Uncle Ray’s was looking for a major brand upgrade. With such a deep history in the local Detroit community, and the heritage of the brand, this was a no brainer. Uncle Ray started in business in 1965 out of the back seat of his 1961 Dodge Dart. A self made man who never went to college, Ray made and sold chip dips, popcorn and shrimp cocktail sauce to local bars and store in the Detroit area.
In the early hours of the morning, Ray would be busy making his concoctions in his small apartment kitchen – and during the day, he would be out on the road selling his product. In 2016 Uncle Ray was looking to expand their product into new markets and grow sales and popularity. The were in the middle of talks with the MiLB but wanted to get ahead of the game.
“We had $150, and we started with chip dip. We had a local dairy make the chip dip, and I sold it to taverns, to bowling allies, to little stores, out of the back seat of my car”
The over haul was to change everything about the brand. Starting with an entire new product packaging line and a complete upgrade to their online presence. Brian Gaggin, VP Marketing and Sales for Uncle Ray’s, had just made an agreement with the MiLB and that was really driving the push for a massive change.
Uncle Ray’s was looking for a major brand upgrade. With such a deep history in the local Detroit community, and the heritage of the brand, this was a no brainer. Uncle Ray started in business in 1965 out of the back seat of his 1961 Dodge Dart. A self made man who never went to college, Ray made and sold chip dips, popcorn and shrimp cocktail sauce to local bars and store in the Detroit area.
In the early hours of the morning, Ray would be busy making his concoctions in his small apartment kitchen – and during the day, he would be out on the road selling his product. In 2016 Uncle Ray was looking to expand their product into new markets, grow sales and increase popularity. They were in the middle of talks with the MiLB but wanted to get ahead of the game.
One of the solutions I provided was to let the fans help promote the product. The Uncle Ray’s corporate office was fielding calls and filtering individual and distributer request through paper messages. Living away from my home town it was always hard to find items I grew up with. As a teen I worked for a local grocer and I recall people making requests to have new items stocked on the shelves. After some research I was able to put together a general request form that would satisfy the IFPS guidelines. As the website was being built this form was being put into place by tying into the current inventory management system. The results were a massive increase in brand awareness via social media, MiLB stadium events, and online videos. Sales increased and Uncle Ray is delivering smiles and great tasting products.