Please let me know if you'd like a copy and I'll send you one. Otherwise it will be published in the latest edition of Innova
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Branding 3.0
Hi and happy new year. 2010 was certainly interesting and, as in other years, I've taken the liberty of writing an article about new media's changes and their effects on branding, it's presumptuously called BRANDING 3.0.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Great expectations...
Can't say too much but big announcement planned for Thomas Crapper day - January 27th 2011. Happy new year to everyone.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Watch a Typical Day in New York City.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyaj2P-dSi8&feature=player_embedded#
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
The first registered trademark
Well with a name like mine, what else was i going to do?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
check out NYC video
1 minute 31 seconds - NYPD
1 minute 41 seconds - Taxi cab
Clearly, iconic images, 54 million views so far!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Ode to Italy
Italy is to England
what colour is to grey.
Suspicion, mistrust and inhibition
give way to passion, thunder, exotic emotions,
shoes, leather, luxury and lace.
A modest vulnerability
bursting buttons with pulchritude,
an epic conquering history
rich in Roman tragedy and gods,
bountifully spreading lore and progress
from delicacy laden sacks.
The peasant's simple fare
raw, authentic, uncultivated
the marching foundations
for this modern supremacy,
sustaining noble ideas
with rustic flavours and textures.
The taste of the street
history and hot dust combined
as the world flows past
pollinating the atmosphere
with a fine layer of flour.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Pizza and Pasta Research
This is what 6 hours of researching the pizza and pasta market looks like...
Friday, May 14, 2010
Gamechanger
Just thought i'd share a new word from the lexicon of management speak... i suppose you could call the Iphone a gamechanger in mobile communications...
Thursday, May 06, 2010
the end of google?
Google has copied Bing... in a case of the tail wagging the dog, someone within Google has fearfully decided that they need a left hand nav, after the search results... single handedly undoing the founding principle of the company - don't clutter the screen... why copy your imitator unless you've run out of ideas...is this the beginning of the end?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
lifespans and volcanos
The average ant lives for approximately 90 days. By my reckoning that makes a 4 hour picnic last about 0.18% of an ant's life. If you take the average human lifespan of 75 years and calculate the same percentage you come to around 49 days... by that reckoning, if the Volcano is to humans what a picnic is to ants, it should be safe to fly over Europe again by June 3rd
RAC Publishing
Veloce Publishing Ltd becomes RAC’s publishing partner
Leading British automotive publisher, Veloce Publishing, is delighted to announce that it has teamed up with one of Britain's oldest and most esteemed motoring organisations, RAC, to produce books carrying the RAC brand.
The first fruits of the new relationship will appear in the Summer of 2010 in the form of -
"Electric Cars - The future is now"
Are electric cars a feasible alternative to conventionally powered cars? Here's a comprehensive guide - aimed squarely at the man and woman in the street - to the cars you can buy now, and what the future holds, priced at £12.99
"The Efficient Driver's Handbook"
With fuel prices at record levels, here's a timely guide to fuel efficient driving techniques and car choice, priced at £9.99
"Roads with a view - - England's greatest views and how to find them by road"
A beautifully produced large format hardback featuring 44 breathtaking views, and how to get to them by road. Priced at £24.99
Many more books are in the pipeline, including technical books based on RAC's extensive automotive experience and data.
Rod Grainger, Publisher at Veloce, says: "This is a really exciting development for our company. It's a prestigious association with a hugely respected organisation which not only marks a coming of age for Veloce, but presents a huge range of potential publications which can be created in association with RAC
Leading British automotive publisher, Veloce Publishing, is delighted to announce that it has teamed up with one of Britain's oldest and most esteemed motoring organisations, RAC, to produce books carrying the RAC brand.
The first fruits of the new relationship will appear in the Summer of 2010 in the form of -
"Electric Cars - The future is now"
Are electric cars a feasible alternative to conventionally powered cars? Here's a comprehensive guide - aimed squarely at the man and woman in the street - to the cars you can buy now, and what the future holds, priced at £12.99
"The Efficient Driver's Handbook"
With fuel prices at record levels, here's a timely guide to fuel efficient driving techniques and car choice, priced at £9.99
"Roads with a view - - England's greatest views and how to find them by road"
A beautifully produced large format hardback featuring 44 breathtaking views, and how to get to them by road. Priced at £24.99
Many more books are in the pipeline, including technical books based on RAC's extensive automotive experience and data.
