Thursday 26 February 2015

Mars lives its values with Fairtrade sourcing

From 'The Five Principles of Mars'
Mars, the name of the UK company and the chocolate bar, is governed according to five core values:

  1. Quality (of work, of product)
  2. Responsibility (for results and for ethical decisions)
  3. Mutuality (shared benefit in business relationships)
  4. Efficiency (maximum productivity from all resources)
  5. Freedom (company independence to grow and prosper)
The company recently announced it will begin using only Fairtrade certified, ethically-sourced cocoa in its Mars bars sold in the UK and Ireland. The product will carry a special Fairtrade logo from this autumn to promote this arrangement.

For Mars, the move to Fairtrade-only cocoa fits with the Mutuality principle of benefiting stakeholders (such as cocoa growers) in its business relationships. The firm's long-term goal is to use only sustainably-grown cocoa in its products by 2020.

Wednesday 18 February 2015

New LEGO set: Crowdsourced Doctor Who

Finally, Doctor Who fans will be able to assemble the Tardis one LEGO brick at a time. LEGO crowdsourced this new product through its LEGO Ideas website, where brand fans are invited to submit ideas and then the community members vote for their favourites.

Product ideas that receive 10,000 or more votes move ahead to the next stage in the process: A formal review by LEGO's experts, who test each set, assess the potential marketing opportunity and determine how the new product might fit in the current product mix.

Only a handful of ideas are chosen for production during the year and this is the year for Doctor Who. Of course, LEGO had to negotiate a license, because the BBC owns the intellectual property rights. The current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, will be depicted on one of the minifigures, but other decisions (such as a companion figure and other characters) remain to be announced. Will Daleks be included with the set? Stone angels? Stay tuned.

Monday 16 February 2015

Ocado's long road to profitability

It's been a long road to profitability for Ocado, the online grocer that has struggled with finances, competition and other issues since its founding in 2000. Now the grocer has reported an annual profit for the first time and is building on changes in consumer behaviour that make online and mobile shopping more appealing and popular every day. And it's branching out with ventures like a deal with Marie Claire magazine to enter the upmarket beauty business.

Ocado's strategic objectives are to:

  1. Increase the number of customers it serves
  2. Increase the amount spent by each customer
  3. "Make shopping easy" for customers
  4. Continue improving efficiency
  5. Commercialise intellectual property such as proprietary processes/technologies

Ocado courts digital-savvy customers with a strong social media presence on Facebook (274,000 likes), Twitter (38,000 followers), Pinterest (1,800 followers), Instagram (1,800 followers), YouTube and a corporate blog. It has both an iPhone app and an Adroid app for mobile-based customers. It has an app that allows customers to scan a UPC code on a grocery item at home and have it instantly added to the Ocado shopping list. Convenience for time-pressured customers is a major benefit that Ocado is banking on to keep it profitable in the intensely competitive world of grocery retailing.

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Everything old is new again at GZ Vinyl

You have to travel to the Czech Republic, and beyond Prague, to visit the home of the world's largest supplier of vinyl LPs. It's GZ Vinyl, part of GZ Media.

With the dramatic increase in vinyl LP sales, more performers are insisting that their music be released on LP--and more fans are seeking out LPs for the acoustic and aesthetic benefits. Some performers prefer colour vinyl or marbled vinyl to make a visual impact.

Luckily, GZ never did away with its LP production equipment, even while the music world moved through tape and CD and even digital formats. The firm put its vinyl pressing machinery into storage--and then retrieved it when LPs regained popularity as consumer behaviour evolved. This YouTube video shows vinyl LPs being made.

Today, GZ is even installing next-generation vinyl production machinery for speedier, state-of-the-art LP manufacturing and finishing. This will shorten the time between orders and shipment of LPs and satisfy customers throughout the supply chain.

Thursday 5 February 2015

Brand new jet look for easyJet


The budget airline easyJet is changing to a new look for its planes--its first livery refresh in two decades.

You can watch a YouTube video (in timelapse format) documenting the changeover from the old look (shown at right) to the new look (shown below) on an easyJet plane.

The new livery matches easyJet's latest advertising and removes the 'dot com' part of the brand, an important update.

Given the intense industry competition and the latest easyJet statistics--showing no growth in monthly passenger figures for the first time in 3 years--this livery refresh is a way to attract attention and try to add buzz (inexpensively, as is easyJet's way).