Wednesday 29 May 2013
CBi Award Winner
Another week, another award for the Brivic/PepsiCo campaign, Transform Your Patch. This time it's HAVAS Worldwide recognising the work of Arnold KLP for its prestigious 'Creative Business Idea' global accolade - you can find out more about the award, and the winners here.
Monday 27 May 2013
Premiumisation
Just when you think you've seen it all, you walk into a garden centre and are confronted with this...
... clearly Weber feel post recession Britain is ready for a £20 bag of charcoal.
... clearly Weber feel post recession Britain is ready for a £20 bag of charcoal.
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Best FMCG campaign of 2012
Three years ago, I stood up with two colleagues and tried
to sell what we thought was a great proactive idea to a client. It was an idea for 2012, one
that was a bit different to the norm, one that had real ambition but also
required a bit of faith from the client… to do things differently.
Thankfully, that client (Jonathan Gatward at Britvic) had the required faith. And last night, 32
months later, Marketing Week also agreed with us on the quality of that idea, resulting in ‘Transform Your Patch’ winning Best FMCG campaign of 2012 and Best
Shopper Marketing campaign of 2012. Well done to everyone at Arnold KLP, Britvic and PepsiCo.
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| Picking up the first of our two awards from Mr Norton |
Monday 20 May 2013
Good stuff
Its been a poor effort recently, three months without a post. To break my longest drought to date, here's a mixed bag of good stuff that I've come across lately... while i finalise a future rant about coffee chains.
1. The rise and rise of Hailo - a genuinely useful app and i don't even live in London anymore. The app that lets you hail that elusive black cab from the other side of town and track it all the way to your curbside seems to be everywhere. It saves the cabbie driving around looking for fares too - the kind of win-win that's likely to make it a huge success, and means they can offer trial driving promotions like this...
2. All year round decoration - Liberation day in Guernsey marks the end of the German occupation in the second world war, you can find out more about that here and maybe even plan a trip for next time round (9th May). Houses all over the island are decorated with bunting. That's been partly responsible for a new obsession i have over the stuff - if you want to get in on the bunting action you could do a lot worse than starting with a Dutch offering here.
3. Local craft classes - It's not just bunting, here's the latest edition to my the kitchen from Iris & Dora Designs they don't just sell you locally inspired homewares, they'll teach you how to make it too.
4. 'Destination' train stations - I travelled through Kings Cross last week for the first time since its redevelopment. A beautiful mix of old and new in the mould of St Pancras next door. If only we'd mastered the flying lark a little earlier... that way Gatwick South Terminal would have been built by the Victorians and it might have been next in line for a face lift.
5. 'Magic' mints - Good to see Peppersmith getting some High St distribution for their mints. They contain xylitol which makes them good for your teeth... well, for the few real ones I have left.
1. The rise and rise of Hailo - a genuinely useful app and i don't even live in London anymore. The app that lets you hail that elusive black cab from the other side of town and track it all the way to your curbside seems to be everywhere. It saves the cabbie driving around looking for fares too - the kind of win-win that's likely to make it a huge success, and means they can offer trial driving promotions like this...
2. All year round decoration - Liberation day in Guernsey marks the end of the German occupation in the second world war, you can find out more about that here and maybe even plan a trip for next time round (9th May). Houses all over the island are decorated with bunting. That's been partly responsible for a new obsession i have over the stuff - if you want to get in on the bunting action you could do a lot worse than starting with a Dutch offering here.
3. Local craft classes - It's not just bunting, here's the latest edition to my the kitchen from Iris & Dora Designs they don't just sell you locally inspired homewares, they'll teach you how to make it too.
4. 'Destination' train stations - I travelled through Kings Cross last week for the first time since its redevelopment. A beautiful mix of old and new in the mould of St Pancras next door. If only we'd mastered the flying lark a little earlier... that way Gatwick South Terminal would have been built by the Victorians and it might have been next in line for a face lift.
5. 'Magic' mints - Good to see Peppersmith getting some High St distribution for their mints. They contain xylitol which makes them good for your teeth... well, for the few real ones I have left.
