Experiential Marketing

Retailers are adopting a range of new technologies to help make the shopping experience more fun and interactive. But will this be enough to slow the High Street's demise and Amazon's remorseless advance? It developed a way of inserting lookalike digital versions of customers into a virtual environment called Reactland. Customers run on a treadmill wearing the firm's new React shoe while watching themselves in the game. Launched in Shanghai, China, last year, Nike has rolled out the experience in stores globally, with more installations planned for this year, including in Taiwan, Berlin and Dubai.  The key element, from a consumer perspective, was to create deep personalisation by building game avatars that look just like the player. his is what's known as "experiential" marketing - making shopping more interactive and entertaining. "At the heart of retail's ongoing transformation is a shift in focus from the point of sale to the point of experience," says Scott Clarke, chief digital officer at tech consultancy Cognisant. "Immersive retail experiences are still one of the few realities that retailers can perform better than Amazon."

Reactland

Ketchup Caviar

If you ever wanted some fancier ketchup of the spherical variety, you'll no longer have to fish around for it. Ketchup-maker Heinz announced on Twitter that it will be giving out jars of ketchup caviar to 150 lucky winners of a sweepstakes in time for Valentine's Day. Fear not, vegetarians: the "caviar" is actually little pearls of ketchup, not unfertilized salt-cured fish eggs. "America’s favorite ketchup presents America’s favorite caviar. Reply with #HeinzKetchupCaviar and #Sweeps for the chance to get your hands on one of 150 jars this Valen-HEINZ day," the tweet reads. The tweet has already gathered over 2 million views and thousands of entries. 

Caviar Ketchup

KFC Gravy Candle

KFC is set to release a candle inspired by its signature gravy and the soulful aroma it produces. The limited-edition gravy scented candle is numbered at 230, and can only be obtained by becoming an contestant to win it. Folks interested in having the sweet smell of meat sauce permeated throughout their living space, you’ve got until January 28 to enter. Unfortunately, only residents from U.K. and Ireland are eligible to win. The expertly infused candle is being released in conjunction with the chain’s Gravy Mega Box.

Gravy Candle

Greggs 'Baked' Makeup Palette

Greggs have done it again. First came the backwards sign for Fenwick's Window and then of course the vegan sausage roll and now the famous Newcastle bakers are responsible for another social media storm. And the reason? Their 'bake-d' makeup palette which was shared on Wednesday. Coming out of nowhere, the palette, which includes a variety of pasty-inspired shades which could be used for eye shadow, contouring and concealing. And people quickly went crazy over it, commenting in their thousands. Sorry to break some bad news guys, but unfortunately, as things stand, Greggs have no plans to actually launch a makeup range.

Greggs Baked

Ashley In Talks To Buy HMV

Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley is reportedly in talks to buy music chain HMV. Mr Ashley has held talks with key music and entertainment industry suppliers to HMV in the last fortnight with a view to acquiring the UK's last-remaining national music chain. HMV collapsed just three days after Christmas when its parent company, HMV Retail, was forced to appoint administrators for the second time in six years. Mr Ashley, who in the last six months has bought House of Fraser and Evans Cycles in pre-pack insolvency deals, was one of a handful of parties to lodge formal offers with KPMG‎ ahead of a deadline on 15 January. He is understood to believe that music and other entertainment products could be a valuable addition to parts of his high street empire, including Sports Direct. The tycoon is already a significant shareholder in Game Digital, the listed chain, and could pursue a move to merge it with HMV if he gains control of the music chain.

HMV Rescue

Gillette Boycott

A Gillette advert which references bullying, the #MeToo movement and toxic masculinity has split opinion online. The razor company's short film, called Believe, plays on their famous slogan "The best a man can get", replacing it with "The best men can be".The company says it wants men to hold each other "accountable". Some have praised the message of the advert, which aims to update the company's 30-year-old tagline, but others say Gillette is "dead" to them. The ad has been watched more than 2 million times on YouTube in 48 hours.In it, the company asks "Is this the best a man can get?" before showing images of bullying, sexual harassment, sexist behaviour and aggressive male behaviour. It then shows examples of more positive behaviour - such as stepping into prevent these behaviours when they happen in public.Comments on the video are largely negative, with viewers saying they will never buy Gillette products again or that the advert was "feminist propaganda".

