The DeBroff DeBrief

Can Toyota restore that new car smell?

Today's guest post is by Mom Central Spark Chief Mom Connector, Eileen Calandro. She will be attending the Toyota’s Sienna Design & Drive Event later this week.

You know how a new car smells. It’s the smell of Never Been Used. The smell of test-drive miles, not road-trip miles. My 10-year-old van is far away from that new car smell. It has been through several rounds of “what’s that smell?” and has the everyday scent of backpacks, snacks, and sporting events, mixed with a hint of beach. I drive the quintessential white minivan and if it could talk it would tell you stories for days.

7 grains and 1 mom on a mission: Mom Central visits Kashi day two

Today’s guest post is from Mom Central team member, Anne-Marie Nichols, who edits Mom Central Food and runs Mom Central Blogger University.

On the second day of the Kashi Mom Blogger event, we went for a hike in Torrey Pines State Reserve with people from Kashi and FormulaPR. After we climbed a big hill with me bringing up the rear (I’m a slow hiker, what can I say?) we walked along the beach, and watched the military jets fly overhead on their way out to sea.

After we stretched, we were driven to Great News, a fabulous cookware store and cooking school with a very professional set up including cameras over the stoves. If you live in the area, you must visit their store or take a class.

More Kashi people joined us and we broke up into teams to cook two dishes each. We made a large, delicious lunch using Kashi products and shopped while it was cooking. The most popular kitchen gadget was the onion goggles, special goggles you wear that stop you crying when you cut up onions. I bought a pair of Corvette red ones and they really do work.

Lunch was delicious and cooking it was fun. It also gave us mom bloggers time to socialize with the folks from Kashi while we were cooking delicious dishes. One of my favorites was this recipe, even though it didn’t feature a Kashi product:

Corn, Tomato and Basil Salad
Serves 6

If corn isn’t in season, use canned corn instead.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons of grapeseed oil
• 6 large ears of white corn, husks and silk removed, kernels cut off the cob
• 1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
• juice of 3 to 4 limes
• 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chiffonade fresh basil
• 1 pint tear drop or grape tomatoes, washed, drained and sliced in half.

Directions:

1. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, heat the oil and saute the corn. Stir occasionally until the corn just begins to brown.
2. Add the garlic and continue to saute for 1 minute more.
3. Transfer to a sheet tray and cool.
4. In a large bowl combine lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
5. Add the corn mixture, basil and tomatoes.
6. Combine and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
7. Chill covered for 3 to 8 hours.
8. Serve.

7 grains and 1 mom on a mission: Mom Central visits Kashi (Day One)

Today’s guest post is from Mom Central team member, Anne-Marie Nichols, who edits Mom Central Food and runs Mom Central Blogger University.

When I found out that I’d be representing Mom Central at the Kashi Mom Blogger event last month in San Diego, I was thrilled. Not only had I spent half my life in San Diego, but I had been eating Kashi for as long as I could remember. My dad was a health food nut and used to buy Kashi at a small, funky health food store in the Hillcrest section of San Diego. In more ways than one, with this trip I was returning home… and bringing the kids with me. (Yes, Nathan and Lucie were invited, too, and stayed with caregivers at the hotel while I was at the event.)

Yoga at the beach and more

We stayed at the La Jolla Shores, right on the Pacific Ocean. The hotel was another trip down memory lane for me. My family and I used to stay there while my parents looked to buy a home in San Diego. (We eventually moved from New Jersey to El Cajon, about 30 minutes inland from La Jolla.)

The first morning, I got to meet all the bloggers in the lobby:

• 5 Minutes For Mom and Say It Face to Face  – Susan Carraretto
• Alpha Mom – Isabel Kallman
• BabyCenter’s “MOMformation”/ Mrs. Mogul  / Mogul Baby – Lisa Estall
• Hot Moms Club – Michelle Fryer
• Mommy Tracked and lizziebtv.com – Lizzie Bermudez

After handing over my kids to the caregivers (Lisa brought her family, too), the people from FormulaPR (Kashi’s PR firm) and several employees of Kashi met us for yoga on the beach, including David DeSouza, General Manager of Kashi. (If you ever get the chance to do yoga in the sand, do it. It’s a much more forgiving surface than wood, since you can really dig your toes in.) What a great way to start the day!

Afterwards we had breakfast back at the hotel and noshed on Kashi cereals, bars and waffles. While we ate, we watched a presentation about Kashi’s history (there original office used to be practically down the street from the hotel), the background behind the name, and the story behind the 7 grains.

Most importantly they touched on their philosophy (“Kashiness”) and corporate culture:

• They want everyone to live a healthy lifestyle.
• Do good first. Doing well will come later.
• Consumer needs come first. People fuel their mission.
• They love healthy, enjoyable, natural food.
• They’re guided by their roots.
• Measures of their success are holistic.
• They connect people to their company by using stories from their employees.

You can read more about Kashi’s mantra here.

Then they gave a brief overview of all their brands. We’d be covering this more when we got to their headquarters.

