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BRAVE COMMERCE
Sean Adams of Utz Expanding on Beloved Snack Food Brands
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In his 13 years with the company, Sean Adams, SVP of Digital Commerce at Utz Quality Foods, LLC, the operating company of Utz Brands, Inc., has boiled their approach down to this simple philosophy: “Build sales overnight and brands over time.”
While that philosophy might be simple, succeeding at it is anything but. It starts by understanding the who and when of snacking. There are all kinds of consumers: foodies, functional eaters, adventurers. There are also all kinds of times for a snack: on-the-go, with friends, fueling activities, and more. Sean knows that success comes from aligning the Utz brand portfolio with the consumer and with the occasion.
According to Sean, “once someone tries Utz, they love Utz” therefore a big part of expansion is to reach consumers who might not otherwise have thought of trying their products. Search has been key to this bottom of the funnel marketing. They pair search with a balance of retail and social media in order to increase amplification. This combination of channels provides multiple venues by which to educate consumers about their products, especially in new markets.
As a legacy brand with an embedded culture of in-store sales and discovery, internal storytelling is key to getting buy-in for digital initiatives. Sean uses the same skill set that helps him cut through the noise with consumers to cut through internal noise when influencing internal stakeholders.
As a self-taught marketer with an entrepreneurial spirit, Sean focuses on finding a message that resonates with his target audience, and that focus has helped him lead Utz to become the fastest-growing salty snack brand of scale in eCommerce according to Circana 1.
Key Takeaways:
- Build sales overnight and brands over time
- Storytelling is your most powerful tool to get buy-in with consumers and internal stakeholders
- Know your objectives and ensure that your investments are serving them
1 Circana (Total E-Commerce with ePOS EMI-RMA Latest 26 Week Period Ending 4-21-24)
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