A Bright Spot in a Chaotic Year: SRW Agency Gathers Natural Foods Partners to Pool Positive Growth for Good

CHICAGO, Dec. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday December 11, SRW, an independent agency with a penchant for growing natural, wellness and better for your food brands, convened its first annual keynote address. Fortunate to be a food-focused agency while consumers turned to natural foods more than ever, SRW deftly navigated the pandemic with and for its partners, reporting an estimated 140% revenue growth for the agency in 2020 (3MM, 2019 to ~7MM, 2020), and clients seeing matching gains in their respective industries.

"We, and our partners, are keenly aware of how lucky we are to have grown in the past year, with even brighter futures ahead," said SRW co-founder and Chairman, Charlie Stone. "With that growth comes the responsibility to share our learnings, and help leverage our good thinking and resources to help our partners do good, within their own companies and throughout the world."

The company normally brings its client partners together in-person during the natural foods Expo East and West, but with events going virtual this year, found a new way to allow its portfolio of natural foods brands to gather to reflect on the year and benefit from their shared network.

The day was billed as a chance to take key learnings into 2021, making lemons from the chaos of a wild year in CPG, and the world at large.

SRW's powerhouse of five accomplished female department leaders took center stage to share their insights about Strategy (Nicole Teeters), creative (Lauren Hayes and Adenike Akinbisehin), Paid Media (Melissa Sweere) and Public Relations (Ashley Thomas). Their key takeaways for better-for-you brands, and more, included:

• With consumers flocking to online grocery, it's more important than ever that brands generate awareness BEFORE consumers visit digital shelves. This is especially true for Gen Z shoppers, whose purchasing power will grow significantly in 2020.
• Speaking of online grocery, it's time to make sure your intern isn't handling your Instacart campaigns. Kroger and Costco entered the ranks of top 10 online retailers this year, accounting for over 22 billion dollars in consumer spending.
• It was a hard year to be a creative! The number one way to make sure you're getting the best work from your team at this time: Know who you are as a brand, know what you're trying to do, and be a champion for those things to your teams.
• The most PR-worthy brands know who they are - and what they stand for. 2020 was the year that consumers showed they want to know what brands care about. The ones who stand for something, truly stand out.

Moreover, Media Director Melissa Sweere cautioned brands to consider how much time they spend focusing on in-feed content, now that consumer expectations have shifted to believe that brands will find them - not the other way around. "Consider how much effort you're spending on your in-feed content versus your ads. If it's a 2:1 ratio, you need to flip it," said Sweere.

The SRW team also explored the role of influencer marketing and the ability to leverage influencers as content creators. Creative Director and agency veteran Lauren Hayes championed the role of the agency in this relationship, to ensure each brand gets the best work from every partner, that feels on brand for all parties.

Co-founders Charlie Stone and Kate Weidner were on-hand to emcee, with SRW's Chief Inclusion Officer Megan Abman sharing tips to enhance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in client-agency relationships. Co-founder Brian Rolling pulled double duty as DJ and led a panel of nonprofit advocates in a discussion on how food brands can help resolve America's health disparities - inequities which have grown more pronounced in the past nine months. The panel featured experts from organizations such as the Healthy Schools Campaign delivering actionable steps on how to leverage corporate time, treasure and talents, even in the pandemic.

"One of SRW's company values is that we care: about the work, about each other, and about the world around us," said Rolling, who also leads SRW's non-profit and pro-bono work. "Our partners feel the same way, and we're lucky to be able to guide their intentions into action."

Over twenty client partners were in attendance, including Kite Hill, Harvest Snaps, Path of Life, Simple Mills, American Flatbread, Brazi Bites, Nutritional Brands, Base Culture, and This Little Goat - SRW's latest client win, a line of delicious, clean label sauces and spices from well-known Chef Stephanie Izard.

"We joked that with the low bar set by 2020, this keynote would be the best Friday of the year - but it truly turned out to be," said Weidner. "We're grateful for the opportunity to bring our portfolio of brands doing good in the world together, to help them all do even better, together."

VP Accounts Bennett Dixon rounded out the day with a client success panel, highlighting SRW's client partners who made brilliant moves in a wild year to come out better than before. Participants included Kite Hill, Terra Ingredients and Path of Life

"SRW helped us navigate the world of online grocery to capitalize on a very big moment for the freezer section," said panel participant, SRW client and Path of Life VP Sales Audrea Fulton. "Our brand turned a corner when we started working together. Through their team, we never miss an opportunity, and they truly helped us make the best out of a period that could have been total chaos."

Media contact:
Ashley Thomas
[email protected] 
224.234.5232

SOURCE SRW Agency