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🍏 Too Good To Go: From 0 to 700,000 users in 2.5 years
45 Plays3 months ago
This recording is based on one of the top 5 most read newsletters of the last year on The Successstory of Too Good To Go
You are listening to the Summer Edition of the FutureStrategies Podcast - A show about where marketing, strategies and sustainability intersect. I am currently taking a break from interviews. So you will get 5 short episodes over the summer, where I will lead you through the most read postings of my newsletter. Interviews will be back in autumn 2024.
If you are curious for more deep dives from my newsletter, you can sign up with this link.
About Florian Schleicher: I'm a marketing strategist - over the last 15 years I've led and helped shape marketing at McDonald's, Greenpeace and Too Good To Go. Now I help forward-thinking companies take their marketing to the next level.
With FutureS, my Marketing Studio, I help brands achieve their goals and sustainable growth. All without the usual hustle.
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Transcript
Introduction to Future Strategies Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, my name is Florian Schleicher and this is the Future Strategies Podcast, a show about where marketing, strategies and sustainability intersect. You're listening to the Summer Edition, where you will get five short episodes where I will lead you through the most read postings of my newsletter.
Summer Edition Format Explained
00:00:19
Speaker
So over the next couple of weeks, you will get a best off with me. And if you want to read them all, you can sign up anytime with the link in the show notes. I will be back with more exciting interviews from inspiring leaders in autumn this year. So now you can just relax, enjoy, and we'll jump right into it.
00:00:40
Speaker
All right, this is the last podcast before we return to regular interviews. So in two weeks, you will get a brand new interview with an exciting guest right here. You ready for it? Great.
Secrets of Too Good To Go's Growth
00:00:53
Speaker
Then let's talk about Too Good To Go and how we came from zero to 700,000 users in just 2.5 years. I will share five marketing secrets with you on how we turned to startup Too Good To Go into a global movement against food waste and what you can learn from it for your own green marketing.
Building Brand Awareness from Scratch
00:01:12
Speaker
For two and a half years I was able to help shape the Too Good To Go brand as their head of marketing. In the beginning, in a true startup style, I went to the restaurants myself to convince them to save food from going to waste with us. And I often heard, who? Too good to what?
00:01:30
Speaker
Our brand awareness was zero. We had no users and no partners. But little by little, we managed to win over the market. And when I took my next step after two and a half years and started my own company Futures, my team and I could look back on an incredible marketing success story.
00:01:48
Speaker
We came from zero to 700,000 users, increased in supported brand awareness from zero to 54%, had 1,400 press articles about our brand in 2021. We created one of the top six Instagram brand accounts in our country with 120,000 followers and we had 230,000 newsletter signups 340,000 people wanted to get our push notifications.
00:02:19
Speaker
So today, let's look back at how we did that with all my perspectives and experiences from my role.
PR Strategy and Launch Success
00:02:26
Speaker
First, successful go-to-market launch communication. My journey as the head of marketing began in the summer of 2019, as the second employee after our country manager, and my first task was to prepare and execute the launch of our app.
00:02:42
Speaker
We were given a few tools and methods from our HQ in Copenhagen to tackle the launch. But essentially, we were given every freedom expressed by my boss with a simple, you are the expert for your market. You will know what's best. What might be too much of a blank sheet of paper for others immediately motivated me to take action. And with learnings from four years at an agency, my marketing work at McDonald's and Greenpeace,
00:03:08
Speaker
I had a case full of know-how with me and already I had a rough roadmap in my head. It quickly became clear that what we're going to do is put all our eggs in one basket for the launch, which was PR, press relations, because we had a decisive advantage.
Marketing Strategy Centered on Climate Action
00:03:26
Speaker
The app's founders recognize the key customer need. People are overwhelmed by the climate crisis. They want to do something about it, but they don't know what they can do in their everyday lives. And they are looking for very simple ways. At the same time, we know that food waste is omnipresent.
00:03:44
Speaker
even though nobody likes to throw away food. So we use this insight, this understanding of our target audience, as the basis for our launch and our go-to market strategy. Because without this problem-solving approach, we would have fallen into the number one marketing trap.
