Alex Woodruff Biz Buzz

Source: Daily Telegraph. Over the years I’ve seen a number of companies forced by consumers to “stop being racist”. They don’t think they’re being racist, they’re just doing what they always did, but because of demographic changes their use of certain icons become out of touch with modern thinking – and just as importantly, the [...]

If you’re familiar with the examples I show in the marketing course of FCUK, then you’ll understand why this brand recently caught my eye: It seems a drinks maker from Altheim has managed to register the trademark for the vodka-fruit juice mix, despite original protestations. This paves the way for many mesmerising merchandising opportunities. Of [...]

What the hell are some copywriters thinking when they pen a slogan? Maybe alcohol affects their ability to think straight. We’ve already seen Irish companies writing some really bizarre stuff. But the two examples in this post show that it’s not just alcohol companies – the (often controversial) German drugstore chain Schlecker are equally guilty. [...]

I’ve been watching ethnic marketing in a number of cultures now, not just with the Turkish population in Germany. Polishing up English advertising Some of the big questions you’ll have to ask yourself if you target an ethnic market: 1) Is the target group big enough to sustain good sales? and then 2) At what [...]

Everything under control My “Next please” part of this blog is dedicated to new ideas – products or services I think the market is calling out for. A couple of years ago I said it was finally time for hotels to offer a new service, and prevent arguments between tourists from different nations. Well, well. [...]

Having seen this latest brand, which is targeted at young alcopop consumers and tries to position itself as a trendy tipple with an English touch, I might have to take back my original criticism of Nestlé and its “bum-bum” clanger. Bum pocket drink?!? Bum-bum ice cream never tried pretending it’s English. It’s a thoroughbred German [...]

If you’ve been following previous posts on the failed attempt to update the Stuttgart logo (last week, week before), you might be interested to see some of the counter-suggestions after Kessel.tv sent out an open invitation to come up with something better. As a Brit and now established expat in the Swabian metropolis, my vote [...]

Bombarding the customer. I often post on this blog about things that I find shocking as a Brit living abroad. If it’s not about rudeness or inappropriate visuals it’s about marketing departments unknowingly putting their foot in it. For more, see the Cultural Hotpot posts. Well, this time something in reverse. If you’re German, would [...]

How easy it is to put your foot in it. Or should I say hand in it. Sinister imagery in some countries. This image was going to be used by a big German company for an HR brochure. It was only for internal purposes, so why pull in foreign agencies? Enough people already had their [...]

Following a mega deal with Royal Dutch Shell, German Telekom off-shoot T-Systems is now actively operating in Malaysia after taking over its global DP systems. Pink, or magenta? You may be familiar with the corporate colours of Telekom and as happens with many strongly branded companies, a mention of the name is enough to conjure [...]