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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Can new McDonald's CEO bring fresh ideas to fast food?

McRib sandwich, a limited-time menu item that's a cult favourite in UK and US markets

Under Steve Easterbrook as CEO, McDonald's UK has reinforced a more local brand positioning and tested new products and promotions for the changing customer profile.

Now Easterbrook is moving to America to become CEO of the entire McDonald's business, which faces significant challenges such as intense competitive pressure, overall sales declines and increased customer interest in healthy eating.

Many of the innovations that helped McDonald's build sales in the UK may be implemented across multiple markets. For example:

• Crowdsourcing new products. McDonald's asked customers to build their ultimate beef burger, and then featured the 5 winning "My Burger" product ideas during autumn of 2014.
• Increasing transparency about food sourcing. To help customers understand what's in McDonald's meals, it established a special section on its website called 'What Makes McDonald's?' In addition to posting videos about agriculture and other sources of production, McDonald's invited questions from the public. This is also being done at McDonald's Canada.
• Healthier eating. McDonald's UK encourages healthier eating with 'Free Fruit Fridays'. Once a month, children get a free bag of fruit with the purchase of a Happy Meal.

Easterbrook sees potential in marketing meals customised for each customer: 'People’s desires are changing. They want to be treated as individuals, not as numbers'.

Cadbury changes its Creme Egg

Cadbury UK--which enjoys 609,000 likes on its FB page--is making headlines, but not in a positive way.

The company's iconic Creme Eggs, a sweet Easter tradition for four decades, are undergoing two key changes.

The first is a packaging change that affects pricing. Now the number of eggs in each package is now 5 instead of 6. Cadbury explains that this change, which effectively increases the product's price, is due to rising costs (of chocolate, among other ingredients).

The second change, which is just as controversial, is to the recipe for the chocolate shell, which was similar to Dairy Milk. Cadbury in Canada will still offer the standard Dairy Milk shell, but Creme Eggs sold in the UK will have a different chocolate shell.

One change not under Cadbury's control is that its products made in the UK will no longer be imported to the US. Why? Because Hershey legally has use of the Cadbury brand and product names in the US market. Cadbury and Hershey use different recipes for products that carry the same name (such as Creme Eggs and Kit Kat bars). Therefore, Hershey says consumers will be confused by the dueling UK-made and US-made products.

After some legal back-and-forth, the importer that had been distributing UK-made Cadbury products in US markets must halt its importing. US fans are unhappy because many prefer the taste of UK-made Cadbury (made by Cadbury) to the taste of US-made Cadbury (made by Hershey).

From Millennium Wheel to Coca-Cola London Eye

The London Eye was originally branded as 'Millennium Wheel' in 2000, part of the city's celebration of the turn of the century. After being sponsored by British Airways and then by EDF Energy, the London Eye (a Merlin Entertainments attraction) is now sponsored by Coca-Cola.

This change in corporate sponsorship means the Coca-Cola London Eye (as it's being called) glows red at night--the color of the soft drink marketer's iconic label. The sponsorship includes Coca-Cola branding inside each pod and on staff uniforms, ticket kiosks, etc.

Some critics are outraged about Coca-Cola sponsoring such a popular family attraction, worried about encouraging children to consume sugary beverages. Health advocates distributed free toothbrushes at the Eye's reopening on Saturday to call attention to nutrition issues and the ethics of this sponsorship, which runs for two years. What then?

Glossary of marketing terms

The online glossary for my Essential Guide to Marketing Planning defines dozens of important marketing terms. Take a look for definitions such as:

• Buzz marketing    More intense form of word of mouth in which the organization targets opinion leaders, with the aim of having them spread information to other people.
• Cause-related marketing    Marketing a brand or product through a connection to benefit a social cause or non-profit organization.
• Ethnographic research    Observing customer behaviour in real-world situations. 
• Field marketing    Working (often with outside agencies) on sales promotions that take place in stores, shopping districts and office locations.
• Multibrand strategy    Using two or more brand names in an existing product line or category.
• Relationship marketing    Marketing designed to build ongoing relationships with customers rather than stimulate isolated purchase transactions.
  
  
  

Among UK New Product Winners: Ella's Kitchen

The Grocer presents new product awards every year, for the best food and for non-food products introduced during the previous year. Entries for 2015 are now open. Categories include coffee and chocolate drinks, dairy drinks, fish products, frozen desserts, laundry products, infants' products, soups, and teas and infusions, among others.

Who were the winners in 2014? Both large and small marketers entered and won. Cadbury was a winner in the chocolate confectionery category; Persil won in the laundry category.

Among the smaller companies to win in 2014 was Ella's Kitchen (winner in the infants' category). Named after a real baby named Ella, the company markets a range of organic baby food.

Paul Lindley is the founder of Ella's Kitchen and also Ella's father. He had an idea for marketing nutritious, all-organic baby food products to delight 'tiny taste buds' and tempt even finicky babies to eat. He also knew he needed colourful packaging to 'sell from the shelf'. Once Sainsbury's began to stock his products, the company gained national distribution.

Lindley had worked for Nickelodeon before becoming an entrepreneur, and this connection enabled him to arrange for free TV promotion in exchange for some of the firm's profits. As a result, Ella's Kitchen gained brand recognition and established itself nationally.

When Ella's Kitchen undertook global expansion, however, Lindley experienced considerably more competitive pressure in the US market. He sold Ella's Kitchen to Hain Celestial, known for its all-natural food products, and remained as the division head, using the parent's marketing muscle to boost Ella's Kitchen.

Today, nearly a decade after its founding, Ella's Kitchen is active on social media to educate and inform parents about nutrition and, of course, explain how its products are good for baby. On YouTube, for instance, the company posts videos about feeding babies, weaning babies and other topics of interest to families with infants. It offers Q&A with experts on its Facebook page and its Twitter page.