Elen Lewis, Marketing Society editor, curates the edited ‘nice to know’ highlights from the weekend papers, from Botox for migraines to the hidden “grey army”.
Clinical trials have shown that Botox can help people with chronic migraines
We still chuck away 10m tonnes of packaging waste a year. Nearly 67% is supposedly recovered
Approximately 60 per cent of couples live together before they get married
There are about 300 million micro-bloggers in China, and the most popular blogs have readerships that dwarf the circulation of the largest newspapers
There is a hidden “grey army” of over-65s bolstering employment figures – with some 891,000 in work, the highest figure for 20 years
Elen Lewis, Marketing Society editor, curates the edited ‘need to know’ highlights from the weekend papers, from Chinese eating habits to the lingerie market getting a boost.
Chinese eating habits have started to mimic those in the west – the growing middle class has started having cereal for breakfast rather than rice
Every year 250,000 people go missing
800,000 people in the UK suffer from dementia
59 per cent of adults now sip sports drinks to combat fatigue or to get a boost
The £3.6bn UK lingerie market will be boosted this summer by brands expanding in London
This week we meet Jeremy Basset, Director – New Business Unit, Unilever.
What’s your golden rule?
If you’re not uncomfortable then you’re probably not trying hard enough.
Who has been your biggest influence?
My uncle. He turned a dairy farm into Australia’s most awarded ice-cream business, then closed it down to focus on his family.
What is your most hated business expression?
“Can I be honest with you?” …what does that say about everything you just said!?
What’s the smartest business idea you’ve ever had?
If I told you I would have to kill you :)
Which leader do you admire most and why?
Jeff Bezos – spotted the internet as an opportunity, made a mid-career switch to pursue it & then created the worlds largest online retailer.
Joss Davidge, Business Director of brand experience agency BEcause, continues his weekly search for innovative marketing ideas that get people talking. This week we lower the tone with Dog poo wifi in Mexico and toilet time gaming in Amsterdam.
Dog Poo Wifi
A make-you-look-twice campaign, created by Mexico based internet provider Terra, has started to get noticed online. The frankly named “Poo Wifi” campaign encourages dog walkers to clean-up after their pooches by offering free wifi access when dog do-do is deposited in a special bin. Yes, you did read that right! Actually, with the rise of mobile web devices this is a rather neat way for Terra to communicate its wifi presence and stay on the side of the community by cleaning up the park. Beyond the novelty, this is apparently not a one off stunt, the dog-dependent wifi devices are supposedly being trialled at 10 parks across Mexico City. Read the rest of this entry »
As part of our partnership with Marketing magazine we spark debate amongst senior members of The Marketing Society. This week, as a state-owned Chinese group, Bright Food, has bought a 60% stake in cereal company Weetabix. We ask will foreign ownership of British brands affect their marketing?
MAYBE
Celia Pronto
Marketing and Ecommerce Director, Ford Retail Group
British brands have expanded internationally by exploiting their reputation for quality, design, creativity and heritage, making them prime investment targets.
Given their success has been built on these qualities, most investors will not fundamentally want to change a brand’s essence or positioning, but will look at opportunities to use these in both new and existing markets.
The marketing strategy may, however, need to be reviewed to ensure cultural fit, especially where a brand has had a presence only in the UK.
Any change will need to balance what is appropriate in new markets with a desire to not alienate customers in existing markets.
1959 was the year The Marketing Society was founded and the birth of modern marketing. Today, The Marketing Society is the most influential network of senior marketers dedicated to championing marketing in the UK. Fifty Golden Brands is our exploration of the changing role of brands since our foundation.
In 1995, the new order arrived in the form of two enduring brands fit for a brave new world –easyJet and Sony Playstation. Each brand has since revolutionised their industry.
No-frills airline, EasyJet, led by larger-than-life Greek entrepreneur, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, helped make the world a smaller place. By cutting out free drinks and meals on flights and cutting out travel agents, enabling travellers to book their own flights online or on the phone, EasyJet could pass on savings to its customers.
This week’s Challenger Project by Georgia Craib, discusses the importance of every person within a company understanding that a brand identity is more than an image, it acts as a filter for decision making.
Cranium of Cranium inc. was a ‘game’ changer in the board game category (tee hee). They flipped every convention; distribution, audience, Christmas… the list is never ending.
It really was wonderful- so much so that I got excited reading a story about it 14 years on (although for different reasons that i liked it back then, I was a pre-teen so mainly just enjoyed the purple dough).
Cranium Inc.’s mandate and every employee’s mantra was the acronym CHIFF= “clever high quality, innovative, friendly, funny.” From every innovation, through to every small piece of comms, to what kind of chairs were in the office, every decision had to go through -
Daianna Karaian, Brand Strategy Manager at EDF Energy and blogger at Sexy Or Susty sums up our latest Green Think Tank.
It was one of those ‘I was there’ moments when you get the feeling great things are going to happen. A room full of leading marketers. A palpable buzz. A flurry of flip charts. An early morning breakfast discussing sustainability? Indeed.
Things kicked off with Malcolm Evans of Space Doctors talking us through the evolving semiotics of sustainability, the way ‘communication codes’ are changing as sustainability matures.
John Gilbert, business analyst fromJGFR, looks at the challenges arising from this unique summer of events.
There are so many things to comment on both from personal experience and from analysing the last quarter’s datasets that this month’s blog tries to weave various themes together.
This summer the unique combination of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics are set to dominate much of the news media. In the City, analysts are trying to quantify the impact on an economy that is currently in a double dip recession while marketers and businesses assess the financial impact on their plans.
Crawford Hollingworth, founder, The Behavioural Architects on unlocking the strategic power of Behavioural Economics.
The Power of BE
There is a huge buzz around behavioural economics (BE) and a high level of expectation in our industry not seen for many years. We are all aware of the powerful insights on brain function and are prompted almost weekly by another penetrating insight into human behaviour and cognitive biases. We are also conscious that many marketing and market research approaches based on rational economic man are somewhat challenged by these new insights into human behaviour.
We're here to curate inspiring and thought-provoking ideas and perspectives from our network and the marketing world at large. Read, listen, watch, comment and be inspired. The Marketing Society is the exclusive membership network for discerning marketers to learn, develop and share knowledge.
Daianna Karaian, Brand Strategy Manager at EDF Energy and blogger at 