Wednesday 13 February 2013
(stud) farm to fork
It’s been a while since the last post - a busy few weeks at
this end, but not as busy as it’s been for supermarket PR departments across
the country.
Over the past fortnight, ‘horsemeat’ has been on everyone’s
lips, if not their palate. And as of yesterday, it became something more than a
couple of rogue suppliers when facilities in the UK also became implicated.
Who will suffer? I’m not sure retailers will,
almost all of them are affected by the controversy thanks to their supply
chain which makes switching stores difficult, not only that, retailers still stand to benefit from changing shopping habits as a result. The
problem could be more serious for brands such as Findus if the category suffers.
Every year the likes of Hugh, Gordon, Jamie et al highlight the reality of what
processed meat actually contains and it’s not pretty. While slightly different,
this particular scandal has achieved far more reach and could do irreparable damage
to some processed food categories.
Government regulation both domestic and European is
inevitable, but will that be enough to encourage shoppers back to the products?
What will be interesting is how those brands and retailers affected begin to adjust
their approach to quality and provenance after the horsemeat fiasco.
This episode highlights the gap between
the marketing promise and the supply chain reality. At the moment brands are in
damage limitation mode with apologetic letters, emails and adverts bombarding
us on a daily basis. But once the dust has settled, how will retailers and
manufacturers win back trust in the category? Will ‘home grown’, ‘animal
welfare’ or ‘farm to fork’ promises be enough? I think consumers will begin to demand
more than a smiling farmer and an authentic stamp on the box. Which in turn
means that brands and retailers alike, will need to deliver more ‘proof’... and
make it more appetising than a DNA certification.
This reminds me of a great feature length ad from last year that was produced by Chipotle, a US based Mexican (fast) food franchise. They weren’t sneaking horses into their burritos, but their business had moved to a much more ethical supply chain including naturally grown beef, pork and chicken produced without antibiotics. Despite that, the vast majority of their 800,000 daily customers came for the taste, value and convenience of the food, and knew little of where that food came from. What Mark Crumpacker (Chipotle’s chief marketing officer) did next was to tell an important story “in a more approachable way... making the message interesting and entertaining”. You can watch the film below, and read a longer article from The New York Times about it here, and maybe this time next year, we’ll be watching the Findus version....
This reminds me of a great feature length ad from last year that was produced by Chipotle, a US based Mexican (fast) food franchise. They weren’t sneaking horses into their burritos, but their business had moved to a much more ethical supply chain including naturally grown beef, pork and chicken produced without antibiotics. Despite that, the vast majority of their 800,000 daily customers came for the taste, value and convenience of the food, and knew little of where that food came from. What Mark Crumpacker (Chipotle’s chief marketing officer) did next was to tell an important story “in a more approachable way... making the message interesting and entertaining”. You can watch the film below, and read a longer article from The New York Times about it here, and maybe this time next year, we’ll be watching the Findus version....
Monday 14 January 2013
McIlroy & Brailsford - a tale of two sports deals
Later today Rory McIlroy will step out at Abu Dhabi’s Fairmont Hotel as the new face of Nike and as a result will take home a rather tasty £156m (ish) over the next 10 years.
Given Nike's track record, it's widely expected that he will have severed ties with his other sponsors including Jumeirah, Oakley and Titleist. That last one's interesting - Titleist, widely regarded by amateur golfers around the world as the leading innovator and manufacturer of golf balls. They are also a heavy weight player when it comes to the design and production of golf clubs themselves, in fact McIlroy has used them for his entire professional golfing life. Their wedges, irons and drivers are considered some of the best quality products on the market along with the likes of Callaway, Ping, Mizuno and TaylorMade. One name you won't see on that list is Nike. Because despite their future £156m investment (and even bigger past investments in Tiger), Nike equipment is still seen by many amateurs as an inferior product to that of its rivals, a large multinational that was late to the game and lacks the focus of other golf 'specialists'.
