It has been announced today that AG BARR's chairman Robin Barr is standing down after 48 years at the helm. And with his departure comes the tricky manoeuvre of passing on the recipe for Irn Bru.
Mr Barr is one of only two people in the world who knows the secret recipe. And he and the second unnamed person will never travel on a plane together to preserve the heritage of the drink.
It is rare that such a global product/regime is held with such secrecy, but it is refreshing. Heritage is a big seller, so don't forget your beginnings. They are often the key to the success of the company. Does this also mean Robin Barr is as powerful as Barack Obama? I very much doubt it, I havn't seen Air Bru One yet...!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Rising price of tea time
With the news of crippling debts and unemployment continually filling the news stories, serenity used to be found in a cup of tea. An English institution – something this great nation was built on. However enjoying a good old brew is soon going to be decidedly more expensive…
A combination of rising demand, crop failures and the weak pound has led to an increase in the cost of a cup of tea by up to 15 per cent. This is sad news for all that enjoy a cup of tea or ten at work. It’s not all bad though, you will avoid oesophagus cancer if a recent study is to be believed…!
A combination of rising demand, crop failures and the weak pound has led to an increase in the cost of a cup of tea by up to 15 per cent. This is sad news for all that enjoy a cup of tea or ten at work. It’s not all bad though, you will avoid oesophagus cancer if a recent study is to be believed…!
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Data Debate
Finally we’re seeing b2b marketers increasingly embracing digital, with communication using traditional direct mail now migrating to other channels, the quality of email data has never been more important.
But it’s not that simply to get your hands on a fresh, quality database of industry decision makers email addresses and there aren’t many options to choose from...and even more difficult to gain ownership to manage your own e-marketing campaigns.
If you’re considering third party data owners you should enquire about their methods of data collection such as whether the data is collected through web-trawling or over the telephone, how often the data is refreshed and whether there is a guaranteed hard bounce rate. The best advice is to test smaller quantities initially from a number of well-selected lists in order to see which perform best at minimal risk. It is obviously then possible to rollout to larger numbers of the best-performing lists in the knowledge that it's money well spent.
Or you’ll need to rely on ‘piggybacking’ your message on other brand’s opt-in communications such as publisher’s e-alerts where your brand can be taken to an unsoliticited but altogether ‘warmer’ potential customer base. However, you have limited control and access to post campaign reporting.
There simply aren’t any shortcuts to acquiring reliable, quality data. The only option to guarantee a receptive, responsive audience is to acquire your own data directly. These recipients will remember giving you permission to contact them and will be anticipating the communication, making a positive response more likely. We now encourage our clients to collect an email address at every point of customer contact and entice e-mail sign up via their website at every opportunity.
Never underestimate the power of the data you have at your disposal, it’s worth every penny of invesment.
But it’s not that simply to get your hands on a fresh, quality database of industry decision makers email addresses and there aren’t many options to choose from...and even more difficult to gain ownership to manage your own e-marketing campaigns.
If you’re considering third party data owners you should enquire about their methods of data collection such as whether the data is collected through web-trawling or over the telephone, how often the data is refreshed and whether there is a guaranteed hard bounce rate. The best advice is to test smaller quantities initially from a number of well-selected lists in order to see which perform best at minimal risk. It is obviously then possible to rollout to larger numbers of the best-performing lists in the knowledge that it's money well spent.
Or you’ll need to rely on ‘piggybacking’ your message on other brand’s opt-in communications such as publisher’s e-alerts where your brand can be taken to an unsoliticited but altogether ‘warmer’ potential customer base. However, you have limited control and access to post campaign reporting.
There simply aren’t any shortcuts to acquiring reliable, quality data. The only option to guarantee a receptive, responsive audience is to acquire your own data directly. These recipients will remember giving you permission to contact them and will be anticipating the communication, making a positive response more likely. We now encourage our clients to collect an email address at every point of customer contact and entice e-mail sign up via their website at every opportunity.
