Alex Woodruff Biz Buzz

It’s common in business to business for companies to play up their heritage. As any German engineering company will tell you, the label “made in Germany” is an instant door opener to many export markets.

A slice of English heritage?
It can also work in non-BtB markets, as long as you understand the audience. On a recent [...]

Two recent examples of how listening to the much revered customer does not always go right - especially if they take over your marketing for you! And using Web 2.0 and inviting online junkies to define tactics …?

Online geeks hijack P for Product.Source: flickr
We’ll start in Australia. The Land of Plenty. This includes Vegemite, a [...]

Lilac logistics?
How do you market a service that nobody can see, measure or experience until it happens? Tangible products can be shown, in physical terms. Intangible things (like services) can’t.
One solution some companies use is to turn the abstract “process” into something more visual. This company on the right, Müller, has decided to make its [...]

When markets offer so many alternatives already, it’s difficult thinking up new ideas to appeal to the over-targetted, already-satisfied customers.
Apple’s approach is clear: the USP with their latest product launch is stated without hype and over-marketed image: “the world’s thinnest notebook”. The MacBook Air:

So what about this one: Arrogant Bastard Ale. It’s been popping up [...]

If a soup is called low fat, and it’s on-shelf next to a soup for kiddies, you’d expect it to keep its promise.
Not so with these two Knorr soups.
Soup on the left: for kiddies, limited edition Teddy Soup. Soup on the right: low fat.

Knorr confusion
I won’t bore you with the nutritional breakdown, but the [...]

Always read the instructions
I discovered this little gem from Brazil on a table top in Berlin. An MBA had returned with it after discovering its “miracle benefits” while (supposedly) over there for his studies.
Everyone he met said you should take it before and after drinking and the next day you’ll have no hangover.
Now this sounds [...]

I’m used to seeing manufacturers play to current events to capture people’s interest - as they did in Germany during the 2006 World cup (click here to see what the Germans did in the supermarkets). But you don’t often see them completely redesigning the logo to capture the public’s imagination. Not unless they have such [...]

Underfoot branding.
This shoe from a well known brand in Germany has been carefully designed to show the name of the brand on the sole. When you look at the shoe directly. But what if, like most people, you never see the sole? Then how can you display the brand…?
Answer, with the imprint the shoe [...]

Hope in a bottle
I stumbled across this product in Italy. Not a familiar sight on shelves in the UK or Germany, but apparently marketing execs in the States hope it will pull in the mums.
It has a totally clear benefit: the baby will sleep. As it says on the US website, “There’s nothing like a [...]

Photo of German catalogue - similar to UK promotions.
As you’ll know if you’re a regular reader, I do like spotting benefits - or mocking products that fail to state their benefit.
I see Tchibo have been thinking up nifty kitchen gadgets to help me cook my autumnal mushroom harvest. May I introduce you to the [...]