HATCH is back in the kitchen for season two of its lively and candid video series, Eat In or Dine Out, which features top creative voices from across the marketing and advertising industry.
Each episode brings a marketing leader into the kitchen of Jennifer Harrington, HATCH’s founder and CEO, to tackle a perennial dilemma: build an in-house team or partner with an outside agency?
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| (Left to Right) Victoria Griggs, Maddie Harrington, Jennifer Harrington |
For episode three of season 2, Jennifer flipped the script and sits down with the team behind the show itself: Maddie Harrington, Creative Operations Manager and Agency Producer for Eat In or Dine Out, and Victoria Griggs, Executive Producer for the show and co-founder and Creative Director of Sweeter The Juice Films, a Boston-based production studio and HATCH’s partner for the series.
The result is a look at what it takes to produce unscripted marketing content and what makes content work.
“It’s hard to know what people are going to talk about when they come on screen,” said Maddie. “It’s not scripted, so it’s been a learning experience being behind the scenes and watching the conversation unfold.”
Victoria described the tabletop production puzzle of shooting in a working kitchen and noted the harder ask: getting camera-shy marketing guests to perform for the lens.
The trio also dug into a topic on every CMO’s mind: what kind of content still lands. Victoria said she has grown increasingly focused on the generational divide in how audiences respond, noting that Gen Z gravitates toward user-generated, unscripted-feeling content over the polished, “bells and whistles” advertising that came before it. She pointed to a stretch of viral fashion marketing stunts that looked spontaneous but were tightly planned as an example of what she calls the “uncanny valley of advertising.”
“What people want is the story behind the actual person,” Victoria said.
Maddie and Victoria pointed to longer-form branded content, including work from Krispy Kreme and agency High Dive’s campaign for KFC, as proof that giving a brand story room to breathe builds a different kind of connection than a traditional commercial does.
“A story feels very different than being sold,” Victoria said. “I think longer-form content helps people create that connection.”
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| Quenlin Blackwell (Left) inspirational cooking show (Feeding Starving Celebrities) |
Jennifer credited the pair with giving the show its distinct feel on LinkedIn, where the series has built a following for standing out in a feed dominated by traditional business content.
“You can’t read your way to understanding where advertising is going,” Harrington said. “You have to sit with people who see it differently than you do, and some of them are going to be half your age. Maddie and Victoria push back on me constantly, and that is the whole point of building a team that doesn’t sound like one person.”
This episode of Eat In or Dine Out is now available on HATCH’s YouTube channel and website. Season two is in production, with new episodes and guests to be announced.
ABOUT VICTORIA ASHLY GRIGGS
Victoria Ashly Griggs is a producer, director, creative executive and co-founder of Sweeter The Juice Films. With a multidisciplinary background spanning design, photography and nearly every phase of physical production, Griggs brings both a creative and deeply production-minded perspective to her work across commercial, branded, documentary and narrative storytelling.
Her recent directing work includes projects for Roxbury Community College, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Texture Takes The Stage, where she directed a cinematic piece featuring actress and Sweet Blackberry founder Karyn Parsons exploring identity, representation and the cultural significance of natural textured hair. As Executive Producer of HATCH’s Eat In or Dine Out, Griggs brings that same interest in human-centered storytelling to the branded content space, exploring how brands can build stronger connections with audiences through personality, culture and story.
Griggs’ broader production experience includes work for brands and organizations including New Balance, Nespresso, Sam Adams, Hasbro, Dunkin’, CVS, MBTA, Marshalls, TJ Maxx and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, as well as entertainment and editorial projects for Hulu, MasterClass and Vogue.
Beyond her production work, Griggs serves on the board of The Secret Society of Black Creatives (SSBC), a nonprofit working to advance equity and opportunity within the creative economy. Her work both on set and within Boston’s broader creative community reflects a commitment to expanding who has access to the industry, who gets to shape its stories and what those stories can look like.
ABOUT SWEETER THE JUICE FILMS
Sweeter The JuiceFilms (STJF) is a BIPOC- and woman-owned production company co-founded by Victoria Ashly Griggs and Gregory Warfield Jr. Working across commercial, branded, documentary and narrative storytelling, STJF partners with agencies, brands and organizations to bring creative concepts from development through production and post.
With roots in Boston and New England and the ability to scale for productions beyond the region, STJF combines creative development with nimble, experienced production teams built around the needs of each project. Its work is grounded in strong storytelling, collaborative production and the belief that representation behind the camera helps create richer work in front of it.
For Eat In or Dine Out, STJF serves as HATCH’s production partner, with Griggs executive producing the series and helping shape its visual language, production approach and on-screen storytelling.
ABOUT HATCH
HATCH is an independent, women-owned agency that serves growth-hungry brands a customizable combo of creative capabilities and expertly sourced marketing talent, all from one strategic partner. Because as marketing leaders flex, adjust and pivot to stretch fluctuating budgets, hit moving targets and stay ahead of the competition, they need on-demand access to both fresh creative ideas and ready-to-roll talent. HATCH clients include Peabody Essex Museum, Point32 Solutions, Hood, Quicken, and Babson College. Learn more at hatchtheagency.com.