Social Listening: Kodiak Cakes

"Your Pancake mix is the reason that my boyfriend fell in love with me and now we live happily ever after..." -New York [Facebook; Kodiak Cakes]

   

    For a long time, I used to not be a big breakfast guy.  I tend to eat on the healthier side of the food spectrum these days (which could take a while to cook depending on your diet/lifestyle), and I'm sure any parent can tell you about all the missed meals on a hectic morning with little ones!  So as such, I would opt out of breakfast, and instead, my mornings consisted of brewing coffee while using the time in between to consume what I could before starting my work/school day.    

 

    One morning, my wife had thrown in some  "Kodiak Cakes - Power Waffles" in the toaster while my hot mud was brewing for the day.  She served them to me with a lovely smile, and ever since they've been a staple in my life for a quick and healthy breakfast!  These bad boys aren't your average sugar-packed waffles, they're whole wheat and packed with protein/vitamins/minerals.  Their mission statement checks out, as one of their continuous consumers, they've definitely made my family's mornings incredibly simpler and healthier.

    To sum up simply who these "breakfast gurus" are, Kodiak Cakes™ is a company that's all about promoting whole wheat and protein-enriched foods to get you through that tough task of your day.  From what I know and read about them, they seem to cater almost exclusively to breakfast-type foods, with a few spinoffs (i.e. brownie mix).  This is what I think sets them apart from the healthy food market (not the brownies), the emphasis on their breakfast audience.  Before I even knew about them, I never even heard about any other company that had healthy alternatives for some of the renowned childhood favorites like pancakes or waffles.  Normally for anyone looking to improve their health, you would completely make these items and other "sugar-based" foods for breakfast obsolete.  Kodiak Cakes™ did something pretty awesome by bringing not only healthier breakfast products to the market, but also transforming established products and making new and improved versions.  Don't let the bold "chocolate chip" print fool you, in comparison to some of the identical and unhealthier products out there, the nutritional differences are like day and night.

    To see what the buzz around Kodiak Cakes™ was, I did a little snooping around some of their social media starting with my favorite: their Facebook page.  Aside from the lady who found love through their pancakes, there are more than 100,000 people who have liked and/or followed their page.  With more than 1000 reviews, they sit on a rating of 4.7/5 overall from their consumers.  

     "Love everything I have tried. Ordered from the website and had my order the next day!" - Amy

    "Customer for life. I love the pancakes, brownies, and blue berry muffins. Excited to try more. Literally eat the pancakes every day for breakfast. Delicious." - Chris

    The reviews from facebook really do Kodiak some justice off the get-go.  Although they've been around since the '80s, their emphasis on the protein scene didn't kick off until about 2014, making them pretty new in my opinion.  With comments that vary from their taste, amount of protein, and comparisons to their unhealthier cousins, consumers have made the connection that their products are just what they're promising. 

    As for the negative 0.3 stars, there have been some negative remarks about the product.  The thing is, there were comments made such as "plastic pieces found in my batter" or "found a metal pin" on their Facebook page.  Although these things should be taken seriously and given the benefit of the doubt (which Kodiak does / handles amazingly and professionally), a foreign material doesn't really impact the product itself.  Consumers are still buying the product for what it is, and based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews, most of these negative reviews are probably getting brushed over.  Regardless, Kodiak responds the same day to most of their consumers that leave reviews, and for the controversial stuff, they go as far as launching investigations the same day as well.  Definitely using good social media practice as it stands.  Kudos to Kodiak! 

    Kodiak Cakes™ has a blog page right on their company website, pretty cool right?  I figured I'd write about the blog page titled "Kodiak Campfire" as it's filled with tons of good reads that emphasize the aspect of who they are as a brand.  Authors tend to be aesthetic to their brand in nature, whether they're fitness-influenced, licensed dieticians, or outdoor enthusiasts.  Along with informative blogs, they have some vlogs featuring extreme outdoor activities and wilderness exploring to push their adventure mantra out there as appealing to consumers.  Unfortunately, while they leave no room for personal comments on the site, you can share these blogs straight to your social media account with some "widgets" through their site.

    From a marketing perspective, their blog screams storytelling.  Wake up in a tent in the middle of Antarctica and try some of our blueberry muffins!  Definitely not a real example, but a lot of their blogs/vlogs are related to my exaggeration.  I believe they purposefully made their blog non-commentable for the sole purpose of the focus on these articles and videos without distraction to what is being advertised through/by their products.  Nevertheless, they are pushing the updated agenda of social media through their posts, and that's putting consumers in their favor because of it.

    Speaking of storytelling, here's a cute youtube video that tends to be on the comedic side.  A little drawn out for my taste, but it's a funny short story about kiddos rallying together and upgrading their delivery service of Kodiak products.  Since health products tend to be the main emphasis through most of their webpage advertisements, I feel that this video catering to the audience with children is a way to cover the specific base for Kodiak without cutting too much opportunity cost from their main brand image surrounding the adult consumers.  Utilizing the media format of a quick commercial instead of slapping it on their main webpage was a great move. 

    When it comes to their customers, Kodiak cares.  I couldn't think of a more effective way to handle communication with their online community as a brand manager than how they've been shown to respond so far.  Immediate responses, appreciative remarks, and concerning tones to the opposition, they're definitely doing things the correct way and the right way.

    What did I learn from digging into the company that makes my waffles?  In a larger context, almost every product that you buy or invest in has a community around it.  It's also pretty easy to see what everyone else thinks about these things with something as simple as checking out their Facebook page, company website, or other social media platforms.  It's definitely useful to discover the opinions and reviews that others have harnessed from products to get an overall picture of what consumers really think about a company's product.  In closing, I think we should be digging more into the things we buy, whether we love them or not.