Never underestimate the power of the data you have at your disposal, it’s worth every penny of invesment.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Public Relations
Never has the need for PROs been so evident as it is in political circles at the moment with MP’s expenses coming sharply into focus.
Companies who are found to have misled or deceived their customers often never recover from such damage – think Coca Cola’s ill-fated bottled water launch.
With the negative effects of the economy, PR is an effective way to manipulate & maintain your reputation. A relationship with the key press associated with your chosen targets needs to be carefully managed. PR is a substantial investment, not necessarily in budget, but in time and resources, and so fully understanding the position and perception your brand currently holds is absolutely vital before you can begin to influence or change it. A well targeted PR campaign sends your message out to the masses at a fraction of the cost of advertising.
Companies who are found to have misled or deceived their customers often never recover from such damage – think Coca Cola’s ill-fated bottled water launch.
With the negative effects of the economy, PR is an effective way to manipulate & maintain your reputation. A relationship with the key press associated with your chosen targets needs to be carefully managed. PR is a substantial investment, not necessarily in budget, but in time and resources, and so fully understanding the position and perception your brand currently holds is absolutely vital before you can begin to influence or change it. A well targeted PR campaign sends your message out to the masses at a fraction of the cost of advertising.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Nice to meat you
On receiving one of these business cards this is perhaps one you won't forget in a hurry! They are made from 2 ingredients: meat and lasers...see it for yourself here.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Pay-per-view news?!
Later this year The Wall Street Journal is to introduce what it calls a ‘micro-payment’ scheme.
In the face of continued reductions in advertising spend, publishers everywhere have been looking at alternative ways of bolstering revenue, and I’m sure many will be watching the Wall Street Journal with great interest.
However, it should be noted that a significant amount of its online content can only be accessed after you have paid a $100 plus annual subscription anyway - so pay as you read might well work out cheaper for some. Either way it is a hell of a lot easier to offer alternative charging methods for something, than it is to introduce new ones to a service that was previously free.
Also, this is the same Wall Street Journal that has only just recently launched applications for a number of smart phones, that grants access to most of its online content for free - strange enough in the face of a one off subscription fee, and even odder if micro-payment is really expected to be a serious revenue generator.
Above all however, the biggest problem they will surely face, lies in overcoming the very nature of the Internet itself - a platform that was specifically designed to facilitate the sharing of ideas, news and information.
Thanks for reading, that’ll be £0.99. Cheers.
In the face of continued reductions in advertising spend, publishers everywhere have been looking at alternative ways of bolstering revenue, and I’m sure many will be watching the Wall Street Journal with great interest.
However, it should be noted that a significant amount of its online content can only be accessed after you have paid a $100 plus annual subscription anyway - so pay as you read might well work out cheaper for some. Either way it is a hell of a lot easier to offer alternative charging methods for something, than it is to introduce new ones to a service that was previously free.
Also, this is the same Wall Street Journal that has only just recently launched applications for a number of smart phones, that grants access to most of its online content for free - strange enough in the face of a one off subscription fee, and even odder if micro-payment is really expected to be a serious revenue generator.
Above all however, the biggest problem they will surely face, lies in overcoming the very nature of the Internet itself - a platform that was specifically designed to facilitate the sharing of ideas, news and information.
Thanks for reading, that’ll be £0.99. Cheers.
Friday, May 8, 2009
A brave new world...
As the popularity, capability and availability of online and digital marketing tools continues to grow, a brand new era of measurement and accountability in marketing opens up to us.
We know how many people visit our websites, what pages they visit, what links they click, and exactly how far down the sales funnel they are at any given time.
This is of course a world away from more traditional forms of marketing, but can it go too far the other way? These new tools seem to be generating a new breed of figure obsessed marketers. How many visitors am I getting to my website? How many clicks are my online ads generating? And more recently, how many followers can I get on Twitter?
