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.
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.
I don’t know if any of you have picked up on yesterday’s story in the Guardian – the government are considering measuring the nation’s happiness and well-being alongside conventional statistics like GDP, etc. to track how well the country is doing.
I’m not sure yet what relevance this has to my next OU assignment (outline who are the winners and losers in a consumer society), but it’s quite interesting that the government should consider this at a time when people’s incomes are likely to stagnate for a few years.
Oh, another thing. I’ve just started reading an interesting book which expands on issues touched upon in the above studies -’ The Spirit Level. Why equality is better for everyone.’ It’s written by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.
The main thrust of the book’s arguments (from what I’ve read so far) is that there are limits to the benefits of pursuing growth (in an economic sense). It gives a good example of how in the UK we have seen the economy grow, with GDP rising, yet the income gap is wider. This has created greater inequality in our society causing many of the problems we face today, such as mental health, educational performance, etc.
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.
The Gower coast has some notable wrecks, the Helvetia at Rhossili probably the most famous. This wreck at Mumbles is probably no more than a small local craft left in the bay to break up over time.
Then again, I could be wrong. It’s a mystery I’ll have to solve – first stop the West Glamorgan Archives Service for a bit of sleuthing.
Despite being unable to read music or play an instrument I love music. I’ve got nigh on 500 CDs stored in several places throughout the house. The past week, after having a bit of a sort, I’ve had the sounds of Dire Straits blasting through the house.
Here’s a clip of Dire Straits performing Telegraph Road on tour in 1984 – classic!
One of my favourite albums has got to be their Alchemy Live with Telegraph Road being a particular track I like to repeat. It’s got great lyrics which make you question whether with all our technology we’ve really improved life, and the music, especially the riff (at least that’s what I think it’s called) gets the old adrenaline going when driving.
I tried this Bateman’s ale earlier this week. It’s a lovely smooth ale with a fruity tang, a worthy toast to a national hero indeed. Here’s to you Nelson.
A few weeks ago this little fella was stuck in our garden. He was a young fledgling who seemed to be struggling to fly. After several laps of the garden, he jumped up onto the lounger, I just had to take a picture.
After a few more laps I managed to coax the little guy, with my excellent chirping routine, onto my hand so I could place him atop our wall, from which he managed to fly into the neighbouring trees.
I’ve been wondering whether he’d survived. Earlier this afternoon, two birds looking very much like this chirpy chappy flew into the garden, I’d like to think one of them was him.
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.
McLager on Flickr.Do want a beer with your Big Mac? I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could have a lager with my burger at a McDonalds in Italy :)
