In December 2019, the US Agriculture Department issued a news release stating that it had promulgated a regulation restoring what it called "the original intent of SNAP" SNAP is the nutrition program formerly known as the Food Stamp Program.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue stated in the release that the new rule is designed to help able-bodied SNAP recipients transition to self-sufficiency and employment capable of supporting them and their families.

According to Secretary Purdue, the new rule restores SNAP to what Congress originally had in mind when it created the food program: assistance through difficult times,  not a way of life.

Lest anyone view this change as some hard-hearted conservative political move by the Administration, Secretary Purdue pointed out that "Americans are generous people who believe that is is their responsibility to help their fellow citizens" and that in this "government can be a powerful force for good."

For historical perspective, Secretary Purdue also informed readers that when President Clinton signed the welfare reform bill in 1996 that law as drafted by Congress instituted a work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs).

Secretary Purdue underlined the current economic conditions, writing that "with a booming economy that has more jobs than workers to fill them and the lowest unemployed rate in 50 years"  it is clear that we need everyone who can work, to work.

To read the Department's release, visit press@oc.usda.gov

The final USDA rule promotes work for able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49 without dependents and doesn't apply to children and their parents, those over 50 years of age, including the elderly, those with a disability, or pregnant women.

Secretary Purdue further expounds on the role that work plays in American daily life in his oped The dignity of work and the American dream  which was printed in the Arizona Daily Star.

The Agriculture Department oversees 15 nutrition programs of which SNAP is one.

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“Innovation is well funded and maturing as a marketing discipline”, says Gartner’s 2019 CMO Brand Strategy and Innovation Survey, and we see that as great news.

At Chaddsford Planning Associates, our long-established view has been that marketing is the creation of outstanding customer value. One key to creating that value is innovation.

There are many ways that marketers innovate for their customers. The best way is providing tools to help customers grow revenue.

Hand-in-hand with increasing revenue is reducing expenses.  As marketers, we are often told to stick to our knitting and leave operations and product development to the people who know what they are talking about.

But as marketers we have a unique perspective within our organizations that allows us to see across the enterprise. We provide the tools that our sellers need to build pipeline. We are embedded in process of developing a revenue stream. In doing that, we are the conduit between our sellers, who know the market and what our customers want to buy and our operations and production staff who are responsible for producing the what we want to sell into that market

Besides improvement in the revenue and expense model, another way marketers can innovate is by developing new business model, which more closely mirror your business.

Another way marketers can innovate for their customers is by
improving the customer experience with your organization. One way to improve the customer experience is by streamlining the relationship with the customer.

Another way to innovate is by producing new products and services based on market intelligence gleaned through both primary and secondary research. 

As marketers we know the market, strategic and tactical challenges of our customer segments.  We understand the buyer and what makes them tick, can assist with innovation through new products by helping increase the time to market for them. 

New markets need not be strictly vertical but can also be horizontal, as in the case of geography. But as marketers we know to be aware of demographics. What works in Bessemer may not work in the Bronx