Tuesday 11 February 2014

Ballygowan Water To Make Splash

Britvic has revealed plans to axe its two brands of UK water 'Drench' and 'Pennine Spring' and replacing it with Irish water brand Ballygowan. The launch will focus on the 'immediate refreshment' impulse market which makes up 30% of the market. The Ballygowan water is a popular brand in Ireland with 21% market share.

Generous Zuckerberg Donates $1bn

Mark Zuckerberg game almost $1bn (£609m) to charity last year, making him the largest donor on the US public record for 213. He donated 18 million Facebook shares, valued at $970m were mainly donated to Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Microsofts Bill Gates was also a big donated with £101m donated last year.

Dumb Starbucks

The owner of a parody coffee shop in LA called "Dumb Starbucks" has been revealed to be Canadian television comedy personality Nathan Fielder. By adding the word 'dumb' they are said to be technically making fun of Starbucks, which allows them to use their trademarks under a law known as 'fair use'. Starbucks are looking into what steps to take but took no affiliation of the company.

Sunday 9 February 2014

Flappy Bird Extinction

Flappy Bird is at risk of extinction as developer 'cannot take this anymore'. Dong Nguyen is threatening to take his wildly popular game down despite topping app charts around the world. The game has been downloaded more than 50 million times and creates $50k a day in revenue from in game ads. However the game and its success is not the bed of roses you might expect. Nguyen tweeted 'I can call it a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it. People are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace'.

Budweiser Ends Cup Sponsorship

The F.A are looking for new sponsors of the FA Cup as Budweiser decided not to renew its £9m a year contract after three years of sponsorship. They were the first American sponsor of English footballs most famous cup and they now intend to focus on their sponsorship of the upcoming World Cup.

McCain Chip Jumper

Chip fans will soon be able to show their love for the food as McCain have paired up with Primark to put on sale a copy of the 'chips' wooly jumper that can be seen in the current TV  ad campaign. The jumper will be available for four weeks, priced at £12 with the launch focused around national chip week, expect to see plenty of promotion for this one.

Tuesday 4 February 2014

Facebook is 10!

The social network Mark Zuckerberg set up at Harvard University celebrates 10 years online with some 1.2 billion monthly users. Here are ten things you might not know...

Logo Wars

House of Fraser is considering an appeal against a court ruling that stated the company infringed the Jack Wills logo. Jack Wills took House of Fraser to court because a product on their Linea range was supporting a logo similar to the pheasant wearing a top hat and cane. The judge ruled that the use of logo took unfair advantage of Jack Will's trademark in an attempt to enhance its own brand.

McVities Sweet Re-Launch

United Biscuits is investing £12m in rejuvenating the McVitie's master brand under the leadership of new chief executive and former marketer Martin Glenn. This is se to be the biggest ever campaign by United Biscuits and is being supported by a brand design and "sweet" advert campaign.

Saturday 1 February 2014

Wolf Not On Wall Street

By 30 years old, Sam Polk had made more than $5 million in bonuses alone during eight years working on Wall Street. Now at 34, Polk runs a nonprofit business called Groceryships, which he founded. It helps low-income families struggling with obesity to increase the amount of fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods in their diets.

Nintendo Profits Plunge

Japanese games manufacturer Nintendo has seen its nine-month profit plunge by 30%, prompting its boss to cut his pay in half. The slump was blamed on poor sales of the Wii U console as gamers flock to the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PS4. Company president Satoru Itwata said he would slash his salary for five months to atone for the firm's woes. He also said all directors would cut their pay by an average of 25% in the same period.

Irn-Bru Ice Cream

Irn Bru's brand has been extended into the ice cream market with an Irn Bru ice cream rippled with Irn Bru and covered in an Irn Bru shell. They have described the ice lolly as the "ultimate flavour hit for fans" using the same secret ingredients included in the carbonated drink. Head of Marketing said they had listened to their customers and worked hard to get it right with taste testers giving it full marks.