Category: Trends

A little over one week into 2020 and it is already the year of plant-based. Last weekend, everything about the Golden Globes was in fashion. Including a high-end plant-based meal served to 1,300 very high profile guests. The meal was made up of golden beet soup, king oyster mushroom scallops, mushroom risotto, and a roasted vegetable mix.  

The leadership of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said they found the “climate crisis impossible to ignore.” They were challenged to do better and decided to serve an entirely plant-based meal. They also served water in glass bottles with paper straws to eliminate waste from single-use plastic. 

2020 is the first year any award show like the Golden Globes went completely plant-based. So why does the plant-based movement seem to have so much more traction than the other diets that come and go? We know the connection to a larger mission is part of this long-lasting movement. 

A plant-based diet is not just good for our health, but it’s also good for the environment. Consumers are seeing the effects of climate change around them every day – wildfires, violent hurricanes, and rising sea levels all have struck a chord. Not even the uber-rich celebrities at the Golden Globes can buy themselves out of climate change, but they, and we, can support brands that are doing their part to slow it down.

The success of the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat are examples of plant-based brands that are talking about their mission to connect with consumers. Our digital research platform, I-Factor® was created to give smaller brands big data and insights at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time or traditional research. The platform lets brands talk directly to consumers and delivers quantifiable data and insights that unlock the consumer subconscious to uncover the whys behind the buy. Impossible Foods has an I-Factor score of 43, and we have to believe that the fact that Impossible Burgers requires 96 percent less land, 87 percent less water, and 89 percent fewer emissions than the traditional burger must have something to do with it. 

But meat alternatives aren’t the only category where the plant-based trend is seeing success. Consumers are eating Explore Cuisine, a plant-based and protein-packed pasta, using Sproud, a Vegan Pea Milk, in their coffee and are about to be introduced to Else Nutrition, plant-based toddler formula that is on a mission to change the way we feed our children. Even indulgent ice cream brands like Jeni’s and VanLeeuwen now offer milk-free vegan ice cream. These brands I-Factor scores of 40 and 45 respectively show their shift to include some dairy-free flavors is creating strong connections with consumers. 

Are you looking for a way to help your brand stand out?  That’s where I-Factor comes in. Let’s talk.

Why do I love the small and start-up brands?

Yes, they are challenged in some ways: Smaller (sometimes nonexistent) budgets, a smaller team that is stretched in a million directions, way more competition, the challenges at retail, the list goes on.

The pressure to succeed quickly is enormous and, every day that they don’t brings them one day closer to running out of money or disappointing investors. Talk about a pressure cooker.

But that’s also the beauty of small brands. They don’t have the time or the money to spend months or years figuring out how to go to market. They don’t feel the need to test everything they do into mediocrity. They don’t have millions of dollars to spend on research insights and media.

But what they do have is the incredible fire of an entrepreneur. The willingness to trust their gut.
The passion to take risks and make a difference. They are exciting and scary. Who wouldn’t want to work with a brand like that?

My passion for helping small brands grow inspired me to find ways to help them get the kinds of data and insights big brands have access to in order to make better decisions around positioning, messaging, creative and media.

That’s why we created I-Factor.

I-Factor is a game-changer. It’s fast, it’s affordable and you don’t need a masters degree to understand it. It’s a tool that gives small brands the data, insights and real-time social listening that until now only big brands had access to.

The I-Factor digital platform talks directly to consumers who are interested in your type of brand and delivers quantifiable data and insights that unlock the consumer subconscious to uncover the why behind the buy. It literally inspires confidence and excitement among brand leadership, investors and retailers by quantifying brand potential.

So let the big brands stick to the old, slow, trusted methods. They can wait around for insights that are already irrelevant by the time they get them. I-Factor is the tool for brands that know they can get the data and insights they need in a more modern way.

Are you ready to take your brand to the next level? Looking for research to help you figure out how to get there? You’ve come to the right place. Let’s talk.



In a world where everything I eat and use around my house is becoming more and more natural and plant-based, I started to wonder if my skincare products were moving in the same direction. When I looked into the brands that immediately come to mind, Neutrogena, Clean & Clear, and Aveeno, I surprisingly found that they were not very natural at all. While they all list the ingredients for products on their website, most of them are words like Cocamidopropyl, Hydroxysultaine or Cellulose, not quite the list natural ingredients I am used to seeing in products I typically use. But while I was exploring skincare, I came across an old brand I recognized, Kiss My Face, that was (and always has been) talking about their natural message.