For Rory, a young sportsman with a finite number of years to earn his crust as a top sportsman, you simply can't turn down 156million quid - even if it might impact on your performance for the first year. I could't turn it down.... but you know what? I think (Sir) Dave Brailsford probably would.
Last week, the biggest (and currently the most successful) cycling team in the world launched their new ultra modern, innovative kit for the 2013 season. But Team Sky's clothing is no longer made by adidas. In a year when the team will recieve more exposure in Europe and particularly the UK than ever before, Sky have opted to move suppliers to Rapha, a tiny british manufacturer based in Kentish Town. Rapha has just 65 staff and sales in 2011 of £13m. To put that in perspective, Adidas has 47,000 employees and sales of around £10.8bn, so it seems fair to assume financial motivations didn't top the list of priorities for the team principle at Sky.
Rapha has been around for just 8 years, they design and manufacture beautiful (and rather expensive) cycling gear for the well heeled enthusiast. It is a great coup for Rapha and you can read more about their ethos and how the business has grown in this recent FT interview with the founder Simon Mottram (the fact that this article is even appearing in the FT says a lot about the transformation of cycling in this country over the last 10 years).
Imagine seeing a decision like this made by Manchester United - you won't - because it simply wouldn't happen anywhere else. But Dave Brailsford does things differently.
“Team Sky has achieved this year’s level of success because of a strong and steady vision to find improvement at every level to help our riders win. I see Rapha joining us next year as another step in that direction. They share our ambition and vision for cycling," said Sky team principal Dave Brailsford.
Famed for this attention to detail and desire to find small incremental improvements across every aspect of the sport, the only public inkling of what may have brought this decision about came last summer from a SportsPro interview with Sky Pro Cycling's head of operations Carsten Jeppesen, he alluded to the point that adidas often outsourced its cycling manufacturing to specialist 'white-labelling' outlets in Italy that produce equipment for all of the teams.
"Some of it is made in Italy through Moa," Jeppesen said. "They make a lot of bike kit for different brands. So you do get a set of gloves that are made somewhere, and maybe they have another factory that is Adidas-approved that makes something else. The expertise comes from Adidas, but they get it manufactured wherever there is manufacturing expertise. They outsource it"
For Sky to gain that micro advatage in their clothing, they need something no one else has got, and if that means dropping one of the biggest sports brands in the world for a home grown local shop, then so be it.
I'm not used to seeing that - a decision in sport, based on what's good for the sport. I look forward to appreciating the difference it makes to the team on the French roads this summer, now let's just hope Rapha can get some more server space and keep their online shop functioning for more than 5 minutes.
Given Nike's track record, it's widely expected that he will have severed ties with his other sponsors including Jumeirah, Oakley and Titleist. That last one's interesting - Titleist, widely regarded by amateur golfers around the world as the leading innovator and manufacturer of golf balls. They are also a heavy weight player when it comes to the design and production of golf clubs themselves, in fact McIlroy has used them for his entire professional golfing life. Their wedges, irons and drivers are considered some of the best quality products on the market along with the likes of Callaway, Ping, Mizuno and TaylorMade. One name you won't see on that list is Nike. Because despite their future £156m investment (and even bigger past investments in Tiger), Nike equipment is still seen by many amateurs as an inferior product to that of its rivals, a large multinational that was late to the game and lacks the focus of other golf 'specialists'.
 |
| Rory's new clubs snapped yesterday by golfdaily.com |
For Rory, a young sportsman with a finite number of years to earn his crust as a top sportsman, you simply can't turn down 156million quid - even if it might impact on your performance for the first year. I could't turn it down.... but you know what? I think (Sir) Dave Brailsford probably would.
Last week, the biggest (and currently the most successful) cycling team in the world launched their new ultra modern, innovative kit for the 2013 season. But Team Sky's clothing is no longer made by adidas. In a year when the team will recieve more exposure in Europe and particularly the UK than ever before, Sky have opted to move suppliers to Rapha, a tiny british manufacturer based in Kentish Town. Rapha has just 65 staff and sales in 2011 of £13m. To put that in perspective, Adidas has 47,000 employees and sales of around £10.8bn, so it seems fair to assume financial motivations didn't top the list of priorities for the team principle at Sky.
