Logosack - an opportunity to buy a new and professional looking logo in an instant

This is a great concept that I just need to share with you all. Lobby design in Stockholm has launched a company and website called Logosack where you can buy a logo by just using a few mouse clicks. I have tried this website and the logos look very professional. And for just 2000SEK per logo (approx. 200EUR or 280USD) I think they are a real bargain. The website exists only in Swedish today but will soon be available also in English.


Just during the past few months I've had several friends asking me for advice on how to create logos for their websites, small independant freelance consultancies and blogs. The cost of using a design agency to create a custom made logo is often simply too high for new founded small businesses or for bloggers, and I think this kind of service is a fantastic way to offer many more businesses and people nice looking logos for a very good price. Great idea, innovative thinking, and with a fabolous and simple execution. I might just have to buy a Logosack logo myself...

The 11 Most Innovative Online Retailers

I got a note today from Online MBA linking to an article on their blog about the 11 most innovative online retailers. Personally I find the future of online retailing absolutely fascinating. It is amazing how names like Amazon and Ebay have carved out their space in the retail world and such strong roles in their respective markets. Consumers and especially young consumers are becoming more and more used to buying their stuff online, and as this tendency increase the traditional retailers will see their sales falling while the ones with a strong online role will grow and grow. This will certainly take longer in certain categories, while the developments in other categories will boom. Yes, it may feel a bit strange buying your shoes online the first time you do it, but when you've tried it and it works you're likely to do it again, and again. Especially if the selection and prices are better than on the high-street.

So, enjoy the read. I had never heard of some of these names before but now I will need to start to google them asap to find out more about their innovative approach to retailing.

Abba Middagsklart - clever and credible addition to the Abba brand portfolio

One of the hard things for established FMCG companies is to find new growth and credible brand extension opportunities in the market. There are different reasons why this is so hard. One difficult thing is of course to decide in which direction to go -  to identify market and brand potential and to prioritise between different the different growth opportunities in the market.
Another issue is also the difficulty of breaking into new territory by overcoming the challenges of the current production capabilities and potential. All the above represent just some of the challenges any big FMCG company will face when considering entering new market space.

That's also why this new launch by Abba Seafood grabbed my attention in the supermarket today. Abba has successfully innovated within the current realms of their production and category capabilities. They've worked themselves higher up in the value and margin hierarchy, and they've added some interesting and relevant brand extensions. But with the launch of Abba Middagsklart they demonstrate a commitment to do even more. The Abba Middagsklart concept is a range of casseroles and sauces especially developed to cater for the convenience seeker and cleverly linked to the growing interest in eating seafood, and the incredible growth in fresh and frozen salmon sales.

I really like this launch. A casserole ended up in my shopping basket straight away, and the product delivered to my expectations as well. I will definetely try more of these products, and I congratulate Abba on entering new territory where they cater to a very clear convenience and 'I wanna eat more seafood but I don't know how to cook those dishes' need with a very credible brand offer.

Arla upgrades design of Arla Cow hard cheese

My husband and I take turns doing the weekly grocery shopping. Today it was his turn and yet again he managed to do his shopping in 40 minutes. A trip that normally takes me about 1,5hours since I tend to spend more time looking at brands, new launches and new design, rather than focusing on the shopping list... Well, I guess it comes with the trade...

Anyway, when unloading the bags I managed to spot something quite interesting. I think I've previously highlighted the brand positioning 'closer to nature' work by Arla, one of the largest dairy FMCG companies in Europe. Arlas new brand positioning has so far resulted in a new corporate logo, an impressive number of new ads and quite a few new products. The Arla total brand family is huge, and it cannot be an easy task trying to connect all the different sub-brands to the now more 'natural' motherbrand. Some need to be tied more closely to the core values of the 'mother', and others should be allowed to act more freely, given a different role in the market.

Anyway, back to the point. What I spotted today was a new design for Arla's range of hard cheese. Looking at the previous design it may have been clear and recognisable. But it also gave a very industrial and cold impression. With Arla now aiming for a warmer, more natural touch, it was interesting to see the upgraded design of hard cheese. Spot the difference below.

To the left you can see the old design for Arla Präst - with the Arla Cow quite prominently displayed on the front, on black background, and with a photo of a sandwich with cheese on the left.

What can one say about this design? Cold, rather boring, basic, isn't it?

