 It goes without being said that COVID-19 turned life upside down about a year ago. No industry went untouched; there were adjustments and new trends launched in every field. Turning specifically to the beverage industry, we see a number of changes to keep an eye out for in the remainder of 2021. From celebrity branding to hard seltzer to healthy choices, Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, spotlights the current beverage trends. A Focus on Healthy Living If the pandemic has put an emphasis on anything, it is the importance of health and wellness. Many people have taken COVID-19 as a wake-up call, as it has spurred them to change their lives and make healthier choices. The beverage industry did not escape this trend, as we see a rise in healthy beverages such as kombucha. Consumers want to live healthier lives, and the drink industry is morphing to reflect it. One example of this change is the fast-growing popularity of fermented drinks such as kombucha. As people look for nutritious beverages to fuel their bodies with, these drinks are appearing more frequently. Their growth is astonishing, and EHL Insights projects that kombucha and other probiotic beverages will make over $77 billion in sales by 2025. This is just one of many examples of a healthier industry. Convenient and Ready-To-Go Drinks Canned and ready-to-go drinks are expected to be one of the biggest trends of the year, with Nielsen Premium Panel data stating that the development of to-go drinks has accelerated by 171 percent during the course of 2020. The convenience and sanitation of these beverages makes them hard to resist. The rise in options, high-quality ingredients, low calorie, and tasty flavors don’t hurt either. Expect to see canned and convenient options everywhere this summer! Celebrity Brands and Endorsements Celebrity endorsements are not a new phenomenon, but they have become much more popular recently and are expected to continue growing throughout the year. Expect to see big names partner with vineyards and champagne houses and other beverage brands to produce new drinks. Not only does this provide a benefit for the brand and celebrity, but it introduces a product to a new group of consumers. Brands With Purpose In 2020, many brands were criticized for their role in or failure to speak out on issues from racism to climate change. Many companies faced backlash and felt the financial repercussions. This has led to the 2021 trend of choosing brands with a set purpose or value. Consumers want the companies they buy from to hold similar values, but even more so, they often do not want to support anyone with views that they find offensive or hurtful. Take Purpose Purple Tea, a tea company, as an example. Their mission is to lift women throughout the world out of poverty, and if often draws in new customers. Consumers are more open to trying a new beverage if they know their money is also put towards a cause that they believe in. Coffee at Home People spent a lot more time at home last year, switching to working from home rather than an office. As a result, many coffee drinkers have begun to make their coffee at home rather than buy a cup on the way to the office. Social media has propelled the trend of at-home coffee, with many posting their creations online. TikTok and Instagram are filled with videos of people trying to replicate the taste of coffee from their favorite shop, creating their own recipes, and more. These two factors have made coffee brewed at home much more appealing. Considering that many expect to continue working virtually for the foreseeable future and social media isn’t going anywhere, it looks like this trend is here to stay. While the pandemic has shaken the beverage industry, the travel and lifestyle PR professionals at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc. can help you navigate the trends. Let us help! By Kendall Mason at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.
