How do we put all this into a usable strategy for edible oils and fats?
The first thing is not really about what to do, but finding out what not to do. Many people ask me questions like: ‘With all these channels these days, what is the best one to focus on?’ My answer is: ‘It’s the wrong question to ask. It assumes that there is one best one when there quite probably isn’t. It’s far more likely that there is a whole bunch of best ones.’
My suggestion would be not to put all your eggs in one basket. It’s a pluralistic world, so you’ll probably want to try several approaches, and simultaneously at that. Obviously you won’t want to dilute your brain-power, time and cash on too many channels either. For many organisations, that probably would mean three to six channels at a time. If you choose just one, the chances of choosing the right one are very low indeed.
There are exceptions to that rule. Top marketing blogger Seth Godin chooses to only blog and not use anything else, not even Twitter, let alone television and radio. But that works for him because he has found that one special formula which keeps on giving him the results he wants.
By contrast, the oils and fats industry’s marketing and branding hasn’t evolved the same way at all. So I’d say we are at a stage where quite a bit of experimentation is needed, and several channels need to be tried out. And if you can figure out a story-line where James Bond loves food fried in palm oil, then all the better!
Dr Ian Halsall
Author & Researcher