• Kashi U – organic, sustainable packaging
• TLC – taking care of yourself while you’re snacking
• GoLean – first company to use protein in a cereal. Great initial response from people doing the Weight Watchers plan.
• Heart to Heart – heart health
• Vive – digestive health
• Good Friends – for older people
• Mighty Bites – for kids
• Organic Promise cereals – not all the seven grains, but totally organic

We found out who is eating Kashi:

• Those who are on a journey to better health. Either the people who are very aware of health issues and shop at health food stores (“Disciples”). Or the “Managers and Investors” who are more mainstream and buy Kashi at regular grocery stores and club stores. Kashi has been aimed towards both groups as neither has to be convinced to eat healthier.
• Traditionally Kashi has been marketing to women and those in their 20s and 30s. Now they want to expand more to families and kids and are starting campaigns aimed at moms. This is the main reason they had us out and asked for our feedback on advertising copy and packaging.
• Kashi is not about what they don’t put in their cereals (fat, additives, salt) but what they add to their cereals (fiber, protein, 7 grains, plant sterols, antioxidants, etc.) They believe that their products provide a physical and emotional sense of fulfillment. They want to be seen as good stuff to eat that’s more mainstream. However, they don’t believe in making healthy versions of Oreos or Pop Tarts – that’s not Kashiness.

Some Kashi stats:

• More new customers are reached through PR than via other marketing efforts.
• 400,00+ people involved in Kashi.com community
• 3.7 million people have heard about Kashi and were convinced to purchase through a viral Kashi consumer.

We also met with their natural lifestyle and food expert, Keegan Sheridan, DN. She’s currently featured in Kashi’s “Do What Comes Naturally – Easy Ways to Live Naturally at Work” ad. (Kashi mostly uses employees in their ads.) Keegan is a licensed doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Kashi’s Natural Food and Lifestyle Expert. (You can learn more about her at health.com/kashi.) Keegan explained her mission was to define what natural means at Kashi.

Keegan was a great source of information. For example, she told us that just because a product says it’s made from a whole grain, doesn’t mean that it is made with a whole wheat, soy or oatmeal grain. It could have the endosperm from barley the bran from wheat. This is called reconstituting grains. I had no idea that this was done by food companies. However, Kashi doesn’t do this.

She also told us that Kashi:

• uses evaporated cane juice when the product isn’t sweet enough naturally from fruit or grains and add just enough to make the product palatable to consumers.
• uses expeller pressed oils.
• cannot go completely organic – though they’d love to – because all their grains aren’t available organically in quantities and qualities needed.
• only fortifies their cereals with extras like phytonutrients, antioxidants and heart healthy additives like folic acid. They aren’t replacing nutrients that were removed during manufacturing and replacing them like traditionally fortified cereals.

The Power of Connectivity!

At Mom Central, we value connectivity. As Moms, whether we strike up friendships with other women, online or off, or use our influence and passion to make a difference with brands, our lives revolve around our ability to connect. Both personally and professionally, the power of connectivity never fails!

 

Through Mom Central Consulting, I am fortunate enough to work with a number of really incredible brands that feel the same way and a recent experience with Electrolux served as a great example. About a week ago, a Mom Central member reached out to me to help her get in touch with the brand.  Electrolux works with us often to feature appliance reviews and giveaways on our website, so when Kimberly Kaindl found herself having trouble reaching their customer service center, she turned to Mom Central.  We forwarded her request on to our Electrolux brand contacts, who quickly and professionally handled the situation – on a weekend, no less! 

 

Kimberly was kind enough to send me the below note thanking Mom Central and Electrolux for stepping up and helping resolve her situation.  Electrolux went above and beyond the call of duty to show how much they care about connecting with their customers. Like Moms, they truly value connectivity – not to mention great service. So, with that said, I would like to give a standing ovation to the Electrolux brand, and also thank Kimberly for taking the time to write me such a thoughtful note about her experience connecting with Mom Central!

 

Dear Stacy,
 
I wanted to follow up with you on the wonderful results that I had because I joined Mom Central and sent you an email. First I received an email about my dryer from the Launch Manager at Electrolux.  By Sunday, she had called another Manager over warranties and product. By Monday we spoke on the phone. They are replacing my dryer no questions asked. He talked about how they are all about customer service. He was not exactly sure how this got to his level so quickly, thinking it was the customer service route. I then told him I did not get far with that route, but proceeded to tell him my story about contacting Mom Central- CEO and founder via email. He appreciated this feedback.  He wants the dryer back in his possession so he can make sure that this is an isolated problem, and they can examine exactly what is wrong. I am glad they are taking this approach.
 
So in the end, your attention to my email was the most effective way for me to resolve this issue.
 
Thank you so much for caring, I have sent out an announcement to my friends via my Facebook about this and how great I was treated by Mom Central. I had posted what happened before my email to you and the responses were incredible. I have many thanking me for calling attention to your website!!! I don’t know your story or how you came to create Mom Central, but great job!!
 
Very Sincerely,
Kimberly Kaindl