Kiss My Face launched way back in the 1980s with a big green olive bar of soap from Greece. They combined natural and organic ingredients to create effective body and personal care products in a healthy and sustainable way. They were definitely a brand ahead of its time.

I decided to check the I-Factor® Score of Kiss My Face and found it was a very respectable 40. That is a score we usually see for either smaller, newer brands or brands that are spending A LOT of money promoting. For example, Puracy Organics, which started only 6 years ago and promotes its natural, safe, and effective products has a score of 39. But Kiss My Face has been around for more than 35 years and has shown a commitment to not only natural products but also working with supply partners who share consistent values and continually striving to reduce their footprint.

Brands like Neutrogena, Clean & Clear, and Aveeno, on the other hand, are behaving like legacy brands and their Irresistibility scores reflect that. Our quantitative tool, I-Factor® measures a brand’s Irresistibility to consumers and tells us these products are struggling to connect. Scores of 30, 34, and 32 show that these brands are having a hard time remaining relevant with the health-conscious consumer.

Kiss My Face has been doing this since before it was cool to be aware of social responsibility and what is good for the environment, and it is paying off now. The health-conscious consumer knows when a brand’s commitment to health goes beyond what’s in their products and can feel the authenticity. Now if they can seize the opportunity to really get connected in a deeper way to Millennials and Gen-Z (I-Factor® can help), they could become a real leader in the beauty movement toward natural. Proving that every once in a while, a “legacy” brand has a chance against the constant onslaught of new competitors.

Do you need help getting your brand on the road to building a connection with consumers like Kiss Your Face? With I-Factor, you get the most compelling data and insights to connect with the most on-target audience. We talk directly to these consumers to quickly and inexpensively deliver quantifiable data and insights that unlock the consumer subconscious to find the why behind the buy. Sound like what your brand needs? Let’s talk.


With WeWorks recent failed almost IPO, there’s been a lot of talk about the type of office space that actually works for employers and more importantly, employees.

Coincidentally, my agency just moved into our brand new office space, built exactly for the kind of work we do and as an expression of our mission. At Sawtooth, we like to say we whip brands into shape by helping them deeply connect with the health-conscious consumer. So it only makes sense that we not only understand that consumer, but we are that consumer. So beyond collaborative spaces for brainstorming, we have a beautiful kitchen for content shoots and healthy food prep, a gym for a quick workout to get the creative juices pumping, and balconies to take a break and enjoy the fresh air and a view of the river. Because we know all of that really matters.

There’s a growing belief that all you need to work these days is a laptop and Wifi (hence the fast growth of often dark and crowded co-working spaces, but I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that since we moved into space designed to promote wellness my team not only feels better, but the work is better than it was in our dark, dreary, disconnected temp space. When people ask me if it was worth the long 2-year wait? Will it actually help your company grow? I answer with a resounding YES!

Research shows happiness can increase productivity as much as 12%. The better designed the office space is, both aesthetically and functionally, the more time employees will want to spend there and the more productive they will be while they are there. Because they actually feel good, especially here where they can work and have quick access to the fresh air on our deck or catch a glimpse of a sunset over the river.

These aren’t merely my observations, 87 percent of workers would like their current employer to offer healthier workplace benefits. Research by the World Green Building Council recorded an 11 percent increase in productivity as a result of increased fresh air and a reduction in pollutants to people’s workplaces. And, a study by the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell showed that employees seated within 10 feet of a window reported an 84 percent decrease in eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision symptoms. If that weren’t enough, employees who lead an active lifestyle are likely to be more productive. Exercise increases the blood flow to the brain and can sharpen their concentration and decision-making skills.

A lot of these perks, especially the gym and kitchen, are mostly reserved for big companies, but because we believe in living in values of health and wellness so strongly, everyone at Sawtooth sits within 5 feet of a window, 20 feet of a balcony, and 30 feet of our in-office gym where we will host yoga classes and guest fitness trainers and are seriously contemplating the Peloton Tread.

There are a lot of lessons for brands here on how living your mission and providing for your employees will help promote employee engagement and ultimately make the brand stronger. We already have had long visits from reporters, community members, friends and clients. That translates to more visibility, longer conversations, deeper connections and ultimately growth on every level.

