Lost in a Kitchen in Maine: MBA 672

Individual Assignment 3
Catherine Darragh
Member of Group 7
Company: Good To-Go

Good To-Go is very active on Facebook and Instagram. They post at least a few times each week, and boost their posts by partnering with other brands for specials, give aways and pairings. About a year ago they started investing money into gaining more followers by boosting their posts on a regular basis. They are currently at 14,667 followers on Facebook, but have found that they receive more interaction through Instagram and that loyal followers are more valuable than those gained through financed boosts. Their strategy has changed from post boosts on Facebook to more Instagram heavy content and interaction through comments and shares. Currently, they prioritize customer engagement (i.e. comments, likes, shares) over total number of people reached.

They also put a fair amount of resources towards great food photography, videos for each of their products, and promotions. They work with various food photographers and bloggers on a trade system - food for photos. Given their status as a relatively young company (and the high quality of their food) there are a lot of artists willing to work with them. They have also invested money into creating videos for each of their product lines, which are shared on Facebook intermittently in concert with promotions, and available on their website with each product (for example, Mexican Quinoa Bowl on website and vimeo).

Compared to their biggest competitors - Mountain House and Backpacker's Pantry - Good To-Go fares very well. They have much fewer followers than Mountain House's 162,225, but their engagement over the last 100 posts has been comparable in many cases, as you can see on the graph below.

Good To-Go, Mountain House, and Backpacker's Pantry Reactions

Backpacker's Pantry has only 8,065 followers, and seems to be struggling to achieve engagement. In fact, some of their branding lately has shifted to match Good To-Go's more artistic and food-focused style, as you can see below in the contrasting Instagram posts. The "throwback" packaging resembles what is currently being phased out of stores, packages that emphasize the outdoors rather than the food inside whereas the new branding tries to focus more on the food and eating/outdoors experience as a whole.

Backpacker's Pantry New Branding

Backpacker's Pantry Old Branding

Good To-Go's total engagement tends to correspond roughly with the number of likes, shares, and comments (see graph). All of their posts have some kind of picture, video, or engaging link accompanying them. They are also very prompt about responding to questions and comments.

Good To Go Engagement

The most recent peak, September 14th, 2017, was due to a collaboration with Ruffwear (see picture). Their second most popular post was a celebration of their Gorham Launchpad win, June 7, 2017. In general, Good To-Go has found that collaboration with other companies is a great way to increase engagement, and tend to seek out opportunities frequently. They also receive a lot of engagement on giveaways and promotions, and schedule those out in a financially realistic manner. They've won multiple prizes - for their Thai Curry, Oatmeal, and Mexican Quinoa Bowl. These competitions require an investment in money and resources, so Good To-Go does not always participate, but they have found that the sales uptick and Facebook engagement is very worthwhile. Their participation in Greenlight Maine, Gorham Launchpad, and their win at the Gorham Launchpad competition this past summer also created a lot of great buzz and helped to boost their online presence.


September 14th Ruffwear Post - most popular of last 100 posts

June 7, 2017 Post - second most popular of last 100 posts

In general, Good To-Go has worked hard to create a very engaging social media presence. Their pictures and posts have a great balance between celebrating their high quality food and the outdoors community. Collaborations with other companies, food photographers, and the various competitions they enter have boosted their followers and engagement over the last year, and they have a very loyal following. Their focus on quality over quantity, and willingness to give away their product in return for various services has been very effective.

Their next challenge, addressing seasonality, will be well served by the framework that they already have in place. Our job will be to identify new strategic partners moving forward as they work to break into markets other than the outdoors while still remaining true to their core message:

Create the most delicious meals, using clean ingredients, to be enjoyed wherever your adventures take you.

SCREENSHOTS FROM FACEBOOK CRAWLING