Amy Bond, Assistant Librarian and Information Specialist, Bord Bia – The Irish Food Board

Food seems to have a ubiquitous presence across all digital platforms and, as Stylus reports, even within the past 18 months there has been a huge rise in food content online. Tasty now average 22 million views on their trademark overhead cookery videos, and recent research from Unilever found that 30% of US millennials post ‘food porn’ images on social media at least once a day. This instinct to share fits in with Bord Bia’s Shared Experiences consumer lifestyle trend, and naturally brands have been quick to try gain leverage from this behaviour, as can be seen with Starbucks limited release of their Instagram ready Unicorn Frappuccino, which garnered 150,000 uses of #UnicornFrapuccino over five days.

However, to really gain value from your brands digital presence it is important to understand the varied digital journeys of consumers in how they interact with food, and how their different levels of engagement create different opportunities. Recent research from Spark into Irish consumers’ use of online channels to inform food decisions identified three distinct groups of users.

• Serious Searchers: This group has high engagement and high action. Their searching will usually lead to follow through on recipes and advice

• Digital Dippers: This group has medium engagement and low action. Mainly due to time pressure they can’t engage as much as they might like, but will make that extra bit of effort for special occasions

• Pillow Talkers: This group, while highly engaged, are low on action. They are the most image conscious and most likely to share content but, as their name suggests, they can be all talk and no action

There are still some similarities across these groups. Video is definitely the preferred medium. In terms of the type of information they are looking for, 95% of the time it is recipes. Sometimes they will seek advice on cooking skills, rarely will they be trying to source products. For every group the first point of entry is usually Google, followed by specific websites, and then Facebook. YouTube is also used but often accessed from other platforms. Other channels play a smaller role.

It is clear that there are opportunities for brands to engage with consumers in a digital environment, but first you need a clear idea of what your objectives are. Do you want shares or follow through? Once you have decided this you can identify the consumer segment that holds the most potential and what are the best ways to reach them.

For more information contact amy.bond@bordbia.ie