Sam Farmer, Clever thinking grooming products

Posted on January 15, 2013 by John Lyle
Sam Farmer grooming products

Sam Farmer, made for the blindies and those who actually care about what they wash themselves with

I don’t much go in for personal grooming products and have genuinely never knowingly bought an after-shave that has a smell to it. As a series of brands, they have just rather passed me by. I’m not sure if it’s just because i’m quite cynical and know too much about the production cost/selling cost ratio, or whether it’s because I don’t have much of a sense of smell.

But this range which I came across the other day, has two really clever points going for it, which give it a real chance of succeeding in a very crowded market place.

1. Older people like me, have poorer eye-sight I was genuinely struggling to find out whether a shampoo style bottle contained shampoo or conditioner last week because I couldn’t read the miniscule words on the front of the pack. in the same way that fashion brands use an XL size that is tiny, to stop people like me from buying their wares, maybe the shampoo brands are so clear in their targeting that me buying it would damage their brand. Or maybe it’s just poor user design.

2. It’s backed up by the research I was lucky enough to see a speaker from CrowdDNA talk about their Road Trip research they did for MTV. One of the key learnings from this was that today’s ‘youth’ would prefer that they were marketed to as individuals and not by gender. The whole concept of gender neutrality, is apparently important to a significant proportion of youths. Sam farmer has addressed this directly.

Time will tell though, whether these two points are strong enough to allow Sam and his range to stand out and sell in the market. I hope they do, because I love the fact that it’s such a small player up against such global business opposition.

You can see the website here or like them on Facebook.

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Jamie Oliver in Boots – The other guy blinked

Posted on January 11, 2013 by John Lyle
Jamie Oliver in Boots - A sort of meal deal with Innocent

Jamie Oliver in Boots – A sort of meal deal with Innocent

I have written about Jamie Oliver in Boots a few times and the brand asking to extend the lunch price from £3.29 to nearer £7.00. A lovely idea, but unlikely in practice.

As much as I wanted to try it, I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy the sandwiches. Call it mental block or sheer tightwaddiness, But finally, the other guy blinked and they have added the whole Jame Oliver range into a form of meal deal. It’s not within the full £3.29 spectacular, but rather a £4 partnership with Innocent.

This is quite clever. Brands hang out with brands that work for them and make each other look good. By sharing the deal, the two brands feed off each other and may both benefit.

So, I bought one. A ‘Proper Salmon Sarnie’ and I have to admit it was up there with the nicest sandwiches I have ever had from a supermarket. Certainly equal to the taste of the ‘Taste the Difference’ sandwiches in Sainsbury’s, which are part of their £3 meal deal.

So, maybe there’s hope for the range yet.

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What a beautiful brand video by Chipotle

Posted on December 11, 2012 by John Lyle

I think I must be turning into a bit of an old softie as I saw this video today and just loved it. The music by Willie Nelson is a beautiful interpretation of the Coldplay song ‘The Scientist’ Which I have since bought and played a few times to check it is as good as I think It is. It is.

I knew nothing about Chipotle, but it turns out the are pretty big in the US with over 900 stores, none of which incidentally are franchises. If they are half as good as this video and the way they present themselves on the rest of the brilliant website, they will be a place that I want to hang out. There are four stores in the UK, all in London, but i’m hoping the development page here, may be picked up by some of my agency friends and some perfect Nottingham sites suggested to their development team.

But this simple video tells me everything about their values. They do the right thing, they are a simple business model and they are prepared to invest in quality. That doesn’t sound far off the perfect brand value set to me. Please come to Nottingham, you will be very welcome. Better still, come to West Bridgford, you’ll be alongside, the fabulous Escabeche, Fellicini’s and  the busiest Pizza Express in the UK (allegedly).

In the meantime, enjoy the video and go and buy some locally produced food.

Updated 28.03.13

I was in London yesterday meeting some friends and colleagues and managed to get chance to finally go and eat in a Chipotle restaurant and I wasn’t even a tiny bit disappointed. The food was lovely and the staff friendly and helpful. For what is effectively fast food, there is almost no saturated fat and you leave feeling full and healthy rather than ‘dirty’ as you would with other fast food joints.

