Since 2018, Jing Gao has been building an empire of Sichuan-inspired cuisine, starting with Fly by Jing’s famous Chili Crisp sauce and now including products like dumplings and hot-pot sets. In 2021, the brand’s revenue was reported as being “eight figures.”

We spoke with Gao about the marketing and branding tactics that have worked for the brand, how it’s retained and grown its customer base, and what’s coming up in 2023.

“Not traditional, but personal”

Packaging on Fly by Jing’s Chili Crisp jar reads, “Food by Jenny, who increasingly goes by her birth name, Jing, and was born in Chengdu but grew up everywhere and uses her experience as a trained chef to share meaningful flavors that open people up to new ideas and conversations.”

• Gao told us that keeping her personal story and connection to the brand front and center has been key to connecting with customers. “It’s never just been about a hot sauce that you can put on anything. It’s really about one person's story and one person’s recipe that she developed in Sichuan,” she said.
• The Kickstarter-era jar design for Chili Crisp did not include Gao's personal story. “When we first launched, my objective was really to create a design that made you look twice,” she said.
• When Gao realized there was a brand story to be told to those first encountering it on a shelf, she said it was time for a rebrand. “Being very honest and open with our customers and talking to them like they’re friends and at our level, I think people really appreciate that,” she said.

It’s also helped the brand’s growth over the last four years, according to Gao. While the brand does some paid marketing on Meta platforms and TikTok, as well as influencer and affiliate marketing, Gao said that “word-of-mouth and organic marketing is largely how we’ve grown.”

Continue reading here.—KH

Being a member of the press has some perks. For someone who writes about TV, one of them is being a part of the Television Critics Association, an organization that holds biannual press tours where TV networks and streaming services bring executives and show talent together to discuss their programming strategy and highlight their biggest new shows.

Devastatingly, Morning Brew is not attending this winter’s press tour due to a vicious weeks-long sinus infection (please send Dayquil), but we nonetheless wanted to provide an overview of the tour, which officially kicked off on Monday.

Some of the highlights:

• Abbott Elementary, the hit ABC series created by and starring Quinta Brunson, was renewed for a third season
• Grown-ish, the spinoff of the acclaimed series black-ish, will return for a sixth season on the Disney-owned cable channel Freeform
• There’s the possibility of more than three seasons of the Patrick Stewart-led Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+
• Fear the Walking Dead, an AMC spinoff of The Walking Dead, will end after its eighth season, but two more TWD spinoffs will begin airing later this year, while a third arrives in 2024

Quieter than usual: As the press tour continues, it’s worth noting that it has a smaller network presence compared to prior years. CBS, Fox, The CW, Showtime, and Starz all sat this one out, as did Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.

In other non-TCA TV news: Warner Bros. Discovery streamer HBO Max is getting its first-ever price hike since debuting in 2020. The cost of the ad-free tier of the service will increase by $1 to $15.99 a month for US subscribers, but the $9.99 price tag on HBO Max’s ad-supported tier will stay the same.—KS

I’m a sucker for a cute li’l web comic. I’ll swipe right past Instagram thirst traps and brand Reels just to find an alien explaining humanity or a mouse in perpetual existential crisis. And while I love the art form, the lesson today comes from these artists’ mastery of Instagram carousels for both storytelling and sales.

Take the d’aww-inducing @dinosandcomics, which shares the most adorable ’saurs you’ve seen to its 3.4 million Instagram followers. In just one Instagram carousel, it posted:

• a swipeable comic strip
• a shareable all-in version
• a push to merchandise

That’s a whole lotta elements in a single post, each of which serves a unique purpose.

Let’s look at how the dinos pull off the trifecta and what your brand can learn from them.—JA

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Cookin’ by the ’book: Here are some tips for posting on Facebook

Checkmate?: Confused by what the new Twitter checkmarks mean? This infographic explains.

Put a pin in it: If you’re expanding your e-commerce marketing to Pinterest, check out this guide on how to leverage the platform.

The holiday season is one of the most significant moments for retailers, bringing in nearly $800 billion annually.

But what happens after the holiday rush? Many businesses enter a so-called “post-holiday slump,” which can pose a serious financial challenge if they’re not prepared to combat it.

Don’t let that happen to you. Check out Retail Brew’s guide for quick tips on finding sales success in the new year.

Download your copy.

• Netflix is joining the upfronts for the first time this year.
• The FTC is considering proposing regulations aimed at environmental marketing.
• TikTok has introduced an update to its Creator Marketplace that enables talent managers to oversee inquiries and manage brand deals on behalf of clients.
• Rent the Runway has a new storefront on Amazon, where it will sell secondhand luxury clothing.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook agreed to take a “massive” pay cut this year, dropping his annual compensation to a measly $49 million.

Do you think marketers will increasingly rely on freelance talent this year?

Yes
No
It depends

Which headlines are real marketing news, and which one is fake?

1. Ocean Spray tackles clown fear and marathons with a zany spin
2. Ryan Reynolds enlists AI-powered ChatGPT in ‘mildly terrifying’ new Mint Mobile ad
3. Chex Mix remixes ‘Baby Got Back’ for bagel chips revival
4. Christopher Walken is the new face of ‘Johnnie Walken’ whisky

Keep scrolling for the answer.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• As new AI tools are released, some agencies seem eager to try them
• Why some in the ad-tech industry are turning to this web crawler
• At CES, pre-upfront talks are clouded by marketing budget uncertainties