Sainsbury's: a company of character

Provider of lodgings to many a lonely bumblebee in their aptly named bee n' bee, Europe's top solar generator, champion of ugly fruit and veg, co-creator of Giraffe bread - just a handful of the fantastic stories we heard about Sainsbury's at Our Breakfast Club.

Alex Cole Corporate Affairs Director at Sainsbury's came along to and event we held recently to tell us all about why she believes that Sainsbury's values make them different. She spoke of the importance of having a brand or company with character and the right values at the core. She quoted Lincoln, "Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

As the world headed into recession most people were betting the credit crunch would lead to a values crunch. But in fact Sainsbury's research has proved that as the opposite has happened. Rather than seeing economic constraints cause a cut back in values, they have seen it drive an increased appetite for them. They argue that having to put more thought into what they buy, consumers are taking a greater - not lesser - account of what personally matters to them.

In the last 12 months Sainsbury’s has sold 8.5% more sustainably sourced food with more than £1 in every £10 spent on sustainably-labelled products coming from those families on the lowest incomes.

So often marketing complicates the issue of sustainability and claims that people don't care. The best part of all of this is that Alex made it sound so simple and compelling. It's always been in the DNA of the company, and it's just the way that Sainsbury's does business.

This report on what Sainsbury's are calling 'new fashioned values' is well worth a read.
You can also explore other Sainsbury's stories here http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/responsibility/

5 things marketers should know about social media

As more and more brands become social, those who engage best will stand out.  Robyn Pierce from The Crocodile spoke at a session for Our Design Agency recently. She looked at the key trends coming out of  The Social Media Marketing Report and talked about the 5 things marketeers want answered about social media (tactics, engagement, measurement, tools and strategy).



The study surveyed over 3,000 marketers with the goal of understanding how they are using social media to grow and promote their businesses. 97% of respondents said they use social media marketing and a significant 86% indicated that social media is important for their business.

Robyn concluded by stressing the need for fantastic content and said that continued to be the challenge for all marketeers. So perhaps unsurprisingly, according to report, YouTube holds the top spot for future plans. 69% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube making video the top area marketers will invest in this year. The tactic marketers want to learn most about is blogging. While 58% are already blogging, 62% want to learn more about it and 66% plan on increasing blogging activities in 2013.

Our Breakfast Club: sustainability and social media

We set up Our Breakfast Club as a forum for clients get together and get inspired before work. It's a small and informal breakfast session designed to encourage discussion and sharing. Come along next time and listen to our two chosen speakers talk about the big topics of the day over coffee and croissants.

Huge thanks to everyone who came along to our very first breakfast club and made it a great success. Special thanks to our speakers Alex Cole from Sainsbury's and Robyn Pierce from The Crocodile. Listening to both of them you really got a sense of how sustainability and social media are intrinsically linked when it comes to having an authentic and transparent brand.

First up Alex talked to us about sustainability at Sainsbury's. She spoke of the importance of having a brand or company with character and the right values. She quoted Lincoln, "Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

 

Next Robyn looked at the key trends coming out of  The Social Media Marketing Report and talked about the 5 things marketeers must know about social media. She stressed the need for fantastic content and said that continued to be the challenge for all marketeers.



We are already planning the next breakfast club and we'd welcome any ideas or suggestions for topics or people to speak in the future. Is there someone you've always wanted to see speak or ask a question? Is there a topic you'd really like to debate with others? If so then please do email us at hello@our-design-agency.com.

Brand purpose: thumbs up or down?

Elvis didn't want to be a singer. He wanted to changed music. Did he have purpose? Ahaha. I believe that great brands need purpose. What do you think? Do you agree with the following statements about brand purpose?

1.Business can do well by doing good.

2. Great products that are based on real problems that consumers really care about.

3. First it was product benefit, then it was emotional benefit, and now social benefit is new frontier for brands.

4. Purpose can reinvigorate and empower capitalism.

5. Purpose will make better brands, brighter companies and lasting legacies for all.

Will you give purpose the thumbs up, or the thumbs down?