Source: Third Sector, Bullying UK, Twitter

The survey, conducted for The Institute by Ipsos MORI, reveals that the number of marketers who believe the UK economy will worsen in the next 12 months has halved to 34 per cent (down from 70 per cent in the Autumn 2008 survey). Likewise, those believing the UK economy will improve in the next 12 months has risen sharply to 26 per cent (up from 11 per cent in the Autumn 2008 survey).

When questioned about the prospects for their own organisation in the year ahead, more marketers believe business will improve (35 per cent) than believe it will get worse (24 per cent) – reversing the decline in confidence seen in the previous four surveys.

As belts tighten, marketing spend is increasingly being focused on the activities that marketers believe deliver the best return on investment – Customer Relationship Management, Public Relations and email marketing. In contrast, marketing spend on advertising (excluding online) is down 4.9 per cent, reflecting the fact that 23 per cent of those surveyed believed it delivers the worst return on investment.

Commenting on the findings, David Thorp, Director of Research and Professional Development at The Chartered Institute of Marketing said,

“Despite fears over the economy and job prospects for the rest of 2009, it is clear that we are turning a corner in marketers’ confidence about the future. For now, marketers are wisely concentrating their spend in the most effective activities, and as we move into 2010, I’m convinced this more professional approach will stand them in good stead when the economy recovers.”

Source: Brand Republic , The Telegraph, Click Through

Marketing Magazine

Alongside the launch campaign, targeted at studients, is an ebay store,  which sells not just the coffee, but also music, mugs and themed bedding. All at £1.89 (the price of the coffee)

Marketing success and bargains to boot!

Mushy peas are shedding their regional roots after Tesco said sales of the northern staple had quadrupled in the past year. Tesco is now launching an own-label version of the product across the UK for the first time, following a rise in sales of 320% in the past 12 months.

“Even just a few years ago no-one would have believed that mushy peas would have become not only a top-selling food but also a delicacy – but that is what’s happening,” said Tesco senior buying manager Simon Dryell. “Sales have never been great, which is why we only ever stocked them in literally a handful of stores but in the last year, thanks to the credit crunch, demand has quadrupled and we are set to launch them across the whole UK for the first time ever. “Until very recently they were mainly popular across the Midlands plus in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the north but sales are growing and now sales are creeping as far south as the Home Counties for the first time ever.”

Author: Richard Parkes

Source: The Grocer

Greenshootsblog.com was delighted to hear on the radio this morning about Regus offering free offices for startup businesses. To make sure that we’d heard it right, we checked, and sure enough, realbusiness.co.uk is among several sites to report this welcome succour for newly formed businesses.

As a part of their Get Started campaign, Regus are offering startups a variety of packages – from ongoing use of offices worldwide, to rooms for “intense planning” of these new businesses. For us, this is a double whammy: firstly, we love that there are brands out there actively promoting new businesses and secondly, that there are businesses forward-thinking enough in tough times  to think of literally growing their next generation of customers.

For the consumer, recent research published from psychologists at the University of San Francisco indicates that choosing an experience based purchase over a possession based one is likely to make you happier.  You just have to look at the increasing popularity of experiences like Secret Cinema for exciting new ways to experience film.  The social impact of this may in fact roll over into the film industry itself.  The prevalence of genres such as chick-flicks is likely to remain popular; great for advertisers – you only have to look at the Sex and the City film positioning in 2008 and the tie-in opportunities.  However (and not to overly bog myself down in the mire that is high vs. low cinema) the cultural questions that have been thrown up may have an interesting impact on the subject/format (ad infinitum) of film itself.  And unlike the depression of the last century, British cinema is actually in great shape to take advantage of this.  Beyond national cinema, 2009 is shaping up to be a great film for both blockbuster and arthouse – roll on Watchmen for me.  I await the results of the next few years with interest….

In the current doom and gloom, it seems visual communications that lighten the mood are the way forward. We love the current ‘comparethemeerkat’ campaign by VCCP for comparethemarket.com- it’s a refreshing approach to what has become a very predictable sector and message. The fun and interactive campaign has created a really positive reaction, and could suggest a trend towards ‘feelgood communications’. Plus, anything that reminds of Borat is a winner.

http://www.brandrepublic.com/Campaign/News/871144/Wealthy-meerkat-comparethemarketcom-ad-campaign/