Great work Sainsburys... Facebook spreads your good vibes

We're on a bit of a facebook roll, and on the back of yesterdays post this popped up! It's sweeping facebook. Is this fake? The child phoentic letter would probably suggest so. But in any case, judging by the comments below its facebook picture, it's serving Sainsbury's image pretty well. So Asda? Waitrose? Get on board and start circulating those letters (even if the CEO's three year old ends up doing it)

I like it...

In October 2010, millions of female facebook users updated their profiles with the suggestive phrase "I like it on the..." "table", "floor", "rug by the fire", "in the car" and so on. Despite being sexually suggestive, the phrase was about where you put your handbag, apparently stemming from a breast cancer awareness campaign. Although now proved as a scam, many of those who updated their status' (ourselves included!) thought it was real, and many were outstanded by the monumentous rate at which the word was spreading. It hit the the global press with major news organisations from the Telegraph, The Huffington Post, Forbes and CNN commenting on it generating fantastic publicity for Breast Cancer Awareness

The spoof followed another supposed Breast Cancer Campaign where status' reflected girls bra colours (think 'crimson red', 'bright purple', 'candy pink') and, like its handbag counterpart, confusion rained, curiousity was aroused and the message spread to 'get in on the game'. What's so impressive about this, is that it goes to show how social networking and grass root campaigns can really make a differance. Don't you think that it's cool that an individual voice can be magnified to create awareness for something good? We do.

Richard Branson's nine tips on strategies for success

Richard Branson's inspirational advice and business expertise has helped steer and grow many start-ups in a host of different markets and industries.

We hope you enjoy these...

Inexperience as an asset: "Present prospective partners with a fresh take on a tired industry, and you will grab their attention"

Customer Service: "Good customer service begins at the top. If your senior people don't get it, even the strongest links further down the line can become compromised. No company can train its front-end people to handle every situation, but you can strive to create an environment in which they feel at ease 'doing as they would be done by"

Branding: "you may be tempted to create a brand that's very corporate and remote. As a consequence, these brands acquire no texture, no character and no public trust. Whatever you decide your new brand will stand for, deliver on that promise. And beware: Brands always mean something. If you don't define what the brand means, your competitors will"

Leadership: "Rather than focusing on mistakes, a leader needs to catch someone doing something right every day. If this culture of fostering employee development through praise and recognition starts at the top, it will go far toward stamping out the employee fear of failure that can stunt a business, particularly in its early days. When mistakes happen -- which is inevitable -- you have to learn from them, not dwell on what went wrong. It's almost always better not to go over the obvious with the people involved. They know exactly what happened."

Handling success: "When a business does well, many start to focus solely on increasing profits, no matter what the cost -- leaving behind everything that originally made the business special. If you are mulling over an expansion, tell all your employees about your plan – include everyone from the truck driver to your senior team -- and ask for their input. If you can, it would be best to work out the details of the expansion plan together"

Delegating: "Stepping back frees the founder to focus on the bigger picture -- to dive in when there are problems or to help close a deal"

Investors: "When you are evaluating a proposed partnership, do not focus only on the capital you need to kick-start your business...Bear in mind that a dictatorial financial partner can dim the spirit and enthusiasm of a new enterprise, muffling the spark that prompted you to launch this project – the spark that is most likely to make your venture different from your competitors."

Communicating: "Take time to find out what the staff is actually doing on a day-to-day ...Then, ask yourself: What are the employees' working conditions? Do people seem energetic and creative? And ask employees: Do you have the resources you need? If you could, what problems would you fix? What ideas of yours has your manager followed up on? Ensure your staff is consistently encouraged to contact you with ideas and problems"

Taking Risks: "There is little point in entering a new market unless it provides the opportunity to really shake up an industry"

To read the full article go right here

Did you know...

Did you know that...

