Friday 30th October:
There’s natural and then there’s ‘natural’
In these eco-conscious times, the stakes just get higher and higher. Even wine can be more natural than you think. The so-called ‘natural wine’ phenomenon has its roots in France. The big daddy of natural wine was a Beaujolais-based fourth-generation winemaker and chemist called Jules Chauvet, who died in 1989. His exacting approach to winemaking and wine-tasting gave birth to the natural wine movement, which has gathered steam since his death. Paris is the naturalists’ epicentre and there are growing numbers of ‘natural wine’ bars in San Francisco, New York, Tokyo - and London.
The London phenomenon is largely thanks to one leading wine importer, Les Caves de Pyrene. As well as running tasting for the wine professionals, they also run the critically acclaimed wine bar Terroirs which is where most Londoners are likely to have encountered these ‘natural wines’. But Terroirs is not alone; otherwine bars with lists of ‘natural wines’ include Artisan & Vine, and Green & Blue.
The term ‘natural wine’ is a direct translation from the French vin naturel, but it seems to lose something in the journey across La Manche. Douglas Wregg, a director of Les Caves de Pyrene and self-confessed wine naturalist, describes the process simply as, ‘from vineyard to bottle, there’s nothing added in and nothing taken out’.
Ref.
http://www.timeout.com/london/connect/food+drink/blog/150/whats-the-big-stink-about-natural-winer
http://www.lescaves.co.uk/shop
http://www.terroirswinebar.com/wine.htm
Thursday 29th October:
Super wordy wow time
We all love dodgily translated ‘Chinglish’, where moisturisers claim to ‘eliminate horniness’ and signs for smoking points read ‘smoking pot’. Unfortunately, Shanghai City officials are on a mission to wipe out these hilarious mis-translations that lend so many ads, signs and menus a whole new meaning. But not in time for the launch of Coca-Cola’s new dairy product, Minute Maid’s ‘Pulpy Super Milky’.
It sounds like just another Chinglish clanger but Pulpy Super Milky and its campaign slogan, ‘My Delightful Fusion Lifestyle’, was actually developed – and named – specifically for Chinese consumers. Not the ones who speak fluent English but the 1.3 billion Chinese who speak little or no English, and who love cute, clumsy, whimsical-sounding English. In other words, Chinglish sells.
The lesson from a naming perspective? Trust your audience – even if it means putting common sense and Oxford English Dictionary to one side.
(Thanks for this one, Nat)
Wednesday 28th October:
How are you catering for today’s ‘professional shoppers’?
ShopSavvy is a comparison shopping tool. You can find items by either typing them on your phone keyboard or using the camera to scan the bar code. Once you’ve found a product, ShopSavvy tells you the cheapest local or online price. For local products, you can get map directions, visit their website, or call the store. For online products, you can visit their website or share the product using Facebook or Twitter. You can also set ShopSavvy to automatically share your scans with Twitter, but this gets very spammy very fast and is a feature probably best leaving off.
In addition to finding the best price on items, you can compare user reviews, add it to your wish list, or set a price alert to let you know when it drops below a certain price. This is particularly handy for things like games and movies that you don’t need to own in a hurry. ShopSavvy also keeps a history of items you’ve scanned, so if you want to remember the name of that camera you looked at the other day, you can just refer to your product history.
Ref. http://google.about.com/od/socialtoolsfromgoogle/gr/Shopsavvy_rev.htm
Tuesday 27th October:
Rewarding beyond price
UK entertainment retailer, HMV, has launched Pure, a customer loyalty scheme that offers members the chance to snap up a range of limited edition or hard-to-find items not available on the high street.
Following a successful trial in the West Midlands and East Anglia, Pure HMV is about to be rolled out nationwide. Money spent either in the shops or on HMV’s website will be added to a user’s account, with 100 points available for every £1 spent.
Examples of items on offer include a guitar signed by Kasabian, tickets for the UK Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen premiere, signed artwork by Paul McCartney and the chance to work as a roadie at the upcoming Download Festival.
‘The Pure HMV rewards scheme will be unique in the market place,’ HMV’s head of CRM marketing Matt Button stated. ‘There is no other card out there that gives people access to such amazing, ‘money-can’t-buy’ rewards. The real beauty of it is that in getting our customers closer to the music, film and games they love, Pure HMV will help us get even closer to our customers.’
Ref. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/34267/HMV-launches-new-customer-reward-scheme
Tagged with: Entertainment, Loyalty, Retail
Monday 26th October:
Goodbye, middle man?
Nobody buys laundry detergent, toilet paper and toothpaste online, do they? They might soon be about to. Especially as ‘Alice’, a new, US-based e-commerce site is offering free shipping, streamlined reordering and a platform for consumers and manufacturers to connect.