Chipotle Burrito - One of the nicest things I have ever eaten

Chipotle Burrito – One of the nicest things I have ever eaten

I was lucky enough to travel across Costa Rica some years ago (on a bike!) and one of the highlights for me was the food. Chicken, rice, black beans and some chilli style sauce with Guacamole. Chipotle serve this plus some. Chipotle, please come to Nottingham. We need you.

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The new WeighTWATchers logo

Posted on December 8, 2012 by John Lyle

Sorry to be rude, but exactly how is the new logo for Weightwatchers an improvement over the old one? I have underlined the offending area of oversight in red.

Weightwatchers logo - before and after - This may make you feel a bit of a twat

Weightwatchers logo – before and after – This may make you feel a bit of a twat

Admittedly the old one was a little dated, but is this really better, more inclusive, younger, more dynamic, or does it just make the agency – Pentagram – look a little silly and the research they would have carried out look a little flawed.

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This is why the Apple brand is still world class

Posted on December 7, 2012 by John Lyle

Sometimes I fall right out of love with Apple, mainly because it isn’t individual or special any more, but this just reaffirmed why Apple is still an astonishing brand with a stunning eye for detail.

I asked Siri a simple question “who let the dogs out?” and this is the conversation we had.

Apple Siri - Who let the dogs out? Who, who who, who who


Apple Siri – Who let the dogs out? Who, who who, who who

Apple as a brand has always had it’s own little quirks and one of these is Siri. Apple have pre-programmed jokes into it that we slowly uncover as we use it. One of my other favourites happens if you tell Siri you are a little drunk.

‘Neither of us is driving home then’ comes back as an answer with a button to press to call a taxi.

That could have been done in a totally boring way or ignored as a valid question/statement, but Apple, in the search for the tiny details that really make a brand special, have hidden these beautiful brand quirks all over the products and I love them for it.

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Julie Meyer – Welcome to Entrepreneur Country

Posted on November 13, 2012 by John Lyle

I was at an event last night where Julie Meyer was the star attraction. She first made her name in setting up and selling First Tuesday and now heads up Ariadne Capital amongst others.

I was actually lucky enough to be in the small group that got to talk to her for an hour or so beforehand. So than you New College Nottingham for the invite. She was promoting her new book Welcome to Entrepreneur Country through the Gazelle Group of Colleges, but it didn’t really feel like she was peddling a book, it was more as though she was sharing her hard fought wisdom.

But for such a successful woman, she came out with a few things, which I thought were just lovely. The one that struck me as the most amazing was her attitude to work. It’s so far from the 1980′s view of money making, it’s amazing. No more ‘lunch is for wimps’ to be replaced with the brilliant aim..

“I want to work with smart, hardworking good people win” .

Brilliant, simple, exceptional and a nice way of doing business in what she described as the ‘New Normal’ in the economy in which we trade.

I bought the book and got it signed. I’m going to read it next and report back. But if it’s as good as it promises, i’ll be an even bigger fan.

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What Chance do Comet and any other electrical retailer have?

Posted on November 4, 2012 by John Lyle
What chance Comet and any other underfunded high street retailer?

What chance Comet and any other underfunded high street retailer?

Sadly, on November 2nd Comet slipped into administration. It was probably inevitable, even though it was only purchased by private equity firm OpCapita last year for £2. I guess they overpaid for the 236 stores.

Maybe i’m an idealist, but I do think these stores have a place in the market and this is where I see it.

1. They are brand showrooms. They price match any price anywhere on the Internet. It means they will lose out on some margin on sales to those who are price sensitive, but reward the ones who make all the effort to search for the best online price (like I do). There is no substitute for seeing the product and pressing the buttons and you just can’t get this from a photo online.

2. They then charge for delivery or installation as no Internet retailers seem to offer this.

So, is this possible?

Amazon seem to be able to match any online price pretty closely and whilst they don’t have 236 stores, they still have lots of warehouse space and staff. My suspicion is that the rent and rates on the stores are simply too high to make these spaces pay. I hope Comet survive. Not because I am a fan per-se, but because I believe in choice. I don’t want to just buy from Amazon and John Lewis, but I do want to be rewarded with a better price for my research and for making the effort to drive out to see them in their store.

