Just before Christmas I was stumbling along Regent Street in a haze of bright lights, expensive prices and carrier bags when I espied a little piece of what might be my own personal paradise: a Marmite pop-up shop!

The store was selling a range of Marmite related objets d’arts like t-shirts, Andy Warholesque pictures, aprons, bags, boxes and jigsaws. Of course Marmite itself was available in a range of sizes and formats. 

As a lover of the sticky black stuff I was bowled over by this store and intrigued about the idea of pop-up stores in general. Clearly the pop-up is not a new idea but this was my first such store, was in a very prestigious location and was attracting a lot of interest from passers by. What a fantastic way to promote a brand: massive exposure, huge footfall, strong word of mouth. To add to it all the store had its own Twitter feed so that true devotees could keep track of the high jinks going on at the store on the move.

With all the closed units on high streets due to the current downturn what a great way for brands to get out there and promote themselves, without taking the hit of a full store lease. Love it or hate it, that Marmite sure is clever.

I am late to discover this news, but it has really blown my mind….Ambi Pur National Geographic air fresheners. Excuse me while my mind explodes.

As a geography student I grew up with the National Geographic as my source of inspiration. I implicitly trust them to be the experts on the world around me; giving me indepth detailed understanding of the latest ecological disaster or archaeological find. All with fabulous images on sensuous glossy paper. I am a Nat Geog advocate.

But Ambi Pur is not for me. I doubt I will ever buy a Japanese Tatami or Nevada Desert Flower plug-in or candle, no matter how glossy the photography. I’m just not into air fresheners. But, despite my category rejection I am intrigued as to how this brand tie-in was born. To me it smacks of one of the ideas that might emerge from a Brand Marriage exercise from an Innovation workshop… usually then never to see the light of day!

Taking two unrelated brands, colliding them and seeing what happens is a great technique which throws up all sorts or creative product/service/brand innovations. But I can’t help feeling that the target markets for the two brands are too mutually exclusive to drive massive volume. Still, a massive brand partnership coup for Ambi Pur.

Now that I have your attention, I’ll add the caveat ‘online’ to the title. Paypal has just released an online retail survey that shows men outspending women in every category except groceries and clothes. Whilst this is no surprise in techie/gadget sectors men also outspend women on online health and beauty products.

Are men afraid to be seen carrying multivitamins, moisturiser or touche eclat in their shopping baskets? Is there a real opportunity for FMCG brands to target blokes through the internet, getting us to consume new products without bruising our sense of machismo?

For me, yes and yes. I am hardly the most caveman of chaps but I’d happily not feel the urge to hide the few grooming products I do buy under piles of steak and beer as I do my weekly shop. And who knows, maybe I’d branch out and try something I’d never buy in a store (I’ve always been a tad curious about face packs!) so long as I could find a good hiding place for it in the bathroom cabinet!

With male grooming products set to sell $21.7bn globally in 2009 and hit $25bn by 2011 the relative anonymity of the online retail opportunity should not be overlooked for products men would never consider buying face-to-face.

Fake Viagra anyone?