Will the young love Food2.com?

Enthused about food? Enjoy the fast pace of dozens of short items per screen? Are you between 21 and 34, fun-loving and socially networked? You just described the target market for www.food2.com, the virtual food-drink-pop-lifestyle destination cooked up by the Food Network and launched last week. Besides being a second home for Food Network content and instructional and entertainment videos (785 of them at last count), the web site has an diverse roster of food bloggers, foodie challenges, food photo contests, meal and cocktail recipes, food preparation/cooking/storage tips—all served up with a distinctive Generations X and Y flavor. Here’s a content sampler: -Some videos: Man Kitchen Sloppy Joes. Food Detectives-Hangover Cures. Ace of Cakes-Roller Derby. -Several mainstream tips articles: When to turn a steak. Vinaigrette versatility. Grilling with varying heat. Sales at the supermarket. A smooth move for margaritas. -A few blog posts: Free Cone Day @Ben & Jerry’s. If Yo

Enthused about food? Enjoy the fast pace of dozens of short items per screen? Are you between 21 and 34, fun-loving and socially networked?

You just described the target market for www.food2.com, the virtual food-drink-pop-lifestyle destination cooked up by the Food Network and launched last week.

Besides being a second home for Food Network content and instructional and entertainment videos (785 of them at last count), the web site has an diverse roster of food bloggers, foodie challenges, food photo contests, meal and cocktail recipes, food preparation/cooking/storage tips—all served up with a distinctive Generations X and Y flavor.

Here’s a content sampler:
-Some videos: Man Kitchen Sloppy Joes. Food Detectives-Hangover Cures. Ace of Cakes-Roller Derby.
-Several mainstream tips articles: When to turn a steak. Vinaigrette versatility. Grilling with varying heat.  Sales at the supermarket. A smooth move for margaritas.
-A few blog posts: Free Cone Day @Ben & Jerry’s.  If You Can Twitter & Eat Pizza.  Need a McLoan?
-There’s also a young, hip culinary celebrity at the site.
   
Definitely edgy with words and colorful graphics, the site aims to engage a youthful audience (with the most years left to align with Food Network) through full Facebook and Twitter integration.

Deanna Brown, president of Scripps Networks Digital, describes how Food2 blends with the rest of the company’s virtual menu:  “With FoodNetwork.com and Recipezaar.com, we are already talking to more than half of the online food audience. Food2 opens that conversation up to a new generation of food lovers who are looking for new ways to interact with food, while also allowing us an even broader aggregated audience and new targeting options for our advertising partners.”

If Scripps has created the right recipe for this audience, Food2.com will help round out its home, food and lifestyle Web portfolio. More significant, in our opinion, will be how well consumers’ food interest is able to move from one medium to another. If successful, this might inspire new thinking for CPG manufacturers, as well as retailers with in-store media, about segmenting their audiences and connecting with them in electronic ways they prefer.