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 Social media, especially platforms such as Instagram, has become a part of daily life for many consumers. In fact, Statista reports that “13 percent of everyone on the planet uses Instagram.” With this many people scrolling through Instagram every day, it becomes the perfect method to market a business, brand, or service. Another advantage that Instagram provides an amazing reach for businesses. Millions of people use Instagram every single day, much higher than the number of people who consume other forms of traditional media. This advantage has been demonstrated even more so by the pandemic. With people unable to leave their homes, they have turned to social media even more than normal, demonstrating how useful it can be. To help companies unlock the full marketing potential of Instagram, Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, gives these five tips to extend a company or brand’s reach on Instagram. Create a Distinct, Consistent Profile and Feed Curating a distinct brand has been essential to marketing for years, it’s nothing new. This same idea applies to your Instagram profile and posts. They should follow a consistent theme and be recognizable as your brand. Details should remain similar throughout your posts, whether it is something as big as the layout or as small as the font used. This way, followers will instantly recognize whose content they’re seeing. This similarity should carry itself through all of posts on Instagram; if you post a story, make sure that it is just as distinguishable as a regular post. In fact, it’s best to post stories and IGTVs in your company’s style. This way, more people will see the posts and associate them with your brand. Use Hashtags Correctly Hashtags are a feature of social media that allow users to categorize content. They help consumers discover more photos, videos, and accounts that fall under their interests, making them a useful tool for growing engagement. That is, if you know how to use them correctly. Firstly, it’s important to know just how many hashtags to use. Research from TrackMaven “illustrates that posts with eleven or more hashtags tend to see more engagement, meaning that you’ll have more luck with more hashtags.” Next, one of those hashtags should be branded to develop a unique identity for your company or service. That way, all of the posts and content under the hashtag will generate more activity on your profile. You can upload media using the hashtag, as can your followers. Instagram Advertising Hashtags are not the only way to increase profile activity. Instagram advertising has become a very useful tool to reach more users, especially as the platform has been working with various brands for feedback and improvement. Additionally, since Instagram is owned by Facebook, it also utilizes deep integration and allows businesses to advertise to people based on their interests and demographics. Companies can use this feature to reach users who are most likely to be interested in your company. A world of potential customers is at your hands, and Instagram advertising is one of many ways to unlock it. Engage With Your Followers An easy, free way to increase engagement and profile activity is to engage directly with your followers. Instagram is not just creating content, it’s also consuming it! Comment on other accounts’ pictures, reply to story posts, and interact with other people on the platform. Not only does it show your existing followers that you’re accessible and friendly, but it shows potential followers the same. In a similar sense, encourage your followers to engage with your posts! Leave a prompt in the caption for them to respond to or try a giveaway or promotional event. These will inspire consumers to pay attention and interact. In turn, Instagram’s algorithm will show your profile more often; active accounts are favored. For the same reason, make sure you post consistently. Include a Link or Landing Tree in Your Profile Now that we have gone over a number of strategies to increase engagement with your Instagram profile, it’s time to see how this growth can lead to more activity on your website. It’s simple: put a link or Linktree in your bio. When consumers are driven to your company, they can learn more through the link. This means more activity for your website, content, or anything else you choose. It’s clear that Instagram is a tool that everybody should take advantage of. Let Allen Marketing Communications help! By Kendall Mason at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.  The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed all of our lives and effectively turned 2020 upside down. The wellness industry has pivoted during the pandemic by amplifying its on-site sanitizing services at spa facilities, by incorporating alternative touchless spa therapies, and by offering self-care services for clients to perform at home. As we emerge from the novel coronavirus, traditional brick and mortar spa and wellness facilities will offer hybrid (in-person and virtual) experiences to stay in line with the current CDC guidelines as it pertains to social distancing, and health and safety protocols. Allen Marketing Communications, a boutique NYC travel and lifestyle public relations agency, shares the top five trends that you should expect to see this year. Touchless Spa Services The pandemic has made people wary to utilize services that they once did, and spas are the perfect example. “Not everyone is comfortable with a high-touch service, with only 19 percent of Americans getting a massage during 2020. This number is very low, especially when compared with the 42 percent of Americans who got a massage during 2019,” according to Mindbody Business. Despite the move away from massages, people are still seeking out spa experiences for relaxation. This has increased the popularity of no-touch services like float tanks, compression therapy, cryotherapy, and more. While we expect to