Do you want to spend some time in an awesome place talking about getting your brand stronger? Come for a visit.



Peloton’s IPO opened down 7 percent and closed 11 percent below their $29 IPO price, making it the third-worst performance for an IPO that raised more than $1 billion since the financial crisis. All of that being said, I still have tremendous faith because this brand is truly awesome. I have a theory about why they made what many are calling a clumsy entrance onto the public market and what they can do to power through it. And my theory applies to all of the brands who are getting ahead of themselves as they raise capital, but not profit or brand equity. So WeWork and Uber, this is for you too.

I believe the thing that’s going to protect them from all of the other companies that are coming for them is the story they are not telling.

I don’t believe Peloton was ready to go public. The brand had a ton of good press, much about creating a category (like UBER), but also a ton of bad press about customer service, the mistakes they made with music rights and how that affected their loyal customer base.

Just recently, Nordic Track, a well-known brand of high-quality home fitness equipment, released an iFit technology platform and its Global Workouts. This includes live classes you can do on-demand, and “traveling” workouts that take you on a virtual journey to exotic locations. It even offers the option of letting the class and the instructor remotely control your settings, adjusting the incline, decline, and speed or resistance automatically. The bad news for Peloton, they’re about half the price.

And Nordic Track is not the only one. There are a bunch of other lower-cost brands out there making it easier to work out in your home with “live classes” like Mirror, which looks like a normal mirror, but it streams a broad range of live and on-demand fitness classes. Even SoulCycle, famous for bringing spin to the masses and having a very passionate following, is launching an at-home bike with digital classes.

So back to the story they are not telling. I can’t help but wonder if they’re talking about the equipment (which is great, but there is other great equipment) is missing the real connection point. I love Peloton because of the instructors and the community. I convinced 4 friends to buy bikes and one to buy a tread. Maybe getting stronger means tapping into what really matters to the people that love them and not only love to advocate for them but can’t seem to help themselves. Personally, I might buy a product from “a technology company that meshes the physical and digital worlds to create a completely new, immersive, and connected fitness experience”, but I’m not buying in. And there is a big distinction.

The best part of Peloton is the instructors that push you and empower you all from the tablet screen in your house. The ones I’d never get access to at a local gym. I always start my Mondays with Robin Arzon because she makes me feel like a badass and like I can do anything. And I need to go into my week like that. That’s a strong connection and a compelling promise.

And the other people at my office who have bikes come in every day quoting their favorite instructors and talking about their favorite classes. Tapping into that passion is critical for the long-term value of any brand.

The marketing team at Peloton (and Uber and WeWork) might not agree, but the great news is, this passion is quantifiable. Our I-Factor® platform can uncover and quantify the most compelling data and insights to deeply connect brands with their audience in as little as 4 weeks. And turn fickle consumers into long-term advocates.

Peloton, I really do love you. And want you to be around for a long long time. Let’s talk.

What does being fit have to do with brands? Everything. 

For as long as brands have existed, marketers have been looking for ways to evaluate their growth, their trajectory, their strength and ultimately their longevity.

It occurred to me one day while I was using my Peloton that building strong, fit brands, is actually very similar to building strong, fit humans.

When you think about it that way, it suddenly seems so much easier and more intuitive.

All of the mantras (see some of my favorites below) that keep me pushing myself to be better every day also make perfect sense for building brands.

I’ll break it down:

• No challenge, no change. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. No brand should accept that.
• Consistency is key. Brands need to find a positioning, a message, and a strategy that works and STICK WITH IT. Consumers don’t want brands to feel like something different every day. They want to know and build relationships.
• Start before you’re ready. Nothing is perfect. Get to 80% and then GO.
• There are no shortcuts. Stop worrying about going “viral” and get smarter. I can count the number of times something going viral has created long-term growth on one hand.
• It’s not supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be worth it. Brands are not built and maintained without hard work. But when you put the time in and see the results, it’s always worth it.
• What gets measured gets results. You can and should watch how everything you are doing is working and constantly optimize on it. When you stop paying attention, things start going in the wrong direction. Ask anyone who’s been on a diet.
• It doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger. You will develop muscles that will help you get where you’re going faster if you practice, practice, practice.
• Remembering your “why” will get you to the finish line. Make it about more than money or personal success. It makes the hard work feel less like work.