Now, look at the new design below. And bear in mind that the pastic packaging solution is exactly the same.
Personally I think the new design conveys a higher quality cheese. But not only that. In the new design there is a linkage to cheese heritage and tradition, and a clearer and more logical brand architecture with connection between Arla corporate, Arla  cow and last but not least to the variant Präst. I especially like the new Cow seal that holds the variant name.

In the new design Arla is also aiming to lift the taste and consumer benefits of Präst cheese through simple yet tasteful storytelling. I think this is the right way to go in a category that is highly competitive and where Arla must convince consumers that it makes sense to stick to the Arla brand, and not divert to the growing number of cheap no label or private label alternatives.

One thing that I find may still be missing in the new design is a stronger connection to 'naturalness'. The usage of 'beige' is surely there to convey this feel but maybe it could have been even more prominent. Hard cheese is surely a natural product - so there is definetely no mismatch with naturalness and the product itself.

So, to summarise the argumentation above I must say that I like these upgrades by Arla and I look forward to follow the next steps of Arla building and developing their brand and broad product portfolio.

Norwegian Airlines – the impact of poor customer service on a total brand experience

About once per week I set the alarm on a quarter to four in the morning and drag myself out of bed to prepare to catch a flight to Finland and a good day of meetings. I’ve got the total morning routine sussed out pretty well by now. 

Once at the airport Finnair or SAS used to be my airlines of choice. But then I discovered the simplicity of flying Norwegian. A streamlined process with quick check-in and no queues at terminal 2, and the gate just after security, not a 2k walk away… With nice new planes and smiling staff there has simply been nothing to complain about. By now I have probably experienced around 40 Norwegian Airline journeys to and from Finland. And I must say I used to be a fairly content and satisfied customer. I could in fact even call myself a  Norwegian Airlines brand promoter. Well, that was until today…

A first issue is that at Helsinki Vantaa airport Norwegian has moved from terminal 1 to terminal 2. Since the move check-in is just not working as well any longer and today it was a nightmare. I was late – this is true. But I was there just a few minutes before the check-in closed 45 minutes before take-off. With no luggage to check-in I wasn’t the least worried. However, I somehow managed to mess around with my booking number and the check-in machine. The usual things like writing a 0 instead of an O… and the clock must have ticked on… so all of a sudden the machine wouldn’t allow check-in anymore…

So I promptly walked to the check-in staff. There were two people in front of me in the queue and two staff, one woman and one man. The man was busy doing something important so he couldn’t be bothered with customers and the queue grew. I waited patiently and the clock turned to 40 minutes before check-in until I got to speak to the lady. She informed me that I had missed my opportunity to check-in... Of course I got a bit stressed about this as you do... Especially since I had promised to pick-up my kid from kindergarten straight from the flight.

I said: “I was here before 45 minutes but I had to jiggle with the machines…and I went to the counter as soon as I realized they did not work ”. The lady looked over at her colleague the man and he said: “Oh, so it really took you 10 minutes to walk from the machine to the counter”

Well, I am pregnant but I am still rather mobile... and the journey from the machine to the counter was approx 10 meters. So no, the walk probably took me about 20 seconds... The cheek of a rude man! I got so furious at this supposed to be customer service guy who took the opportunity to tell me off and really enjoy it too! It was totally unnecessary, especially since he simply could have told me in a nice way that I could check in with my mobile phone and the code – which I also did after a furious walk to security. I'm now going to use the strong word bastard!

So, my brand experience of Norwegian has deterioriated through this smug little man who took the opportunity to tell off a customer who used to be a brand promoter. And a customer who via her company spends approx 6000-8000SEK on Norwegian journeys per month. What a clever man!

So this long storey is the storey of how I moved from brand promoter to a brand disliker through one poor customer interface that lasted just a few minutes. One man managed to ruin a relationship I have with Norwegian Airlines - and believe me, this example will be used by me as a future reference when I talk about the importance of delivering a branded service promise at ‘key moments of truth’. This certainly was one for me...

Tesco moves beyond private label with venture brand Chocablok

I read something today that I found really fascinating. And this is why I want to share these news with you. Earlier this year Tesco unveiled their plans to develop global product brands, that are different to traditional retailer private label. For a start, these Tesco brands are no longer talked of as private label, but instead they are seen as brands in their own right, and there is no mention of the Tesco parent brand on the packaging.

The first of these brands to hit the shelves was a luxury ice-cream brand called Chocablok. Chocablok is claimed to be made by an “expert team of master cremeliers’ with more than 100 years experience between them. It is a luxury ice cream made from what is said to be a blend of the finest ingredients including real chocolate, whole milk, double cream and free- range eggs. Sounds all good to me! I can't wait to try this one...