00:04:01
Speaker
as outlined by Matt Johnston, Prince Gohmann in Blindsight, where they write, the more you can cater your communication style to that of your intended audience, the more effective your message will be. It's important to understand not only the preferences and needs of one's customers, but their communication style as well. Sharp brands pay painstaking attention to customers' vocabulary. The same insight was, we assumed, also relevant for journalists.
00:04:28
Speaker
They too are frustrated with only writing about bad news around the climate crisis, so they are looking for good and local news stories that are worth telling.
Impactful Press Launch in Vienna
00:04:39
Speaker
So we prepared our launch for almost two months, planned a press release together with a PR freelancer and a press event for journalists, and drew distribution lists for the right approach to the right media.
00:04:52
Speaker
In other words, full focus on PR. Because PR offers an advantage that is underestimated by many startups. It's free coverage. Good PR doesn't need a media budget, just time. At the end of August, the time had come. At the press event, we were surprised at how well-received our story was. Even Major News Medium was either there or even wanted to conduct their interview with us.
00:05:19
Speaker
Within a few days, we had over 30 national media reports, and in one swoop, we almost had 30,000 users in Vienna, our capital city. That's the power of good PR. I was also busy setting up the social media channels, but there was no focus on that, so the posts were still sad proof of my lack of graphics skills.
00:05:41
Speaker
Progress over perfection. Because after the launch, I was able to devote more time to the topic.
Growing the User Community
00:05:48
Speaker
Which brings us to the second point, building a community that wants to hear about your brand on an ongoing basis. Too Good to Go has always had a chicken and egg problem. For the app to work, you need users who use it, and restaurants, cafes, hotels, and supermarkets that offer a range of surplus food for collection.
00:06:07
Speaker
So while we were celebrating the success of our first 30,000 users, we had a big problem. We only had 30 businesses saving food with us. So our powerful sales team had their hands full recruiting more partners for our mission.
00:06:22
Speaker
As the head of marketing, it was my job to support them. But since I'm not a good salesman, I had to find another way to help them. Which brings us to our social media accounts. With so much media buzz surrounding our app, it wasn't difficult to build up reach among users on Instagram and Facebook. TikTok didn't exist yet.
00:06:43
Speaker
This also made our channels exciting for our potential partners. Every week, we put the latest companies that were saving valuable food from going to waste with us in the spotlight. Zoe Scanen writes, it's not about your product, it's about their problem. This made the job easier for our fantastic sales team because they could offer their target group another advantage, access to our growing social media community.
00:07:11
Speaker
Later we adapted this access and only mentioned the particularly attractive partners and companies. But in the beginning, this highlight was a boost for their awareness. At this point, we also started to set up our newsletter and push notification strategy.
Newsletter Strategy with Value-Added Content
00:07:26
Speaker
With the newsletter, it was essential for us to produce added value for our B2C target group. So we also offered useful tips on how to avoid food waste in everyday life outside of the app, in the form of recipes and assistance. Because, as Gaiko Asaki said, provide good content and you will earn the right to promote your product.
00:07:50
Speaker
In the meantime, I have also been able to hire my first two marketing employees, a PR manager and a digital manager. Two superheroes without whose work we would never have become so successful. A marketing machine like the one we set up can't just depend on one person. Success requires investment.
00:08:11
Speaker
Added value and authenticity were at the heart of our content strategy. And the most successful posts often were simple videos, which we shot at the office. A quote that inspired me back then comes from Marty Echt, CMO of Harley Davidson. When you walk into our booth, you should feel as if you've just walked into a garage where people have grease, our grease, under their fingernails.
00:08:37
Speaker
After a successful app launch and ongoing communication with our two target audiences, B2C and B2B, it was time to set the course for long-term ongoing
Maintaining PR Momentum with Storytelling
00:08:48
Speaker
growth. Which brings us to the third point, press work that continuously generates reach. Encouraged by our first PR successes around the launch, we had a perfect template for all other city launches.
00:09:02
Speaker
But what do we do when this story has been told so often that it no longer has any news value? For me, this was the real start of our long-term PR strategy. We continuously developed stories that were driven by our brand's vision. Too good to go, dreams of a planet without food waste.
00:09:22
Speaker
A good vision not only provides orientation for all strategic decisions, but also a basis for a successful PR work. Visions are the key to marketing strategies.
