by Jeff Slater | Jul 19, 2026 | Marketing Advice, Marketing Start Ups
I get several inquiries a month from people who want help but can’t afford to hire a startup branding consultant. Founders who have just left a good job try to convince their spouse that the salsa recipe everyone loves at the holiday party is actually a...
by Jeff Slater | Jul 12, 2026 | Branding Issues, Marketing Advice
One in eight American adults is now taking a GLP-1 drug. That number has more than doubled in eighteen months. That is not a trend. That is a structural shift. And if you make, market, or sell snack food, the data from Cornell, Numerator, and Circana tell a story you...
by Jeff Slater | Jul 5, 2026 | Marketing Advice, Personal Stories
It has been 30 years since my maternal grandfather, Poppa George, passed away. But there isn’t a day that I don’t think about him and his journey as an immigrant to the United States. As the country turns 250, I want to honor and memorialize Poppa...
by Jeff Slater | Jun 28, 2026 | Foodpreneurs, Marketing Advice
How Kirsten Maitland and Fred Zwar built something the food industry said couldn’t be done Everyone in the food business had the same advice for Kirsten Maitland and Fred Zwar. It was delivered with authority, sometimes with pity, always with the same basic...
by Jeff Slater | Jun 21, 2026 | Foodpreneurs, Marketing Advice
The Surprising Origin Story Behind One of Specialty Retail’s Favorite Popcorn Brands Some of the best brand origin stories start with a memory, not a business plan. For Ginger Frank, it was popcorn. Growing up, popcorn wasn’t a snack. It was a...
by Jeff Slater | Jun 7, 2026 | Interesting Brands, Marketing Advice
How Don Sazon Turned a Family Spice Company into a Multi-Million Dollar Brand There is a moment in every great brand story where the product and the person become inseparable. Where the thing being sold is really just the container for everything the founder has lived...
