Case Study: United States Bakery’s Franz Bakery, Seattle Sourdough Baking Co., & Naked Bread

B2B/B2C · Consumer Food & Beverage · Organic & Paid Social · Multi-Brand Management
January 2020 – April 2022; via Plaid Pig PR

 One engagement became three. That’s usually how results work.

The Challenge

United States Bakery operates three distinct consumer brands under one roof - Franz Bakery, Seattle Sourdough Baking Co., and Naked Bread - each with its own audience, voice, and place in the market. When they brought me on, the ask was straightforward: build a social strategy for Franz. The results made a case for something bigger.

The Approach

Franz Bakery, the primary brand for United States Bakery’s portfolio, was the starting point. I developed a full social strategy - defining voice, building editorial frameworks, executing content across Facebook and Instagram, and managing paid and organic campaigns around new and seasonal product launches, and contests. When the results came in, they asked me to bring the same approach to Seattle Sourdough and Naked Bread.

The core strategic challenge wasn’t volume; it was distinctness. Three brands sharing a parent company can easily start to blur, especially when the same strategist is running all three. Keeping Franz, Seattle Sourdough, and Naked Bread sounding like themselves - not like each other, and not like a corporate content factory - required treating each brand as a genuinely separate creative brief.

The growth numbers for Seattle Sourdough and Naked Bread are striking, and context matters: both came in with limited prior strategy and smaller existing audiences, so the percentage jumps reflect both a lower starting point and a framework that was ready to work from day one. Franz, the most established of the three, showed steadier, more sustained growth - which is its own kind of proof point.

From the start, the strategy was also informed by ongoing competitive analysis monitoring major national bread and bakery brands - including Dave's Killer Bread, Oroweat, Nature's Own, Sara Lee, Thomas' Breakfast, King's Hawaiian, and Entenmann's - tracking content strategy, audience behavior, platform positioning, and campaign activity across each. With three simultaneous brand voices to manage, understanding how national competitors were showing up helped sharpen the distinct positioning for Franz, Seattle Sourdough, and Naked Bread individually rather than letting them blur into the broader category.

The creative work was hands-on throughout. I wrote copy, made editorial judgment calls across all three brands, and produced early video content as Instagram’s algorithm began rewarding it. Photography was handled by a dedicated photographer, with my input on shot lists and creative direction.

The Results

• 8.27M+ total impressions

• +71% combined audience growth; ranging from +190% to +868% per brand

Digital Platforms: Facebook · Instagram · TikTok

Services: Multi-Brand Strategy · Voice Development · Content Strategy · Organic Social · Paid Social · Video Content · Editorial Planning · Creative Direction · Product Launch Campaigns · Contest Strategy & Management · Influencer Management · Competitive Analysis & Ongoing Market Monitoring

See other case studies: ACME Ice Cream • Columbia Distributing • Jack’s BBQ • Paris Group Realty • Save Health Care in WA • Seattle Dept. Of Transportation

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