But, it doesn't come cheap... Each pack retails at £3.99 per 500ml, a pricing that clearly emphasises its premium positioning amongst the likes of Ben & Jerry’s, Haägen Dazs, and Mövenpick.

What does Tesco say about this then? “Our venture brands are very different to own-label,” said Tesco brand developer, Sidonie Kingsmill to Marketing Magazine, “they will never be "me-too" products. We look at where the customer opportunities are, where brands are not succeeding and what we can do in addition to brands. We’re in a unique position as the biggest retailer, with access to the best suppliers worldwide.”

This development made me reflect on the limitations of private label. Private label has developed a lot since its early days as a discount and often rather boring offer. Today we can find PL goods across the whole range of categories and the British retailers are phenomenal at this. However, this Tesco example might also demonstrate some of the limitations of PL. Clearly Tesco isn't just doing this for fun. No, instead they've carefully analysed the situation and realised that they can make even more money if they also develop brands that are 'freed' from the motherbrand, and thus able to compete against other brands with no danger of being held back by the mother brand associations i.e. in this case Tesco.
Well, that is just one reflection, I guess there must be more reasons why Tesco is venturing into this arena. And maybe some of the other simple reasons are: plenty of cash, retailer power and distribution network. They simply can!

Starbucks continues expansion plans in Sweden

In 2010 the first Starbucks was opened in Sweden at terminal 5 at Arlanda airport. Now it's apparently time for more, as Starbucks plans to open up a few more cafés next year at the high traffic locations of central stations in Gothenburg and Malmö.

Sweden already have a number of Starbucks 'wannabees' including Waynes Coffee and Espresso House. I've complained before that I don't think those two chains have established enough differentiation and uniqueness in their brand and service concept. And with Starbucks entering they might have to think about this, and how to keep their customer base if a Starbucks would open up around the corner. Strong brands always have a big advantage, but of course - in the coffee chain world the biggest advantage of all is great tasting coffee at a high traffic location... 

Consolidation in market research industry when Ipsos buys Synovate

I met with a research professional and good contact today and heard the interesting news today that Ipsos has announced the acquisition of Synovate. This means that Ipsos will climb the ladder to become one of the biggest three market research agencies in the world behind the likes of Nielsen and Kantar group (TNS, Millward brown).

It will be interesting to follow the next steps and to understand how these two businesses are planning to merge their respective cultures and processes into one whole, and to see what they are going to sell as their key propositions to customers like you and me...

Measuring Brand Equity

When you work with brands you sometimes need to identify the ones worth the marketing bucks. I googled the Y&R Brand Asset Valuator approach today which is a method I used years ago when working on this topic. And I came across this quite interesting slideShare presentation which worked as a useful reminder of the many different approaches out there... Some I believe to be better than others. Enjoy!

Measuring Brand Equity

View more presentations from Carol Phillips.

Knorr - Bag of Taste, clever new concept by Unilever

Just saw the Knorr 'Bag of Taste' ad on the telly and just had to write a short note to say that I love this new concept by Knorr. During recent years we've already seen a couple of good launches by Knorr and they appear to be on the perfect path to growth.

I also believe that Unilever has done a good job revitalising the Knorr brand and I see the 'Bag of Taste' as yet another evidence that they have great new concepts in the pipeline, concepts with benefits that are built on real consumer insights and that will help the Knorr brand to climb on the value ladder.

Starbucks - a unique and well crafted positioning in the world of coffee

[Source: Online MBA]

Wolf brings Swedbank brand back on track?

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending 'Stora Annonsördagen', an event organised by the Swedish Advertisers federation. CEOs of some of Swedens largest corporations were talking about the importance of strong brands, brand equity, brand values, living the brand and communicating the brand. Surely bound to be some topics that you rarely hear them mention on a day to day basis.


The recent Swedbank brand and communication story was a particularly interesting case told by Swedbank CEO Michael Wolf. For those out there who don't know Swedbank it is the largest retail bank in Sweden but it also has significant presence in the Baltics. In fact, it was the recession and especially the bad debt in the Baltics that caused particular turmoil. It was at the beginning of 2009 when Swedbank was in serious trouble and had to be saved by the loan guarantees by the Swedish state. And the crisis and all the accompanying bad press had a negative effect on the Swedbank brand trust and credibility. This is when Mr Wolf took over as the CEO.