Building a strong brand, especially to the health-conscious consumer means taking a hard, honest look at where you are right now and setting short and long term goals to help you get where you want to be. And just like any person trying to be their best self, every brand needs a fitness program to help them reach a peak state along with a fiery passion and intense discipline to get them there.

Ready to get a real assessment of how fit your brand is? And to build some brand muscles? In the words of my favorite Peloton instructor, Robin Arzon. “Head down. Do the work!” Let’s get started.

The plant-based revolution is spreading! We’ve been reading and writing a lot about plant-based food and meat. From plant-based milk to plant-based cheeseburgers, the health-conscious consumer has a lot of alternatives to traditional animal-based products when it comes to food. And now the plant-based craze is starting to bleed over into other products, like plant-based laundry detergent, cleaning products and “paper” plates. But our quantitative tool for measuring a brand’s Irresistibility to consumers tells us these products seem to be struggling to connect.

The question is why? And we suspect we know the answer. While the plant-based food companies have always been focused on the health-conscious consumer, some of the more mainstream brands that are just now making the move into plant-based products have never targeted this group before.

Let’s take a look at one of the most mainstream brands of all, Tide. Tide’s plant-based product is Tide purclean. It is 75% USDA certified plant-based detergent, but still has the “cleaning power of Tide”. It is made with 100% renewable wind power and is made at a site that sends zero manufacturing waste to a landfill. It reinforces Tide’s “journey to sustainability and delivers a more sustainable product that does not compromise on cleaning performance”, but their messaging doesn’t seem to be resonating. They are mixing in plant-based points with their regular messaging and are targeting a very broad audience, many of whom may not care. With an I-Factor score of 32, Tide has some work to do to make meaningful connections with consumers.

On the other hand, Method makes a plant-based laundry detergent, and it puts plant-based first. All of Method’s products are “planet-friendly cleaning products” and their whole website is upfront about making the world a “cleaner, greener, and more colorful place”. This message is definitely resonating with consumers. Its I-Factor score is 40, showing that Method’s connection with their consumers is stronger and more Irresistible than Tide, even though there are reports that Method doesn’t get your clothes as clean as Tide. Consumers are still buying the products because the message is right for their audience.

But it’s not just laundry detergent, there are a ton of household cleaning products like those from Method, Better Life, and Mrs. Meyer’s that are attracting health-conscious consumers to plant-based products in other parts of their lives. Another example is Pure Palm’s upscale, planet-friendly plates. They are 100% sustainable and harvested from fallen palm leaves. They are compostable, biodegradable, cleaned, and steam-treated leaves. For a 25 pack of plates, the cost is $19.95, compared to Dixie paper plates, which you can get 250 for the same price. That is 10 times the price. The question remains, will Pure Palm’s offering be worth the very hefty price tag?

What can your brand learn from these brands who are pushing into new territory? Our tool
I-Factor® can help you get the most compelling data and insights to connect with the most on-target audience. With I-Factor we talk directly to consumers who are interested in sustainable products to quickly and inexpensively deliver quantifiable data and insights that unlock the consumer subconscious to find the why behind the buy. It can predict success in specific markets, helping with both sales and distribution.

Want to learn more? Let’s talk.

We all know the story – Millennials are more health-conscious than their Baby Boomer and Gen X parents. And they appear to be willing to pay more for what they perceive to be better. And if this is the case, would raising your prices cause them to perceive you as even better?

Seltzers, one of the quintessential millennial things, are a great example. Spindrift brands itself as the “real drink companion to real food”. They are made with real squeezed fruit juice from fruit grown on family farms. They also give 1% of their sales to environmental organizations as members of 1 Percent For The Planet– a network of businesses committed to supporting a healthy natural environment. La Croix also has a variety of different flavors, and brand themselves for fun-loving millennials. But they don’t talk about where the ingredients come from or how they are supporting the environment.

At the end of 2018, Nielsen released a report that said up to 73 percent of millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable goods and that the sustainability market is supposed to reach $150 billion by 2021. Millennials are looking at products with greater scrutiny and it is starting to be normal to think critically about where things come from and whether the company you’re buying from is a responsible corporate citizen. So the research shows people are willing to not only prioritize, but to pay more for products that are healthier for the world, and we’re seeing people choosing things that appear healthier for their bodies as well.