00:09:34
Speaker
In PR in particular, it is important not to communicate in a promotional way, but to adopt an external perspective. First of all, we have to develop an exciting story for journalists, the gatekeepers to our actual target audience. So we set out on a search, and here is a small best of our press stories, which often went to small distributors in niches, but also to national media.
Successful PR Stories Beyond User Engagement
00:10:00
Speaker
food waste in an infographic, how three bakeries are declaring more on food waste, two tons of potatoes saved from going to waste, saving popcorn from the movies, and finally, this is how much food is thrown away across the country.
00:10:16
Speaker
We are not only interested in reaching the users of our app, but also to create awareness in the astronomy sector. Because if you are in a newspaper, on TV and on a radio, you gain more credibility or social proof.
00:10:32
Speaker
Our media consultant at that time summarized the most important aspect of our PR ah strategy in an interview that he gave me. He says, good press work means making journalists part of your own network. Journalists don't want to feel pressured, paid or convinced. They want to write their stories of their own accord and need informants to do so.
00:10:57
Speaker
So we should set out and act accordingly. Maximum concise information prepared in such a way that the media representatives don't have an unnecessarily time-consuming job when they have to translate our texts and contents into those of their readers and viewers. It's about abstracting, simplifying the information.
00:11:18
Speaker
And here is an insider tip for PR stories, the 5 sentence technique. Part 1 is a statement, a thesis. Here we create facts with a main sentence. Part 2, 3 and 4 follow. Arguments, aspects or examples are given here to support the main thesis.
00:11:38
Speaker
They are also broken down into short sentences and without any excesses. Part 5 is the conclusion, presumably the customer benefit in the business case, to which the thesis and arguments ultimately lead.
00:11:55
Speaker
With the ongoing marketing mix of PR, social media, and our CRM channels, we managed to get an engine running for our sustainable growth. Within 1.5 years, we were on track for success.
Campaigns for Reducing Food Waste
00:12:07
Speaker
50% of our users actively recommended us, saving us massive amounts of money. And the conversion from registered users to active users grew by 30% within a year. We were among the top three countries in terms of app activity at Tuku Tugo.
00:12:25
Speaker
Let's move to point number four, marketing campaigns that embody the vision. The duty was fulfilled. Our app had arrived and both users and partner companies were growing. So we could have set back and more or less watch it grow.
00:12:41
Speaker
But there was this vision of a planet without food waste, and we weren't just creating it with the app. So we launched two major campaigns that had no direct effect on our core business. First, professionals against food waste.
00:12:57
Speaker
our B2B campaign in which we joined forces with six of the best chefs in the country to raise awareness of food waste in the top gastronomy. In short videos, they gave insights into their tips for more saved food and recipe recommendations for leftovers and thus motivated other businesses to think about Too Good To Go. In just two weeks, we reached one million contacts.
00:13:24
Speaker
with an engagement rate of 2% and manage to reduce the costs of our B2B inbound funnel by 82% and achieve a cost of acquisition of 700 euros. An incredible step considering how much time a single salesperson invests into the acquisition of a business.
00:13:44
Speaker
This campaign was implemented by our fantastic B2B marketing expert, together with Falstaff magazine, who helped us with finding the professionals and producing the videos in their kitchens.
Highlighting Best Before Date Misunderstandings
00:13:56
Speaker
The second campaign is the Look, Smell, Taste, Don't Waste, Often Good After campaign.
00:14:03
Speaker
This campaign is one of the ones I'm most proud of in my career, and I still think it's one of the best marketing campaigns in the world. Conceived by the global creative team in Copenhagen and implemented by our public affairs manager, it focused on one key learning. 10% of all food ends up in the trash because of misunderstandings around best before dates.
00:14:27
Speaker
Many customers believe that food is poisonous as soon as it has passed its sell-by date. However, they are often edible for longer. In short, they are good. So we launched a national awareness campaign often good after.
00:14:43
Speaker
The challenge for Too Good to Go was that we not only wanted to draw media attention to the fact that everybody can simply look at the food, smell it, or try it before it ends up in a bin, but to also communicate directly at the point where the best before date is printed. That's why we backed and started a collaboration with 26 national and international food producers at the time, who printed our informational label on all of their products.
00:15:12
Speaker
Not a single cent was paid for this. Companies wanted to be involved because they considered their products to be valuable. We wanted our label on their products because our vision guided us.
