I faithfully purchased a Whole Earth drink some time ago, because the pack communicated to me a seriously fruity promise.  Organic Cranberry was writ large across the can and it has been needling me ever since because the proportion of cranberry juice in this drink is only 4%, so that’s 96% made up of stuff that has got nothing to do with delicious health giving little cranberries.  I might never have looked if my taste buds hadn’t been so indignant. I felt stupid and conned.

If you go to Whole Earth’s website it all feels very wholesome and they say this about their sparkling drinks:  ’Our organic sparkling drinks are bursting with bubbles and real fruit juice. They’re a thirst-quenching and healthier option, containing no artificial flavours or additives, so why not refresh your day with our range of 6 delicious flavours?’

Now I don’t know what your idea of ‘bursting  with’ is but if you look at the small print you might be in for a surprise: as I’ve already pointed out Whole Earth’s ‘Sparkling Organic Cranberry Drink made with fruit juice’ has 4% cranberry juice in it, made from concentrate, oh and there’s a whole 1% organic lemon juice, made from concentrate. That’s a drink called Cranberry that has doesn’t have a whole lot of cranberry juice about it and only 5%  juice at all. Then there’s Sparkling Organic Elderflower drink made with real fruit juice, well it does have 15% apple juice, made from concentrate, 3% grape juice, made from concentrate  and 2% lemon juice, yes you guessed it, made from concentrate. But when it comes to the elderflower bit, the big sell on the can, it lists:  natural elderflower flavouring (presumably not from elderflower) and elderflower extract, with no percentage at all, presumably because it is so low. And it’s a similar story for the rest of the range.

I do understand the economics of production and the need to make a healthy margin, but I believe that brands that play these types of marketing games will get found out, particularly ones which play the wholesome card.

Some confectionery brands are not much better, take Bassett’s Jelly Babies which declares ‘Made with real fruit juice’ on the front of the pack. A quick look on the back of the Jellies Babies bag reveals that these chewy chappies are made with just 6.8% fruit juice and using that good old concentrate again, which doesn’t sound so clever. Now I kind of forgive Jelly Babies because I’ve always thought they were 99% sugar and gum and they still taste great, but do they really have to play the wholesome card?

I guess some might argue that consumers are colluding in this little game, happy to con themselves that they are consuming significant proportions of health giving ingredients  in the products they buy, but I wonder for how long? Remember a really fruity drink that was launched to such fanfare a few years ago, Sunny something or other?

The new campaign strapline:

The new identity for Keep Britain Tidy brings together the famous campaign and the identity of the organisaiton behind it. Previously known as ENCAMS the decision was made to leverage the equity within the name and make the organisation’s name eponymous with its campaigns. The Keep It Tidy thought plays through the logo, common to both organisation and campaign, and the campaign straplines, the latter flexing according to the subject matter of each campaign: Help Keep It Tidy, Let’s Keep Our Park Tidy, Let’s Keep Guildford Tidy etc.

The generic tidyman icon is undoubtedly one of the most internationally recognised symbols as it has been adopted for litter bin signage across the world.

Over the last ten years or so Nestle and the other great instant coffee brand owners have been desperately trying to convince us that instant coffee is more than a poor cousin to those glamorous inheritors of the epitome coffee mantle: Starbucks/Costa/Caffe Nero/et al. While the instant coffee market bears the same ingredient name as the coffee bar market, any similarities stop there. Instant coffee is DIY, involving a jar, kettle and carton of milk; coffee bar coffee is gleaming Italian machinery, comfy sofas and indulgent temptation. 

One has alot of sympathy for Starbucks trying to tap into a $17bn instant coffee market as its high street sales decline and it might even be successful. But as we get used to that scuffed Starbucks pack sitting in the kitchen cupboard, will a visit to its once superior sister on the high street be quite so alluring?

I did learn two important lessions from that non-too fiery baptism, the first was the responsibility of those in senior positions to be decent and supportive to those with less experience and second the importance of a clear and focused consumer offer. Even 25 years ago our research could not quite get to grips with what Woolworths was about.

In those days Woolies was the country’s biggest retailer of confectionery, records (remember them) and toys. These retail suns shone out in a firmament scattered with children’s clothes, homewares (yes, quite) stationery, magazines, self-adhesive soles, Christmas decorations, clothes dye, wool and an unending line of essential stuff that you might need every ten years.

In those days Woolies still had a powerful hold over us, a personality that was rooted in our child-hoods, memories of saving up to buy the latest single or snaffling some pick-and-mix when no-one was looking. Unfortunately without a clear brand proposition this once powerful star was allowed to fade so much that when its over-leveraged owner went pop the brand equity was not strong enough to attract a saviour.

I would argue that the differences between a city that is resurgent versus those that are still stuck are a powerful vision, conviction to deliver that vision and a very practical strategy for getting there. In short a brand plan. Key to the successful delivery of this brand plan is complete buy-in from businesses based in the city, they will become the city’s most important ambassadors and the proofs of the pudding.

While marketing the benefits of a location and the provision of financial incentives to go there are key, this cannot be a government-only initiative. Those cities that have been successful in transforming themselves, such as Dublin, Manchester and Reading, have done it because they have engaged individual businesses in the process.

No amount of marketing cliche will convince a business to choose a city, unless the benefits of being located there are real. Equally, unless those very real benefits are packaged and marketed in a compelling way the city ‘brand’ will continue to underperform. Which is why those cities that do have the potential need to grab hold of it and make it happen.

Come on Norwich, show them what you’re made of.

What ever the foul-ups of Terminal 5 a brand like British Airways needs singular leadership and the interests of its customers at its heart. BA customers are not concerned with what the pilots think, they want a great service. Mr McAuslan and his fellow pilots might have complete control at 30,000 feet but they should keep their prenouncements to the plane’s intercom and leave the running of the airline to those with that job.

However, are there any implications of this venture for a brand that brings us such pleasures as holiday flights, music and TV, particularly when we fear that that lump we have recently noticed might be very bad news indeed?

Virgin has certainly always had to be trustworthy and reliable but never before has it asked people to put their lives in its hands. A very conspicuous partnership with the NHS will be required to ‘underwrite’ the ethical promise and the distinctly unpleasurable matters of ill health and mortality, allowing Virgin to focus on the lighter side of life.

Each decade sees a cider brand trying to convince another generation that it is more refreshing/sophisticated/rewarding/tastier than beer. Remember the promises of Gaymers Original, Diamond White, Scrumpy Jack? And after a period of heady sales rises and excitement the inevitable happens and sales fall back down, however sophisticated, over-iced and enticing the marketing might be.

The problem with cider, unlike beer, is that it is made from apple juice, which means that it is fruitier, sweeter, more acidic and generally less suited as a session drink than beer, which of course is made from water with some key ingredients added in.

Yes cider can make a nice change and for a while you might even be convinced, but most who spent the night before drinking cider will not want to make it a regular experience.

London 2012 has to deliver alot more than a slick Olympic games, it has to transform this country’s attitude and approach to sport and physical activity. The most critical audience for LOCOG, if it is to fulfill its legacy ambitions, is to convert a whole generation to a more active, healthy and positively competitive lifestyle. If this means creating a logo that makes the average person squeal for a few days, so be it.

A logo is designed to make you think of the brand promise that lies behind it. Triggering that memory is the logo’s most important role. If you are not convinced by the logo itself click here to watch the film on the London 2012 site.

I have had no hand in creating this logo, nor am I connected to anyone who did, but I was involved in some of the original thinking that helped to win the bid and I think that the brand story is spot on. If the logo reminds you of that story it works.

I rather think that in a few weeks we will have all moved on.