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Shared Perspectives

In an industry that’s never the same two days in a row, Marlin Network team members share their perspectives on what you need to know right now.

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Our Perspectives

Why You Want to Target Food-Fluencers

Christopher Wolf

Christopher Wolf

SVP of Insights
  • Culinary Arts, Marketing & Strategy, Strategic Research
For most of human history, food was primarily a source of sustaining life vs. enjoying it. As technology and the economy progressed in the 20th century, it became possible for an increasing number of people to treat food as a lifestyle accessory or status symbol...
Taking a photo of beautiful food with a phone
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Can “WFH” Produce Better Creative Work?

Tim Bade

Tim Bade

Chief Creative Officer
  • Creative Services, Marketing & Strategy
I’ve been wondering whether working from home can elevate our creative work. Many studies have been done and most point to enhanced efficiency from people working at home rather than an office. But how does that apply to the creative work we do?
Working from home with kids hanging on you
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Six Factors That Drive Every Consumer Choice

Ron Halverson

Ron Halverson

SVP of Halverson
  • Marketing & Strategy, Strategic Research
Some decisions are easy. Some are painstakingly hard. The rest fall somewhere in between. Where do your category and brand fit in? Knowing will allow you to influence the consumer decision. Halverson Group can help you find out.
Consumer trying to choose between products
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What’s the Hubbub?

Jeff Daniel

Jeff Daniel

SVP of Integrated Connections
  • Digital Strategy & Development, Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
Apple, namely Tim Cook, has been talking about the need for transparency around data collected on consumers and to give consumers control over whether they want data collected about them or not...
Digital data security
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Making Pandemic Lemonade

Christopher Wolf

Christopher Wolf

SVP of Insights
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
It will take many years to assess and mourn the devastating and lasting effects Covid is having on our collective mental, physical and economic health. But we can already begin to understand the ways the hospitality industry has adapted for the better and created new opportunity,directly as a result of the crippling lockdowns that laid waste to so many businesses and livelihoods in the past year...
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Yuzu what?

Meredith Daca

Meredith Daca

Senior Culinary Planner
  • Culinary Arts
What’s happening in emerging citrus flavors. Lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits. These are the usual suspects when it comes to citrus fruits. But have you tried yuzu?…
Yuzu
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What Wall Street Wants

LeAnne Garoutte

LeAnne Garoutte

General Manager
  • Marketing & Strategy
Double-digit profits. YOY growth. Higher ROI…
Bullseye target on a laptop computer
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What Content is Right When?

Sharyl Syring

Sharyl Syring

Media Supervisor
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
You’ve heard it a million times: content is king. That’s not going to change anytime soon. That means to remain relevant marketers are moving away from pushing products and toward illustrating solutions…
Woman illustrated creating content on a computer
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Top 5 Reasons Operators Sign Up for E-Newsletters

Sharyl Syring

Sharyl Syring

Media Supervisor
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
The eternal question for foodservice manufacturers stands: how do I meaningfully reach the operator? Well-worn answers like print ads and DSR visits—though still relevant—are no longer the obvious answers…
Mail illustration on top of a digital tablet
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The Gastronomic Journey of Coffee

Jorge Cespedes

Jorge Cespedes

Creative Content Director
  • Culinary Arts
For a couple hundred years the production of coffee was kept secret in Yemen until the mid-1600’s when a clever and sleek Dutch navy boat was able to sail of the port of Java in Indonesia with a couple of live seedlings…
Millennial drinking coffee
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The Evolution of PR

Julie Ketay

Julie Ketay

Director of PR & Influencer Marketing
  • Integrated Connections
In past years, PR programs have been primarily driven by traditional earned media strategies – submission of product news and pitches to magazine editors. The borders between paid, owned and earned are becoming less black & white and we’re seeing a shift toward content marketing amplification. As the role of PR in communications plans evolves, so must our skills…
Person illustration of announcing digitally
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Sriracha: From Obscurity to Mainstream

Jorge Cespedes

Jorge Cespedes

Creative Content Director
  • Culinary Arts
It’s safe to say that in the food world, Sriracha has definitely hit its stride as a mainstream ingredient. There are Sriracha subs, Sriracha chips, Sriracha mayo, Sriracha ice cream and even Sriracha vodka, but just 10 years ago, this humble paste of fresh chile peppers, garlic and salt was almost unheard of, until some sort of epic shift occurred launching it from relative obscurity to a mega foodie crush…
Bowl of sriracha and hot peppers
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Our Need for Speed

Brad Hill

Brad Hill

VP of Digital and Technology
  • Digital Strategy & Development
Back in 1993, Jakob Nielsen published an article entitled, “Response Times: The 3 Important Limits.” His research was ground breaking and impacted computer software design for years to come…
Motion blurred cars speeding down a highway
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Mini Millennials: Meet Gen Alpha

Jennifer Cannon

Jennifer Cannon

Research and Insights
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
Move over Centennials… Generation Alpha is on the scene! Born starting in 2010 through today, they are the children of Millennials. While Generation Alpha makes up only 12.5% of the population today – and are only ten years old, they will continue to grow in numbers and impact over the coming years…
Millennial couple and their daughter
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Is Content the Way to the Wallet?