Net-a-porter was founded in a tiny artists studio in the back streets of Chelsea

Fortnum and Mason's is over three hundred years old. And that it was the first ever retail outlet for Heinz Tomato ketchup in 1886 (Heinz and fortnum and masons)

If the Chinese, one day, use as much oil per person as Americans, then the world will need seven more Saudi Arabias to meet their demand (business insider)

JP Morgan is the world's biggest public company (forbes)

Fast food burger chain Wimpy has brail menus in all of its restaurants. As part of the campaign they made burgers with brail by placing sesame seeds on bread buns (business insider)

John Paul Gaultier has thought it a good idea to create 5,000 bespoke bars of solid gold, sold at 10% higher than the average price of a similar bar of gold (forbes_

Google rents goats. Yes you heard it right. Google rents goats from a firm called California Grazing to help keep grass the right height at Google HQ. They're also dog friendly, however, one indiscretionate act by the dog and lassie has to stay at home (mashable)

What we're reading

Three books that are on our reading list

Blue Ocean Strategy
Think about crossing market boundaries, blending industries and being creative in order to create a concept called value innovation. Exemplified by great case studies including Casella wines, the Novo Pen (the diabetic's insulin pen) and Cirque du Soleil.

Onwards: How Starbucks fought for its life without losing its sole
Our one stop coffee shop's story. How this CEO managed to reinvent a brand and grow this caffiene hub to an epic size.

A Book about Innocent: Our story and some things we've learned
This little company with its quirky branding and healthy product revolutionised the drinks the industry. All starting with the simple question - do we leave our high paid jobs for a glass of blended fruit? Thanks goodness the answer was an unresounding 'yes'!

Jack Daniel's - an age old Tenessee Whiskey

Recent commentary in Business Insider has highlighted some p.r.e.t.t.y cool things about Jack Daniel's marketing strategy over the years….

140 years old, Jack Daniel’s is a bit of an old boy, but he didn’t solidfy his status quickly. It was in the 1950s that the Jack Daniel’s story was used in marketing. But between the 50’s and 70’s the marketers made the product scarce. “Jack Daniel’s was actually quite hard for stores to acquire – it was available on allocation only. Demand was higher than supply, yet the brand kept advertising” telling people about a product that they couldn’t get hold of, “this heighted its allure” (Business Insider)

The brand has always played on history and legend, hammering home adverts focussed on the old founder Jack Daniel by creating a character and folk lore around him. They’ve associated it with “maverick independence”. A Jack Daniel’s drinker is one of defiance and is closely fixed to pop culture – think rock stars and more recently, according to Business Insider, it has been attaching itself to the notion of an independent American sprit – a notion “that keeps the message remarkably consistent”

Favourite Jack Daniel's tipples:

Jack Daniel’s and Coke: 1 part Jack Daniel’s and 3 parts coke Coke

Dark and Stormy: 1 part Jack Daniel’s mixed with 3 parts ginger ale

Lynchburg Lemonade: 1 part Jack Daniel’s, 1 part triple sec, 1 part sour mix, 4 parts lemon-lime soda. Garnish with lemon

Reiss' results display the Kate Middleton effect

Well known for her love of the high street Kate Middleton has given publicity on a global scale to many UK brands.

This year Kate Middleton has been seen countless times in Reiss outfits – of note was the white Reiss dress that she wore for her royal engagement shoot with Mario Testino and then again in Canada. She also wore a fitted beige dress to meet the Obama’s at Buckingham palace in May; pictures of the Duchess in this dress went all round the world and caused a fashion frenzy.

Reiss has certainly been feeling the result of the Duchess’ exposure as it announced profits of £8.5 million for the UK arm of the fashion chain– a 51% increase on the previous year. Sales rose to £95 million, up from £85 million.

The Kate effect has helped Reiss climb to a platform where it has started to obtain international brand recognition having bubbled quietly under the surface for the past ten years, known only really to the UK shopper. When Kate was seen wearing the £175 Shola dress for the Obama’s, Reiss' website reportedly crashed with an over load within hours and the dress sold out across the UK within days.

Kate has had a huge effect on other brands too including the virtually unknown Issa dresses which have seen sales increase 10-fold at Harvey Nichols (Evening Standard)!