Eddie Stableford, the UK's Foremost Food Brand Expert
Have you ever wondered why we find the beauty of colour and shape in a bowl of varied fruit irresistible? Or similarly, why we’ve all at some time I’m sure, had to try every colour of Smartie or M&M’s although they taste pretty much the same? Or how once we’ve opened a box of chocolates …
Continue reading "The beauty and attraction of colour and shape"
This is my personal story of how Street Food Box, my infinitely reusable box for food to go concept, was conceived and developed from a blank piece of paper into a prototype and then onto manufacture and launch in just over twelve months. It starts in the city of Cambridge, which has been our home for the last …
To become a successful 21st century commercial venture, products and brands have to deliver benefits and an experience which is superior to existing products – only by doing so will your product be viewed as attractive by consumers and persuade retailers to list your product. Having what seems to be a unique idea is a fantastic …
Continue reading "From food concept to reality – twelve hot tips"
I have to admit the stimulus for this article started as a ‘Friday afternoon’ conversation about funny scenes in films but when I searched out the clip of Rowan Atkinson ‘gift wrapping’ a present for Alan Rickman that we had been chatting about, it was too funny and relevant not to share within this article …
Continue reading "What can the film ‘Love Actually’ tell us about branding?"
Recent research from MINTEL has shown that three in five (60%) 16-34s* like experimenting with new cooking trends and ingredients, compared to 51% of UK consumers overall, leading to scratch cooking in the UK increasing. However, whilst young consumers show a passion for experimental cooking, they appear to be in hot water in the kitchen as many …
Continue reading "Scratch and short-cut cooking continuing to increase in the UK"
For decades, and pretty much from the outset of mass-marketing, brands and marketing agencies have steered clear of targeting grey consumers, unless they were promoting products specifically to this demographic. Typically, they were seen as too cynical, set in their ways and unmoved by marketing so they were largely ignored. In more recent times this cohort …
Numerous scientific studies which have shown how colour influences our mood, behaviour and purchasing. For example, it can mess with the way we experience our other senses, such as taste and flavour or even our music preferences. Red for example consistently conveys sweetness irrespective of the product type. A study of more than 5,300 people …
Continue reading "How colour affects our mood and sensory evaluations"
At the mid-point of my career in brand and marketing in the 80’s, there was a step-change in attitude relating to the value of targeting older consumers – in marketing speak, coined as 'marketing to silver surfers'. Historically, this demographic had been largely ignored by marketers as they were viewed as being cynical, demanding, critical …
Brands exist in our heads. You can’t see them, touch them, smell them or hear them. And they are much more than the visual expression of the brand through its name, logo, trademark, artwork, pack, product or business. So if that’s the case, what is a brand? A brand is a collection of emotion of …
With the average purchase decision process taking just ten seconds, winning over customers in store relies on packaging communicating quickly and effectively. So how does the semiotics of brand packaging influence consumer purchase behaviour? Effective packaging has inherent attributes which enables 'instant dialogue' creation with a potential purchaser. If it’s a regular buy, the packaging shape, …