Today the situation is quite different. Sweden is in growth again and the horrible year of 2009 is 'almost' forgotten. Swedbank has impressed markets with reported net profits of SEK 7.4 billion for 2010 increasing from a net loss of SEK 10.5 billion for 2009. This is of course good. However, the ambition of Mr Wolf was not only to impress financial markets, but also to restore consumer confidence in Swedbank as a brand and retail bank. And Mr Wolf followed a textbook recipe for how to get the Swedbank brand back on track: 

First step: To identify the essence of the brand - the brand values & the brand difference
Swedbank is the result of many mergers in the Swedish bank industry, and of making something large and significant out of smaller, regional financial institutions. These smaller banks were deeply rooted in the Swedish culture and values, but somehow those values got lost as the bank grew bigger and bigger. And they sure were not guiding the risk taking in the Baltics. But following the crisis Swedbank realised that they must restore and strengthen the values within the corporation, and 'live those values' both internally and externally. The values identified as core to Swedbank were: Simplicity, Transparency & Caring. Values that are not unique per se, but which will work as guidance as Swedbank work to identify its point of difference. Mr Wolf explained that the values will be the guiding force to find brand differentiation. The Swedbank differentiation will come, as Mr Wolf put it: -"by delivering the values through concrete services and products".

Second step:  To go back to core strength in market

The old Sparbanken oak symbol

The second and very important thing that Swedbank realised, and something that Mr Wolf did not talk about too much, but which is of significance to the brand. Is to go back to the core of what is Swedbank in the eyes of their Swedish customers and target group. This goes way back in time...  and to some very fundamental brand stories and symbols. As mentioned before Swedbank is the merged result of many small and regional 'saving banks'. One of those banks was Sparbanken, who utilised an oak as a strong symbol of the benefits of saving. And this oak is still remembered in a positive light by many older customers. When later 'Föreningssparbanken' became the international bank of Swebank the oak was still left in the logo but with little meaning for new customers. After years of excess, Swedbank is now going back to the oak, and what it stands for in terms of being careful with spending, and saving for the future.

Third step: Setting a new communicaton strategy
The third and significant step was for Swedbank to find a way to communicate that it has taken a new path, and restoring trust in the Swedbank brand. Swedbank worked with swedish agency Lowe Brindfors and UK agency Aardman to identify a new communication platform and concept called 'under the oak'. And the result was this new commercial currently running on Swedish television.

The target is for Swedish customers to get to know Swedbank again. And this ad has received a lot of positive reactions in Sweden, and it has also tested well when Swedbank has tracked reactions in the market. This new communication concept is apparently developed to have a lifespan of at least five years. And I'm already looking forward to follow the next step of the work that is being done to restore the trust in the Swedbank brand.

So all in all I was impressed by the brand and marketing work that is going on at Swedbank. And I was glad to hear that Mr Wolf talked about these issues as important for the bank going forward. I'm convinced that we will see a future where people won't be as loyal to their banks as they are today. If banks misbehave we will see people switching banks more often, and banks will have to work harder to keep relevant. The work that Swedbank is doing today is going to serve them well when this open marketspace is a reality.

Ice-cream creation - Cold Stone Creamery is living its vision

I wonder what it is in the North American gene or environment that makes so many Americans creative and unafraid of challenging the norm. This time this thought of mine awoke when I spotted how something old and simple was reinvented into something new and awesome. And it was all related to one of my favourite foods - ice-cream and the great ice-cream experience of Cold Stone Creamery.

I enjoyed this experience during my recent holiday in Dubai. One of the many lavish hotel experiences was the Atlantis hotel where I had the privilege of having lunch and then experiencing one of their ice-cream creations for dessert. Believe me, for anyone who likes a decent ice-cream this is the business!

The Cold Stone ice-cream is not just ice-cream. It is an ice-cream experience where fun and entertainment is joining force with incredibly tasting ice-cream flavours and creations. And the ice-cream is not just ice-cream anymore but instead it becomes the carrier of a broad variety of fantastic fillings, and it's all crushed, created and customised on a granite stone. All to meet your individual ice-cream desires. Mmmm....  what a treat! On their website they say: "Ever since we opened our first store back in 1988, we’ve been serving up what we refer to as Creations" And what I've seen and tasted is certainly delivering on this brand promise.


I love the fact that Cold Stone Creamery have created a real ice-cream experience, that both adults and children can enjoy. All details are carefully organised to deliver your kind of ice-cream creation.