The site claims to offer more than 6,000 unique products from hundreds of differentmanufacturers at prices that are 20% – 30% lower than other online stores. You begin by creating a free account and then selecting a list of your favourite products, ordering only the items you need right then. Each shipment is bundled together in a single box and delivered to your door. Meanwhile, Alice organises all the products on your list, finds coupons and deals for them, and reminds you to reorder when you’re likely to be running low.
Although Wisconsin-based Alice works much like any other online retailer from the consumer’s perspective, behind the scenes it’s more like a marketplace, where manufacturers sell directly to consumers. Alice makes no retail margin, and instead allows manufacturers to control product assortment and pricing in its own direct sale to the end consumer. Because no retail middleman is involved, the consumer receives significant cost savings. In addition, Alice’s model allows brands to form a direct relationship with consumers, enabling personalised coupons, sampling and loyalty programmes.
Ref. http://www.springwise.com/retail/alice/
Friday 23rd October:
Freshly shipped for fresher skin
It’s no secret that skin care products become less effective and even unhygienic with age. Yet, few companies actually emphasise the freshness of their merchandise. LA-based Odacité, however, make a big deal of their manufacturing dates. They produce freshly made organic and preservative-free skin-care products. Stating that ‘freshness is the key to effectiveness’, Odacité marks each product with a ‘freshiency Date’, showing the month of manufacture and the month after which the product will start to degrade.
Rather than let their tubes and jars sit on store shelves, Odacité only sells its products online and made in small batches so they can be shipped to customers immediately. Customers are advised to keep their products in the fridge to help preserve them. And to really hit the brand’s point of difference home, it even sells a branded mini-fridge. The company claims there are serious health benefits to its methods, since it can make moisturisers, cleansers, eye-creams, etc. with as few chemicals as possible. Prices start at $45 for a jojoba exfoliant.
Odacité isn’t the first skin care company to place an increased emphasis on freshness; it resembles a high-end version of Lush, which also manufactures in small batches but sells its products at its own stores around the world.
Ref. http://www.springwise.com/fashion_beauty/odacite/
Tagged with: Cosmetics
Thursday 22nd October:
Lo-gloss glossy
Manzine is a quirky, DIY take on the male glossy magazine. It’s produced by a group of writers and designers who work for the likes of The Guardian and British GQ. The zine’s lo-fi materials (it looks photocopied), obscure articles and generally rough-hewn aesthetic give Manzine a distinctive quality that’s hard to come by these days. The zine is distributed at various locations around London, and is also available for order on their blog, http://themanzine.blogspot.com/.
Ref. http://www.psfk.com/2009/10/manzine-a-return-to-the-lo-fi-print-zine-aesthetic.html
http://www.weatherpattern.com/
Tagged with: Lifestyle, Publishing
Wednesday 21st October:
‘Make a’ celebration
…and think like The Poetry Society who knitted a giant poem to celebrate its centenary. Revealed in its full glory at the British Library, the eye-popping 13x9m, hand-knitted version of Dylan Thomas’s ‘In my Craft or Sullen Art’ quickly drew an admiring crowd. (Thanks to our resident poet, Laura, for this one.)
The poem is the work of more than 1000 knitters and crocheters worldwide, who furiously clicked needles and hooks throughout September to turn the poem’s individual letters into colourful 12-inch squares.
Judith Palmer, Director of the Poetry Society, said, “We wanted to celebrate the Society’s centenary with a fun, grand-scale project in which many people could participate, that was about ‘poetry’ but also summoned up the idea of ‘society’, to reflect all the thousands of people who’ve kept the Society going since 1909. The time, commitment and creative skills that people have given to this enterprise has been overwhelming.”
Ref. http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/knit/
Tagged with: Events, Poetry, Social networking
Tuesday 20th October:
Souped up, Campbells-style
Campbell’s Help Grow Your Soup™ campaign is aiming to raise money to help maintain farm buildings. Members of the public can vote for one of ten barns (all are either family farms or school farms) that need some preservation work. Campbell’s will work with National FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) members and alumni, along with community volunteers, to restore the five barns that get the most votes. Plus, for every vote through January 5 next year, Campbell will put $1, up to $250,000, toward agricultural education through FFA.
Ref. http://www.idealbite.com/daily-tip/archives/souped-campbells-help-grow-your-soup-barn-revival
http://www.helpgrowyoursoup.com/
Tagged with: Community, Food and drink, Sustainability
Monday 19th October:
Random acts of surprise
Located inside Japan’s Urban Design Center Kashiwa-no-ha, the Ogori cafe looks innocuous enough, but there’s a surprise in store. In a nutshell, you don’t get what you ordered; you get what the person before you ordered, and the person after you gets what you ordered. Thus, if you’re in on the game, you can choose to lavish the next customer with delicious treats or try your luck at being cheap. Either way, it’s an interesting experiment that explores surprise, kindness and encourages strangers to strike up conversation.
