.
Jif released a series of TV anddigital ads social media
activations on platforms likeTikTock and an original song by a
rapper named Gunna. One of themore popular activations played
off the comment that somerobbers sound like they're
(27:27):
rapping with a spoonful ofpeanut butter in their mouth and
they created a viral trend whereusers literally mumbled wrapped
with a spoonful of peanut butterin their mouth. Another peanut
brand that's pivoting to includeGen Z is Hampton Farms. Jeanne
Cashman is the Director of BrandMarketing and innovation for
Hampton Farms. Here's what shesays they've done in our doing
to target Gen Z,
Jeanne Cashman (27:49):
Some of the programs that we're working on
that would appeal to them. Onethat will be our second year,
but is a national parkscampaign. So it involves a lot
around camping, how you canincorporate peanuts into that.
It's a lot of gaming, as well.
So it's called play for peanuts.
(28:12):
So there'll be a sweepstakes andthen giveaways of fun camping
games and activities. And as faras COVID, and the national parks
and attendance there, it's justreally spiked during that time
period anyway, so we find thatthe younger part of the Gen Z, I
(28:32):
mean, they're there with theirparents, but the older part of
the Gen Z, you know, college andjust out of college, like
they're really into hiking andcamping, and it kind of appeals
to everyone. So campers, in acamper or in a tent or
backpackers. So you really needthat hydration, the water and
(28:52):
the salty snacks and you hit thetrail. And so that's kind of
what we're going after with thiscampaign. We think that's a real
fun one just as far as lifestyleand fitting in with where COVID
is kind of directed us to be,which is more outdoors. So we're
kind of enjoying that program.
So that's one for sure. Someothers that we're kind of
(29:14):
hitting hitting on with theyounger demographic is
Spikeball. So I think we're inour second year was Spikeball.
So that's just a fun, like 24years and younger, you know,
outside there's lots of theyhave all these games and
sponsorships, the kids, youknow, they're outside athletic
(29:38):
and the son having fun at thesedifferent tournaments. And so we
go to those differenttournaments. It's very outdoors
like at the beach, but it fitsin really well with camping as
well. So that's been a lot offun to get involved with that
demographic.
Lindsay Stevens (29:55):
Although it's different Jeanne is enjoying the
challenges of working into Gen Z
Jeanne Cashman (30:00):
It's kind of fun, how it's evolving. And
just, I guess my daughter's atthat age to where she's, you
know, always on tick tock andtelling you different things. So
I think I just, it's fun for me,because I think I just have to
be more aware and think outsidethe box and listen to ideas that
come from all over the place,you know, now they can come from
(30:20):
anywhere, right. And then Ithink, probably the most
challenging for me is I need tochange my mindset from, you
know, the tried and true waysthat we've done brand marketing
for so long, and just realizethat it needs to feel less
sponsored and more trulyauthentic, right. And know that,
you know, this age group caresmore about like, causes and
(30:46):
cause based marketing, and theydo love food, which is great for
us. And they like an authentictrue story, which I think I've
already mentioned, I think isreally strong. For us. That's a
good thing. I think I just needto continue to learn how to
market to them in a way that iscompelling and interesting, you
know, because we do have inShell peanuts, which do skew
(31:08):
much older and then trying toappeal to, you know, the younger
generation, but I think there'ssomething sweet in that, right?
Like remembering going to abaseball game with your
grandfather and eating peanutsand like your parents or aunt or
uncle or whatever sharing thatexperience with you and your
younger like this, you know. SoI think there's something fun
(31:32):
about the marketing, but I stilldo the some of the Mainstays I
don't put everything obviouslyinto tick tock and Instagram or
you still have to do some of thetried and true brand marketing
tactics. I feel like but I thinkthis is the future, right? And
definitely, Gen Z's are thefuture. So we have to learn how
to talk to them.
Lindsay Stevens (31:52):
Hampton Garms also appeals to Gen Z's tastes
with new flavors and productinnovations.
Jeanne Cashman (31:58):
Yes, we do have a variety of flavors, we do some
flavors in the shell. So we havea Cajun in the show, and a hatch
chili inside the shell. So thereBrian inside the shell. So
that's, that's fun. But then wealso have a lot of flavors, you
know, outside of the shell too.
And we're working right now withlike peanut flour, and trying to
create more recipes, you know,around protein balls and shakes
(32:22):
and those sorts of things. Sothat's, and then we have some
other innovation that we'reworking on. So yeah, hopefully,
over the next year or so. Butyou know, it is fun to keep it
exciting. I mean, people do likethe flavors, and especially that
age group, like the spicier, youknow, fun things. So I do think
(32:43):
that the innovation is importantfor to keep it kind of new and
exciting.
Lindsay Stevens (32:53):
Marketing to Gen Z can be fun, and it gives
marketers an opportunity to getcreative and try new things. But
it's important to maintain areal authentic brand image and
campaign, here's Ginny fromGolin
Ginny Lewis (33:05):
The one thing that I would sort of take away or
think about as sort of a goldstar is if it feels forced,
don't do it. Um, all of theactivations that we come up with
for National Peanut Board arereally based on real human
truths, either about peanutbutter, or about things that
(33:27):
people are doing or trying,right, that we can kind of
naturally insert ourselves into.
