Father Of The Frappuccino, Mother Of The McGriddle: Larry Wu, Iconoculture
Larry Wu of Iconoculture presented after me at the National Restaurant Association conference and this is how he was introduced (I had a chance to talk to him afterwards, and he said he could not claim all the credit since both products were created by large teams).
Larry is a smart and obviously humble food scientist and futurist, and his presentation really got my wheels turning. A number of people told me later that Larry gives them great advice on improving their customers’ experiences and even reviews their advertising. This guy knows his stuff and Iconoculture sounds like a really interesting company.
Blogs and forums are a key to their research methodology. Essentially, they combine observations on actual consumer behavior with data to forecast trends and develop opportunities for their clients. They use “Icono-communities” to stay plugged in.
Here are some of the trends Larry discussed in his talk. While his focus was restaurants and food, I see these trends playing out in other industries, as well.
- Conscientious Consumption. More and more consumers are committing to ethical and environment-focused brands. Larry referenced Pizza Fusion and The Kitchen. These companies use all local ingredients and compost their waste. Pizza Fusion delivers its pizzas in electric cars. The Kitchen buys wind-generated power to light up its restaurants.
- Late Night…Or Early Day. Millennials are on a different schedule (and I think I was at that age, too). Many of them are eating four meals a day and their last one (or first one?) is consumed between dinner and breakfast. Taco Bell has a program to cater to these folks they call Fourth Meal and they even trademarked it and set up a microsite and more.
- In My Car. 65% of American workers eat at their desks. 79% of British workers eat at their desks. Companies can anticipate looking at many of their customers through windows in the future. Larry talked about Tennessee’s SmartMart, a fully-automated and unattended convenience store where you can purchase everything from dairy products to DVDs. His point: “Extend your customer’s experience to your lot line.” He also pointed out that 0% of French and Italian workers eat at their desks…
- Gen X (30-40 yo) Can’t Cook. Larry says this is not a trend. It’s a fact. Their parents emphasized education and careers over cooking. Ask Gen X the last time they cooked a meal from scratch and they may talk about Hamburger Helper and bag salads. He talked about Dream Dinners and other one-stop dinner making businesses.
- Menu Labeling. New Jersey is about to require all restaurants to provide menu labeling or to detail ingredients, calories, etc. (the audience groaned a little about this). He pointed out that Wendy’s already does this well and more labeling is coming. Why? Because TRANSPARENCY is important to consumers.
That’s a good final point: Larry and I both talked about the importance of transparency and honesty in our talks. This is a value that all companies must embrace. The example he used is CPG companies that create packaging that implies healthy contents where there are none. My example was Walmarting Across America. Once consumers figure it out they will talk about it and blog about it. The brand will pay in the end.
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