What Are Food Brands Currently Looking For When Creating Content

by Clare Cassidy

As a video agency for food companies, the team here at Curious Crab has had a unique opportunity to work with many marketing teams. Gleaning insights from a variety of perspectives, approaches and strategies has really informed our approach to shooting food. It’s not just about beauty shots of gorgeous dishes or products. These days consumers want so much more from their food content.

A hands-on approach

Let’s be honest, on a lazy Sunday afternoon most of us are not reading War and Peace, but rather idly scrolling through a steady stream of foodie pics and recipes. Maybe we will pick a recipe and cook it for lunch, make an afternoon out of shopping and prepping, or maybe we will just carry on scrolling until our hand starts to cramp and our phone falls on our face. Either way we want to consume recipes at a rapid rate, and that presents food brands with a wealth of opportunity. Exciting, accessible, and trendy recipes are key to getting food brands on the grid, preferably with a clever hack thrown in. Here at Curious Crab we develop and test recipes before shoots to maximise taste, originality and ease of use. The key is to get viewers involved with the product, inspire them to use it, rather than simply admire a beautifully styled hero shot from a distance. This Truffle Hunters Recipe is a great example of combining gorgeous foody shots with a simple recipe that takes a premium product and makes it accessible to an entirely new audience.

Tell a Story

Let’s not forget the story behind your food brand. A good video can really connect consumers with your brand values and origin. Whether it is a well-crafted mini documentary taking viewers behind the scenes or a short fun animation communicating some serious values, there are many ways to get your story across. Where is it sourced, how is it grown, who are the people who get this food to our fork, where is the farm? Consumers want to know these things, and it’s a good opportunity to make an authentic connection with your audience.

Look & Feel

And finally, the most important question for a food video agency: does it look good? Again, the criteria for this have changed over the years. Here at Curious Crab we talk a lot about the ‘ooze factor’ of a shot. Is it dripping in sauce, oozing flavour and yum factor? Does it look like someone is already tucking into the dish? Is it messy, fun, dynamic? The idea is to create ‘food in action.’ Food being lifted, consumed, dripping, bubbling, crunching. Enough! It’s time to hit the kitchen. Go ahead, whip up something delicious and think about your next campaign. Will it deliver on flavour, story and inspiration? Give us a call if you’re looking to take things to the next level.