PS

I just went down to Comet in Nottingham Castle Marina. The only sign of any change at all is an A4 sheet in the window. It isn’t a bad looking store really and the staff I spoke to were all friendly and helpful. The staff have said that anything can be sold at face value only, no gift cards and no discounts. It did look a little like it had been robbed as there were lots of gaps in the stock (particularly in the upstairs bit!). Expect a fire sale soon.

PPS

Interestingly, when they bought the cahain, they said they would focus on low prices http://www.opcapita.com/news/OpCapita-puts-focus-on-value-at-Comet What i’m suggesting is just that.

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Jamie Oliver in Boots – Two brands that don’t work together

Posted on October 24, 2012 by John Lyle

I quite like Jamie Oliver and I quite like Boots. I sometime pop into the latter for a cheap meal deal and something to make me look less old or ugly. BUt I don’t think they are brands that sit well together. As i’ve said before, brands work well together when they approach similar audiences who share a close match when you overlay their combined values. This isn’t the case with Boots and Jamie.

And I have some evidence to prove it.

Jamie Oliver and his so far unsuccessful assault on Boots lunch time audience

If you look at these two shelves side by side the one on the right is the normal Boots meal deal fare. £3.29 for sandwich, drink and crisps. On the left is Jamie’s good work. Sandwiches (which look lovely) starting at £3.70 and specifically excluded from the meal deal. By the time you add crisps and a decent smoothie you are at £6 or nearly double their normal price. 50p off isn’t going to impress or influence anyone.

As you can see one gondola is very full and one is very empty. That shot was at 14.45 today, so very little else will sell today.

Now, I don’t consider myself a tightwad in the lunch department, but this is a big step up in price for Boots customers. Too big. In Waitrose it may work, but not here.

This range will have to be included in the meal deal  - even with a small price premium – or it will fail fast.

It’s not because the sandwiches are bad or the retailer is at fault. It’s just that there is nowhere near enough overlay in the values.

The promo video

This is what Jamie Oliver said before the launch.

I genuinely believe he is passionate about the product, but sadly unless there is a fundamental shift in Boots customers’ buying behaviour, it will be in the meal deal and dumbed down to meet the price point, or  sadly it will fail.

Update 25.10.12

I went in again today at 17.05 to see how it was getting on today. The picture still doesn’t lie. There is an enormous amount left in Jamie’s stand and far less in the one on the right. It looks more even because the standard one has been re-merchandised to bring the remaining stock forward. And of course, we don’t know whether they had a jamie delivery overnight and how much will have to be thrown away.

Jamie Oliver's lunch in Boots - Stlll not really selling very many sandwiches

Jamie Oliver’s lunch in Boots – Stlll not really selling very many sandwiches

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A great 007 branded PR stunt by Coke Zero

Posted on October 22, 2012 by John Lyle

We were always taught that for every £ you spent on a sponsorship deal you needed to spend £2 more to exploit the relationship, When Tetley came into rugby it’s one of the reasons they did so much better out of it than the likes of B&H and Cornhill did in the old days of cricket sponsorship.

Well, Coke Zero have set up this fun stunt to to challenge people to get a few people to try and be a (tiny) bit like James Bond. Offering them free tickets, but putting an urban obstacle course in the way.

I’ve never quite understood the point of Coke Zero before. I guess it is a Diet Coke for blokes who don’t want to be seen to be drinking a diet drink. By using young blokes to carry out the stunts, they have done a good job of positioning the brand for me.

I think it’s quite clever and very much more powerful than a simple trailer promo.

Looking at the YouTube Stats it shows it’s working too, with just about 3,000,000 viewers in four days, 26,000 likes and demographics as follows:

Top demographics
Male, 25-34 years
Male, 35-44 years
Male, 45-54 years

Therefore, money well spent.

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O2 getting down wiv da kids

Posted on October 12, 2012 by John Lyle

This is just so brilliant. I’m sure it’s not been sanctioned by the O2 brandmongers, but it is so funny.

o2 getting down wiv da kids

Thanks to the rather excellent copybot for sharing this with us.

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