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 13th, 2009

The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s latest Marketing Trends Survey (Spring 2009) reveals that many marketers believe the worst of the recession is over, although the rest of 2009 will remain extremely challenging.

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.”

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

July 8th, 2009

Yet more positive news courtesy of Nationwide. Slowly but surely people seem to be poking their heads up from the parapet without fear of being shot down by bankruptcy or financial ruin. Well done us, that’s the spirit!

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INCREASES

• Consumer Confidence rose by four points
to 58 in June.
• The Expectations Index increased by
eight points to 86.
• The Spending Index increased by one
point to 104.
• The Present Situation Index fell from 18
in May to 17 in June.

EXPECTATIONS FOR FUTURE ARE RISING…

• A third of people now believe that the
economic situation will be better than
today in six months time, with less than
a quarter (23%) thinking it will be worse.

July 6th, 2009

Fingers crossed

As discussions rage as to the shape of the latest economic predictions, Greenshootsblog.com continues to enjoy the nuggets of good news as they happen.

Nationwide reports that it has seen house prices rise another 0.9% in June and observes the “three months rate of change turns positive for the first time since December 2007″.

Proof that there may indeed be some economic life out there.

June 23rd, 2009

Now even those of you who are as interested in politics as the contents under your sink can’t have failed to notice the drama around British politics.  Firstly the action in inaction of people not turning up to vote due to complete disgust over the expenses and the worrying tendencies of those who did – two seats to the BNP says it all (although my personal favourite was a UKIP voter who voted BNP as he couldn’t unfold the ballot paper properly).  Then terminator Gordon Brown, is there nothing this man can’t survive?!  However I am standing firmly on the side of the positive on this one.  James Purnell fantastic resignation, and the recent vote into the Commons for the new speaker with all candidates giving speeches and a blind vote are great indications of an about face to the actual electorate.  Whilst the more cyncial would point to Speaker Bercow’s appointment as a spite from Labour, there can be no denying the strong possibility of change he offers.  Right now is a exciting time for change in British politcs and I’d urge even the uber apathetic to get involved and get informed.

Source: Newsnight, The Times

June 4th, 2009

Calmer horizons?

Blueskies recruitment, this week released the results of a poll, suggesting that expectations for marketing agencies are looking up. Although by their own admission the poll was only intended as a snapshot, rather than a rigorous study, it does seem to echo (at least in the anecdotal experience of this writer) a cautiously improving optimism amongst agencies compared to the beginning of the year.

They found that some 47% were feeling more positive against the 44% who were feeling less positive than they were at the start of 2009. 

There are two reasons this cheers us up. Firstly – and there’s an interest to be declared here – for those who work in agencies, it’s just plain good to hear. More altruistically, it can herald a wave of increased marketing activity, many of the results of which will have a positive impact upon businesses, and then confidence generally.

Blue skies ahead all around? Signs of hope, at least.

confidence, marketing agencies, positive impact

June 2nd, 2009

There’s nothing like some perspective to pull people out of their introverted,  stressed out world.  Recent evidence suggests that our moral compasses have gone haywire due to an overload of information and that we are increasingly choosing to participate in black and white judgment calls, a la “Britain’s Got Talent” as that’s all we can process.  However I’d argue that it’s a question of what we make ourselves look at; whilst I’m not above the “tune out” factor when needed, maybe sometimes we need to look elsewhere for the tune out.  There has been a recent spate of interest again in the Hubble telescope and the images being relased by it; the sheer expanse and wonder of the images are the sort of tune out needed and highlight the issue of choice.   Much as the direction needed for optimism, perspective and where we get it needs to be driven by a choice from what we have available and being brave enough to tune out in a more positive way.

Source: The Times , Hubble

May 27th, 2009

There appears to be a pervasive mood towards mass blame and anger at the moment, and whilst it’s fair to say that some amongst our politicians and bankers are not the most honest members of society there are as ever some pretty bright rays of light.  Figures released from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) reveal that 57% of claimants last year were rewarded with some form of payback and that there was a 14% rise in overall disputes settled.  It’s always nice to know that “the man” might be fighting the case for the greater good after all.

Source: BBC

May 18th, 2009

Born out of a need to create positive art from the recession, “Worthless” is definitely in keeping with this blogs attitude.  A fusion of art and music; this exhibition relies upon interactivity, with members of the public bringing along items that are considered to be “worthless” that will then be worked into pieces of art.  There is more than coincidence in the name with it directly referencing Woolworths.  They state their intention as taking perceived worthless items through to priceless with consumers dictating how much they would pay for said items.  The exhibition will be taking place on Endell Street from 22nd May, for more info follow the link

Source: Worthless