July 20th, 2009
Car manufacturers are racing to create more eco-friendly cars, with Nissan the latest to announce plans to build a new generation of electric cars.
The Japanese carmaker says the new models will be produced in its Wearside factory and is expected to create around 200 new jobs.
The £380m initiative will be aided in part by government grants and by the European Investment Bank.
Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, is planning to visit the North East plant and outline his vision of creating a “green revolution in the region” which will include a research and development centre and technology park.
The news closely follows Toyota and Honda’s announcement that they would build new hybrid models.
Toyota confirmed last week that its new Auris hybrid would be built in the UK from the middle of next year, while Honda has said that it plans to produce the first hybrid sports car.
Earlier this year the Government announced that it would allocate £2.3bn to support the UK’s struggling car industry.
Meanwhile, Nissan in Europe recently revealed a new marketing strategy that encompasses its three small cars, including the new low-cost model Pixo, in one collective campaign.
The “Welcome to Simplicity” campaign has been developed with the aim of promoting the overall category under one communication strategy.
Eco Friendly Cars, Hybrid Cars, Nissan
July 8th, 2009
Roll up , roll up, get yeself a baragain. This seems to be the approach being adopted by Think London in regards to pitching London as a business investment. The attitude has been focus on the positives of the global downturn as making business investment in the capital more achievable. And of course the carrot of 2012 dangles ever so tantalisingly. Thinking from the City of Oxford University indicates that the capital’s economy looks set to expand by $80bn dollars by 2015 and around $8bn of this will be as a direct result of the Olympics.
Source: Think London, Marketing Week
May 6th, 2009
Today, we were delighted to see the results that the Co-operative Group, who claimed record interim results with profits up 35.6% to £191.1m and claimed to be “on track” with their aim to double their profit in three years.
Their business spans retail, pharmacy, funeral services, travel, banking and insurance. And even though retail food sales are up over 40%, we’re particularly interested to see how the financial services fair. The ethical elements of the Co-operative brand might be just what the sector needs right now, to start to build trust in our financial institutions.
Glad tidings, indeed
April 28th, 2009
With a clear, vested interest in staying in over going out it seems a prime time to release new broadcast product innovation. From June, Sky is planning on adding long ads to its on-demand service, this time via the green button – thus stealing away people from sites such as IMDB. Setanta is planning a move to online with Setanta-i, meaning that its keen sprots subscribers need only pay £2.99 to use the service online. Watch this space…
Source: Marketing Week
April 6th, 2009
Just when you thought the iPhone could not get any better, Apple have announced the release of Skype on their application store. The application will allow iPhone users to make free phone calls to other Skype users over a wireless connection. For anyone who makes regular long distance or international calls, this truly is an important innovation in the smart phone market, and has also opened up a new dimension to second generation iPod Touch models. The latest models have in-built microphones that, when used in conjunction with the new Skype application over a wireless connection, will transform the popular music gadget into an internet phone. Very handy.
Author: Sam Perez
Source: The Times
April 5th, 2009
Mmmmmmm.....
After a week off from work, and a healthy (?) number of culinary treats, it was refreshing to read an article in today’s Sunday Times that celebrated both the happiness to be had from a good pud, and the resulting positive business impact.
We hear the food & restaurants director of Selfridges proclaim that “indulging in food can play a great role in making people feel happier about life” as well as April Preston, the head of product development at M&S confirming the rise in popularity of the pie.
And on the business side we’re seeing custard sales up by “almost 20%” and by a staggering 140% at the aforementioned M&S.
Proof that pudding is good for you AND the economy – so tuck in!
M&S, pies, pudding, Selfridges
March 10th, 2009
Roberto Cavalli has used Milan Fashion week to launch his own branded credit card. Aimed firmly at the high-spending fashionistas, the card is designed to allow users to access high fashion; literally at their fingertips. It ties in exclusivity of offers such as fashion show attendance, 24 hour concierge service and hotel upgrades. Developed by Corpcom (Trium Group), the credit card is building up awarness online only.
Countless articles have been documenting the marketing’s world’s ineffectiveness to offer products and messaging that target the female market (broad term that this is) and a cross-sell betwen fashion and credit could produce some interesting results; of course you can’t escape the questions the credit nature of the product throws up, but an interesting endeavour nonetheless. Launching in Italy initially, the venture will roll out to the rest of Europe, for more info click on the links below.
Source: Marketing Week
More Info: Roberto Cavalli
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February 25th, 2009
If you were to believe everything you read in the papers, the whole of the United Kingdom should be an obese mess by now. Sales of chocolate are up, KFC can’t find enough chickens to keep up with demand and our social time is apparently being spent at the cinema….
I beg to differ. Every time I visit the gym, it’s rammed. And gym goers in Streatham don’t appear to be the only ones looking after themselves and spending money on their wellbeing. Guernsey based vitamin and supplement supplier, Healthy Direct have just announced an online record for January, with their sales up 12% on this time last year. It would appear that their 1million+ customers place their health and wellbeing higher than ever before on their list of priorities.
This downturn has tested whether or not focus on health and wellbeing is a fad or ingrained in our culture. It would appear from these results that maybe the latter may be true.
I’m off to “think” about going to the gym
D.Killick
Healthy Direct, Recession, Supplements, Vitamins
February 25th, 2009
Confectionery firm Cadbury posted a 30% rise in annual profits after its key brands of Dairy Milk, Trident and Halls saw strong growth, reports the Press Association this morning.
They report a rather tasty set of results all around:
Dairy Milk global sales up by 11%, Halls cough sweets up by 9% and Trident chewing gum stretching to another 11%. And although the business was predicting some impact from the current climate, they were still expecting at least 4% growth in revenues.
Other highlights were the relaunch of the Wispa bar, which kicked off with sales of some 1.2m bars in the first week alone and a new range of Diary Milk bars (including Cranberry & Granola for the more healthy minded and Apricot Crumble for the more pudding minded).
And the EMEA division is reporting underlying profits of 13% more.
All leading to a 2% rise in shares today. Sweet.
February 24th, 2009
Always time for a bargain?
Primark’s increased sales show that consumers ARE prepared to get their money out of their pockets – as long as they see they’re getting a good deal.
In a heartening sign for those of us looking for signs of growth in the current market, the discount retailer reported a like for like sales growth of 5% in the last six months.
At Greenshootsblog.com, we take pains to point out that just because times are tough, doesn’t mean that business stops. In fact there are some for whom it’s positively booming. The challenge, it would seem, is to show the cautious consumer that they’re getting a good deal. Easier when you’re offering the lowest prices, admittedly, but there are plenty of other brands doing well at all levels of pricing. And we’ll keep sharing them with you.