00:15:23
Speaker
The result was one of the best campaigns ever, because after just 10 days, we had more than 150 press reports about often good afternoon. We had 13,000 visits on our landing page with an average time spent of over 2 minutes. We had a support video from the Minister of Environment.
00:15:45
Speaker
We had 800,000 impressions through influencers and a national advertising campaign that had an ah ROI of 300%. This screen marketing campaign was a win-win-win for everyone. Producers were able to position themselves as more sustainable. Consumers now knew how they can save food at home and our environment, which is happy because valuable food ends up where it belongs.
00:16:11
Speaker
Solitaire Townsend writes, sustainability is a game with no losers. The world gets a little bit better, a little bit healthier, a little more beautiful, a little more just and free, and you get to enjoy what it feels like to have made the difference.
Award-Winning 'Often Good After' Campaign
00:16:26
Speaker
And as head of marketing, I was also delighted that we were able to win four Effies. These are awards for the most efficient campaign of the year. It took us a preparation time of over six months to execute this campaign. Great successes take time and are not born overnight, which leads us to a second thing that success needs. And this is also the final point of this podcast, a team of experts.
Importance of a Comprehensive Marketing Team
00:16:54
Speaker
Marketing without a strategy is like cooking with without a recipe. And marketing without experts is like cooking without a spoon and a pot. I see time and time again how startups in particular cut back on the marketing team. When I ended my journey at Too Good To Go after two and a half years, our marketing team consisted of seven people. Every big brand, every magic brand, from McDonald's to Airbnb to Apple, Lego, Patagonia and Oatly, they all have a team of experts.
00:17:25
Speaker
And yes, that's an investment. Without cooking equipment, it will be difficult to put a dish on the table that never fails to delight. This is why Too Good to Go invested in experienced marketing experts, strategists, social media and PR professions, graphic designers, public affairs specialists and B2B marketing experts right from the start. Initially in collaboration with great freelancers and then with permanent team members.
00:17:54
Speaker
I'm incredibly proud to have been part of this team and I know that without the work of all my colleagues, both nationally and internationally, we would not have had all this success.
Nine Essential Learnings from Florian
00:18:06
Speaker
So here are nine of my learnings in a nutshell on how we made it from zero to 700,000 users with Too Good to Go and a well-oiled marketing machine. First, a good marketing strategy has three components, a diagnosis, guiding principles and actions in this order. Second, preparation time is essential for a success. Take enough time for strategy and planning.
00:18:31
Speaker
Third, understand in a diagnosis what drives and what moves your target audience before you communicate. This applies to B2C and B2B and journalists. Fourth, get experts. Marketing is not a part-time job. Freelancers are a perfect bridge to full-time employees. Fifth, PR is the most underestimated marketing tool for startups. so All you need are great stories and an understanding of the process.
00:18:59
Speaker
6. Focus, focus, focus. It's better to get one topic, one region and one channel right before you expand further. 7. Find external partners and multipliers to help you get closer to your vision and establish long-term relationships.
00:19:19
Speaker
Eighth, if you want to change consumer behavior sustainably, you have to think bigger than just your product. Your brand must stand for more. Ninth, strategic marketing is an art. And just because many people believe that they can do marketing on the side doesn't mean that anything good can come from it. So that's it. Obviously, there was a lot more involved, but these are my nine key learnings.
00:19:45
Speaker
By the way, if you're looking for the final proof of the difference between experts and beginners, scroll down to the very beginning of To Good To Go's Instagram account. There you can see what happens when a marketing strategist like myself writes and designs social media posts.
00:20:05
Speaker
That's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. If you have enjoyed this episode, please give me a rating and forward it to a friend. This means the world to me because I pour my heart into the production of these episodes.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:20:19
Speaker
If you're looking for an easy way to learn the basics of strategic and sustainable marketing, check out the Simple and Sustainable Marketing Academy. This is my online group learning format for founders and future marketing experts.
00:20:33
Speaker
Or you can sign up to my newsletter where I write about marketing strategies and sustainability with a lot of examples and methods that you can use yourself. And finally, if you want me to help you with the project, please just reach out to me through LinkedIn or my website with the link in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening and I look forward to sharing more with you in the next episode.