Rod Grainger, Publisher at Veloce, says: "This is a really exciting development for our company. It's a prestigious association with a hugely respected organisation which not only marks a coming of age for Veloce, but presents a huge range of potential publications which can be created in association with RAC
Monday, March 08, 2010
Article about licensing for leading brands
Have just finished an article about licensing for leading brands... please mail me if you'd like a copy.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Intro to latest article due for publication in October
With the world cup now over and the Olympics looming on the sporting horizon, perhaps it’s time to ask ourselves, “what’s the big deal about being number one?” Why the fascination with winning? Like a lot of British people I’ve got a soft spot for the underdog, the heroic failure who cares more about the taking part. And yet, from a straight licensing point of view, sales of the Eddie the Eagle T-shirts are unlikely to eclipse Bode Miller’s Alpine Skiing for PlayStation 2. So perhaps the reason for the obsession with winning is most obvious in the world of business – to the victor go the spoils.
In their legendary book ‘The 22 Immutable laws of marketing’ marketing legends Jack Trout and Al Ries explain that “The main rule is to be number one…the second [man to arrive on the moon] will not be remembered. Being number one is not always possible and certainly not always easy. Number one will need to look ahead to continue its strategy but will also have to look back, to verify what the followers will do. It is difficult to stay number one.”
For many brands leadership is a valuable positioning statement, and for good reason according to David Aaker in Brand Leadership: “Leadership… can inspire employees and partners by setting a high brand aspiration level… for many customers a leadership brand provides reassurance…implies quality...and/or innovation that translates into solid functional benefits.“
But the most direct relationship between leadership and the bottom line is indicated by a piece of research by British marketing scientist Andrew Ehrenberg which suggests that customer loyalty is proportional to market penetration. From this, Jean Noel Kapferer concludes that ‘it is difficult to generate increased loyalty in the long term without also increasing market penetration … the future of a brand thus depends on its … ongoing ability to attract new customers in order to increase its market penetration and in the meantime demonstrate its relevance to a changing world.“
Restating this in more simplistic terms, an increase in market penetration achieves a double whammy driving new customer acquisition and growing existing customer loyalty. Most licensors get very excited about the first part of this sentence - ‘wow’ they say, ‘New customers! New revenue! New business! New profit!’ failing to appreciate the importance of the second part.
For a leading brand licensing will only every generate a minute fraction of the value that would be achieved by a growth in market share, so why do it? what’s the attraction? You might as well ask Roger Federer what’s the appeal of winning another grand slam title? Surely you’ve won enough Roger, why keep doing the training, the work, the effort. After making the obligatory references to Switzerland his family, and his sponsors, Roger would probably reply – “I’ve made all the effort to get here, to be the best in the world, and now I want to make the most of it while I can, before my crown inevitably falls I want to win everything I can. And that’s the essence of my brand.”
In their legendary book ‘The 22 Immutable laws of marketing’ marketing legends Jack Trout and Al Ries explain that “The main rule is to be number one…the second [man to arrive on the moon] will not be remembered. Being number one is not always possible and certainly not always easy. Number one will need to look ahead to continue its strategy but will also have to look back, to verify what the followers will do. It is difficult to stay number one.”
For many brands leadership is a valuable positioning statement, and for good reason according to David Aaker in Brand Leadership: “Leadership… can inspire employees and partners by setting a high brand aspiration level… for many customers a leadership brand provides reassurance…implies quality...and/or innovation that translates into solid functional benefits.“
But the most direct relationship between leadership and the bottom line is indicated by a piece of research by British marketing scientist Andrew Ehrenberg which suggests that customer loyalty is proportional to market penetration. From this, Jean Noel Kapferer concludes that ‘it is difficult to generate increased loyalty in the long term without also increasing market penetration … the future of a brand thus depends on its … ongoing ability to attract new customers in order to increase its market penetration and in the meantime demonstrate its relevance to a changing world.“
Restating this in more simplistic terms, an increase in market penetration achieves a double whammy driving new customer acquisition and growing existing customer loyalty. Most licensors get very excited about the first part of this sentence - ‘wow’ they say, ‘New customers! New revenue! New business! New profit!’ failing to appreciate the importance of the second part.
For a leading brand licensing will only every generate a minute fraction of the value that would be achieved by a growth in market share, so why do it? what’s the attraction? You might as well ask Roger Federer what’s the appeal of winning another grand slam title? Surely you’ve won enough Roger, why keep doing the training, the work, the effort. After making the obligatory references to Switzerland his family, and his sponsors, Roger would probably reply – “I’ve made all the effort to get here, to be the best in the world, and now I want to make the most of it while I can, before my crown inevitably falls I want to win everything I can. And that’s the essence of my brand.”
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Poor world cup licensees
One thought that occurred to me as I strolled the halls at Spring Fair last week was the unfortunate plight of any licensee selling World Cup Merchandise. Has the sudden change in England Captain destroyed the hopes of the calendar, tablecloth and flag manufacturers? Someone needs to send his agent a bill for lost earnings!
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Tori Spelling and Thomas Crapper, an obvious connection
"Tori Spelling And Dean McDermott Celebrate Thomas Crapper Day" - now there's a headline I didn't think I'd ever see...other coverage was on Newsnight, Sunday Breakfast, Radio 2 drivetime & Radio 4.
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