We checked in with our research tool, I-Factor, which measures the irresistibility of a brand based on if consumers understand, crave, and share the brand using real-time social listening. I-Factor confirms that consumers prefer products that present themselves as clean and healthy. In this case, LaCroix scores a 26, while Spindrift comes in much higher at 37, even though a 24 pack of cans is actually twice the price. The more expensive, the more millennials will think the product is good for themselves and the environment. That is great news for brands.

More evidence that Millennials are willing to pay more are brands like Jeni’s Ice Cream. Jeni’s uses direct and fair trade ingredients in all of its ice cream and complicated methods for making the ice cream “that requires a lot of precision, but it’s worth it”. For example, to create their Salted Caramel flavor they actually caramelize sugar in a kettle over fire. But one pint of their ice cream is $12, compared to about $5.50 for another premium ice cream brand like Ben and Jerry’s. Ben and Jerry’s is a B-Corp itself, meaning it meets the highest standards for corporate social responsibility, but they talk less about the quality of the ingredients going into their ice cream and more about the flavors and social movements they are supporting. Does this make a difference to the health-conscious millennial? According to I-Factor, yes. Jeni’s comes in with an I-Factor score of 30, while Ben and Jerry’s has a score of 20, demonstrating that people are willing to spend more than two times as much for a product they perceive to be higher quality.

Do you need help figuring out how to connect with the quality and sustainability-conscious millennials? We can help. Let’s talk.

Plant-based food is showing up in places you’d least expect it like Burger King and White Castle. While trying to get healthier food to the masses, particularly to places and people with limited access to affordable and nutritious food is a noble task and certainly a start- there are two sides to the coin. On one hand, the more people eating burgers that are plant-based and better for them as well as the environment, the better. Impossible Burgers required 96 percent less land, 87 percent less water, and 89 percent fewer emissions than the traditional burger. The flip side is, these fast food establishments are making what should be a healthy food sort of unhealthy, and therefore could be deceiving consumers into thinking they’re eating better when they’re not. Is the marketing of these products deceptive? Will it be similar to when sugar-free and fat-free foods were introduced as a healthy alternative even when that was not always the case?

Burger King launched the Impossible Whopper in St. Louis, Missouri. It comes with sliced tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles, onions, and a bun. They claim it’s exactly like the juicy beef patty, but without any of the meat. Impossible Burger was created because of the enormous ethical health and environmental costs of meat, but they believe consumers would only make a change if they had a product that satisfied their cravings for beef. They wanted to deliver “everything that meat lovers care about”. It is pretty obvious Burger King wasn’t trying to give people a healthy alternative to the traditional whopper as it is still covered in mayo and on a bun. So who is Burger King targeting and is this all just a PR spin? Will they be as successful in 7,200 locations across the US as it was when it was piloted in St. Louis?

Beyond Meat is another plant-based protein from peas and beet juice to give its burgers a bloody look and has been called the best IPO of 2019, up more than 500 percent. Their first-ever earnings report as a public company in June surpassed expectations. You can find their burgers at Carl Jr’s, and TGI Fridays. Do these restaurants match up with their mission to solve four growing issues attributed to livestock production: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare? Or is it inauthentic?

These products have been so popular so far they are actually experiencing production shortages and the industry is questioning if Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger can keep up with the demand. I’ve seen people be intrigued by the burgers and want to taste them, but will they purchase them more than once and is a Burger King or Carl Jr’s really the right place to be selling them? Our tool I-Factor® can help you find out. With I-Factor we talk to consumers who eat at these places and get a numerical score to truly understand how connected they feel to each brand with quantifiable data and quickly unlock the consumer subconscious to find the why behind the buy. It can also help you predict success in specific markets, helping with both sales and distribution.

For your brand to reach its potential you need to really know your consumers from a data, insights and real-time social listening perspective. Want to learn more? Let’s talk.

It’s hard to miss. June is Pride Month. Lots of brands that you know and love are doing some sort of Pride promotion. This year we’ve been intrigued by who’s promotions are making their brands more Irresistible and whose are falling flat. I-Factor® helps brands connect with their consumers and understand what messaging is resonating with them. This month, brands that are already authentically connecting with their consumers are doing better with their pride marketing campaigns than those who are simply practicing “rainbow capitalism”, or using the rainbow pride flag to generate a profit.