see these services hold onto their popularity throughout this year, we do think that massages will regain their appeal once the pandemic is over. Wellness at Home According to the Global Wellness Institute, “home wellness” focus can be very simple, such as finding ways to nurture ourselves in very tiny apartments, with air quality key: saying goodbye to the sealed, air-conditioned home and with opening windows, eating outside, and feeling the bracing air being “very basic pleasures and behaviors transforming…what is wellness.” Staying home became very popular about a year ago for obvious reasons, and this has forced us to bring a number of things that we used to do outside of our homes inside. Wellness is no exception. Because we are all constantly in the house, we have found ways to make our homes more comforting, relaxing, and beneficial to our overall wellness. Companies are helping us to do it too, with products such as new and improved humidifiers. Essentially if we suit the environment around us, our homes, to best help our wellbeing, we will reap the benefits of living healthier and feeling more comfortable in our own homes. Mental Wellness as a Priority According to the Global Wellness Institute, “the mental wellness industry encompasses businesses whose primary aim is to help us along the mental wellness pathways of growth and nourishment and rest and rejuvenation. Within those pathways, it identifies four sectors coalescing to form an emerging market: 1) senses, spaces and sleep, 2) brain-boosting nutraceuticals & botanicals, 3) self-improvement and 4) meditation and mindfulness.” Mental wellness is something that hasn’t always been easy to talk about. For a long time, it was a taboo subject, personal information that nobody wanted to divulge. Fortunately, that is not the case anymore. In the recent past we have seen a move away from mental health as a taboo and towards mental health as a global priority. The pandemic has only further demonstrated the necessity of mental health awareness and care. Nobody is impervious to the unprecedented stress and pressure that the pandemic has put on the world, and nobody has to be ashamed of opening up about their mental wellness. In fact, wellness retreats will explode as we emerge from the pandemic as individuals turn to yoga, mediation and mindfulness to cope with the daily stress from the COVID-19 pandemic. Intuitive Eating, the Non-Diet Diet fads have come and gone for years, that’s nothing new. What is new is intuitive eating, which is becoming more and more popular as time goes on. This way of eating rejects all other diets, opting instead to listen to your body and eat what it’s asking for at a particular moment. With intuitive eating, there’s no need to restrict your eating, it’s all about doing what is best for your body. This changes from person to person. Some people might feel their best while avoiding dairy, and that’s perfectly fine. Others may prefer to skip out on red meat or another food, which is great if it’s what’s best for them. Sometimes, the best thing for you may be a chocolate bar or a big plate of cake, and that’s okay too! In the end, intuitive eating means making good choices for the health of your body and mind. “In other words, listening to your body, eating foods that fuel you, and learning what works with your system and what doesn’t. All of this is an effort to create a healthy relationship with food -- removing stress and shame around eating -- which is the antidote to harmful diet culture,” according to FitOn. No more restrictive eating or forgoing an entire food group with this trend! Working Out at Home Many people have seen the value of wellness and keeping their bodies healthy recently, and at the same time, many gyms and fitness studios have been forced to close by the pandemic. This has led virtual, at-home workouts to become a trend. “40 percent of Americans enjoy virtual fitness at least once a week, as they are able to work out from their own homes and access a wide selection of content from across the world,” according to Mindbody Business. Many enjoy the ease that comes with these workouts; they can fit in a quick session during a lunch break or before running errands. An added benefit? These workouts can relieve some of the stress that comes with the pandemic. The pandemic has changed how we live our lives, and it has also brought new trends to the wellness industry. Let Allen Marketing Communications help you navigate these trends. We’re here to help. By Kendall Mason at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.  In this day and age, social media can boost the popularity of an individual, product or company. All it takes is one viral post and BAM you're on the map, just like that! TikTok has taken the world by storm during the last couple of years. In fact, TikTok has been instrumental in creating trends, especially dance crazes and number 1 billboard music hits with one viral video. During the COVID-19 pandemic, business owners are always looking for innovative ways to stay open, run smoothly and attract new customers during an era of social distancing and lockdowns. TikTok presents an opportunity to grow a business due to the social media app’s algorithm geared towards individual people on the app. Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency, shares key insights about using TikTok to build brand and consumer awareness during this epidemic. Did you know . .
Here are a couple of tips for business and savvy marketers to reap the benefits of TikTok.
During this pandemic, TikTok is an instrumental social media platform especially for Gen Zers to discover the people behind the business. TikTok users are keen to support local businesses and find cool, new spots to check out even during this epidemic. Our travel and lifestyle public relations professionals are here to help. Give us a call. By Maria Flouskakos at Allen Marketing Communications, Inc. |
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