Unless you are converting all your web traffic, ad click-throughs and social media subscribers to sales, then there’s a good chance the question is not how can we generate more, but how can we make better use of what we already have.
We know how many people visit our websites, what pages they visit, what links they click, and exactly how far down the sales funnel they are at any given time.
This is of course a world away from more traditional forms of marketing, but can it go too far the other way? These new tools seem to be generating a new breed of figure obsessed marketers. How many visitors am I getting to my website? How many clicks are my online ads generating? And more recently, how many followers can I get on Twitter?
Unless you are converting all your web traffic, ad click-throughs and social media subscribers to sales, then there’s a good chance the question is not how can we generate more, but how can we make better use of what we already have.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Finger lickin' profits
I read with interest today that KFC is set to turn eight of its branches into halal-only sites in a seven month trial. Having been given the stamp of approval by the Halal Food Authority, Islamic customers will be able to tuck into chicken in a bucket, fillet burgers, chips and beans (they don't know what they've been missing!).
I ask myself, good, innovative customer service or a clever marketing ploy to take advantage of the boom in fast food sales during the downturn....
I ask myself, good, innovative customer service or a clever marketing ploy to take advantage of the boom in fast food sales during the downturn....
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Swine Flu
Swine flu is obviously a hot topic at the moment, it is very easily spread and contagious, apparently. But whilst the media continue to frenzy about it all, hand wash companies have seen sales rocket, as have handkerchief and tissue companies.
Not a bad idea I suppose, but this pandemic will highlight the cleanest restaurants about, continual cleaning and good hygiene practices will be the perfect foil for any kind of bad press around your restaurant. So my advice for the day, making sure you give a little extra scrub at the beginning of every day will help reduce any chances of a swine flu out break at your place.
Not a bad idea I suppose, but this pandemic will highlight the cleanest restaurants about, continual cleaning and good hygiene practices will be the perfect foil for any kind of bad press around your restaurant. So my advice for the day, making sure you give a little extra scrub at the beginning of every day will help reduce any chances of a swine flu out break at your place.
Happy birthday to us!
Happy Birthday Hub…5 yrs today, which I believe makes me a bit of a veteran in today’s business world. An achievement not to be underestimated when you consider the statistics that 50 percent of businesses fail in the first year and 95 percent fail within five years. So what have I learned?
It’s not for the faint hearted in fact you’ve got to be a bit on an adrenalin junkie and thrive off the buzz of putting yourself out there; love people, appreciate your team, look after your clients passionately, and definitely never be satisfied with the place you’re at. It’s my baby and watching it grow and blossom into an agency that competes and wins over its competitors, generations older, I can’t help but give a little smile. It was about time our sector got a wake up call, B2B marketing demands creative professionals with vision and the conviction to challenge a higher standard. Watch out foodservice we haven’t even started…
It’s not for the faint hearted in fact you’ve got to be a bit on an adrenalin junkie and thrive off the buzz of putting yourself out there; love people, appreciate your team, look after your clients passionately, and definitely never be satisfied with the place you’re at. It’s my baby and watching it grow and blossom into an agency that competes and wins over its competitors, generations older, I can’t help but give a little smile. It was about time our sector got a wake up call, B2B marketing demands creative professionals with vision and the conviction to challenge a higher standard. Watch out foodservice we haven’t even started…
Friday, May 1, 2009
Catch of the day
Great to hear chef and presenter Nigel Barden singing the praises of the humble gurnard on last night's Chris Evans show on BBC Radio 2. A relatively unknown fish, we've long been working hard promoting sustainable fish and encouraging chefs to champion this and other similar under-utilised species.
Hopefully the power of national radio can work some magic and get the masses out there asking for this delicious fish to be sold not just on the menus of in-the-know restaurants but the slower to act supermarkets too!
Hopefully the power of national radio can work some magic and get the masses out there asking for this delicious fish to be sold not just on the menus of in-the-know restaurants but the slower to act supermarkets too!
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