Of Pumpkins and LTOs in Food and Beverage

‘Tis the season of pumpkin-flavored everything, folks. Most of it is inedible in my experience. Some of it, though, is amazing. If you’ve been mulling over whether or not to add seasonal flavors to your UPC mix as an early-stage brand, this post is for you. You no doubt see lots of folks doing this, so it’s fair to at least think this through.

Let’s break it down:

• Does your category historically feature seasonal flavors? Coffee, Cookies, Beer? Then, yes. Flour, Soda, Frozen meals? No. If your category does not culturally play in the season’s flavor space, you really, really need to be a premium flavor innovator to get away with this. Generally, though, you should only think of this if the major brands have been doing it for years.
• Can you manage accurate sell-in and resale of unsold inventory (or does this make your head want to explode)? Look, for an early-stage brand, LTOs are primarily a way to grab an extra slot at the shelf and increase your TDPs (i.e., total distribution points). In other words, it’s a shelf-depth strategy that may or may not add to total revenue
• How many should you offer each year? In Phases 1-2, no more than 1 is my advice unless you are your own manufacturer. Then you can probably do 2-3 each year or one per season, like craft beer, if this is culturally sensible in your category.
• Are you prepared to do the R&D to make it superb? If not, then please, please don’t waste your time. A lazy, mediocre LTO to join the seasonal frenzy or just grab a slot will confuse your fans. ‘Why would their pumpkin product be so crappy?’ that undermines memorability and makes it more likely you just shortened your fans’ time-in-brand. 

But remember, seasonal flavors are just ONE example of a Limited Time Offer. There are other ways to think about them that might stem from the cultural dynamics of your supply chain, for example. This is what the McRib is about. It’s about McDonald’s waiting for just the right price on beef ribs (at massive scale). Your supply chain and category may also have a similar convergence of rarity that could make for a low-volume LTO that boosts memorability and engagement with your brand.