Branding, Category Growth, and…Food Trucks

“Good afternoon–step right up! Take a look at the options and pick what you want!” These were the lines that we heard recently right outside the Carlson School of Management in Minneapolis…

Did we visit a carnival? Not even close. But did we walk away with amazing food from brightly colored vehicles with music? Absolutely. This past week at Carlson, we were fortunate to have a visit from the owners of two food trucks that operate out of Minneapolis – Hot Indian Foods and O’Cheeze.  Amol Dixit, the owner of Hot Indian Foods, and Haley and Tony Fritz, the owners of O’Cheeze, parked in front of Carlson this past week and participated in a panel discussion before taking us out to their trucks for lunch. The event fit right into the middle of the day during lunch time for students and staff alike, since the campus is located right on the East side of Minneapolis.  

The Carlson Marketing Network and student MBA Association co-hosted the event for the student body. We spent 45 minutes with Amol, Tony, and Haley where they answered questions from our student moderator, Brandon Jernigan, who headed up the event with Sarah Walsh, our VP of Community. The three entrepreneurs answered questions about how they built their brand, the use of social media to grow revenue, and the challenges associated with starting a business. It was really encouraging to hear about their experiences in building brands around a food concept to differentiate in a competitive market, through the use of various means, especially social media and digital advertising – but most importantly, word of mouth!