Trader Joe’s Joins Branded Podcast Caravan With “Inside Trader Joe’s”

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How did Trader Joe’s become a national chain of 475 different grocery stores? “By being comfortable being different,” the company writes in its announcement of its Inside Trader Joe’s podcast series, adding its name to the long, long list of branded podcast creators out there.

“For the first time, our Captains (store managers) and Crew Members (employees) are taking you Inside Trader Joe’s in a new 5-part series,” the company’s announcement reads.

Inside Trader Joe’s was released in full on the company’s website and across multiple podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and Stitcher. The company declined to comment on how it planned to promote the content or measure its success, though Apple’s recently released podcast analytics tool will likely give the brand the tools to determine if it’s meeting audience expectations.

“Inside Trader Joe’s has allowed us the air—literally—to delve a little deeper into our story and to answer the questions our customers have asked of us, in our own fun and interesting way,” said a Trader Joe’s spokesperson in a statement. “It’s a good start to a conversation we hope to continue.”

For the most part, the podcast purports to educate consumers on the Trader Joe’s brand message, such as whether it plans to sell products online (it doesn’t) and what it takes to get Trader Joe’s to open a new location in a consumer’s neighborhood (asking them). Additionally, Inside Trader Joe’s promises to expose its audience to never-before-heard stories (they once almost went out of business), and its plans for the future (growth).

Though the podcast series is currently limited to five episodes, the retailer hopes that they will have reason to make more.

“We have many more stories to tell,” a Trader Joe’s spokesperson told AListDaily. “So yes, we are interested in producing more episodes.”

Oscar Mayer Releases ‘Bacoin,’ A Cryptocurrency For Bacon

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Oscar Mayer is tapping into—and lightly poking fun at—the blockchain craze by giving away “Bacoin,” a virtual cryptocurrency that can be exchanged for real bacon.

From now until May 14, Oscar Mayer’s Bacoin promotion directs users to a microsite where they can register to participate. Visiting the site each day gives users another chance to win limited amounts of Bacoin in increments of BCNS (slices of bacon), which can be saved up and cashed in for real bacon. According to the site, 11 BCNS is equal to one Bacoin.

A graph on the site updates hourly to display the current value of Bacoin, which thus far has ranged anywhere from three slices to 42. Users can take an approach to Bacoin as casually or seriously as they like depending on how much time they want to spend.

Users can impact the “market value” of Bacoin by sharing the promotion on Twitter and email. Each user is limited to sharing three times on each platform per day but can do so to increase the value of their virtual investments. Once users are satisfied with the best time to cash out, they can trade their Bacoin for real bacon.

Oscar Mayer is promoting the campaign with a video that gently mocks the current technology market. The video depicts a self-important tech entrepreneur and “digital prophet” named Keith Sizzle, who takes credit for the idea of Bacoin while speculating other ideas like bacon conditioner.

The Kraft-owned deli food brand has ventured into technology before to promote its bacon, although it’s been a few years. In 2015, the company introduced Sizzl, a dating app for bacon lovers and in 2014, an iPhone alarm clock that released the sound and smell of bacon when activated.

This isn’t the first time Oscar Mayer used bacon as currency, either. In 2012, the brand partnered with comedian Josh Shankey for the “Great American Bacon Barter,” a promotion to see if he could purchase everything he needed on a coast-to-coast road trip using only bacon.