Once again we’re pleased to see our brand in the news.

This week Giles Lury, Director of Branding, appears in The Grocer, in Alex Beckett’s article, ‘Chew on this: too much NPD can be a category’s undoing’.

Giles comments on some of the issues facing the chewing gum market – we’ve selected some of his quotes:  ”Chewing gum got too complicated for its own good… There was an explosion of fruit flavours a few years ago, which led to a cluttered shelf space that was hard to navigate. In some ways it was a victim of its own success.”

“Society doesn’t have a good perception of gum and it lacks positive role models… [it] has a long term-societal battle to fight.”

If you’d like to read more and have access to the magazine online, click here.

‘After a Health Select Committee’s report last week, alcohol brands face a possible ban on television advertising. But an all-out ban need not spell disaster for this already promotionally fettered industry: it could lead to new highs of creative strategic thinking.’

Anna Eggleton, Director of Closeness, comments in last week’s Marketing Week’s lead article, ‘Putting a new face on your brand’ by Jo Roberts:

‘Stretching an alcohol brand into different territories is something that Anna Eggleton, director at The Value Engineers, believes could work well in the UK for brands with strong personalities. Some companies are practising displacement marketing in various forms already, she argues.

“If you have a good brand like Camel or Marlboro, it should have a life of its own,” says Eggleton. She says the practice of displacement marketing is about “thinking about branding in a different way.” Many alcohol brands are already thinking beyond large-scale television campaigns to get messages across to their target audience.

She argues that Guinness is already practising displacement because it is already well-known outside of its sector. Merchandise such as T-shirts, key rings and hats are available, and the brand has also strayed into food with limited edition Marmite flavoured with Guinness.

The Value Engineers’ Eggleton claims that the smart brands “need to start thinking about putting strategies in place now” in order to stay ahead of any future restrictions.’

Read the full article on Marketing Week online.

The Grocer’s lead story this week focuses on Mars becoming the first confectionery company to reduce saturated fat levels across its core chocolate bar range and therewith setting the confectionery industry agenda.

Sally Moses, consultant at The Value Engineers, comments:

“We know satfat is on the government’s agenda but it would be dangerous to market the reductions as a consumer benefit. You never hear a consumer say ‘I love a Mars bar but wish it had less saturated fat’.”

Read the full article on The Grocer online.