Rapha has been around for just 8 years, they design and manufacture beautiful (and rather expensive) cycling gear for the well heeled enthusiast. It is a great coup for Rapha and you can read more about their ethos and how the business has grown in this recent FT interview with the founder Simon Mottram (the fact that this article is even appearing in the FT says a lot about the transformation of cycling in this country over the last 10 years).
Imagine seeing a decision like this made by Manchester United - you won't - because it simply wouldn't happen anywhere else. But Dave Brailsford does things differently.
“Team Sky has achieved this year’s level of success because of a strong and steady vision to find improvement at every level to help our riders win. I see Rapha joining us next year as another step in that direction. They share our ambition and vision for cycling," said Sky team principal Dave Brailsford.
Famed for this attention to detail and desire to find small incremental improvements across every aspect of the sport, the only public inkling of what may have brought this decision about came last summer from a SportsPro interview with Sky Pro Cycling's head of operations Carsten Jeppesen, he alluded to the point that adidas often outsourced its cycling manufacturing to specialist 'white-labelling' outlets in Italy that produce equipment for all of the teams.
"Some of it is made in Italy through Moa," Jeppesen said. "They make a lot of bike kit for different brands. So you do get a set of gloves that are made somewhere, and maybe they have another factory that is Adidas-approved that makes something else. The expertise comes from Adidas, but they get it manufactured wherever there is manufacturing expertise. They outsource it"
For Sky to gain that micro advatage in their clothing, they need something no one else has got, and if that means dropping one of the biggest sports brands in the world for a home grown local shop, then so be it.
I'm not used to seeing that - a decision in sport, based on what's good for the sport. I look forward to appreciating the difference it makes to the team on the French roads this summer, now let's just hope Rapha can get some more server space and keep their online shop functioning for more than 5 minutes.
Friday 11 January 2013
Happy ormering
Who needs the glorious 12th when you can have the soggy 11th? If you happen to find yourself on Guernsey in the Channel Islands today, you could be taking part in the first official day of ormering this year.
The green ormer (Haliotis tuberculata) is a species of sea snail and belongs to the abalone family. The flesh of the green ormer is prized as a delicacy on the island so as a result, you can't just don your waders and go searching under rocks on any given day of the year - there is a strict code of conduct in place...
"A person may not take or gain possession of any ormer whilst totally or partially submerged and either breathing with the aid of submarine breathing apparatus (including a snorkel and any other diving device whatsoever), or wearing a diving suit, face visor, mask or goggles: and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly."
An ormer will take around 4 years to grow to 9cm in length, they can reach as much as 15cm in length and can live for over a decade. After a successful forage, all that's left is to cook it up for tea tonight. Traditionally, they are used in a casserole recipe that dates back to the 17th century, here's a modern day equivalent recipe from esteemed local chef Tony Leck.
Good luck finding one (and managing to eat it all).
 |
| A good day for ormering (once the tide goes out that is) |
The green ormer (Haliotis tuberculata) is a species of sea snail and belongs to the abalone family. The flesh of the green ormer is prized as a delicacy on the island so as a result, you can't just don your waders and go searching under rocks on any given day of the year - there is a strict code of conduct in place...
"... persons are permitted to collect ormers on the days of the full moon, new moon and the two days following between January 1st and April 30th, 2013 (inclusive)."
If you've overlooked the soggy 11th and double booked yourself today, fear not, there's a full list of future dates here but leave the scuba gear at home....
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| Ormers shells (sadly empty when i found them on the beach) |
An ormer will take around 4 years to grow to 9cm in length, they can reach as much as 15cm in length and can live for over a decade. After a successful forage, all that's left is to cook it up for tea tonight. Traditionally, they are used in a casserole recipe that dates back to the 17th century, here's a modern day equivalent recipe from esteemed local chef Tony Leck.
Good luck finding one (and managing to eat it all).
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