Gillette Boycott

Passion for Pizza

January is thought to be the busiest month in the year for people starting their own businesses. In 2014 Lee DeSanges was throwing pizza parties in his garden for friends. By 2018 he had launched his first pizza restaurant at the Custard Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham. Here he offers his advice on what it takes to start a business.

Baked in Brick

Worst Christmas for Retailers in a Decade

Retail sales were flat in December, as UK businesses experienced their worst Christmas in a decade, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Total retail sales showed 0% year-on-year growth during the month, the worst December performance since 2008. The BRC said price cuts appeared not to have been enough to encourage shoppers. A separate report from Barclaycard said consumer spending grew 1.8% year-on-year in December, the lowest rate of growth seen since March 2016. Esme Harwood, director at Barclaycard, said: "Growth in consumer spending dropped to its lowest level since 2016 and represents a decline in real terms." BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: "Squeezed consumers chose not to splash out this Christmas, with retail sales growth stalling for the first time in 28 months. "The worst December sales performance in 10 years means a challenging start to 2019 for retailers, with business rates set to rise once again this year, and the threat of a no-deal Brexit looming ever larger."
Winners & Loosers

The Future of Technology

CES is the world's gathering place for all those who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. It has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for 50 years — the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. Around 4,500 major tech companies lavish huge amounts of money on their gigantic stands at the CES expo. It's a chance to pitch their latest wares to electronic retailers and to show off to the competition about their freshest innovations. Follow the link to see what the big beasts had got up to. 

CES 2019

Hunt The Double Yolker

Consumers who find an egg sweet with a double yolk in a bag of Starmix will be in with a chance to win a UK family holiday. The campaign is running until 21 April and shoppers have until 31 May to claim their prize. Only 20 specially crafted packs contain the lucky double yolk egg which you need to discover to win the prizes. Claire James, trade marketing manager for Haribo, said: “’Hunt the Double Yolker’ is Haribo’s biggest ever seasonal campaign, developed to drive excitement and sales as we count down to the Easter occasion. “Hunt the Double Yolker complements our seasonal offering, which caters for those customers looking for a tasty alternative to chocolate and reinforces our association to traditional Easter hunting in a distinctly Haribo way.”

Haribo Double Yolk

Veganuary

The UK’s largest bakery chain, Greggs, is to launch a vegan sausage roll this week. The company, which sells 1.5m traditional pork sausage rolls a week, says the new version, which will be on sale from Thursday, has been designed to mirror some of the original’s classic features. It will have, Greggs says, 96 layers of light and crisp puff pastry – made with vegetable oil – and a “bespoke” Quorn filling. The launch comes after 20,000 people signed a petition by animal welfare organisation Peta last year calling on Greggs to produce a vegan version of its bestselling item. The product arrives on Greggs’s shelves at the start of Veganuary – a growing movement that encourages people to embrace plant-based diets during January. This year in the UK record numbers of people have signed up to Veganuary and pledged to follow a diet free of animal products for at least a month. One in eight Britons are now vegetarian or vegan & lots of supermarkets & restaurants are developing their offerings for their markets.

Veganuary

Fat Cat Friday

In the first three days of 2019 top bosses will have earned more than the typical worker will earn all year, according to a report.  The average pay of a FTSE 100 chief executive is £1,020 an hour, research from the High Pay Centre and HR industry body the CIPD has found. By "Fat Cat Friday" bosses will have earned more than the typical annual UK salary of £29,574, the report said. However critics have questioned their calculations. According to the report, the median pay including bonuses for a FTSE 100 chief executive was £3.926m in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available. It assumed that bosses work 12 hours a day for 320 days a year, making their hourly pay rate £1,020. "Excessive executive pay represents a massive corporate governance failure and is a barrier to a fairer economy," said Luke Hildyard, Director of the High Pay Centre.

Fat Cat Friday

Christmas Chocolate Packaging

Whether you’re giving them as presents, indulging in a post-turkey treat or fighting over the last Quality Street during the Queen’s speech, boxes of chocolates are part and parcel of a traditional Christmas.The 32-piece Ferrero Rocher Collection (359g) uses the most packaging compared with the other bestselling chocolates we looked at. Packaging makes up 42.4% of the total weight (642g) of this box, and the majority of this is not easily recycled. Packaging, and whether or not it can be recycled, has been hitting the headlines for the past year or so. But the issue of plastic waste has never been far from people’s minds in 2018. Is it time for manufacturers to think more carefully about the waste their festive products generate?

Chocolate Packaging