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.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural Cello Group Conference, we are very pleased to announce this year’s theme.

For our second annual Cello Group Conference, we bring you a viewpoint from which to survey the expanding landscape of Health and Wellness: ‘Welcome to Wellbeing’.

This wide-angled approach will give you a broader perspective on Wellbeing, access to latest thinking across sectors and marketing disciplines, and the chance to consider how to best position your brand and business for healthy growth.

Featuring speakers from across our sister Cello companies and their clients in the public and private sectors, we also have a special appearance from Professor Kate Pickett, author of influential book, ‘The Spirit Level’.

This free event will be held at the Wellcome Collection in London, on 27 April, and will run from 1030-1600.

For more information on the conference and to register, please visit the Cello Conferences website.

Disney recently reported that the top 5 everyday pleasures were:

1. Finding money
2. Freshly washed bedding
3. Not having to queue
4. Someone smiling at you
5. Helping someone

Obviously we couldn’t take this at face value and decided to conduct our own research in the office – we’re obviously a very happy bunch because this generated a very long list!

So read on to find out what makes Value Engineers tick (and perhaps some will bring a smile to your face too!). Some of these are more ‘free’ than others though…

• Someone offering you a cup of coffee when you are busy
• Random acts of kindness
• Sound of leather on willow on the village green
• Seeing a dog leaning out of a car window, loving the wind in its hair
• The beach
• The first signs of spring – the first snowdrop
• Wafts of other people’s BBQs
• The smell of freshly cut grass
• The perfect picnic spot
• Kicking a pile of leaves
• New born baby
• Eating cheese
• Walking around for fresh air even with a Ferrari in the garage
• The relief that comes after visiting the loo!
• The wind in your hair dinghy sailing on the Thames at Hampton on a beautiful sunny day
• The view from Waterloo bridge at sunset
• The sound of a wine cork popping / beer cap hiss
• Pottering around the garden
• The paper, cappuccino, Andrew Marr’s paper review and porridge with banana in bed on a Sunday
• Cooking anything nostalgic – pancakes, scones, Christmas cake, sponge cake
• The sensation of Life!
• The cold side of the pillow
• The Today programme on Radio 4
• The smell of rain on warm concrete
• The taste of a cold beer to quench a thirst, (‘free’ if someone else is buying. A perfect ‘Ice cold in Alex’ moment)
• The sound of waves exiting a pebble beach
• The sight of the first migrant spring arrivals
• The four seasons of the year: The colours of autumn, the joy of people in summer, the first signs of spring and the first snow of winter
• Fresh and pure air
• A nice dawn at the beach
• To enjoy a good dance
• The smile of child
• To meet and old friend and realise that nothing has changed between each other
• Your first kiss
• To fall in love
• To laugh
• To love someone and being loved
• The first smell of the day of coffee brewing
• Stepping on a perfectly crunchy leaf
• Unexpectedly bumping into an old friend
• Coming into a warm house from the cold outside
• A hug
• Your head touching the pillow after a really long day
• Taking off a pair of killer heels
• Being the first person down a freshly pisted or snowy run
• Reading a book by a log fire
• The first waft of a glass of heavy, red wine
• A freshly brewed cup of tea