So if you think about spice, um,that's something people are
already doing spice challenges,they're already making their
food spicy, or they're alreadyexploring recipes from different
countries that are spicy innature. And we know that
sometimes things are too spicy,and they go to find ways to
(33:51):
mitigate that and so peanutbutter is a really nice story,
it's a new use for something youmay not have known, right? It's
we're not creating somethingfrom scratch, we're playing into
something that exists and thatfeels really authentic for us to
do um, it's when you start kindof trying to force things and
(34:14):
trying to create things fromnothing that Gen Z in particular
can sort of call BS and knowthat it's doesn't feel right to
them and they will call you outon it. So I think just being
authentic and not forcing thingsthat don't feel right
Lindsay Stevens (34:38):
Our Gen Z perspective, Brendan emphasized
the point of wanting brands oronline influencers to be real or
authentic while talking aboutsocial media ads.
Brendan Brannock (34:47):
Some of my idols like um, you know, like
Roger Federer, who's a big timetennis player, like the reason
that that I follow him so muchis because he has genuine talent
with tennis or like ask actors,you know, they have they have
genuine talent with their actingabilities and stuff like that.
Well, you know, yeah, it's it'scool to like, look at someone
(35:08):
and think, oh yeah, they lookreally good. But if that's all
they have, then it's there's noretention to their fanbase in my
opinion, and it ends up doingmore more harm than, than good
on the community, especiallykids my age because we're,
again, that's what we're goingup with. And we're so
susceptible to that type ofstuff.
Lindsay Stevens (35:28):
Like Brendon said, at the end of the day, Gen
Z is looking for somethingauthentic and real. Whether
that's through advertising yourexperiences, the way to Gen Z's
heart is through showing yourbrand is authentic, and can
offer something new, and addvalue to their lives.
Lauren Highfill Williams (35:44):
So Lindsay, I know this is a
particularly fun episode foryou, since you got to talk to
your cousin Brendan, I'm curiouswhat that was like for you if
there were any surprises? Orwhat kind of learnings you came
away with from that?
Lindsay Stevens (36:01):
Yeah, so um, Brendan, it was funny, he was
talking about all the differentthings that him and his friends
do. And it was like, all theresearch beforehand was a
checklist. And we were justchecking off. Like, it was like,
I was checking off the thingshim and his friends do. Like, it
was very funny how he and allhis little buddies are all very
(36:23):
like Gen Z with the stuff theydo their interests. He's like,
Yeah, we just like to go out toeat and like, we're really Asian
food right now. And I was like,Oh my gosh, that's really funny.
And then some of the otherstuff. I don't know if it made
it or not, we were talking aboutspice. And he was like, oh,
yeah, like, I love spice. Like,you know, like, my friends are
really into it. So it's justfunny to see all that and kind
(36:43):
of play out and, you know, arevery, like, aligned with our
plans and kind of our thoughtsand on what Gen Z is. So yeah,
that's fine.
Lauren Highfill Williams (36:54):
I think that was a great addition.
And props to DeMarquine'Houston, our team member for her
idea to include that. We, youknow, sometimes around here we
say, you know, in n equals one,and you're just talking to one
person. So what could thatreally tell you about, you know,
larger trends. But I think likeyou said, in talking to Brendan,
(37:15):
he was just checking all theboxes. So I was glad that we had
his real voice and realperspective and appreciative of
that idea, and your willingnessto volunteer him and also for
him to do it. That's awesome.
Lindsay Stevens (37:31):
Yeah, him and I both went to the biggest high
school in the state. So I don'tknow if it's still the biggest
high school. So I was like, he'sgot to have some different
perspectives to bring to us. SoI'll ask him. But yeah, it was
super fun. Um, so Lauren, wekind of went all over this, and
you've seen a lot of his answersand stuff. Was there anything
that was kind of surprisingabout Gen Z that you didn't
(37:52):
know, coming into this?
Lauren Highfill Williams (37:54):
Oh, that's a good question. I don't,
I don't want to be cocky. But Ithought nothing really surprised
me because I feel like, youknow, especially working with
our partners at Golan, they'vekind of they're great about
keeping us in the loop on newnew generations and what's going
(38:19):
on with with trends and thingsto keep in mind and keep a pulse
on. So I feel like we've beenpaying attention to Gen Z,
definitely in in the backgroundeven for several years. So the
fact that they're coming more tothe forefront, and we have these
specific, you know,characteristics that they
(38:41):
embody. It wasn't particularlysurprising to me, but I do love
the idea of, you know, beingmore inclusive with our
marketing and making sure thatwe're paying attention to those
younger generations and invitingthem to join the table and enjoy
more peanuts and peanut butter,right. Oh, yeah. All right. So
(39:07):
the time has come for our funfact or our trivia question. And
this month, we have a triviaquestion. So Lindsey, I will ask
you, where do you think thatpb&j ranks on the list of
America's favorite sandwiches?
Lindsay Stevens (39:26):
I'm gonna be cocky. I'm gonna say number one.
Lauren Highfill Williams (39:30):
I wish it were number one and probably
if you asked anybody here oranybody listening they would
probably say number one ornumber two, but surprisingly, it
is number nine on this list ofAmerica's favorite sandwiches,
but number one is the grilledcheese sandwich. So I think we
could find like a happy medium.
If we have more people try that.
(39:54):
You know, the pb&j grilled thatI rather my go to any other
industry events they arecranking out those grill pb&j.
So I think we need to get theword out on that one. But yeah,
it's kind of a fun little factto come across.
Lindsay Stevens (40:11):
Together.
Number five.
Lauren Highfill Williams (40:14):
That's pretty good of all the
sandwiches.
Lindsay Stevens (40:17):
Yeah. Number nine.
Lauren Highfill Williams (40:20):
All right. Well, thank you to
everyone for joining us foranother episode of the peanut
podcast. We'll see you on March29 When our new episode comes
out about peanuts and baseballand sports marketing, so thank
you for tuning in.
Lindsay Stevens (40:34):
Yeah, thank you so much for joining us. I can't
wait to see you in March.
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