Chill beans. A stroke of genius?

Have you ever opened a tin of beans only wanting to use half? What do you do with the other half? You dirty another dish just to keep your beans in the fridge – annoying.

Fret no more, Heinz have come to the rescue with a new fridge pack, a small innovation in packaging that makes life a little easier.

Genius? It’s certainly great marketing. Heinz have examined the everyday lives of its consumers and responded with new packaging that enables them to enjoy Heinz beans at their convenience, without the hassle of having more dishes to wash.

That said, is it environmentally sustainable? The plastic packaging used in the new fridge packs is not as widely recycled as cans. Heinz could easily address this with refill packs in sachets, but then that goes back to square one.

So is Heinz’s new pack of beans you can chill a stroke of genius? Yes, and no.

Have a look at Heinz’s recent advert building an emotional attachment with the brand and differentiating their product from cheaper ‘own-brand’ competitors.

Moo-vellous Yeo Valley ad is viral hit

Organic yoghurt maker, Yeo Valley, is causing quite a stir online.

The company’s recent advert, produced by ad agency BBH and featuring four rapping farmers, is proving to be an online hit with 1,136,900 views on You Tube to date.

Anyone watching the the young farmers rapping through the British countryside can be forgiven for thinking they’re watching a music video rather than a commercial, it’s that good.

Such is the song’s popularity that it has been recently released on iTunes and media commentators are tipping the song to top the UK music charts this Christmas, thereby beating the X-Factor finalist – unless Wagner wins!

My guess is that it may just do it, it has the right mix of quirky fun, that we Brits rave, and one of the rappers is the stunning brunnette Alexandra Evans, winner of the fourth series of Britain’s Next Top Model, adding a touch of glamour.

Watch the video and let me know what you think, if anything it’s a great viral.

John Lewis ad has the X Factor

People watching last night’s X Factor winessed the perfect execution of a TV commercial.

John Lewis’ choice of the Elton John track ‘Your Song’ for its advert, aired during a break of the popular show featuring his hits, is nothing short of genius.

Ellie Goulding’s soft vocals bring a wonderful warmth to Elton’s ‘Your Song’ and the ad captures just the right amount of Christmas magic and sentimentality to make one quietly think of another EJ classic ‘Can you feel the love tonight’.

Similarly, Marks and Spencer’s use of popular comedian, Peter Kay, with a host of celebs in its Christmas advert is quirky, funny and likely to be very viral.

This Christmas is setting up to be a battle to see which of our well-love high street brands has the X Factor.

Have John Lewis, with their everday people, trumped M&S and the celebs? See for yourself and let me know.

Nat West makes customer commitment focus of marketing

Have you seen Nat West’s latest ads?

In these days of austerity when the credit crunch, caused by the reckless behaviour and greed of City bankers, it is refreshing to see a financial institution going to great lengths to win back public trust and confidence.

Nat West has set itself a strategic aim of being Britain’s most helpful bank.

It’s recent TV commercials have clearly tried to position the bank as being helpful – Saturday opening and mobile banking (both via phone and its branches on wheels) being good examples. The bank appears to be confident in its ability to live up to the promises it makes, so much so that it shouts them out.

A noble quest, bound to fail?

By placing its customer pledges at the heart of its marketing communications strategy Nat West stands to prosper, if it gets things right, from being seen as the consumer’s champion, making strides to improve banking services for everyone.

However, the risks couldn’t be higher. Before rolling out such an ambitious campaign, I imagine (and hope) that Nat West will have invested considerable time and energy in changing the inner culture of the organisation, renewing its focus to a more customer-centric position. Essentially, putting the customer back at the heart of everything it does with a genuine attempt to be more helpful.

I really like the campaign. I think it is bold, ambitious and timely to restore public trust and confidence in the banking sector.

I wish Nat West every success.

Personal informatics – a few links

Since receiving Ben’s comment on my previous post I’ve been doing a bit of wider reading into the subject. Here’s a few links (which I’ll add to) to articles which may be of interest.

Crowd Surfing – Information is power

The madness of travel – I’m not part of the personal informatics movement, I’m just keeping a travel diary

Personal informatics can strengthen your brand’s relationship with customers

Technology that is allowing people to share details of their everyday life, in ways never imagined a few decades ago, presents brands with a huge opportunity – if they’re brave enough to let customers access their data.

The advent of social media is enabling more of us to share with the world our thoughts in an instant. Whether, it be our views of the panel on this week’s BBC Question Time or what we had for breakfast, within a few clicks we can update our network of friends and followers though sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Inspired by a recent Marketing magazine article, discussing the importance of personal informatics (information that companies hold about each of their customers), I have been considering the potential this new form of open society offers brands.

By allowing customers greater access to the information recorded about their transactions, data such as previous purchases, brands will be able to develop more meaningful relationships.

I work in marketing for a local network of gyms and I see huge potential in developing this concept. Systems such as Technogym’s Wellness system allow fitness club members to have a personal training programme set up electronically.

Theoretically, it shouldn’t be too difficult for clubs to record members’ training patterns each visit and share this with their clients via online personal accounts. I imagine gym users would be hugely motivated if they could accurately and easily track their progress, producing stats and graphics illustrating how many calories they’ve burned each visit or the number of miles they’ve covered.

A branded widget device, added to sites like Facebook, Blogger, WordPress, etc., would enable gym users to update their fitness status without thinking about it, further motivating them and subtly increase awareness of the gym.

The development of a more open dialogue between brands and their customers, sharing personal informatics, has the potential to add value to the core product and deepen understanding – ultimately resulting in a more meaningful relationship that will drive loyalty.

Fitness First’s guerilla marketing in Netherlands

I’m always on the look-out for ideas that I can replicate in my work promoting sport and leisure in Swansea through our Active Swansea brand.

I recently stumbled on this great guerilla campaign by Fitness First in the Netherlands. It’s simplicity is brilliant, exposing any hang-ups the waiting passenger may have over their weight. Ultimately making them re-evaluate their lifestyle and consider joining a Fitness First gym.

What do you think?