Meredith Daca

Meredith Daca

Senior Culinary Planner
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
For decades, there was a widespread notion that persisted in the food industry—all new ethnic flavor imports needed to be “Americanized” so hesitant palates could warm up to the unfamiliar…
Opened wallet in front of a computer
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How to Make Killer Websites

Brad Hill

Brad Hill

VP of Digital and Technology
  • Digital Strategy & Development
Knowing that 63% of people do research online before making purchase decisions, websites are an important part of your marketing strategy. A website should be considered an extension of your sales team. When it is done right, the site is informative, useful and is a positive reflection of your brand…
Wireframing and planning a website
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How to Go Digital (and 4 Ways You Shouldn’t)

Brad Hill

Brad Hill

VP of Digital and Technology
  • Digital Strategy & Development
Email has arguably been a cornerstone for digital communication in the internet age, but email has some painful flaws that still need to be addressed…
Digital phone with multiple planes and circuits
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5 Key Steps to Create a High-Visibility Website

Stephanie Lueck

Stephanie Lueck

Senior Digital Marketing Specialist
  • Digital Strategy & Development
“Foodservice has changed dramatically over the last decade”. It seems like an obvious statement, but to put the shifts into perspective, let’s go back to 2009 and see how many menus call out “farm-to-table” ingredients…
Long-necked giraffe
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Google’s DeepMind AI

Brad Hill

Brad Hill

VP of Digital and Technology
  • Digital Strategy & Development
In 2014, Google acquired a British artificial intelligence company, DeepMind Technologies, with the goal of creating a general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI).…
Iron Man superhero animation
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DMARC Get Set Go

Brad Hill

Brad Hill

VP of Digital and Technology
  • Digital Strategy & Development
Email has arguably been a cornerstone for digital communication in the internet age, but email has some painful flaws that still need to be addressed…
Phone with email alert message
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Connect with DSRs, Connect with Operators

Christopher Wolf

Christopher Wolf

SVP of Insights
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
“Foodservice has changed dramatically over the last decade”. It seems like an obvious statement, but to put the shifts into perspective, let’s go back to 2009 and see how many menus call out “farm-to-table” ingredients…
Handshake illustration
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Can Recipes Really Boost Your Product Sales?

Thomas Talbert

Thomas Talbert

VP of Culinary Marketing
  • Culinary Arts, Marketing & Strategy
Keeping the menu fresh is one of an operator’s most important roles. And providing recipe inspiration is one of yours as a partner. By demonstrating your product’s versatility, your recipes can show time-starved operators how one ingredient can work in multiple items across the menu—benefitting operators and you—with increased sales.…
Chef mixing ingredients into a bowl
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Artificial Intelligence for Marketers

Brad Hill

Brad Hill

VP of Digital and Technology
  • Digital Strategy & Development, Marketing & Strategy
As a marketer, you know the importance of content. That’s not changing any time soon. Back in 2014, we saw content-first design hit peak momentum. Then mobile-first design came on the scene, which is still widely considered the best practice for digital marketing. Then, Google shifted the conversation toward experience.…
Human brain connected to computer screens
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A Toast to the Rise of Booze-Free Libations

Jorge Cespedes

Jorge Cespedes

Creative Content Director
  • Culinary Arts
Mocktails are by no means “new” beverages, but what is new now is the level of attention paid to them.…
Alcohol-free beautiful mocktail
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A Marketing Approach: Division vs. Brand

Jeff Daniel

Jeff Daniel

SVP of Integrated Connections
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
Most of the communication planning requests we get are tied to promotion of a particular brand or product, which makes sense – that’s where the sales happen. This approach, however, tends to isolate each brand plan, not allowing the company to take advantage of bigger, more integrated opportunities…
Person deciding which door to enter
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7 Flavors to Suggest in Your Next Innovation Brainstorm

Meredith Daca

Meredith Daca

Senior Culinary Planner
  • Culinary Arts, Marketing & Strategy
I bet this has happened to you. You’re in a brainstorm and someone sets up the challenge like, “We need to come up with new tortilla chip flavors: shoot.” Suddenly, you feel like a deer in headlights. It may be the case that you frequently hear about up-and-coming flavors, but you’re not sure if the time is right. Or maybe flavor trends are off your radar altogether…
7 Flavors to Suggest in Your Next Innovation Brainstorm
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4 Ways to Tell if Your Website Is Operator-Friendly

Stephanie Lueck

Stephanie Lueck

Senior Digital Marketing Specialist
  • Digital Strategy & Development, Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
Almost all foodservice manufacturers have some kind of web presence. But how do you know if yours truly meets the needs of operators? To find out what they’re looking for, our team at the Marlin Network has interviewed a diverse panel of operators and taken a look at what’s happening in the larger digital universe to compile some must-have features…
Happy illustrated people building a website
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Begin With The End In Mind

Greta Miller

Greta Miller

Senior Marketing Analyst
  • Integrated Connections, Marketing & Strategy
Outside of our industry, it’s easy to overlook the complexity of the work we do. From finding the right segment for a new product, to understanding the appropriate medium for a brand refresh, there’s a strange array of factors to consider in the foodservice marketplace…
Man planning his strategy at a desktop computer
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5 Flavor Imports to Watch

Jorge Cespedes

Jorge Cespedes

Creative Content Director
  • Culinary Arts
For decades, there was a widespread notion that persisted in the food industry—all new ethnic flavor imports needed to be “Americanized” so hesitant palates could warm up to the unfamiliar…
Bowl of kimchii
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Work That Works

Tim Bade

Tim Bade

Chief Creative Officer
  • Creative Services, Marketing & Strategy
There’s an old adage that marketers use, “I know half of my marketing budget doesn’t work, I just don’t know which half.” That was once true. Clients had to rely on agency account directors or creative directors to translate results. Not necessarily the case anymore…
Vintage can of Bush's Pork and Beans
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