The KitKat team have been brave enough to "kill the dwarves" in their range, those little line extensions that eat up money and time, and bring little in the way of sales. The resources freed up have been re-focused on core growth, and on one big, bold and successful extension: KitKat Senses.They ar...

The Knorr brand has had a hard time of late, as it is associated with dry packet soup and sauces, out of line with the trends to fresher food. However, investment in core product innovation, linked with a clever creative campaign, looks to be paying off with improved brand and business results. The ...

Last year I posted on Pepsico's launch of Tropicana Smoothies and simultaneous price cut on PJ Smoothies, in an attempt to take the latter more "mainstream" (a polite word for downmarket). The post predicted: "PJ's will die, as being taken downmarket means it will be too close to own label." And ind...

Seems the 1st brandgym blog Hit 'n Miss prediction for 2009 my be coming true. Heinz are putting the gun to their chilled Farmer's Market soup, according to an article in Food Manufacture I was interviewed for. The soups were launched a year or so ago, at £1.49 for a 600g carton vs. £1.99 for Cove...

 The spirit and philosophy of my all-time favourite movie Jerry McGuire is inspirational for any small business, like ours, that seeks to take on the big boys. This post shares some of this inspiration. Click below to watch the 2 minute trailer, or watch it here on YouTube. 1. Smaller is better Ear...

Cadbury's gorilla ad created a whole lot of hoo-ha in 2008/09. And 10million views on You Tube. I always thought most viewers missed the idea behind the ad: the anticipation of enjoying Cadbury Dairy Milk, and the sheer joy when you finally eat it. It was just a really funny, well made film. However...

I posted last year on the demise of roadside eaterie, Little Chef, after in went into administration. I asked the question, "Shouldn't some brands just die?". The brand was well known, but negative associations (cheap, unhealthy, plastic decor, old fashioned) were seemingly hard wired into peoples' ...

[Guest blog from Anne Charbonneau, Managing Partner for France and Benelux, and head of our Brand Social Responsibility] As Kermit the frog used to say, " Its hard being green'. This is especially true in tough times, when the temptation is to leave green marketing initiatives on the back burner. He...

On holiday in France over Xmas, I was interested to see that Tropicana Smoothies were on sale. I posted on the UK launch last year here. Being the sad brandaholic I am, I spotted that the pack design was different to that pack used in the UK. The French have gone for a "food mixer" visual, whereas t...

There's been a lot of hullabaloo about Apple's iPhone this year, on these pages and many others.The phone itself is pretty damn cool. However, several other brands have copied the design and touch screen, such as the Samsung Omnia, shown in the left of the picture. A pretty cheeky carbon copy. So ho...