Rejuvenating a stagnated brand the P&G way - Old Spice

Today I had the great privilege of attending the DLF event 'Innovation & Successful Product Launches' held at Rival hotel in Stockholm. I must say that I was very impressed by the quality and variety of the presentations held during the day - so great work DLF team!

One particular fun part was the 'Old Spice' story told by Tony Durham of P&G. So why not sharing it with you? For me it's a fantastic story of how to use insights to rejuvenate a rather stale and boring old brand, that many consumers had forgotten about. P&G follow a first class innovation process of identifying great insights, and then acting on those. In the case of 'Old Spice' their insight was that "women buy female scented shower gels for their husbands" i.e. most guys walk around smelling of female fragrance... This insight was utilised as a startpoint for a new brand and communication platform for 'Old Spice' and the result was this creative communication featuring the 'Old Spice man'.


The focus on the communication was viral. Apparently the ad was placed on Youtube and via twitter and youtube it was spread with a speed that is nothing but incredibly impressive. I'm not sure I believe this figures myself... but Tony did say that the ad had 23m views within 26hours, and 200m views today on Youtube. Incredible! I'm an awe.... Of course the activities were linked to an Old Spice website and instore activities.

The 'Old Spice Man' since became a real cult and a persona was developed who interacts with its followers. A fun way of interacting was by creating 'Personal adverts' to respond to consumer questions or requests. A particularly fun request was the 'Marriage Proposal' request that Tony also shared during his speech. See this one below as well.


This P&G example is a creative and innovative way of breaking the rules and using insight to rejuvenate a brand that has somewhat become stale been forgotten. I hope you enjoyed this story.

Clever awareness building and product trial tactics - Mutti tomatoketchup

Just yesterday I wrote about the Middagsfrid offer, and me for the first time trialing their offer of (hopefully) stress free mid-week dinner solutions. The load of groceries and recipes arrived today and I was delighted not to have to think up anything to have for dinner this week. What a saviour!

A thing that surprised me though was the Mutti tomatoketchup in the load... I scanned the recipes to see where it ketchup was needed but saw nothing...Well, when turning the recipe page there was a short little notice of 'This weeks Bonus product'. This was of course the Mutti ketchup. There we had the answer, and a clever trick of Mutti and other brands to reach the Middagsfrid target group of time-starved city folks. Great way to reach out to new users through a tactic that will delight and surprise. I already look forward to receive the next 'Bonus'.

The Swedish version of online food shopping - Dinner Solution Shopping

When I lived in the UK I was a keen online grocery shopper with Sainsburys. It was great to be able to avoid the crowds in the supermarket for a mere 5 pounds delivery charge per week. Online food shopping saved me a lot of time and frustration. Online grocery shopping in Sweden is not as developed as in the UK, so these days I'm spending a few frustrated hours in the grocery store most weekends. However, in Sweden another food service solution is growing strongly. 'Dinner solutions deliveries' are all you need one per week pack of ingredients and recipes (for 5 or 3 dinners per week) delivered to your door through the likes of Middagsfrid and Linas Matkasse.

These companies sell pre-planned dinner solutions for time-starved Swedes. This has been a recipe of success so far as customers only popped up just a few years ago, but now have thousands of customers across the big city regions of Sweden. The customer benefit is dinner planning and dinner shopping in a very simple way. And the solution also offers healthy and new taste experiences on the dinner table, also during weekdays when most people don't have the time or the energy to plan their dinners in detail.

I've finally signed up as a customer of Middagsfrid and from next week I look forward to trying their offer of dinner solutions. The only problem for me is that I still have to cook... I'm not the most enthusiastic cook during the week when I'm tired after a long day at work. But what I do look forward to experience are new kinds of taste experiences, new inspiration and new kinds of food on the dinner table.

I'm convinced that the need for ready food solutions, ready dinner-kits and simple food solutions are going to grow more and more in Sweden. And look forward to following the service innovations within this field over the coming years, whilst hopefully trying many of them personally as well.

Snickers satisfies - strong new communication platform anchored in target group and need state

 It was my hubby who first commented on the greatness of this commercial. It's not often that he says 'loved that!' about ads so this time it really made me reflect on the greatness of the new Snickers communication concept. What is it that makes it so great and spot on? I would like to point to three things:

1. Snickers knows its target group
The bulls-eye communications target of Snickers is clearly men aged something around 25-35 years old. Guys who are adults but still non committed. Active guys who enjoy sports and a having a banter with their mates.

