Giant Summer BBQ Battle Recipe Videos

I think that the hope of any business aspiring to content market should be this: to find the type of content that not only speaks to them as a business but also to their consumers. Sometimes, finding this content can be the process of meticulous planning, focus groups, or throwing random shit at the wall to see what sticks. Other times, finding this medium can be something that a business randomly happens upon while executing on other promotional ends.

 

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That is the story of what ultimately happened when Seal the Seasons decided to participate in Giant Foods’ annual Giant Summer BBQ Recipe Battle. Now, it isn’t actually a battle per se (or at least, I don’t think it is), but as part of celebrating summer, Giant Foods invites all of its grocer partners to submit video recipe content that incorporates the partner’s product as an ingredient.

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With Seal the Seasons being a company that specializes in frozen produce, this left the business with a wide array of options for videos that they could submit. Ultimately, I was tapped to deliver on three videos that corresponded to several recipes located on the Seal the Seasons website. Collectively, these recipes were for Cherry BBQ Sauce, Berry Blend Sangria, and Frozen Peach Cobbler.

 

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Initially, I was reticent about how many videos we could actually shoot within a day. But something that we learned was with a regular flow of people doing cooking, cleaning, setting up and breaking down of equipment, and filming, we could fit exactly 3 videos within a 6-hour shoot. Additionally, having access to sufficient space for filming recipe videos in a kitchen (which was the primary limiting factor before) also provided opportunities to understand that while shoots in contained environments are more gear-intensive, they are also easier to control with much better end results.

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In closing, both I and the client were very pleased with the outcome of these videos—and with additional planning (and maybe a couple of new toys), their quality could be elevated even further. But Seal the Seasons’ submissions for Giant’s Summer BBQ Battle are avowedly a strong start.

 

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Moving forward, I am now in the process of collaborating with Seal the Seasons on a series of recipe videos that reflect many of the lessons learned in the brand’s collaboration with Giant foods. One of the things that I verbalized to the company leadership upon reaching the end of this project, was that the brand had likely found a format that they should continue to run with, as a way of creating value-generating that has the greatest possibility for success. Ultimately, while the brand’s experimentation with the Meet the Farmers may not have actually panned out into a permanent project, this is why taking risks works. Sure, just as much as Meet the Farmers was a risk, so was dedicating the time, energy, and resources towards the Giant BBQ Battle. In the end, however, by taking the time to try things, it is possible for businesses to get closer to what they are looking for. After all, with enough diligence, the things destined to work for us will soon enough, pan out.