Chancellor George Osborne will announce his last Budget before the May General Election on 18 March. As political leaders prepare to do battle over the nation's financial future, Sky News has produced a video showcasing the debate in rap.
Thursday, 5 March 2015
Not Always Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has lost its fizz of late. With the war on sugar raging, the brand lost £30m in UK retail sales last year - as arch rival Pepsi enjoyed a boom driven by its sugar-free Pepsi Max So Coca-Cola revealed a shake-up that will bring the four sub-brands under a single Coca-Cola brand. The plan is designed to raise the profile of Coke's no and lower calorie products and help consumers better understand their role. This is a classic example of confusion between brands, communications and packaging which Coca-Cola hope to try and resolve.
Greggs On A Roll
Today, shares in the 75-year-old Newcastle-based baker closed at an all-time high at 963p after it revealed record breaking pre-tax profits, up 49 per cent at £49.7m on sales up 5.5 per cent at £804m. Now all the debt-free Greggs has to decide is what to do with all its spare cash. Two options are: a share buyback programme, which could force the share price even higher, or a special dividend.It currently turns over 2.5 million sausage rolls and a million cups of coffee a week across its 1,650 sites, which it wants to grow to 2,000. Story contribution thanks to Nathan Parr.
McAntibiotics
Global restaurant chain McDonald's is to begin reducing the use of antibiotics in its chicken products. It will focus on removing those antibiotics that can have an impact on human health, but keep those necessary for poultry welfare.Many poultry producers in US give their birds antibiotics to make them grow faster. But overuse of the drugs could lead to them becoming less effective in treating illness and disease in humans.The changes come in response to growing consumer demand for food made with natural ingredients only.Last month, Swiss food giant Nestle announced that it would be removing all artificial flavours and colours from its chocolate products in the US.
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Samsung S6 Edge
Samsung S6 & S6 Edge with curved screen was unveiled yesterday at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress. The S6 and S6 Edge have a completely redesigned look and feel and have ditched the cheap plastic for premium metal and glass. Samsung have revamped the design, upgraded the camera and installed in-built support for wireless charging. The S6 Edge uses its curves to provide a couple of services such as colour caller ID/notifications and information such as time and weather. There were lots of comparison to Apple in the war over the smartphone with Samsung claiming better camera resolution and faster charging time. Samsung are still the best-selling smartphone maker and a lot is resting on this phones new appeal.
App To Get Bums on Cinema Seats
The cinema experience is certainly not a cheap one and this week saw the end of Orange Wednesdays, an offer for Orange customers - now part of EE - to get two for one tickets every Wednesday at most of the UK's cinemas. Now, after more than 10 years, it is no more. But help is at hand, literally. UsherU, which launches next month, is an app that gives cinemas the ability to send out alerts when a screening has a lot of empty seats. Nearby UsherU users will be invited to pop in for a movie with some kind of bargain acting as bait - a cheaper ticket, some free food, or any other number of enticing offers. Only currently on offer for London cinemas but the potential is there to get people going back to the cinema.
The Dress
It's the gold and white or blue and black dress that broke the internet. Whether you think it's white or gold or blue or black, this does has got everyone talking - including advertisers. Never ones to miss an opportunity, some of the best known brands in the UK - from Lego to Domino's, Ikea and Manchester United - spotted the advertising potential and quickly created some white and gold (or black and blue? Brown and blue?) creations of their own. Follow the link to see others...
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