A twitter thread by actress Indya Moore went viral when she called on brands not only to use LGBTQ+ representation as a marketing strategy, but to acknowledge and hire LGBTQ people not just during pride month, but always. Using our tool I-Factor® to measure the strength of the consumer’s relationship with these brands, we’ve seen that the brands that are doing this in a genuine and authentic way, to support the LGBTQ community are doing the best.

Sweetgreen, who is known for their liberal policies like 5 months paid parental leave policy, launched a one day pride effort and donated $1 from each bowl purchased on Sunday, June 2 to support Covenant House, which provides shelter and resources for LGBT homeless youth. They announced this initiative through an open letter where they focused on Sweetgreen’s mission “to inspire healthier communities and communities are healthier and stronger when all individuals are accepted, welcomed and supported”. They are also selling a limited edition series of Pride T-shirts, where all proceeds go towards the Covenant House. All of their efforts have helped to put their I-Factor score at a 49.

In a slightly different initiative, Kind Bar has an I-Factor score of a 52, in part due to their releasing a rainbow-colored wrapped bar to celebrate Pride. You can buy it online through July 31 and get free samples at this year’s Pride parades around the country. 100 percent of the proceeds benefit New York’s Ali Forney Center, which provides essential services and shelter for LGBT homeless youth. The announcement included a quote from the director of development at the AFC who shared “KIND has been an incredible supporter of The Ali Forney Center and LGBTQIA+ community for years – not only financially but through the support of their team members’ desire to volunteer.

Unfortunately, not every brand has walked the walk when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, but instead have been perceived to use Pride month for profit. For example, Victoria’s Secret launched a Pride initiative, when they historically refuse to hire transgender models. It did not go over well with consumers, and their I-Factor score of 27 reflected it.

If you want to be a brand known for getting it right, you need to really know your consumers and your brand. I-Factor can help you build authentic connections all year round. Want to learn more? Let’s talk.

With The Fancy Food Show a month away, I was thinking about which brands would be launching new products and quickly came to the realization that any of the brands I have come across lately, literally any, could be there. In the past, brands that were exhibiting at Fancy Food were truly “specialty” brands that focused on one type of product that was really different and “fancy”. That got me thinking – were the brands I saw at ExpoWest, the world’s largest natural, organic and healthy products event, back in March only natural products? And are the brands that will be at the FounderMade Consumer Discovery Show, for next generation brands to break out, really new?

Probably not, because these days every brand is a specialty brand, every brand is launching new products, and they are everywhere. Three shows with three completely different stated objectives, all have the same brands featured. The brands are trying to be specialty, healthy, and new, but the real question is, is it actually possible to succeed with the consumers in all of these categories at once?

The Fancy Food Show is the “premier showcase for industry innovation” and its purpose is to let attendees see and taste the future of food, but on this year’s exhibiting list are a bunch of brands you might not expect to see given that description including legacy brands like Barilla, and new health-oriented brands like Caulipower, and Harmless Harvest. When I visited ExpoWest in March, Caulipower and Harmless Harvest were there, too. And so was Barilla! Even at the FounderMade Consumer Discovery Show, established brands like KIND, Chobani, and Rx are exhibiting too and showing off new products in an effort to reach distributors and retailers that are looking for something new, even if it is from a brand they already know.

I don’t believe we need to be all things to all people. And I don’t actually think we can be. One of my favorite thought leaders Seth Godin talks about a “minimum viable audience” and how “when you seek to engage with everyone, you rarely delight anyone”. The way to really succeed is to just focus on being really really good at what you are doing for the people who truly need the thing that you’re making. It makes your quality, your story and your impact exponentially better.

So how do you get really, really clear and focused on a story so compelling, the right consumers can’t help but remember, want and share you? One of the easiest ways is to use a quantitative tool like I-Factor® to gather data and insights about who you really should be talking to in order to get the best possible return. And you can be pretty certain it isn’t everyone. To provide not only quantitative data on how consumers really feel about your brand but also to uncover the why’s behind the data to help you build your most compelling brand story for your optimal consumer. Want to learn more? Let’s talk.

When a crisis strikes a brand (which it inevitably will) wouldn’t it be great to have a data-driven tool to help you successfully navigate it?

