Alex Woodruff Biz Buzz

Portfolio management and long-term planning is crucial when you grow a business. One of the biggest issues from a marketing point of view is: do you stretch the brand and extend it into new markets, or do you launch new ones? This was obviously the issue tackled by Jägermeister, a cult brand that has already [...]

How differently alcohol is sold in different countries… Heineken cans in France Starting with some examples from Anja (thanks for your input!), it looks like the French are taking the issue of drinking during pregnancy very seriously. So seriously in fact that warnings now feature on cans. Whether this is a legal requirement I don’t [...]

Thanks go to Jan-Hinnerk for pointing out another example of German car makers using their new powers to do comparative advertising. It used to be forbidden here, but as you may already know from the story of Smart’s little battle with the new Mini, the car makers in particular enjoy a public spat in advertising. [...]

Well, well. Do I smell a rat? Is Unilever going to gradually start telling us more about all of the brands it has under its umbrella – and start corporate branding? Bird’s nest – on your soup Nestlé have done it in certain areas, as you’ll know if you read this blog regularly (from some [...]

It’s intriguing to see major internationals revamping their product portfolios – which often involves the three R’s (redesign, relaunch and then resign – the last bit being the brand manager who realises it didn’t work). I notice that Sprite in the States has redesigned its pack. But why only in the States? Is the brand [...]

Are Coca-Cola going to start using their mother brand as an umbrella? In Germany I’ve noticed the packaging on their products – pictured below – increasingly features something along the lines of “made by the Coca-Cola company”. It used to be down the back of packs. Now it seems to be creeping round the front. [...]

Looking for new product ideas is never easy. So you segment the market, and again, and again, until bingo! The ultimate must-drink product… coffee made from cat poo: Source: BBC News website. Whatever will they think of next? They’d have to pay me £50 to drink this, not expect me to part with that much [...]

Condoms? Mini-CDs? Or… The websites I’ve visited in the States criticise this product for not looking like what it is, for trying to be “too cool” and setting up all the wrong signals for what is basically just the latest type of chewing gum. I’m not one to judge it, neither being American nor at [...]

We all know about the big M’s ongoing problems with health issues, so what – now that most people have heard the controversial statements and seen films like Super Size Me – are they doing about it? Well, in the UK they’re sidestepping a recently introduced ban on junk food advertising (as if that’ll stop [...]

Camel has been changing its advertising agency again, and its strategy. It’s always had such a powerful brand icon: the camel. Kids loved it, law makers hated it But in the 90s the funny campaign used across Europe came under fire from the authorities for attracting children – a no-no in this controversial market. So, [...]