Snickers have clearly done their homework and anchored the brand to a target group. This is good, sophisticated marketing practice.

2. Snickers have anchored the brand to a consumer need - satisfying hunger, filling you up
The recent ads from Snickers are so spot on because they are relevant. We all recognise the situations when our blood sugar levels are low and we need to fill up with something to keep us going and avoid getting grumpy or irritated. Identifying the needstate where there's potential to anchor a brand like Snickers have done give you potential to gather fantastic and deep emotive insights onto which one can then build strong communication concepts. The team behind Snickers have done their homework well.

3. Turning insights into Action - strengthened positioning and powerful Marcom concept
Last but not least. It takes a lot of work to turn insight into action and it takes a lot of creative skill to turn brand strategy and insights into great creative. The team behind Snickers deserve a bow. From a quick google search it appears to be top agency TBWA who should be proud of themselves. As well as the Snickers brand team of course.

My conclusion? Well, I do think that this work is some of the most spot on brand, insight and communication work I've seen in a long time. And I do think that this work will have a positive effect on global Snickers sales. I'm fairly sure my hubby will chew down a few...

Pepsi diet - now in the new, and debated 'skinny' can

 In todays Resume the new Pepsi 'skinny' can is mentioned.  I'm a firm believer in the power of attractive packaging and packaging design that's fully aligned with the brand proposition. And I think the new Pepsi 'skinny' can is just that. It's a modern and sleek packaging targeted at a group of consumers who care about their appearance and the stylishness of products. So what is so wrong about that? Well, the reason the new 'skinny' can causes a bit of outrage in media is of course the play on the word 'skinny' and its obvious linkages to this body ideal. There must of course be a specific reason for the use of the 'skinny' word in marketing communications. Pepsi knows that it will cause a debate, and thus.... lots of extra media and social media coverage for the new bottle and design. Is this ethical? Hmmm, well Pepsi don't seem to mind that much. And ethical or not, I'm sure it will be profitable. So, from my perspective this can be summarised as great design, great packaging but with debatable marcoms and corporate ethics.

AXA launches new concept - AXA Great

I quite like the look of the new concept AXA Great and I think the push of instant oatmeal porridge is a really good one in Sweden, a country where people love eating oatmeal porridge. The big difficulty will be to convice Swedes that porridge can also be eaten as an in-between meal or as a light lunch or evening snack. This is how porridge is eaten in many of our neighbouring countries but it will be something new for Swedes. The other challenge will be to build awareness and distribution for a product that is 'new' to consumers and retailers alike. Whilst being an old product in many ways this new and more convenient way of enjoying porridge will still be a challenge. Where are we e.g. going to find this product in supermarkets? 

Whilst there will be challenges I think the AXA Great concept is a modern and fresh concept for today's current porridge consumers. And if AXA builds awareness I think it might also have the potential to attract new or light users to the category. Now porridge doesn't have to be dull and boring. Instead it can be fresh, innovative and yummy looking!

Swedish classic Kexchoklad launches its first big 'flavour' extension Kexchoklad Blåbär

Kexchoklad is for Sweden what Kit Kat is for the UK:  a classic chocolate biscuit brand that most people are emotionally attached to in one way or another. This attachment is often related to strong, positive and emotionally charged childhood memories.

Kexchoklad is also a brand with a strong following and relevance. With a high brand awareness and lack of relevant competitition sales stay high year after year without major investments. I think we can all agree that it must be a fairly good position to be in?

So why they launch of a flavoured line extension - and one that's not just a limited edition? Well, that's a good question. The answer may relate back to a number of reasons. This may be a serious attempt to add a new permanent member to the family. Another reason might be that the current heavy users of Kexchoklad are conservative, and that the brand through this extension wants to attract new, more novelty seeking users to the brand. Whatever the reason, it will be an interesting launch to follow. Will Kexchoklad Blåbär attract consumers, and will it be a permanent addition to the chocolate fixture? Will Kexchoklad Blåbär damage or add new vigour to the Kexchoklad brand?

New year - new postings?

Well, you haven't seen me write for a while and some of you might have wondered what I've been up to. Well, the sad and simple truth is - not much. Apart from traditional celebrations, presents and so on I've simply had a couple of terrible weeks with flu, colds and stuff like that. Family colds and fevers have effectively shut off all my energy and enthusiasm for writing anything at all. Sad but true.

So, it's been a tough start to the new year - but hopefully the doom and gloom days will pass soon.

And, I promise to also this year write more about marketing, insight and interesting concepts and innovations!