Having and managing crises is part of running and managing a brand, whether you are Pepsi trying to defend your ad with Kendall Jenner, United Airlines after videos of a passenger being forcibly being removed from your planes go viral, or LaCroix being accused of distorting the definition of natural. When questionable decisions by brands get made in today’s climate, consumers will take you to task faster than ever, and how marketers react can make or break brands and careers. So, having a data-driven tool to help monitor and understand what your consumers are feeling and thinking with real-time data could literally be a career saver.

Let’s look at LaCroix, one of the first brands to reinvigorate the trendy seltzer category, who happens to be facing an issue of their own. A class action suit against LaCroix and its parent company, Natural Beverage Corp, claims the corporation’s drink tested positive for synthetic compounds, including linalool, which is used in cockroach insecticide. The horrible idea of having cockroach insecticide in your seltzer went viral on Twitter. LaCroix’s response? They boldly asked the Twitter-verse to defend the brand. A bold move but based only on the hope that their relationship with their consumers was strong enough to move them to action. While some loyal consumers did defend them with sentiments like “Live, Love, LaCroix”, in the end, the company’s profits slumped to 39.6 percent, their revenue fell 2.9 percent, and its I-Factor® score is only a 36. Real data in real time could have helped the brand understand what their consumers were thinking about the issue and allowed them to respond in a way that could have potentially strengthened the relationship.

In a more dramatic crisis, videos of a passenger being violently dragged off an overbooked United Flight circulated the internet like wildfire. With virtually no understanding of their relationship with consumers, United stood by the actions of the crew. Eventually, after getting attacked by consumers on social media, they issued a cold, reluctant and way-too-late apology. This sparked an intense backlash and boycott threats, which ultimately forced United to take full responsibility and make the apology that it should have made immediately after the incident. But it was too late for many consumers. Consumer perception dropped to a 10-year low, reinforced by their low I-Factor® score of 25. Had they been able to monitor their data in real-time with a tool like I-Factor, they could have seen just how bad the sentiment was much earlier and made the correct action immediately to monitor and manage consumer reaction. This could have prevented the loss of thousands of customers and millions of dollars.

Another brand going through a rough time is one of my favorite brands, Peloton. They’re facing an ongoing $150 million lawsuit from the National Music Publishers’ Association for copyright infringement. The result? Much of the music and the workouts associated with that music are gone from the Peloton bike and treadmill. As a very loyal fan, I’ve personally seen other loyal Peloton fanatics complaining as relentlessly as they once advocated for the brand, about the significant downgrade in music quality and variety. Others are saying workouts “just don’t flow like they used to.” Personally, I am sad about losing some of my favorite workouts I had bookmarked for whenever I needed a real pick-me-up. And what was Peloton’s response to this? A letter from the CEO of Peloton, John Foley. The letter stated that, “While you may notice this in the near term, I can assure you that this will not affect your experience with (or the cost of) our service, or access to the kind of music you’re used to hearing behind our instructors in the thousands of classes in our library.” Was this enough? Based on their current I-factor score, 30, maybe not. I believe there’s a better way to navigate this messy situation in real time, and I-Factor is exactly that.

As these brands continue to grow and change, they will continue to face PR problems, but our I-Factor tool can help. It lets you measure brand Irresistibility and consumer relationships in real time, so you can see if your campaigns are actually driving the kind of results and chatter that you are hoping to get. And with I-factor’s social listening component, your brands can get a score based on what chatter is happening on social media that quantifies the sentiment of your relationship with consumers, not just if the tweets are positive or negative. It can help you figure out if the problem is getting worse or is only a blip in time. You can also pull together every post that mentions your brand and try to find ways to respond to them in real time, with the insight of an overall score that shows you how each individual tweet is affecting the relationship.

In my opinion, had UBER been using I-Factor as they went through a series of unfortunate incidents, and truly understood how their consumers felt and what they wanted, they may not have had such a poor showing at their IPO. And their low real-time I-Factor score of 21, on the day of the IPO would have told them what to expect.

Bad PR is inevitably going to happen to brands, particularly for those that are growing quickly, taking risks, and trying to reach a broader spectrum of consumers. The key is managing that PR, and shifting your brand messaging when necessary – and that’s where I-Factor really works its magic. Want to find out how I-Factor can help your brand bounce back? We can help.